Barocco
Encyclopedia
Barocco is a 1976 French romantic thriller film, directed by André Téchiné
. The film stars Isabelle Adjani
, Gérard Depardieu
and Marie-France Pisier
. Identity, redemption and resurrection are the themes of the film. The plot follows a young woman who convinces her boxer boyfriend to accept a bribe to tell a lie that discredits a local politician. When the boyfriend is murdered, she is racked with guilt until she meets the killer and plans to remake him into the image of her slain lover. The film won three César Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography and Best Music. The film had a total of 678,734 admissions in France.
Laure goes to her house located in the city's red light district. Her roommate, Nelly, a goodhearted prostitute, advertises her trade from a show window. She has a baby daughter and is looking for a name for her newborn. Nelly tries to persuade her friend from leaving and an argument stars between them. Jules, Nelly's husband, intervenes and Nelly discovering the money hidden in Laure's bag lets her leave but insist that Jules escort her to the train station.
At the station, Samson has been followed by two hired assassins. Laure buys the train tickets and hides the money at the station's lockers, but prevented by Samson they go separate ways. She waits for him at a local diner, but ends ups falling sleep and spending the night there. The next morning she is awaken no by Samson but by one of the killers for hire, who demands the money. While she tries to run, Samson shows up on the snowy street and is immediately shot by the assassin. Samson falls death while a train approaches the station.
After the assassination, Samson's killer, a brunette dead ringer for the murdered man, looks for Laure and the money. Returning from helping the police with the murder investigation, Laure bravely confronts the killer who is smitten by her. Walt, the editor of the newspaper that was going to run the scandalous revelations about the politician, gets involved in Samson's murder investigation. He is helped by Antoinette, his assistant, a newspaper reporter who is secretly in love with him. Walt goes as far as to contact both Gauthier, the leader of the gang that ordered Samson's assassination and members of the campaign of the politician object of the smear campaign.
The murderer is now in hiding from his former employees and the police. The gang members have already killed the other man who followed Samson. Looking for Laure and a place to hide, Samson's killer (his name is never given) holes up with Nelly who taking him for a client, offers him her specialty: la radical, that includes a dance and song number, but he is more interested in having something to eat. Watching the news, Nelly realizes that he is Samson's killer.
Atoinette and Walt invite Laure for dinner and they watch a show of a torch singer. Deeply moved by the song Laure heads home, but the killer is still there waiting for her. The next morning, Nelly has left to Samson's wake and Laure confronts the killer once again. He wants to be love by her, but she would accept him only at the condition that he looks like the boxer he killed. Eventually the killer accepts Laure's need to "reinvent" him as her dead boyfriend - literally transforming his identity. Laure remodels him in Samson's image and they decide to take the money and escape the city together. The day of the elections, while the results are given, in the midst of celebrations the couple manage to escape on a liner evading the gangsters, when these by mistake, shot Walt, instead of Samson's killer.
, a Cuban poet and cultural theorist exiled in Paris.
The director was also inspired by the Baroque
painting, the Exchange of Princesses (1621–1625) by Rubens
, in which one figure is becoming the copy of the other.
with finance from Les Films de la Boetie, which made many of Claude Chabrol
's films of the period, and Sara Films. The screenplay was written by Téchiné with Marilyn Goldin, they have collaborated also in Souvenirs d'en France. Barocco was shot in Amsterdam
.
's M
(1931). The murk, fog and dreams of escape Marcel Carné
's Le Quai des brumes
(1938). The northern city and the casting of Marie-France Pisier
recall Alain Robbe-Grillet
's Trans- Europe Express
(1966). A railway carriage scene recalls the murder in Jean Renoir
's La Bête Humaine
(1938). A dialogue between Laure and Samson's killer is lifted from Nicholas Ray
's Johnny Guitar
(1953). Barocco, above all, makes references to the films of Alfred Hitchcock
. The relentless score by Philippe Sarde
is reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann
scores for Hitchcock. The working class street scape and a hair dyeing sequence are similar to some in Marnie
(1964). Samson 's death a gunshot puncturing his eye and witnessed through the window of a train, recalls a scene in The Birds
(1963). Laure's failing arms echoing the gestures of Tippi Hedren
when she is attacked. Vertigo
(1965) is the most clear referent, in a neat gender reversal, for Laure's transformation of Samson's killer. The curl in the hair of Antoinette (Hélène Surgère) recalls that of Madeleine/ Carlotta (Kim Novak
) in Hitchcock's film.
in the USA in 2003. The film is in French with English subtitles. The special features includes a commentary by film critics Andy Klein (The New Times
) and Wade Major (Boxoffice Magazine). It is the earliest of Téchiné's films available on DVD in the United States.
's drama Monsieur Klein
.
André Téchiné
André Téchiné , is a French screenwriter and film director. He has had a long and distinguished career that places him among the best post-New Wave French film directors....
. The film stars Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Yasmine Adjani is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Awards for Best Actress with five, for Possession , One Deadly Summer , Camille Claudel , Queen Margot and Skirt Day...
, Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
and Marie-France Pisier
Marie-France Pisier
Marie-France Pisier was a French actress. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:...
. Identity, redemption and resurrection are the themes of the film. The plot follows a young woman who convinces her boxer boyfriend to accept a bribe to tell a lie that discredits a local politician. When the boyfriend is murdered, she is racked with guilt until she meets the killer and plans to remake him into the image of her slain lover. The film won three César Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography and Best Music. The film had a total of 678,734 admissions in France.
Plot
In a French speaking port in Northern Europe, Laure, an aimless young woman, goes to see her boyfriend, Samson, a washed up boxer. While posing for photographs, that are going to illustrate an interview for a newspaper, Samson is offered to take a huge amount of money if he lies, confessing in the interview to have an homosexual relationship with a politician, who is a candidate in an oncoming election. The smearing campaign has been hatched by political rivals involved with gang members. Samson is hesitant, but Laure pushes him to take the offer. The money would allow them to have a better future somewhere else. Members of the campaign of the politician in question, informed of the impending interview and outrageous revelations, contact Samson and Laure and made them changed their minds, offering them an equal amount of money if they just leave for a trip abroad.Laure goes to her house located in the city's red light district. Her roommate, Nelly, a goodhearted prostitute, advertises her trade from a show window. She has a baby daughter and is looking for a name for her newborn. Nelly tries to persuade her friend from leaving and an argument stars between them. Jules, Nelly's husband, intervenes and Nelly discovering the money hidden in Laure's bag lets her leave but insist that Jules escort her to the train station.
At the station, Samson has been followed by two hired assassins. Laure buys the train tickets and hides the money at the station's lockers, but prevented by Samson they go separate ways. She waits for him at a local diner, but ends ups falling sleep and spending the night there. The next morning she is awaken no by Samson but by one of the killers for hire, who demands the money. While she tries to run, Samson shows up on the snowy street and is immediately shot by the assassin. Samson falls death while a train approaches the station.
After the assassination, Samson's killer, a brunette dead ringer for the murdered man, looks for Laure and the money. Returning from helping the police with the murder investigation, Laure bravely confronts the killer who is smitten by her. Walt, the editor of the newspaper that was going to run the scandalous revelations about the politician, gets involved in Samson's murder investigation. He is helped by Antoinette, his assistant, a newspaper reporter who is secretly in love with him. Walt goes as far as to contact both Gauthier, the leader of the gang that ordered Samson's assassination and members of the campaign of the politician object of the smear campaign.
The murderer is now in hiding from his former employees and the police. The gang members have already killed the other man who followed Samson. Looking for Laure and a place to hide, Samson's killer (his name is never given) holes up with Nelly who taking him for a client, offers him her specialty: la radical, that includes a dance and song number, but he is more interested in having something to eat. Watching the news, Nelly realizes that he is Samson's killer.
Atoinette and Walt invite Laure for dinner and they watch a show of a torch singer. Deeply moved by the song Laure heads home, but the killer is still there waiting for her. The next morning, Nelly has left to Samson's wake and Laure confronts the killer once again. He wants to be love by her, but she would accept him only at the condition that he looks like the boxer he killed. Eventually the killer accepts Laure's need to "reinvent" him as her dead boyfriend - literally transforming his identity. Laure remodels him in Samson's image and they decide to take the money and escape the city together. The day of the elections, while the results are given, in the midst of celebrations the couple manage to escape on a liner evading the gangsters, when these by mistake, shot Walt, instead of Samson's killer.
Cast
- Isabelle AdjaniIsabelle AdjaniIsabelle Yasmine Adjani is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Awards for Best Actress with five, for Possession , One Deadly Summer , Camille Claudel , Queen Margot and Skirt Day...
as Laure - Gérard DepardieuGérard DepardieuGérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
as Samson and Samson's Killer - Marie-France PisierMarie-France PisierMarie-France Pisier was a French actress. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:...
as Nelly - Jean-Claude BrialyJean-Claude BrialyJean-Claude Brialy – died 30 May 2007, Monthyon, Seine-et-Marne, France was a French actor, director, and socialite.-Biography:...
as Walt - Julien GuiomarJulien GuiomarJulien Guiomar , was a French film actor...
as Gauthier - Hélène Surgère as Antoinette
- Claude BrasseurClaude Brasseur-Biography:He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine as Claude Pierre Espinasse, the son of actor Pierre Brasseur and actress Odette Joyeux. He is the godson of Ernest Hemingway and the father of Alexandre Brasseur....
as Jules
Title
Téchiné took the title of his film from the work Barroco (1974) written by Severo SarduySevero Sarduy
Severo Sarduy was a Cuban poet, author, playwright, and critic of Cuban literature and art.-Biography:...
, a Cuban poet and cultural theorist exiled in Paris.
The director was also inspired by the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
painting, the Exchange of Princesses (1621–1625) by Rubens
Rubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
, in which one figure is becoming the copy of the other.
Production
Téchiné's third feature had a bigger budget than Souvenirs the France, his previous film, and was produced by Alain SardeAlain Sarde
Alain Sarde is a French film producer and actor who was born on the 28 March 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt. One of his films, Mulholland Drive received the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Picture. The Pianist was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and won the BAFTA Award for...
with finance from Les Films de la Boetie, which made many of Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
's films of the period, and Sara Films. The screenplay was written by Téchiné with Marilyn Goldin, they have collaborated also in Souvenirs d'en France. Barocco was shot in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
Analysis
The film is rooted in the world of cinema rather than the real. Hence contains references to a number of films. The terrorized city recalls Fritz LangFritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's M
M (1931 film)
M is a 1931 German drama-thriller directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou. It was Lang's first sound film, although he had directed more than a dozen films previously....
(1931). The murk, fog and dreams of escape Marcel Carné
Marcel Carné
-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...
's Le Quai des brumes
Port of Shadows
Port of Shadows is a 1938 French film directed by Marcel Carné. It stars Jean Gabin, Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan. The screenplay was written by Jacques Prévert based on a novel by Pierre Mac Orlan. The music score was by Maurice Jaubert. It is a notable example of the poetic realism genre...
(1938). The northern city and the casting of Marie-France Pisier
Marie-France Pisier
Marie-France Pisier was a French actress. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:...
recall Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet , was a French writer and filmmaker. He was, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simon, one of the figures most associated with the Nouveau Roman trend. Alain Robbe-Grillet was elected a member of the Académie française on March 25, 2004, succeeding Maurice...
's Trans- Europe Express
Trans-Europ-Express (film)
Trans-Europ-Express is a 1966 film written and directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Marie-France Pisier. The title refers to the Trans Europ Express, a former international rail network in Europe....
(1966). A railway carriage scene recalls the murder in Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
's La Bête Humaine
La Bête Humaine (film)
La Bête Humaine is a film directed by Jean Renoir, with cinematography by Curt Courant...
(1938). A dialogue between Laure and Samson's killer is lifted from Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
's Johnny Guitar
Johnny Guitar
Johnny Guitar is a 1954 Republic Pictures Western film starring Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, and Scott Brady.The screenplay was based upon a novel by Roy Chanslor. Though credited to Philip Yordan, he was merely a front for the actual screenwriter, blacklistee Ben Maddow. ...
(1953). Barocco, above all, makes references to the films of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
. The relentless score by Philippe Sarde
Philippe Sarde
-Biography:Philippe Sarde was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France.He is the brother of Alain Sarde. He was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988.-Selected filmography:...
is reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
scores for Hitchcock. The working class street scape and a hair dyeing sequence are similar to some in Marnie
Marnie (film)
Marnie is a 1964 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on the novel of the same name by Winston Graham. The film stars Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. The original film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.-Plot:...
(1964). Samson 's death a gunshot puncturing his eye and witnessed through the window of a train, recalls a scene in The Birds
The Birds (film)
The Birds is a 1963 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few...
(1963). Laure's failing arms echoing the gestures of Tippi Hedren
Tippi Hedren
Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren is an American actress and former fashion model with a career spanning six decades. She is primarily known for her roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films, The Birds and Marnie, and her extensive efforts in animal rescue at Shambala Preserve, an wildlife habitat which she...
when she is attacked. Vertigo
Vertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...
(1965) is the most clear referent, in a neat gender reversal, for Laure's transformation of Samson's killer. The curl in the hair of Antoinette (Hélène Surgère) recalls that of Madeleine/ Carlotta (Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
) in Hitchcock's film.
DVD release
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the USA in 2003. The film is in French with English subtitles. The special features includes a commentary by film critics Andy Klein (The New Times
Miami New Times
The Miami New Times is a free weekly newspaper published in Miami and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered near Miami's Design District.-Overview:...
) and Wade Major (Boxoffice Magazine). It is the earliest of Téchiné's films available on DVD in the United States.
Awards and nominations
Barocco was great favorite, at the 1977 César Awards leading with nine nominations. However, the film lost in the major categories (Best film and director) won by Joseph LoseyJoseph Losey
Joseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
's drama Monsieur Klein
Monsieur Klein
Monsieur Klein is a 1976 French film directed by Joseph Losey, with Alain Delon starring in the title role.- Synopsis :It is 1942, the war is in full swing and France is occupied by the Nazis. To Robert Klein, however, these events are of little concern...
.
- César Awards (France)
- Won: Best Actress – Supporting RoleCésar Award for Best Actress in a Supporting RoleList of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Supporting Actress .-Winners:Adapted from the article , from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License....
(Marie-France Pisier) - Won: Best CinematographyCésar Award for Best CinematographyThe following are the winners of the annual César Award for Best Cinematography .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(Bruno Nuytten; tied with Meilleure façon de marcher) - Won: Best Music (Philippe Sarde)
- Nominated: Best Actress – Leading Role (Isabelle Adjani)
- Nominated: Best DirectorCésar Award for Best DirectorThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Director .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(André Téchiné) - Nominated: Best EditingCésar Award for Best EditingThe César Award for Best Editing is one of the annual César Awards given by the French Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema. Eligible films are usually in the French language.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:...
(Claudine Merlin) - Nominated: Best FilmCésar Award for Best FilmThe winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
- Nominated: Best Production DesignCésar Award for Best Production DesignThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Production Design .-Winners and nominees:*1976: Pierre Guffroy: Que la fête commence*1977: Alexandre Trauner: Monsieur Klein...
(Ferdinando Scarfiotti) - Nominated: Best SoundCésar Award for Best SoundThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Sound .-Winners and nominees:*1976 : Nara Kollery *1977 : Jean-Pierre Ruh *1978 : Jacques Maumont...
(Paul Lainé)
- Won: Best Actress – Supporting Role