Hélas pour moi

Hélas pour moi
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Gérard Depardieu
Cinematography Caroline Champetier
Release dates
 8 September 1993
Running time
 84 minutes
Country France
Language French

Hélas pour moi (English: Oh Woe is Me) is a 1993 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard and starring Gérard Depardieu. This film is inspired by the legend of Alcmene and Amphitryon[1] and attempts to show the desire of a god to experience the truth of human desire, suffering and pleasure.

Plot

Abraham Klimt arrives in a small Swiss village to investigate an incident that occurred on July 23rd, 1989 involving Rachel and Simon Donnadieu, a local couple. He interviews several of the townsfolk and enlists the aid of a poet, Aude Amiel. In flashback, the story of Rachel and Simon unfolds. Per the Greek myth on which the film is based, God, or a god, comes to earth with his assistant, Max Mercury. He decides he wants to possess Rachel Donnadieu, so he takes the form of Simon Donnadieu when Simon leaves home on a business trip. God-as-Simon returns to Rachel while Simon is away, and the two have an encounter.

Or not. Rachel is not talking about the incident, and Simon, in a brief encounter with Klimt at the end of the film, denies that it happened. The evidence provided by the flashbacks is contradictory. Ultimately, Klimt concludes, "There is nothing left to say concerning Simon and Rachel. The rest occurs beyond images and beyond stories."

Cast

Background

Cinematographer Caroline Champetier said that the original scenario began with God riding a train through France and Switzerland, observing all the battles of humanity through the window. This sequence required expensive special effects and Godard finally gave up on the idea after visiting a company that demonstrated for him the effects they achieved for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen.

References

  1. ↑ Fieschi-Vivet, Laeticia (2000). The Cinema Alone: Essays on the Work of Jean-Luc Godard, 1985-2000. Amsterdam University Press. p. 189.

External links


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