La Lectrice
By VINCENT CANBY
Published: April 21, 1989, New York Times
Michel Deville's new movie, ''La Lectrice'' (''The Reader''), is about the joys and the occasional perils of reading the works of, among others, Marguerite Duras, the Marquis de Sade and Guy de Maupassant, as well as of Raymond Jean, who wrote the novel and the stories on which the screenplay is based.
A movie about reading would seem to be something of a contradiction except that, in the case of the French film [opening today at the 68th Street Playhouse], one spends as much time reading the English subtitles as watching the action. That's an irony denied French-speaking audiences.
''La Lectrice'' is what is sometimes described as multi-layered. It begins with a young woman named Marie (Miou-Miou) in bed reading aloud to her lover (Christian Ruche) from Mr. Jean's novel ''La Lectrice,'' which is about the adventures of a young woman who hires herself out as a professional reader. As she reads, Marie becomes Constance, the central figure of the book.
Constance's first client is Eric, a teen-ager paralyzed from the waist down. Eric asks Constance to read Baudelaire. Listening to the words and seeing a bit of Constance's bare thigh, Eric becomes so erotically aroused that he has a seizure.
Her next client is a nearly blind, bedridden Hungarian countess for whom she reads ''a marvelous text on precious metals'' by Karl Marx. The countess's beautiful young maid complains of being bitten by spiders at night. The bites begin on her calves and are working upward. Constance is unsurprised by such confidences. She suggests that the young woman wear tight panties when she goes to bed.
''La Lectrice'' is full of odd tales, some of them read aloud, some of them told, in which the actors who play characters Constance meets turn up as characters within the tales. A few of the stories are funny, including the one in which Constance plays the role of a sex therapist to a busy businessman, though she continues to read while being therapeutic.
Miou-Miou is comically deadpan as she goes about her trade, but the movie is too clever for its own good. Though all of the actors throw themselves enthusiastically into their roles, the movie remains a stunt. One doesn't laugh as often as one searches out the inside jokes based on the literary works being read. Most are fairly simple.
There is something sort of elitist about this method, even condescending. At one point Constance finds her photograph on page 1 of the local newspaper. It had been taken when she was hanging a red flag from the window of the Marx-loving Hungarian countess. Says a policeman, ''Reading is fine, but look where it leads.''
The movie assumes that the rest of us know better. STORYTELLING HOUR - LA LECTRICE, directed by Michel Deville; screenplay (French with English subtitles) by Rosalinde and Michel Deville, based on ''La Lectrice'' and ''Un Fantasme de Bella B. et Autres Recits'' by Raymond Jean; director of photography, Dominique le Rigoleur; edited by Raymonde Guyot; music by Beethoven; production designer, Thierry Leproust; produced by Mme. Deville; co-produced by Elefilm, A.A.A. Productions-Xavier Gelin and Denis Chateau, T.S.F. Productions - Francois Ruggieri and Cine 5 with the participation of Sofimage; released by Orion Classics. At 68th Street Playhouse, on Third Avenue. Running time: 98 minutes. This film is rated R. Constance/Marie...Miou-Miou Jean/Philippe...Christian Ruche Francoise...Sylvie Laporte Agency Man...Michel Raskine Eric's mother/Jocelyne...Brigitte Catillon Eric...Regis Royer General's widow...Maria Casares Businessman...Patrick Chesnais Bella...Marianne Denicourt
Published: April 21, 1989, New York Times
Michel Deville's new movie, ''La Lectrice'' (''The Reader''), is about the joys and the occasional perils of reading the works of, among others, Marguerite Duras, the Marquis de Sade and Guy de Maupassant, as well as of Raymond Jean, who wrote the novel and the stories on which the screenplay is based.
A movie about reading would seem to be something of a contradiction except that, in the case of the French film [opening today at the 68th Street Playhouse], one spends as much time reading the English subtitles as watching the action. That's an irony denied French-speaking audiences.
''La Lectrice'' is what is sometimes described as multi-layered. It begins with a young woman named Marie (Miou-Miou) in bed reading aloud to her lover (Christian Ruche) from Mr. Jean's novel ''La Lectrice,'' which is about the adventures of a young woman who hires herself out as a professional reader. As she reads, Marie becomes Constance, the central figure of the book.
Constance's first client is Eric, a teen-ager paralyzed from the waist down. Eric asks Constance to read Baudelaire. Listening to the words and seeing a bit of Constance's bare thigh, Eric becomes so erotically aroused that he has a seizure.
Her next client is a nearly blind, bedridden Hungarian countess for whom she reads ''a marvelous text on precious metals'' by Karl Marx. The countess's beautiful young maid complains of being bitten by spiders at night. The bites begin on her calves and are working upward. Constance is unsurprised by such confidences. She suggests that the young woman wear tight panties when she goes to bed.
''La Lectrice'' is full of odd tales, some of them read aloud, some of them told, in which the actors who play characters Constance meets turn up as characters within the tales. A few of the stories are funny, including the one in which Constance plays the role of a sex therapist to a busy businessman, though she continues to read while being therapeutic.
Miou-Miou is comically deadpan as she goes about her trade, but the movie is too clever for its own good. Though all of the actors throw themselves enthusiastically into their roles, the movie remains a stunt. One doesn't laugh as often as one searches out the inside jokes based on the literary works being read. Most are fairly simple.
There is something sort of elitist about this method, even condescending. At one point Constance finds her photograph on page 1 of the local newspaper. It had been taken when she was hanging a red flag from the window of the Marx-loving Hungarian countess. Says a policeman, ''Reading is fine, but look where it leads.''
The movie assumes that the rest of us know better. STORYTELLING HOUR - LA LECTRICE, directed by Michel Deville; screenplay (French with English subtitles) by Rosalinde and Michel Deville, based on ''La Lectrice'' and ''Un Fantasme de Bella B. et Autres Recits'' by Raymond Jean; director of photography, Dominique le Rigoleur; edited by Raymonde Guyot; music by Beethoven; production designer, Thierry Leproust; produced by Mme. Deville; co-produced by Elefilm, A.A.A. Productions-Xavier Gelin and Denis Chateau, T.S.F. Productions - Francois Ruggieri and Cine 5 with the participation of Sofimage; released by Orion Classics. At 68th Street Playhouse, on Third Avenue. Running time: 98 minutes. This film is rated R. Constance/Marie...Miou-Miou Jean/Philippe...Christian Ruche Francoise...Sylvie Laporte Agency Man...Michel Raskine Eric's mother/Jocelyne...Brigitte Catillon Eric...Regis Royer General's widow...Maria Casares Businessman...Patrick Chesnais Bella...Marianne Denicourt
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