netflixed

I like the dark, mysterious films. I think Bergman is da shit, and Herzog. Hundstage is right up my alley, as is Spirit of the Beehive. David Lynch m'amuse beaucoup.

But watching Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, I kept thinking: this is the greatest, most pleasurable film ever made, with the possible exception of Demy's other masterpiece, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg. There's a frenetic exuberance to Michel Legrand's songs which swept me away--when the twins have their first jazzy number with those big hats and all the pastel colors all the stress of school faded away and I was completely charmed. I love the gleeful corniness, how it reminds one that the civilization known for iconic intellectuals like Michel Foucault and Jean-Paul Sartre is also adept at irresistible light confections. And just when you think it's impossible for things to get better, Gene Kelly shows up, dancing in a cross walk and scatting in French.