This is an appreciation of Souvenir (2016), as seen at Saffron Screen
More views of - or before - Cambridge Film Festival 2017 (19 to 26 October)
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28 August
This is a (stalled / unfinished) appreciation of Souvenir (2016), as seen at Saffron Screen on Monday 28 August at 8.00 p.m.
Of course, the release-date of a film – in this case, 2016 – is just as much a different matter from when, in the UK (say), it has distribution and one gets to see it as from when Isabelle Huppert would have signed up to the film, the dates of the shoot [IMDb (@IMDb) does not give any, but such as The Hollywood Reporter might], and the period of editing and other post-production work before one gets anywhere near ‘a theatrical release'.
All that aside, though, Huppert shows – in this film and in Elle (2016), released in the same year – such a different side to her acting that the contrast is palpable and endearing : the humour, the awkwardness, the pulls of desire are assuredly there in Elle, but the overall affect of Paul Verhoeven’s film is quite another, on account alone of Michèle’s (Huppert's) parents and her feelings towards them both !
Now at @SaffronScreen for Souvenir (2016), largely on the back of Isabelle Huppert in Elle (2016) : apparently, a comedy (missed that take).— THE AGENT APSLEY (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) August 28, 2017
Nonetheless, Elle - and Huppert's effective performances in Michael Haneke's films, from The Piano Teacher (2001) and Time of the Wolf (Le temps du loup) (2013) to Amour* (2012) - was a good enough reason to want to watch Souvenir...
[...]
Not @camfilmfest's Tony Jones, but Souvenir (2016) - wondrous Isabelle Huppert, in a film tons better than The Artist - has one of its own.— THE AGENT APSLEY (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) August 28, 2017
Very pleased, once more, for the assurance of trusting @SaffronScreen 'blind' for Isabelle Huppert in Souvenir (2016) - rivalling KST now !— THE AGENT APSLEY (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) August 28, 2017
[Something would have appeared here...]
Film-references :
* Bright Days Ahead (Les beaux jours) (2013)
* Edward Scissorhands (1990) - fable / Thurber
* Indecent Proposal (1993)
* Magic in the Moonlight (2014)
* Romantics Anonymous (Les émotifs anonymes) (2010)
* The Artist (2011)
On Souvenir (2016) :— THE AGENT APSLEY (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) September 10, 2017
It is sharply edited, and refreshingly uses story-telling by implication - so that not everything has to be spelt out. pic.twitter.com/0pIb5CMio8
Thx for the feedback on #souvenir @THEAGENTAPSLEY— Yves Verbraeken (@YvesVerbraeken) September 1, 2017
End-notes :
* Somewhat coolly playing Eva, the daughter of Emmanuelle Riva (Anne) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (Georges).
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Unless stated otherwise, all films reviewed were screened at Festival Central (Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge)
