A Curtain Raiser (2006)

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

"Un lever de rideau" or "A Curtain Raiser" is a half-hour short film from 2006, so this one has its 10th anniversary this year. The writer and director here is François Ozon and he adapted a play by Henry de Montherlant here, which of course also means this is a French-language film. Make sure you get a decent set of subtitles if you're not fluent in the language. The cast includes Louis Garrel, who was one of France's young rising stars back then and Mathieu Amalric two years before he played a Bond villain. But back to this one here. The story is about a young man who wants to leave his girlfriend because she is always too late. Reason enough for splitting up? I am not sure. I thought the parts early on with Amalric were solid and I think Giocante, the only female actor in here also did an okay job and she also looks stunning of course. But I have never been big on Garrel I must admit and that's why the film eventually did not enough for me to recommend it. Mediocre in terms of the story, plot and action, the acting overall was not impressive enough so I would give it a thumbs-up. I also felt that maybe this should have been shorter like some of Ozon's other short film works, from the 90s for example. I like Ozon, but this one we have here is nowhere near my favorites from me. watch something else instead.

Promptitude, so goes the saying, is the politeness of kings and this short film by Ozon covers that subject, a comedy of manners.As a New Yorker, I am often told by people from outside the City, that New Yorkers have no manners. This, of course is a falsehood. In New York, the assumption is that that people have things to do, places to go and goals to accomplish; that we have the chance, in this life, to regain many lost things, but not time. Thus, rudeness is the wasting of other peoples' time.This short subject shows this is an attitude not unique to the island of Manhattan. It is the attitude of one of the men in this three-character short subject, who complains that his girlfriend has, in six months, wasted thirty-six hours of his time in making him wait, enough time for Victor Hugo to have written six important poems. I'm on his side, but he does need to chill. Perhaps he should carry a book with him while waiting, perhaps a collection of poetry.Ozon has shot this simply but classically: long takes with fluid camera movement to maintain composition. thanks to dp Yorick Le Saux, with the length of each shot gradually decreasing in each section to heighten tension. The compositions are simple but elegant and this is fairly typical of Ozon's leisurely pace of storytelling at longer lengths. Color choices are also muted, another hallmark of Ozon's style. In fact, this is a fairly good introduction to Ozon's work. If you're thinking of investigating this director, you could do far worse than try this 30-minute film before essaying works of greater length.

I've watched this twice on the Sundance Channel in the US with English subtitles. The first time I thought is was pretty good, the second time I thought it was excellent. Like with most subtitled films, a second viewing allows you to get more into the film, whereas the first viewing is often spent just trying to catch all the visuals and read all the subtitles.Very intelligent and thoughtful, often philosophical, sometimes poetic and reflective, and rather verbose exploration of love, selfishness, respect, self-respect, pride, punctuality, relationship power, ideals, determination, willpower and especially about the choice between sticking to your ideals versus sacrificing them for love.Bruno is a fussy young man who wants to hang onto his self-respect by living up to his ideals, even if it means losing the girl he really loves. Rosette is flighty young woman who lives for the moment, unfettered by any time restraints, and who is simply clueless about Bruno's inner struggle with their situation. Bruno's best friend Pierre is the only one of the three who can see both sides of the coin, and he strives to bridge the gap between the two.A gorgeous film to look at, even though it consists entirely of three people in an apartment. The leads are stunningly attractive, the short is beautifully shot, and although it's mostly dialogue, there's some lovely and very effective piano music to bridge the gaps between the discussions. It's also well acted and directed.I'm sure many in the non-thinking crowd would consider this short film boring, talky pretentious French crap, but we probably don't have to worry about that since most of those people will turn it off as soon as they realize that have to read subtitles with big words.Excellent short film.