Ballpoint Notebook ( French: Un carnet de bal ) is a 1937 French drama film directed by Julien Duvivier . By genre and structurally, the picture is a full-length film- almanac , consisting of a number of related short stories, which was an innovation for French cinema [1] .
| Ballroom Notebook | |
|---|---|
| Un carnet de bal | |
| Genre | drama |
| Producer | Julien Duvivier |
| Author script | Julien Duvivier Henri Jeanson , Yves Mirand Jean Sarmen Pierre Wolf, Bernard Zimmer |
| In the main cast | Marie Belle Francoise Rose, Gabriel Fountain, Louis Jouvet |
| Operator | Philip Agostini Michel Kelber Pierre Levan |
| Composer | Maurice Jobert |
| Film company | Sigma |
| Duration | 144 minutes |
| A country | France |
| Language | French |
| Year | 1937 |
| IMDb | ID 0029706 |
Content
- 1 plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Characteristic
- 4 Awards
- 5 Remake
- 6 notes
- 7 Literature
- 8 References
Story
Widow Cristina Surger (Marie Belle) lives alone on the shore of the lake, feeling herself useless. She decides to go in search of former boyfriends from the time of her youth, whose names were listed in her ballroom notebook , which 16-year-old Christina took to her first ball in 1919 .
Having visited them and finding out the circumstances of their life and their subsequent fate, Kristina realizes that they all have already forgotten about their previous feelings, ideals, dreams and plans. Returning after this peculiar “journey into the past”, Christine, disappointed in her gentlemen and idealized memories of her youth, pessimistically tells her friend Bremont (Maurice Benard): “They all betrayed their youth.” Bremont is looking for the address of Gerard Dambreval - her gentleman, whom Christine previously preferred to everyone else. Coincidentally, he lived for 15 years near her on the other side of the lake, but recently died. Christina meets his son, Jacques, very similar to his father, and then takes the young man to his first ball.
Cast
- Marie Belle - Christina Surger
- Maurice Benard - Bremont, friend of Christine
- Francoise Rose - Madame Odier, mother of Georges Odier
- Gabriel Fountain - Rosa, maid of Madame Odier
- Louis Jouvet - Pierre Verdier nicknamed "Jo"
- Pierre Alcover - Teddy
- Roger Legris - Melanco
- Alfred Adam - Fred
- Harry Bor - Alain Renault, became a monk - father Dominic, the leader of the choir
- Pierre Richard-Wilm - Eric Irven, Mountain Guide
- Jules Remus - Francois Patusset
- Millie Mathis is the cook of Patusse, whom he will marry
- Pierre Blanchard - Thierry Reinal, a doctor who deals with illegal abortions
- Sylvie - Gabi, Raynal's lover, whom he kills
- Fernandel - Fabian Cutissol, hairdresser
- Robert Linen - Jacques, son of Gerard Dambreville
Feature
“Ballroom Notebook” is the first full-length film in the French cinema in the almanac genre [1] and structurally consists of a prologue, seven short stories, which present the characteristics and fate of Christina’s former gentlemen, and an epilogue: “ With each new story, the film more and more resembles a meeting ghosts, a conversation of shadows, understanding that they have nothing to say to each other, since each lives in its own temporal dimension and spiritual space ” [2] . French critic and film expert Pierre Leproon noted that despite the brilliant acting ensemble, the film is old-fashioned, and some of its short stories do not look and are outdated [1] . According to him, the film contains a pile of “effects”, an empty dialogue (too often saturated with false poetry, which emphasizes the artificial nature of the composition). Leproon, noting that “the connection between the short stories is unstable, but quite suitable as an excuse, ” he wrote [1] :
| The best fragment should be recognized as a short story with Pierre Blanchard as a doctor who has an abortion in a dirty room. With the help of an unusual frame structure, emphasizing the sense of drama, and laconic dialogue interrupted by the rattle of a nearby crane working, the director this time expanded the scope of his story and created in this series of voiced photographs what is rightly called a work of cinema. |
Georges Sadoule , noting the commercial success of the film, even surpassing the success of another well-known Duvivier film - “ Pepe le Moco ”, wrote: “ In this very uneven film, the most unfortunate pieces are those in which the characters talk about the“ ideal “, the most successful ones are those whose hero is a man who has hopelessly descended (Pierre Blanchard) ” [3] .
According to the French film expert Jacques Lursel , the main theme of the film is disappointment in life, which is characteristic and key for French cinema of the 30s and is revealed by Duvivier “ with brilliance, sincerity, connectedness, an abundance of variations and characters; all this makes the film characteristic of all French cinema ” [2] . According to Lursel, the form of the almanac film allows the director to pick up a whole set of stories and arguments to justify his gloomy and ruthless pessimism: “ At Duvivier, a person always falls below his destiny, and his heart will ultimately be broken by reality ” [2] .
Rewards
- Award for the best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival in 1937.
- Tokyo Film Festival Award for Best Foreign Film.
Remake
During the Second World War, Julien Duvivier, while in the USA, shot an American remake in 1941 - the film "Lydia" ( Eng. Lydia ), where, in the opinion of J. Sadul, the director generally " had to set films consisting of separate short stories (mediocre ), since in the United States he was known for his “Ballpoint Notebook” ” [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Leproon P. Julien Duvivier // Modern French filmmakers . litresp.ru. Date of treatment January 29, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Lursel J. Ballroom Notebook // Authors Encyclopedia of Films. T. I. - SPb.-M .: Rosebud Publishing, 2009 .-- S. 345—348. - 1254 s. - ISBN 978-5-904175-02-3 .
- ↑ Sadul J. History of cinema art. From its inception to the present day. - M .: Publishing house of foreign literature, 1957. - S. 273. - 464 p.
- ↑ Sadul J. The General History of Cinema. Volume 6 (Cinema during the War of 1939-1945). - M .: Art, 1963. - 500 p.
Literature
- Leproon P. Modern French filmmakers. M .: Publishing house of foreign literature , 1960. - 698 p.
- Lursell J. Ballroom notebook // Authors Encyclopedia of films. T. I. - SPb.-M .: Rosebud Publishing, 2009 .-- p. 345—348. - 1254 s. - ISBN 978-5-904175-02-3 .
- Sadul J. The history of cinema. From its inception to the present day. Translation from the French edition of M.K. Levina . Editorial, foreword and notes by G. A. Avenarius. - M .: Publishing house of foreign literature, 1957. - 464 p.
- Sadul J. The general history of cinema. Volume 6 (Cinema during the War of 1939-1945). - M .: Art, 1963. - 500 p.
Links
- " Ballroom Notebook ” on the Internet Movie Database