"Get Real" (1998) Trailer

Stumbled upon this by complete accident. My favourite moment is the attempt to muzzle the worrying homophobic tension with an inappropriate blasting of "R-E-S-P-E-C-T". Also, an Adele clone as the requisite hag. Ah, late nineties U.K. comedies! May your indifferent DVD packaging fill my shelves for years to come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ok9u7ws6ec

Aug. 29th, 2011: "Loulou" (1980) dir. Maurice Pialat (DVD)

Rented on a whim after reading a brief discussion about Pialat - - - having no real idea of what to expect outside of said conversation and a quick glimpse of the opening 90 seconds, I was surprised at the movie's rather casual visuals. The opening shot is possibly the most engaging: a backwards-facing tracking shot that watches a pretty but withdrawn young woman stalking through a rainy Parisian street, her path directly aligned with the dark, rigid shadow of an overhead bridge. She abruptly peels off from this seemingly unshakable path, and exits the shot. Within seconds, she is at the leather-studded slacker Loulou (Depardieu)'s apartment, desperately seeking out the hungover lothario's spasmodic attention and affection. The bridge's shadow I took to be a suggestion of the echoes of a nourishing, though generally more austere, French social structure, the one that Isabelle Huppert's character, Nelly, timidly attempts to put to one side as she pursues a seemingly unexpected romance and swift engagement to Loulou, separating from her financially reliable, jealous, sub-sexual husband (Guy Marchand). Another cumulatively gorgeous piece of camerawork is the boozy handheld shot set in the club that brings together the three members of the film's central triangle as Nelly dashes off from hubby and into the arms of Loulou, who seconds before had been dancing with another girl. Nelly knows she's replacing another girl, and could be easily replaceable herself, but for her it's a break from what gives her no real sexual or psychic pleasure, as her husband is the chief breadwinner (and also seems to be her boss, though I wasn't really clear on this). An early scene where he throws her out ends with him demanding that she stay for a little while longer as she still has to pack all her belongings. It's less to do with any real romantic attachment, and more to do with a spiritual and psychic dominance. But in such a relationship, someone ultimately has to be in the inferior position. With Loulou, Nelly covers the finances (chiefly, paying for the hotel room where they reside for the first few weeks). When she becomes pregnant and decides, after witnessing the real heartbreak and spiritual breakdown caused by another couple's affairs, as well as becoming more and more aware of Loulou's refusal to commit to the kind of life that she had wanted to escape from, Nelly aborts the baby. And then, suddenly, Loulou is hers, completely, and the final shot has them retreating down a rigidly narrow alleyway, Nelly supporting the drunk stud.  The movie's visuals call little attention to themselves; they depend mostly on pairings and general blocking, with Pialat keeping affairs from coming under any artificial Parisian haze. Forgive the rambling, awkwardly phrased nature of this particular post. Expect edits.