There is a moment midway through We Won’t Grow Old Together in which after Jobert refuses sex, Yanne throws a tantrum and leaves the room hitting the door hard in his way out and as he does that the camera stays behind as the air moves Jobert’s hair. Somehow that chain reaction contains everything that makes Pialat’s films so great. It never fails to move me.

Love as a perpetually illogical state of mind, when you care so deeply and so irrationally about another human being that you'd rather hurt and torment them than leave them feeling nothing at all.
Pialat constantly ends his scenes with individuals walking in and out of cars - in these moments, the director almost always keeps his camera static, the audience stuck with the individual who remains inside. We then watch as they observe the love of their life walk away, and in return, we see the loved one look back, making sure that their special other is still watching. Whether or not these moments should be read as a bitter power play or empathetic reassurance is besides the point - in Pialat's cinema, these emotions are one and the same.

The intimate portrait of an asshole. Or a man on the verge of dying alone.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

A musical symphony of misery that Pialat somehow sustains through 106 minutes. The edit here is so good. Pialat's commitment to his concept by keeping everything but the uglier parts of their relationship off-screen is something few others could pull and that he never waves and allow the film to go easy is remarkable. The moments Merril tells Yanne that Jobert got married has to be one of cinema's great scenes, a cosmic comeuppance rendered in such a mudane way that actually makes it hits harder. And, let's face it, it takes a very unique kind of horrible madman to make a self-portrait like this.

a film whose form is so thoroughly in sync with its protagonist we must dread every cut. we never know if he will shove her, insult her, kiss her, hit her, give her a present. she leaves him, it’s over, it’s too much, and with one cut she’s smiling as she gets in his car.

“You think everything’s ugly.”

when someone leaves, it’s like death.


worse... they still exist. 

35mm. Anthology Film Archives.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

"You’ve never succeeded at anything and you never will," says a 40-year-old married filmmaker to his younger, working-class lover. "And do you know why? Because you are vulgar, irremediably vulgar, and not only are you vulgar, you are ordinary." As honest and unsentimental a look at a broken relationship you're likely to find outside of Cassavetes, this typically autobiographical work by Pialat is one of his greatest. Both Marlène Jobert and Cannes award winner Jean Yanne are terrific in their respective roles.

"Ton seul orgueil, c'est ta médiocrité", dit Jean à Catherine. Quel salaud tout de même, Pialat. Ce qui me fascine assez c'est que son sadisme est tout à fait conscientisé, l'abject y est assumé comme partie prenante de l'expérience de l'amour. On ne peut donc pas tout à fait rabattre le film sur une grille de lecture féministe, c'est plus compliqué que ça, tellement c'est évident qu'il le sait qu'il joue avec les nerfs du spectateur et qu'il est horrible lui-même dans son rapport à l'actrice et à la femme.

À partir de là, je vois mal quelles sont les qualités cinématographiques du film, outre le fait que le montage sert à coudre la litanie de la répétition du même de cette histoire d'amour qui n'en finit pas d'échouer.

T'as pas vu un Maurice Pialat tant que t'as pas vu un Maurice Pialat avec une Française à côté de toi qui hurle « non mais casse-toi gros con » à toutes les deux minutes. C'est un peu comme mettre des lunettes 3D.

A grand masterpiece, constructed out of the plane of the screen/camera itself, like the windshield of Jean's little blue car, an extension of (and crutch for) himself. The 180-degree rule made anew as Jean and Catherine vacillate endlessly, the set (the framing of the set) set-off from the camera by a line of demarcation, exemplified most directly in the cuts to the 16mm handheld shots from Jean's camera at the street bazaar.

Nightmares in Pialat's film that often goes unremarked: The French predilection for the seashore, body-exposing and loud; and that couples of that epoch got married like they were taking out a short-term loan.

"There's a man who cries in ORDET, a film by Dreyer." "Why?" "His wife's dead." "Parting's like dying." "But [Catherine's] alive, that's even worse."

At my blog: an essay I commissioned from Emmanuel Burdeau for the Masters of Cinema DVD release, along with translations of two Pialat conversations:

cinemasparagus.blogspot.com/2015/10/nous-ne-vieillirons-pas-ensemble-pialat.html

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

- When someone leaves you it’s like they die.
- It’s worse — they’re still alive. 

İlişkinin sonundaki aşk. İlişkinin başındakinin aksine herşeyden artık haberdarsın, yine de o aşka düşmeyi istediğin gibi aşktan düşmeyi de istiyorsun, aferin.

We grew up together but we won't grow old together.

J’aime bien la réalisation très épurée de Pialat et la très jolie photographie mais l’histoire m’a complètement laissé sur le carreau.

Poignant, but awfully tiresome, like any unhealthy relationship that outlives itself way too long. Though it has some really nice lines and astute observations.

Puissance du montage, qui enchaîne les disputes avec les retrouvailles pour un concentré de relation abusive. Netteté de la mise en scène, la caméra qui glisse de gauche à droite.

the main guy is such an annoying, unremarkable asshole... not sure why these beautiful ladies even paid him the time of day.. guess thats why it was a movie

*MUBI
start time 2:01pm

Um filme sobre a vida conjugal e seus dissabores, o relacionamento abusivo, o ciúme, as brigas e a ruptura, que se mostra cada vez mais próxima. Uma história sobre escolhas, certas, erradas e necessárias, mesmo que não representem o ideal. A humanidade dos personagens de Pialat é tão real e verídica que chega a assustar.

Un film sur moi dans 30 ans tout au plus

Hay relaciones tóxicas y luego están las de Pialat.