How Daft Could I Get?

A few days ago, I woke up in the household all by myself and after fixing myself some lunch, it would be quite logical for my lazy bones to go back to bed and open the télé. Et alors I chanced upon this film again that I previously only got to see the last forty minutes of. All I remember about this film was Charles Denner who portrayed this immensely intriguing and charming character Bertrand Morane and a radiant Nathalie Baye at her prime. It always amuses me to see an old film wherein the actors I've familiarised myself with (immensely) at the early stages of their career or simply when they were young. I have only been fascinated with French cinema. It is not like I grew up with it (although I wish I did). D'ailleurs, seeing a young Jean-Louis Trintignant in an early Rohmer film from the 70's or that one instance seeing Alain Delon and Romy Schneider in that film called La Piscine always gets me mesmerised. I've always loved the idea of dreaming about having movie star looks because one part of me yearns to be an actor. I mean I wouldn't call myself sane and the job of an actor would suit my being a neurotic. I just really like the idea of taking yourself beyond your limitations and working with auteurs would be another thing.

Moving on, after finally getting to see the film almost in its entirety, I happened to find out that it was by François Truffaut (who was then one of my favourites though he still is one but I've become more complacent with Godards). I was like how daft could I get? All I could recall was a lovely Nathalie Baye and a charming man at a certain age named Bertrand Morane. I guess this boils down to the fact that the latter works of Truffaut were less distinctive. I mean in comparison to a Resnais or a Godard or a Rohmer, you'd easily know it's theirs. Truffaut's early works were easy to identify or maybe because from all of these directors I've watched the most number of films by Truffaut hence I get to compare and weigh things down. L'homme qui aimait les femmes just is a bit different from most of his films that I've seen. I guess his films started to become less esoteric when he had the likes of Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau and Gerard Depardieu. Tout d'abord, I still like his latter work though.

On a much lighter note (or make that a superficial one), I conclude that I covet Bertrand Morane's vestiaire. I suddenly have thought of the man Véronique Nichanian always projects every season at Hermès because of Denner's character. There's that trusty chemise, cravate, leather jacket, and that well tailored suit. I'm starting to see how much Nichanian's epitome of a man is very much similar to the leading men in French cinéma. In any case, I just adore that.