The was playing recently at L'Alliance NYC and I randomly decided to check it out and am so very happy that I did. When I purchased my ticket at the box-office the staff member handed me an index card sized piece of paper with a few lines of text on it. She proceeded to tell me that it was basically a silent film with just a handful of brief subtitles that were in French. Well after she said it was a 'silent film' my mind went to the many silent films that I'd seen before, those with Chaplin, Keaton, Gish etc. Well, Conte Cruel/Cruel Tale is nothing like any of those film and is a unique, mesmerizing, almost haunting experience. The cinematography along with the lighting was stunning. So many frames and shots looks to me like works of art. Unlike the silent films I was used to that had a piano accompaniment, this was presented with a recorded soundtrack accompaniment by Leon Rousseau which perfectly enhanced the beauty, bleakness, darkness, and horrors of the film. Gaston Modot's Conte Cruel/Cruel Tale is a very special film and one worth checking out.
