Just as Alphonse Daudet's drama unfolded, unfolded, was consumed around the absence of the beauty, of the unworthy Arlésienne, Bernard Roué's film plays on the appearance / disappearance, the absence / presence fleeting, real, projected? of a very beautiful woman, shiny black body evolving against an equally black background, body that one would like to look at for a long time; frustration which increases desire and sharpens the gaze. Just as Bizet's music extended, made Daudet's text even more sensitive, the image / sound montage produced from extracts from the stage music, leads us, through its interruptions of images, sounds, and accelerations. , its slow-motion, its crescendi, its diminuandi, with relentless precision, to what is at issue: unfulfilled expectation. C. B.
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