Two Ways to Approach Classic French Cinema

1.  Dread the conclusion from the outset.  You know at least one person will die at the end.  Could be the matter of putting a period on an extended sentence of suffering which a character or a people or you, the viewer, has gone through.  Could be a totally random death thrown in to underline how "profound" this film thinks it has been, or how much Film is like Life, or how much Film is a construct, or how hard-up for a thoughtful, original ending the filmmaker was.

2.  Look forward to the ending, because someone French is going to die.

(Apologies if you happen to be French.  But I've seen two movies that have wrapped with double suicides in the past week.  Also:  Why doesn't Monsieur Hulot ever get hit by a truck, and then hit by another truck, and then have a giant FIN dropped on to his skull?  Comedy = Tragedy + Dead French Guy, that's what I always say.)

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Frankie Rose - Where Do You Run To (Demo)(buy)

This has nothing to do with that, obviously, but good gosh yikes is it pretty.  This is the demo Frankie Rose (myspace) -- formerly of Vivian Girls, formerly of Crystal Stilts, currently of her own self and maybe sort-of of The Dum Dum Girls -- recorded of the best song on the VG's debut record.  Both this and the lovely b-side to Rose's new single make clear how unnecessary the rudimentary surf chug piled on top of too much of this stuff can be.  Tide poolls, not wavves.

This track was included with much other goodness on the CD that accompanied Volume Six of YETI magazine.

tags: vivian girls  frankie rose  fucking french film  

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