The Blue Room
Studio: Sundance Selects
Directed by Mathieu Amalric
Oct 06, 2014
Web Exclusive
A quaint, French town is the perfect setting for a scandalous affair. On certain Thursdays when she gives the secret signal, Julien Gahyde and Esther Despierre take to the blue room in a country inn and spend the afternoon in one another’s arms. He’s married and has a daughter; she’s married to a sickly pharmacist who went to school with Julien. Ultimately, their affair and the actions they take to stay together land the couple at the heart of a very public trial, though the specifics of their crime remains withheld.
Mathieu Amalric and Stéphanie Cléau co-wrote the script and star as the adulterous couple; he also directed. Amalric, better known for his on-screen work (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), is not new to directing, though he tends to dabble in short films when behind the lens. It’s readily apparent, though, that he has a keen sense of how to put a film together. Shot in the classic 1:33 aspect ratio and wonderfully scored by Grégoire Hetzel, the film feels of a different era, something Hitchcock or one of his contemporaries might have brought to the screen. This is with good reason, too—The Blue Room is based on the novel of the same title by Georges Simenon, originally published in 1955. Amalric does justice to classic cinema with his adaptation, transporting audiences back in time with this movie-going experience. (The integration of modern film elements—primarily full frontal nudity—of course would not have been featured in a more timely adaptation, but they also contemporize the film, helping Amalric achieve an odd and commendable bridge between classic and current cinema.)
As many modern-day viewers might lament, however, classic films sometimes move at a snail’s pace compared to new releases. Whether intentional or not, The Blue Room, too, is victim to a lethargy that does it more harm than help. It’s never a good thing when a 75 minute movie feels long, and 30-minutes in feels like it’s time to wrap up. Amalric and Cléau were doubtless intentional in their pacing, but it becomes easy to grow distracted from The Blue Room. Amalric’s efforts do not go unnoticed—and the entire cast and technical crew are fantastic—but The Blue Room is nowhere near as vibrant as it could be.
www.ifcfilms.com/films/blue-room
Author rating: 6/10
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