Whenever a great master is in his final years, the public tends to forgive his missteps. We accept that creative wells eventually run dry, and we content ourselves with whatever further work he creates, hoping only for a glimpse of a once great talent, before it is gone forever.
Even that is asking too much of this film.
I always enjoy Rohmer films, because they are, at worst, intelligent commentaries on the human condition. Even his lesser works, such as the Four Seasons films, are emotionally insightful, so even if we've seen it many times by now, it's at least pleasant in a familiar, anodyne way.
In the case of -Lady and the Duke-, any such emotional insight was completely buried under Lucy Russell's insufferably whiny performance. Russell's Lady is not a strong, independent woman; she is a petulant, spoiled idiot. Her character is wholly unsympathetic, and I had difficulty caring about any of her moral concerns. In fact, I found her so irritating that I found myself wishing for her beheading. Probably not an emotion Rohmer was going for.
And I have no idea what Rohmer was going for with those digital effects. They are not wondrous and pretty. They are completely unconvincing, and just plain distracting. At their best, the effects look cheap; at their worst, they look like actors standing in front of a painting. A bad, faux-Impressionist painting. In any scene involving these effects, my mind was immediately pulled away from the film to thoughts of computers and blue screens. Again, probably not what Rohmer was going for.
It seems almost wrong to criticize Rohmer at this stage in his life, and perhaps that's why so few film critics criticized this film. He's sort of like a great ballplayer in the final year of his career: even though he doesn't hit 'em like he used to, everyone still cheers when he steps up to the plate. In the case of this film, however, he swung, missed completely, and struck out.
Even that is asking too much of this film.
I always enjoy Rohmer films, because they are, at worst, intelligent commentaries on the human condition. Even his lesser works, such as the Four Seasons films, are emotionally insightful, so even if we've seen it many times by now, it's at least pleasant in a familiar, anodyne way.
In the case of -Lady and the Duke-, any such emotional insight was completely buried under Lucy Russell's insufferably whiny performance. Russell's Lady is not a strong, independent woman; she is a petulant, spoiled idiot. Her character is wholly unsympathetic, and I had difficulty caring about any of her moral concerns. In fact, I found her so irritating that I found myself wishing for her beheading. Probably not an emotion Rohmer was going for.
And I have no idea what Rohmer was going for with those digital effects. They are not wondrous and pretty. They are completely unconvincing, and just plain distracting. At their best, the effects look cheap; at their worst, they look like actors standing in front of a painting. A bad, faux-Impressionist painting. In any scene involving these effects, my mind was immediately pulled away from the film to thoughts of computers and blue screens. Again, probably not what Rohmer was going for.
It seems almost wrong to criticize Rohmer at this stage in his life, and perhaps that's why so few film critics criticized this film. He's sort of like a great ballplayer in the final year of his career: even though he doesn't hit 'em like he used to, everyone still cheers when he steps up to the plate. In the case of this film, however, he swung, missed completely, and struck out.