Feb
19
2007
Author: Irene Nemirovsky trans. Sandra Smith
ISBN: 0099488787
DDC: 843.912
See also: LibraryThing ; wikipedia ; Caribousmom ; Paris Parfait ; Erin’s Library ; Historical/Present
Hot, thought the Parisians. The warm air of spring. It was night, they were at war and there was an air raid. But dawn was near and the war far away.
Two novellas and some appendices make up this book. The two fiction pieces were intended to be part of a series of books about France during World War II, but the author, Irene Nemirovsky died in a concentration camp in August 1942, and that is what makes up the non-fiction element of this book. Of course the real like story of Nemirovsky, and how this book came to be published makes up a large element of the media coverage surrounding the novel, but the fiction element alone deserves attention. The background, and fact that it was written as these events were taking place, adds to the work as a whole.
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Jul
28
2006
Dir: Christian Volckman
Writ: Alexandre de La Patellière, Jean-Bernard Pouy, Jean-Bernard Pouy & Patrick Raynal
- Daniel Craig - Barthélémy Karas
- Catherine McCormack - Bislane Tasuiev
- Romola Garai - Ilona Tasuiev
- Ian Holm - Jonas Muller
It is 2054, Paris and a young woman has just been kidnapped. Karas, a police captain specialising in kidnapping is charged to find her, and to find her alive. The company she works for, Avalon, are very insistent that this researcher be found.
But if I’m honest the plot isn’t really all that interesting. Run of the mill sci-fi detective noir, if such a thing exists. You’ll quickly guess that the big “concerned” company isn’t all puppies and squishy kittens. But it doesn’t really matter that the plot is a little boring, because you can just enjoy the visuals.
This is a motion-capture film, then transformed into an animated one, all in black and white. Well, apart from a few colour scenes toward the end, and it looks fantastic. Like a comic book in motion. There have been comparisons with Sin City, but I don’t see it, apart from the comic book/noir aspect. The storyline and characters are all very different.
But there is a slight coldness, or distance in the film. It’s hard to engage with. Whether this is the fault of the plot, or the technical aspects taking away from the performance/art I’m not sure.
Go to enjoy the pretty noir pictures, but don’t expect a masterpiece.
IMDb | wikipedia | Official site (in french) | No-Necked Monsters | Everything Is Nice
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nothing special,
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police,
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sff
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