La captive du désert

This film isn’t going to be for everyone. It’s about a woman who gets captured and held hostage in the desert by a nomadic group. There’s nothing to do and there’s nowhere to go in the desert, so there’s not a lot of action in this film.

I saw it when I worked in Edinburgh’s premier arthouse cinema, The Filmhouse. I remember people coming out of the film groaning and saying it was the most excruciatingly boring thing they’d ever seen.

For me, when the credits started rolling I remembered about things like blinking and breathing again and I emerged from the film as if from a trance. I had been completely mesmerised by the pace, the cinematography and by Sandrine Bonnaire’s performance. I think I fell in love with my wife because she looked like SB in that film.

Only with a culture of healthy funding could such a risky project be made into a film. As I say, it’s not for everyone; I might hate it if I had to sit through it again. I’m not saying you should rush out and buy it. I’m just very glad it’s out there.

Rosemary’s Baby

I stumbled across this poster. The greatness of the poster caused me to recall how great the film is.

Mia Farrow is truly magnificent: commands the role. Had this film been made in the past 25 years there would no doubt have been a deluge of sequels: Rosemary’s Toddler; Rosemary’s Teenager; Rosemary’s Grandchild…