valadas A theater playwright leaves instructions to be obeyed after his death to all his former performers of his theatrical version of the ancient Greek legend "Eurydice" to gather themselves at his house (an old big mansion) to appreciate the performance of that play by a recent company which is shown on a film. What goes on then is that there is a strong interpenetration of the acting by the new performers and one by the old ones who recreate now some scenes at the playwrights' house while watching the film. Here the dichotomies youth -- old age, death -- life and theatre -- real life are patent and crossed by love through rich, deep and poetic dialogues. The role of memory in human relations (a theme very dear to Resnais) is also present now and then. This is not an easy movie, I mean a movie practically accessible to the general public and needs special attention by the viewer.

Steve Pulaski You Ain't Seen Nothing' Yet! is an elegant endeavor concerning a group of veteran actors (all of whom are playing themselves) who are gathered at a recently-deceased playwright's home to view his will. They sit in a lavish but obviously artificial set that is his screening room and are told they are about to view one of the man's play, titled Eurydice performed by a young cast of actors who are a part of "La Compagnie de la Colombe." While the actors are much too old to play the roles now, they nevertheless begin reciting the dialog themselves, acting it out in the screening room, and eventually, all throughout the playwright's home. The entire thing becomes a smooth and fascinating depiction of nostalgia, age, and life itself.Ostensibly, there isn't much here to warrant a film, but director Alain Resnais, who is ninety-one years old, instills energy and fuel into the story at hand, almost making You Ain't Seen Nothing' Yet! to be the work of a younger filmmaker. However, the elements dealing with age and love assure this is the work of an older, more experienced soul. The film shows the mindset and the captivation of a group of people who just discovered that one of their influences has died and they're watching his swan song. Because of this, they seem to recount their own lives, realize that there time may be soon indeed. They start to channel their younger-selves, become caught up in the moment, and energetically perform the play they once did years back in an impromptu manner. It's like watching your grandparents quote events from their life or sit around the dinner table and talk about things they once did.The whole exercise is nostalgic and whimsical, and Resnais does a beautiful job at making sure we're not exactly sure we're the film is going to go. An exercise like this could become dry after a while (and, to be fair, the film does sort of run its course by the seventy-minute mark). Therefore, Resnais includes eccentric, comedic elements, in addition to lyrical direction to keep audiences attentive to what they're watching.The final piece to take note of are the sets, which look like sets straight out of a play (for all I know they are). The artificial-look of the aesthetics give the film sort of a self-referential kind of feel, as if we're watching people watching a play inside a play. Whether or not that was the intention of Resnais, I can't say, but the feeling provides for a pleasantly close-to-home aspect for the film.You Ain't Seen Nothing' Yet! is five minutes shy of two hours and feels every bit as long. After so long, the film becomes a bit grating and seems to run out of steam. But thanks to Resnais being aware of this and the themes the film does propose, it manages to rise past its runtime to show us some truly memorable takeaway points. The film is also a beautiful showcase of French acting, in addition to its themes of life and love. It's one of the most idiosyncratic and personal stories of the year.Directed by: Alain Resnais.

writers_reign If you relish, as I do, great French actors then you have died and gone to heaven because Alain Resnais has reassembled the bulk of his repertory company of the cream of French actors, supplemented it here and there, and turned it loose on a conceit that may not be to everyone's taste but is a ball for everyone else; it's rather like assembling the cream of the Old Vic actors, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Johnny Gielgud, Richard Burton, and not having to take the vastly overrated Larry Olivier as part of the package. The premise is simple; Denis Podalydes, a Giradoux-type playwright has died suddenly and left a 'living will' in which he summons the actors - Sabine Azema', Mathieu Almanac, Michel Piccoli, Pierre Arditi, Anne Consigny, Lambert Wilson, etc - who have, over the years, appeared in various stage productions of his take on the Orpheus legend, 'Eurydice'. The idea is that they will pass judgment on a new production by a young Acting company but this, of course, is just a stepping-off point for them to reprise the roles themselves. To be honest it's less of a movie than a Master Class in Acting and whilst I have no problem with that and am happy to wallow in a gang of great thesps doing their thing I accept that not everyone will share that opinion.