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Andre' Techine' (France, 1943), assistant to Jacques Rivette for L'Amour Fou (1969), debuted with Paulina s'en Va (1969), not released until 1975, in the manner of the nouvelle vague. After the tentativie Souvenirs d'en France (1974), inspired by Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons, Techine' penned the elegant thriller noir Barocco (1976). After the biographical Les Soeurs Bronte (1979), he allowed the actors to improvise in Hotel des Ameriques (1981), the first film featuring Catherine Deneuve. His art matured in the visceral noir Rendez-vous (1985) and another sordid existentialist noir, J'Embrasse pas/ I Don't Kiss (1991), although in between he directed two failures, Le Lieu du Crime/ Scene of the Crime (1986) and Les Innocents (1987).
Then came the trio of films in which he truly found his voice: Ma Saison Preferee/ My Favorite Season (1993), the nostalgic and lyrical Les Roseaux Sauvages/ Wild Reeds (1994), and Les Voleurs/ Thieves (1996), fueled by complex narrative devices. Unfortunately, this trio of interesting works was followed by mediocre films such as Alice et Martin (1998), Loin (2001), shot on digital video, Les Egares/ Strayed (2003), adapted from Gilles Perrault's novel "Le Garcon aux Yeux Gris", and Les Temps Qui Changent/ Changing Times (2004), set in Morocco. Despite the sophisticated Les Temoins/ The Witnesses (2007), the artistic decline continued with La Fille du RER/ The Girl on the Train (2009), adapted from a Jean Marie Besset play, Impardonnables/ Unforgivable (2011), adapted from a Philippe Djian novel, L'Homme que l'on Aimait Trop/ In the Name of My Daughter (2014), based on a book titled "Une Femme Face a la Mafia" by Renee Le Roux and Jean-Charles Le Roux, Quand on a 17 Ans/ Being 17 (2016), etc.
(Copyright © 2015 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use )
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