Seen: Friday, April 4, 2008
It’s another dreary Monday morning; I am in a collective mental haze for starters, but it happens to be drizzling rain outside too. So I’ll consider it good luck that Jean Vigo’s 1934 film L’Atalante is next up in the Seen queue—because if darling Dita Parlo can’t lift your spirits, you’re in for a long lifetime of perpetual Mondays. Just by the look of the film you can tell it comes prior to the Citizen Kane (1941) revolution. Many of the long shots grow hazy without any deep focus lenses, but it happens with a gauzy, dreamlike style, and I think adds to the wonder of Ms. Parlo’s first jaunt through the streets of Paris. I also enjoy her crusty shipmate (played by Michel Simon?) and his gang of feral kittens staking claim over everything from the bed to the dinner table. And look! Just as I write this the clouds are lifting—the sun is out in Chicago! Happy Monday indeed.
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