By the Sea (2015)
Directed by Angelina Jolie
Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.
3 connections found
View:
3 films that influenced By the Sea
What critics say influenced By the Sea
Those obvious visual and thematic influences to the entire “white people in hot weather” genre, which extend from “L’Avventura” to “The Sheltering Sky” to Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and Richard Linklater’s “Before Midnight,” may well have arrived by way of Austrian cinematographer Christian Berger, who has shot most of Michael Haneke’s films.
We think of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “trilogy”: L’Avventura, La Notte, and L’Eclisse.
It might have been more interesting if Jolie had toyed humorously with the conventions of a film like “L’Avventura” rather than simply trying to copy them.
Unfortunately, By the Sea is less L’Avventura than it is Je t’aime moi non plus, or for that matter, Swept Away.
We think of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “trilogy”: L’Avventura, La Notte, and L’Eclisse.
His film La Notte conveniently also centers on a relationship between a male writer and female beauty.
Set on the stunning Côte d’Azur (though actually shot on the Maltese island of Gozo) and seeming to channel European directors of the '60s and '70s (Godard’s Contempt and Antonioni’s La Notte come to mind), By the Sea risks accusations of pretentiousness.
The novelty of “By the Sea” — which is no less than a naked attempt to ape ’60s French and Italian movies, especially those, like “Contempt” and “La Notte,” about bad relationships — may quickly wear off.
But those expecting a Swept Away-type debacle will be either mildly surprised or disappointed, depending on their level of schadenfreude.
Fortunately, Jolie's "By the Sea" isn't quite the stinker of Ritchie's "Swept Away".
Unfortunately, By the Sea is less L’Avventura than it is Je t’aime moi non plus, or for that matter, Swept Away.
When couples work together, it can often be a recipe for disaster, and while I generally have liked Jolie’s previous films as a director, her fourth attempt bears an eerie contrast to Shanghai Surprise and Swept Away, two films Madonna made with her ex-husbands.