Pointe-Courte, La (1954) review

A couple (Philippe Noiret and Silvia Monfort) stroll around the fishing village of La Pointe-Courte discussing the troubles with their relationship while the villagers deal with their own problems and hardships (like dealing with horny teenagers, children dying, the fishermen being fined by the authorities). The two halves of the picture, however, don't exactly mesh: the 'broken love story' aspect is like a poor imitation of a Marguerite Duras novel, with each lover offering one 'romantic' banality after another ("Here I feel the strangeness of our connection," "I came to make noise and silence has won out") while the fishing village scenes are gritty with the real-life community noticeably awkward in front of the camera. Varda got the idea to split the film up from Faulkner's The Wild Palms, but a technique that might work on the page doesn't necessarily translate to the screen (I'd argue the cinema is a more fickle medium than the novel, but others are encouraged to disagree with me). There is one definite true-ism in there: "Parties don't change a thing, but they make us feel good."