824 Muriel, or The Time of Return

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Message
Author
black&huge
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:35 am

Re: 824 Muriel, or The Time of Return

#26 Post by black&huge » Mon Mar 23, 2020 6:16 pm

twbb tremendous thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts and that link. It really did help me and just as far as those ten seconds go I can kinda reason the point of the rapid cutting between the kettle and the woman at the door was to convey perhaps an overall idea of tying together an object to perhaps trigger a memory or to remember it as it may have been by placing emphasis on anything other than the actual human interaction. I went ahead and just ordered a copy since I very much want to watch it again as it definitely stuck in my mind even after waking up this morning.

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: 824 Muriel, or The Time of Return

#27 Post by FrauBlucher » Sun Sep 05, 2021 8:08 pm

There is nothing easy about Muriel, or The Time of Return. Even though there is no doubt this is the work of an auteur filmmaker, there is something frustrating about the film and its glacial pacing, fast-paced editing, and loose narrative. It is a beautifully composed cinematic experience that feels frustratingly incoherent and inessential. Maddeningly difficult, Muriel, or The Time of Return is a narrative misfire that doesn't work.
I watched this several months back. I just came across this review (2 stars) from bluray.com. No, it's not Svet, but Neil Lumbard. I couldn't disagree more with this take. As someone who is not really a fan of Resnais' two prior films to this, for me Muriel is brilliant. I am not sure where Lumbard falls on those films or some of Godard's work but his use of frustrating, incoherent and inessential are so off base. He says there is nothing easy. I didn't find it difficult in any way. And as it went on I became more and more invested. I can't imagine French New Wave is his cup of tea. This will be something I pick up at the next B&N sale.

For anyone who wants to read the full review

User avatar
feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: 824 Muriel, or The Time of Return

#28 Post by feihong » Sun Sep 05, 2021 8:33 pm

Unquestionably it's a movie you have to put work in to really understand everything, but I've always seen it as a stunning success (Je T'aime, Je T'aime, which utilizes a very similar technique, is for me much less affecting). I don't really feel the need to read that article in whole––simply because I disagree immediately with the article's premise––but I would say just from the piece you quoted that to demand a pacy feeling in a movie like this feels really pointless. The film is on one level about the intimate feelings in our lives––some of which include memories, dreams, and ideals––which pull us away from one another. Hardly anything really "happens" in Muriel––it has the feel of real life in a first-world western country, in which so many people's lives drag on, maintaining a sort of placidity, without clear demarcation and interruption (although WWII and the French-Algerian war loom in the background as clear dividing lines between generations, between people). So that idea that it has to pick up the pace to keep our interest seems very misguided, in the sense that it's not a feasible way to appreciate this movie.

Post Reply