“Annette” “Variations” deeply connected to the life of Leos Carax *Note! Contains spoilers.

Variations of Annette

``Making a film means putting your fears and doubts into it, and it's not so much about who you are, but what you doubt and what you're afraid of.'' I think it will reflect that.Everyone worries that they are a bad father.Every father has that fear, and this work explores that fear.'' Leos Carax)*3

In `` The Lovers on the Bridge '' (1991), there is a nightmarish and unnatural shot of drunken lovers taken from above. The size of the liquor bottles lying around is excessively large compared to the lovers lying on the Pont Neuf Bridge. An overhead shot that looks like a drunken dream or a child's dream. On the island where Henry and Annette washed up on a boat, Annette begins to sing in the moonlight, and Henry falls down and stares at her, shot from behind in a vertical, low-angle shot that gives a mysterious impression. Henry, who had the body of an adult, was framed in a backlit silhouette, looking like a boy. Combined with his carelessly messy hair and Annette's magical singing voice, Henry's silhouette gives the impression of a young boy dreaming. In the following scene, Henry's regressive infantilization and ape-ification (the Ape of God) is completed when he and Annette place their large bodies in a crib.

"Annette" © 2020 CG Cinéma International / Théo Films / Tribus P Films International / ARTE France Cinéma / UGC Images /DETAiLFILM / Eurospace / Scope Pictures / Wrong men / Rtbf (Télévisions belge) / Piano

For the role of Anne, the interview footage of Romy Schneider was used as reference material, and her behavior, which fluctuates between confidence and vulnerability, was studied. However, even more than that, the person who comes to mind as the source of Anne's image is Isabel (Katerina Golubeva) from `` Pola X ''. In the dark forest, Isabel utters a story that cannot be determined whether it is a lie or the truth as if by a spell (Katerina Golubeva, who played the role of Isabel, is said to have uttered words that were not in the script). Anne's fate reminds me of Isabel's line, ``All my friends are at the bottom of the ocean.'' In the long version of "Paula Following the first episode, which ends with this setting, the image is repeated as a visionary image at the beginning of the second episode). Like `` Crowd '', this image is a ``variation'' of `` Night of the Hunter '' (55), which Leos Carax is particular about, but the opening scene of his feature-length debut `` Boy Meets Girl '' is also similar to that of Leos Carax's ``Crowd'' by the water. I am reminded once again that I am a filmmaker.

``Variations'' by Leos Carax is a ``reinvention'' that is strongly connected to his life. In Annette, the story is inextricably linked to the present and past life of Leos Carax, who has an adolescent daughter. ``Two people who love each other deeply'' is modified with the lyrics ``I can't love you anymore.'' A naked "singing voice" from a daughter to her father. The violent sound of Annette's ``singing voice'' is enough to leave you at a loss in your seat even after the movie ends.

“Something is about to break/But what?/Should we be happy/Should we be afraid?”

``Annette'' teaches us that by facing the extent of the wounds that have spread, we must ``variate'' (inherit) those wounds into our lives. Or will you choose to live your life without seeing the scars? We are faced with a last-minute choice. This is the birth of a monumental masterpiece representing the 21st century.

*1 “Leos Carax: The Movie Wanderer” (Film Art Publishing)

*2 Filmmaker Magazine [Leos Carax's Green Period: DP Caroline Champetier on Annette and Her Work with Jacques Rivette, Claude Lanzmann and Philippe Garrel]

*3 NY Times [Leos Carax on 'Annette' and the Cinema of Doubt]

Text: Daiji Miyashiro (maplecat-eve)

Movie criticism. Contributed reviews to ``Leos Carax: Movie Wanderer'', Eureka's ``Wes Anderson Special'', Real Sound, Soen, otocoto, Toshio Matsumoto Special Pamphlet, etc.

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"Annette"

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© 2020 CG Cinéma International / Théo Films / Tribus P Films International / ARTE France Cinéma / UGC Images /DETAiLFILM / Eurospace / Scope Pictures / Wrong men / Rtbf (Télévisions belge) / Piano