Eclipse 1942: Lettres d’amour

*cough* *cough* I’ve got a cold, but perhaps watching some more movies from the Eclipse Criterion collection is the answer…

I started this box set (made in Occupied France) a while ago, but then er got busy with other things, and I don’t remember the first movie at all.

This looks quite amusing — it’s a historical farce?

This putters along quite nicely. It’s got a lot of plot going on — I’m guessing the secret love letters are going to lead to a bunch of hi-jinx? They’re mostly setting the scene, so far…

Heh heh. That’s a good shot.

Anyway, I’m already having a lot of problems keeping the characters separate (because several of the actors look kinda similar), which is an extra complication in a comedy of errors like this…

*gasp*

This is a quite charming movie, with great sets and costumes, better-than-average cinematography, a quite snappy plot with good lines from a well-known director, and…

… and, basically nobody’s seen it, and I understand why. There’s just now that anything much compelling about it. I can see people settling down to watch a movie, and then going “of amongst the approx nine hundred thousand movies that exist, should I watch Lettres d’amour, an occupation-era perfectly nice but not remarkable farce tonight? Well, I think not”.

*gasp*

And there isn’t any reason to watch this movie, really — but it’s fun and charming.

Lettres d’amour. Claude Autant-Lara. 1942.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

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