Dylan Santiago and Pontless Cake -Some Win, Some Lose

This is a video that I made for a song by a couple of friends from when I lived in Vietnam. The film it is from is Bande a part one of the classic French New Wave films. It's a very interesting film, it's about thee 3 young people who try to rob the girls rich aunt, it's an ok crime film, but the main thing about it is how the kids are so alienated. They aren't bad, they just don't care, I suppose you could say that it's foreshadowing, they are nihilistic and alienated, they only relate to films, not real life.
I'm just going to list two things that I love about it.
1) It is very much this magic version of France that I have in my head. I have lived in France and been there a lot, it is a beautiful place, and lovely also, but there is this mythical Amelie sort of France that I think we all have, including the French which is a bit 60s and all soulful depressed people playing pinball in cafes and having long smart discussions. 
This film is very much in that tradition, it's French New Wave so a big part of that tradition, but I feel that the intent was to deromanticise France. The big message seemed to be that these kids were lost souls who lived in second hand American culture and didn't really have a place. Everywhere they go is empty and bleak, they are in this very grim industrial France, but it's still so very French, very serious and inward looking and cynical. Ah merde! 

2) The emptiness of it all. I'd imagine film scholars all point this out, but although they are in a city, they never see anybody else once they form the gang. When they go out everywhere is half empty, the aunt's house is so empty, their hideout is completely empty, it's a very lonely and grey film. 
I suppose it is around the time of post modernism being an important idea, but I don't think that it was a conscious decision at all to make the film some big symbol of modern day alienation etc etc. It was obviously symbolic, but like all good things that come to represent something, the intention seems to be just to tell a story and make of it what you will.

Anyways. That's about all of my thoughts for today. Enjoy the video. The song is nothing to do with that, the guys who did it are in their 20s, they are just thinking about some girl who broke their heart or something 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog