MUBI

No matter, we shall have loved each other well Quotation from Flaubert as interpolated script toward the end of the Alain Resnais’s film Les herbes folles 2009, shown literally as grass growing from a crack in pavement as a backdrop for the introduction of the cast of this butterfly of a film, elusive and delicate, that spins out a whimsical story of, what else, l’amour Slow paced and initially very mysterious, it rewards with quiet satisfaction rather than the illumination of some eternal verity.

Sabine’s (Marguerite Muir) heart’s delight.

El cine recupera su aspecto lúdico en esta pelicula de Resnais devolviendonos esa frescura del artificio que hace de este arte su deber ser.
En el film todo es juego: juego de puesta en escena, de desdoblamientos, de los personajes y sus pensamientos, dichos y contradichos. Juego para el espectador que recolecta pistas sobre historias que nunca se terminan de resolver, caminos que se bifurcan dejando este rompecabezas a medio armar, porque lo que importa es el juego de citas, intertextos, justificaciones ya excentas de corresponderse a lo real. La apuesta de Resnais, como también podría ser la de Rivette, es a este juego que llamamos cine y al cual estamos todos invitados a participar.

Alain Resnais’ “Wild Grass” (2009) is about 21st century America all over. War in Iraq is Resnais’ wild grass. Financial collapse and absurd behaviors which brought it about are the wild grass. Petroleum hemorrhage in the Golf of Mexico is wild grass. Tea party movement is wild grass. Anti-Obama jingoism is wild grass. Pop- and pet-movement against “the government take-over” is again wild grass. Stara Perlin (Sara Palin) is a doll made of “wild grass”.
The magnificent cinematography, the virtuoso editing and monumental imagery are in a pointed (by the director) contrast to the pettiness and triviality of the characters’ motivations. The shockingly banal images (such as Andre Dissolier unable to zip up his broken zipper – a situation that is partially responsible for the plane crash) is an apotheosis of the film and reflection of what human beings including many of us, Americans, become in the age of global economy – rude, predatory and obsessed with our impulses. “Wild Grass” is about truth, and truth is not an easy thing to digest.
Read the article about this film and other Resnais’ films “Warning Which Comes Too Late” and analysis of the shots at: www.actingoutpolitics.com
By Victor