{"id":12648,"date":"2010-10-14T12:20:36","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T19:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12648"},"modified":"2021-01-27T10:20:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T17:20:14","slug":"zazie-dans-le-metro-1960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12648","title":{"rendered":"Zazie \/ Zazie dans le Metro (1960)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;All Paris is a dream; Zazie is a reverie.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster-223x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-55198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster-223x300.png 223w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster-762x1024.png 762w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster-95x128.png 95w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster-768x1032.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster-201x270.png 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Poster.png 831w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 223px) 100vw, 223px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA young girl (Catherine Demongeot) visiting her aunt (Carla Marlier) and uncle (Philippe Noiret) in Paris runs away to explore the city.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>French Films<\/li>\n<li>Louis Malle Films<\/li>\n<li>Runaways<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s difficult to describe just how uniquely surreal Louis Malle&#8217;s adaptation of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zazie_dans_le_metro\">Raymond Queneau&#8217;s 1959 novel<\/a> really is. Dubbed &#8220;an elaborate French exercise in cinematic Dadaism&#8221; by <a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?_r=1&#038;res=9A05E5DB143AE13ABC4951DFB767838A679EDE\">Bosley Crowther of the <em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>, it&#8217;s both deliciously mindbending and seemingly random; if it weren&#8217;t based on a novel, one would accuse Malle of relying on (possibly drug-induced) free association as the basis for his script. Indeed, it&#8217;s literally impossible to absorb every moment of this story in one viewing &#8212; and you may very well feel giddily exhausted by the end of your attempt to keep up with both Zazie and Malle (whose other films give little indication of the radical parameters he sets for himself here). Malle&#8217;s cinematic bag of tricks seemingly knows no boundaries, as he speeds up his camera and then slows down again, utilizes jump-cuts, and generally messes as much as he can with the viewer&#8217;s sense of continuity and rationality. <\/p>\n<p>To provide an example: in just one 25-second section of a delightfully lengthy chase scene between Zazie and a policeman named Trouscaillon (Vittorio Caprioli), Zazie pours a glass of water over Trouscaillon&#8217;s head, which he promptly spouts out of his mouth like a fish. Zazie then jumps down the stairs and hides in a metal pail, which Trouscaillon sits down on. He hears rattling inside, and when he opens the lid, he sees that Zazie has transformed into a black cat. He leaps up in surprise and is suddenly found standing on the banister of a marble stairway, reeling Zazie in with a fishing pole. When Zazie reappears on-screen, she&#8217;s played by an elderly woman wearing the same orange shirt and gray skirt. This &#8220;older Zazie&#8221; slaps Trouscaillon, and their chase continues, with the original Zazie now back on-screen. And so it goes.<\/p>\n<p>Zazie herself is an incomparably precocious and delightfully salty protagonist. As played by Demongeot (who apparently never pursued an adult acting career), she&#8217;s fearless in her encounters with the lewd and\/or sexually confused adults she&#8217;s surrounded by &#8212; including her uncle (the always wonderful Philippe Noiret) and creepy Caprioli (who reminds me of Stanley Tucci). Meanwhile, another of the many delights offered by the film is its time-capsule view of Paris: made the same year as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5963\">Godard&#8217;s <em>Breathless<\/em><\/a>, it provides a heady visual counterpart to that fabled vision of the city, shown here in vibrant colors rather than in stark b&#038;w. Though Zazie is repeatedly foiled in her attempts to see the Metro (whose employees are on strike), her experiences in the rest of the city &#8212; including, naturally, the Eiffel Tower &#8212; are a treat to partake in. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Catherine Demongeot as Zazie<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-demongeot.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-demongeot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12898\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Philippe Noiret as Uncle Gabriel<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Noiret.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Noiret.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Noiret.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Noiret-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Noiret-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Noiret-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Simple but effective special effects<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Effects.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Effects.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Effects.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Effects-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Effects-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Zazie-Effects-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Wonderful use of authentic Paris locales<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-paris.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-paris.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12901\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Creative direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-direction.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12902\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Countless surreal moments<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-surreal.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-surreal.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12903\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-surreal2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/zazie-surreal2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12905\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Amusing word play, very creatively translated into English: &#8220;Damngodit!&#8221;\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an entirely unique New Wave masterpiece. Listed as a film with Historical Importance and a Cult Movie in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Foreign Gem<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0054494\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"hhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1961\/11\/21\/archives\/screen-dadaism-on-filmzazie-french-import-opens-at-the-paris.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=3987&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/96644\/zazie-dans-le-metro#articles-reviews?articleId=180495\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/zazie-dans-le-metro\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;All Paris is a dream; Zazie is a reverie.&#8221; Synopsis: A young girl (Catherine Demongeot) visiting her aunt (Carla Marlier) and uncle (Philippe Noiret) in Paris runs away to explore the city. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Black Comedy French Films Louis Malle Films Runaways Review: It&#8217;s difficult to describe just how uniquely surreal Louis Malle&#8217;s adaptation of Raymond Queneau&#8217;s 1959 novel really is. Dubbed &#8220;an elaborate French exercise in cinematic Dadaism&#8221; by Bosley Crowther of the New York Times,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12648\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12648"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66347,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12648\/revisions\/66347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}