What's in a name? It does seem a little strange that Jean Epstein, father of photogenics, should co-write with his sister Marie (herself a fascinating filmmaker) a love story, Cœur fidèle, in which the central lovers are called Jean and Marie. But it's a mistake to judge the inhabitants of bygone eras by our own ideas of what's kind of weird.
Incestuous sublimation aside (and it's strictly something you get from the credits, not something present in the story), this is love story menaced by poverty and evil, a simple fable extended by atmospherics rather than plot elaboration: Epstein as director has a love of lingering lap dissolves and double exposures, endlessly fading his protagonists in and out over and under shots of glittering waves... The hallucinatory, sunstruck quality has a foretaste of Lynch, while the scenes of dockside poverty might have influenced Sternberg's The Salvation Hunters, made two years later.
Incestuous sublimation aside (and it's strictly something you get from the credits, not something present in the story), this is love story menaced by poverty and evil, a simple fable extended by atmospherics rather than plot elaboration: Epstein as director has a love of lingering lap dissolves and double exposures, endlessly fading his protagonists in and out over and under shots of glittering waves... The hallucinatory, sunstruck quality has a foretaste of Lynch, while the scenes of dockside poverty might have influenced Sternberg's The Salvation Hunters, made two years later.
- 10/13/2011
- MUBI
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.