Partir, revenir

The TFO network has been showing Lelouch's work of the 70's and 80's over the last 10 weeks. It's been a miserable time since this man's career is a study in schlock-making. There is no dumb story he will not tell; no actor he will not use solely for their star-value; no attempt to respect the intelligence of his audience (that they keep coming back for his messes is a telling comment on French culture today).

He's a recidivist because he keeps returning to the scene of his crimes against sense, dramatic values, pacing. Partir, revenir looks much like any of his films of this period; the same actors keep turning up--Piccoli, Anconina, Bouix. I can't take this holocaust drama seriously because it's shot like a Spielberg comedy: the terror element is completely missing, all you get are thuggish-looking German troops and very elegant Jewish victims. I look back with fondness to The Garden of the Finzi-Continis for a portrait of doomed people that engages my mind and spirit.