The world is one big heartbreak.
This film reminds me of that.
I had seen it before.
But I hadn’t lived enough.
Life had never been that hard.
As it is now.
I don’t know what poetry is.
Maybe heightened language. Anguish.
Languid.
God’s pace through the heavens.
This was one of the few Jean Vigo films.
The auteur of auteurs.
Because he directed little.
A bit like Anton Webern.
In that regard.
Vingt regards.
You know the story.
I shan’t count down from twenty.
I’m sorry.
But at least I can relate to Michel Simon.
We’ve been all around the world.
Not really.
But not bad.
And in our cabins with our trinkets.
On this ghost ship.
We ply the harbor.
To have such sad conversations.
And such optimism.
Yeah…
Michel Simon with his monkeys.
Meenkeys.
A bit like Nerval and the lobster.
But here he has cats.
And that is all too appropriate.
Yes, even Élie Faure saw (and appreciated) this film.
James Agee admired the work of Jean Vigo.
You can only get as sad as Jean Dasté when you’ve loved (and lost) someone as beautiful as Dita Parlo.
I’m not alone in feeling that way (apparently).
But it doesn’t make it any easier.
To be among one’s own leafless trees.
Floating down the Seine.
Never allowed to dock.
Nothing but tragedy.
-PD
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