Film Yap: Wild Grass

Wild Grass is an almost romance story. With different paths and different decisions, there could be something more conventional, but the characters are ones that think a little too much.

Marguerite (Sabine Azéma) loses her purse after she goes shoe shopping. Despite rational, she waits to report anything. While returning to his car, Georges (André Dussollier) discovers a red wallet in the parking garage. Transfixed by the character trinkets inside he begins to theorize on how he can get into contact with her.

The description of the movie calls it a “romantic adventure.” This is way more down to Earth than something like The Princess Bride. With that film, their love is determined from the moment they reconnect. This is about the emotional roughness and awkwardness ones endure when they know they are interested.

Director Alain Resnais creates a very delicate world for these characters to play out their dance. Everything looks like it is in a haze, as if this was a memory itself. The colors are beautiful but they are too much like a painting from an art gallery; look but do not touch.

Despite its intrigue and realized lead characters there is still too much emotional distance with the movie. It’s not because the movie is challenging to comprehend at times because sometimes that can create a more profound connection. (LOST anyone?). It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what is separating the movie from its world. It could be because the lead characters are too foreign (no pun) to comprehend because we don’t know what they want at times.

It’s a film that doesn’t want to be like other Hollywood romances. Its narrator is more playful and not as helpful. Shots and scenes appear to be very random for the sake of being random, especially the final moment. In order to be unconventional it’s lost a little bit of what makes movies appealing.

Resnais has taken these risks before with some of the classic films Last Year at Marienbad and the masterful Hiroshima mon amour. This time, it isn’t as rewarding but there are still plenty of things worth examining in this movie because it’s still a master at work. It’s still a very beautiful film to look at.

In fact that’s what the only bonus feature is devoted to. There is a short featurette about the production designer Jacques Saulnier. It’s a fun pieces that has Saulnier travel around the sets and talk about the lighting and furniture and how it relates to the movie. Don’t know what else should haven’t been on the DVD, but this was a nice one.

Film: 3 Yaps

Extras: 2 Yaps