Les Herbes folles

André Dussollier and Sabine Azéma

Alain Resnais' Les Herbes folles (Wild Grass) is an adaptation of Christian Gailly's novel L'Incident that was released in 2009. The film is a cockeyed study of a late age l'amour fou between Georges (André Dussolier) and Marguerite (Sabine Azéma). The two meet after Georges finds Marguerite's stolen wallet in a shopping center parking lot. Georges becomes fixated by Marguerite and, even though she rejects his advances, ends up stalking her. Marguerite is initially horrified by this, she even calls in the police to get Georges to desist, but ends up becoming similarly infatuated and ends up stalking Georges in turn. The two, with the help of family and friends, end up finding a suitable rapprochement. 

A summary of the plot, however, does little to capture the Gallic flavor of the film. The picture starts with fixed shots of grass that has sprung up in the cracks of pavement. We next see the feet and legs of pedestrians as they move hither and tither. As the adventures of Georges and Marguerite confirm, the stasis of flora is in counterpoint to the movement of the fauna. Likewise, the emotional states of people in the film fluctuate and do not remain fixed. Resnais also creates a counterpoint between his main characters, both of whom are portrayed by longtime collaborators (Azéma was the second Madame Resnais). Georges is unemployed and married. There are hints that some sort of misdeed has led to the end of his career. He is very bourgeoise and a bit OC. His character is associated with the color blue. Marguerite is single and works as a dentist. She is more of a free spirit than Georges, there always seem to be dirty dishes next to her sink in contrast to Georges' immaculate living quarters, and she even pilots small aircraft as a hobby. Her character is associated with the color of her Orphan Annie type hair, red. 

Of course, these signposts of Cartesian dualism don't guarantee that viewers will enjoy this film. Resnais' humor is extremely rationalist and very hit and miss in Les Herbes folles. A police interrogation done in burlesque style falls flat, as do the stuck zipper and dental discomfort gags. Resnais attempts at grounded humor are in conflict with his personality. Has there ever been a film in the history of the cinema less grounded than Last Year at Marienbad? Resnais tends to view his characters at an icy remove. That's why there are so many crane shots in Les Herbes folles looking down upon the characters as if the French bourgeoise were laboratory mice. Thus, watching this film may be an alienating to some, but the film is rewarding on a number of levels. 

The acting, of course, is superlative. Resnais does indulge Ms. Azéma a bit, but can you blame him? The supporting cast gives what could seem like a superficial affair some texture, especially Emmanuelle Devos as Marguerite's business partner and Mathieu Amalric as a police officer. Édouard Baer is wryly apt as the narrator. I also appreciated Resnais' use of the Cinemascope format in the film. He pushes characters in cars to one corner of the frame, causing us to view the characters in monologue as to be encased in their own thought bubbles. Resnais use of whip pans has a snappy insouciance. The main element in the film that I haven't touched on is that whatzit, picture above, known as the cinema. 

The film is replete with film references and gags. The most obvious is Resnais overlaying Fin over Georges and Marguerite's first kiss as the Fox logo music plays: the Hollywood ending. The French ending seems a reference to Jean Grémillon's Le Ciel est à vous which also is concerned with a female aviatrix. I responded to Resnais' use of Mark Robson's The Bridges at Toko-Ri, particularly Georges' different attitude towards it as he has aged. Resnais recognizes the dream like state of the theater going experience in which a suspension of disbelief lets us be at one with the collective unconscious. A suspension of disbelief is also the best way to experience Les Herbes folles which flows with many unconscious currents. It is an aging artist's serene meditation on what fools we mortals be.