The Last Mistress (Catherine Breillat, 2008)

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flyonthewall2983 · Fri May 23, 2008 10:21 am

Barmy · #2 Post by **Barmy** » Fri May 23, 2008 4:28 pm

This is a must-see. I saw it at the NYFF last fall. Love that final shot in the trailer. The pull quotes are kind of dumb. I'm not a big fan of period films (Carrie notwithstanding), but this one is an enjoyable romp, and Breillat's zaniest film.

flyonthewall2983 · #3 Post by **flyonthewall2983** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:53 pm

Carrie is a period piece?

Dylan · #4 Post by **Dylan** » Fri May 23, 2008 10:25 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Carrie is a period piece?

He's referring to William Wyler's film Carrie, based on Theodore Dreiser's book "Sister Carrie."

#5 Post by **domino harvey** » Fri May 23, 2008 10:30 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Carrie is a period piece?

That's not where the blood came from.

#6 Post by **zedz** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:39 am

Nice one, domino.

I'll also recommend The Last Mistress, Breillat's best film in my books by some miles. Argento is magnificent and the tension between the 'heritage' material and Breillat's real concerns works beautifully.

foggy eyes · #7 Post by **foggy eyes** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:53 pm

zedz wrote:I'll also recommend The Last Mistress, Breillat's best film in my books by some miles. Argento is magnificent and the tension between the 'heritage' material and Breillat's real concerns works beautifully.

Thirded. I'm not a Breillat fan by any means, but thought this was terrific. The rather unsavoury elements that I've found offputting and imbalanced in the past are quite radically toned down here and anchored by excellent writing, performance and attention to period detail (which still allows for moments of textual slippage like the glimpse of Argento's tattoo). Argento really is a riot, and it's quite excellent all round - sharp, refined and hugely enjoyable.

sevenarts · #8 Post by **sevenarts** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:34 am

I thought this was fascinating

Did anyone else catch the film's possible correspondence to High Noon? I go into it more in my review, among other things, but Argento really reminded me of the Katy Jurado character from that film, both playing Spanish outsiders with sluttish reputations who serve as the scandal-causing lovers of the main male characters. And they're both set off against blonde, blue-eyed, virginal, "noble" women who the heroes marry instead. The difference, of course, lies in the way the two films balance the points of the triangle, and the way they look at the "scandalous" love between the "noble" man and the "debased" woman.

#9 Post by **zedz** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:43 pm

It probably deserves its own thread, but this one didn't exactly thrive, so we'll see.

Breillat's new film Bluebeard is terrific. It's probably her most playful film (particularly in terms of narrative structure and expectations) - a subtly barbed retelling of the gruesome fairy tale intercut with scenes of a pair of very young sisters telling the story. It occupies something of a midpoint between An Old Mistress (period drag) and Fat Girl (sibling issues). Breillat's approach to period is more Bressonian / Rohmerian here than in An Old Mistress, but it's still sharp and stylish (and short - under 80 minutes). I'm looking forward to her further explorations of this particular seam of material. If you liked An Old Mistress, seek this out. (If you're aching for another Anatomy of Hell you might prefer to sit it out instead.)

jbeall · #10 Post by **jbeall** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:23 am

I'd only seen Fat Girl, which I loathed, but I found this film to be excellent. Breillat's apparently grown as a director, and based on zedz's comment on Bluebeard, I'm interested in seeing more of her work.

knives · #11 Post by **knives** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 3:57 am

I definitely recommend you check out Bluebeard (and her slightly less good fairy tale follow up). She's more miss than hit, but she can be very good.

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