Translated material
Anton Dolin. Cinema-7. Three colors: gray
For the premiere of the French melodrama "Venus Beauty Salon"
Presenting this film to the public, the distributors could not say much about it. Still, the presence of Natalie Bai - even in the title role - is not yet a sufficiently respected trademark; Godard's "Detective" is remembered and especially loved by few, and "The Pornographic Liaison" , which brought Bai the Venetian prize, was rather sluggish in Russia. The director's name means nothing to anyone. Therefore, as always in such cases, they flaunted prizes and titles: four Cesars, including awards for best film, screenplay and director - not a joke, because not everyone is given a national film award in a country where films are made a lot and often. Is the indignation of critics really justified - why, they say, should they give four prizes, the French have completely deteriorated... Meanwhile, the French, as will be discussed later, have their own reasons.
Who said that only outstanding works of art can count on awards? Let's leave festivals aside: where only true connoisseurs, camera and pen professionals sit in the auditorium, something new, let's even say innovative, really gets the highest rating. But any movie is ultimately intended for the audience, among whom there are only a minority of experts, and this must be taken into account. The state, which recognizes the development of cinema as one of its domestic policy priorities, cannot ignore these viewers. It takes it into account, rewarding exactly the kind of film that the public will like. We are surprised - we are out of habit. First of all, we have forgotten what a quality average level is. By calling all domestic films released in recent years “average” or “normal,” we are being disingenuous by not admitting out loud how bad they are, how far from the level achieved by the West. And not the highest level, but the average one. For some reason, while recognizing the right to an average level for Hollywood, we deny it to Europe. And she, meanwhile, is today the bearer of that same quality average.
Judge for yourself: at the same festivals in recent years, the main awards have been received by films from the East - Iranian, Chinese, Japanese or Korean. Few people are interested in Russian cinema; rare consolation prizes are given to it out of a sense of contradiction. America has stopped surprising anyone with its independent films. Europe is tired of half a century of domination (fortunately, all the major festivals take place on its territory). Only Scandinavia remains as a confirmation of the rule of exception. But it is no coincidence that Lars von Trier proclaimed Europe as a foreign continent in his previous films, and transferred the action of the last film , the fruit of joint efforts of the Swedes, Icelanders and Danes, to the USA: this is only the other side of the coin. At the first, the same von Trier protests against the introduction of the euro and the unification of Europe. That is, against a huge quagmire that sucks in the few remnants of independent and original art.
However, if there is one thing where Europe continues to hold undisputed primacy, it is in the qualitative average level of culture. Let’s take France, the center and largest state of Europe: there are, of course, a few dissidents there, thanks to whom it is possible to keep up with the more advanced film powers (the same Bruno Dumont with “Humanity” or Mathieu Kassovitz with “Hate” ), but in actually a little. And God be with them. France manages to maintain its brand thanks to average, even gray cinema, which has become the trademark of the hosts of the Cannes Festival . In the end, let’s be honest, both Kieślowski and Buñuel were aliens, and the “new wave” faded away a long time ago... But directors like Tony Marshall, as well as films like “Venus Beauty Salon” annually flood parallel sections of festivals , and then collect a very decent box office at the national box office, ensuring the cultural prestige of the state in the international arena. Everyone is happy.
Let's try to figure out what exactly we are happy with. “Beauty Salon “Venus” is a melodrama. And this is the most popular genre. I’m not talking about soap operas, which shamelessly and often ineptly exploit melodramatic techniques. Melodramas (contrary to popular misconception) are watched with equal enthusiasm by men and women. First of all, because it the only genre of mass cinema that is close to the everyday life of the viewers themselves. A little humor, less tears and pathos, definitely love - everyone will watch with pleasure. As a rule, very good or brilliant films operate with extremely simple stories. "Dancer in the Dark" , "Kikudjiro" by Kitano, "All About My Mother" by Almodóvar, and Lynch's "A Simple Story" are examples from recent years). On the contrary, exceptional stories from the lives of exceptional people are the prerogative of Hollywood, which is in the minds of the non-American viewer. sometimes associated with bad taste.
A high-quality melodrama tells an unusual story from the lives of ordinary people. Thus, the viewer leaves the hall lulled: “These are people like me, but they were lucky... Maybe I’ll be lucky too...”. For example, “Moscow doesn’t believe in tears,” which set everyone’s teeth on edge: they laugh, curse, but to this day they watch how a simple good woman met a simple good man, and everything immediately became good for them. We encounter a similar plot in “The Salon”: the shy and closed aging beauty Angele (Nathalie Bai) meets a young, madly in love with her sculptor who abandons his 20-year-old bride. And Angele's young, naive colleague, Marie, finds happiness with a mysterious, majestic old man, a lame former pilot, who gifts her with furs and pearls. This, however, is less surprising - the pilot was Robert Hossein himself, the aged Geoffrey du Peyrac; our public, zombified by “Angelique,” will forgive and not condemn Marie. So, here they are - “lucky coincidences”, Christmas tales (the time of action was also chosen, of course, not by chance). Who said that the viewer needs the harsh truth, all sorts of “Dogmas” ? Remember, in “Asthenic Syndrome” there is such a scene - people who have watched an avant-garde sketch about a woman who buried her husband leave the hall, quietly and dissatisfiedly grumbling: “Why are they showing me a sad movie? I’m tired after work, I don’t want to watch such a movie!”
The next most important component is the female one. Don’t forget, “Venus Beauty Salon” is a film made by a woman about women. And for women? Perhaps not. Women’s perception is no less characteristic of the so-called “stronger sex” if the story is told with taste and humor. Men are sometimes more sentimental, and are happy to recognize themselves in an elderly noble pilot or a passionate sculptor. The feminine principle is the opposite of the defiant and false feminism of another recent “feminine” film, “Romance X” . This is attention to everyday details, makeup and massage, creams and polishes, small wrinkles. around the eyes, to one’s own body, which becomes ugly over the years, to possible contact with someone else... In short, attention to what all representatives of the human race sooner or later begin to pay attention to. There are a lot of women in the film, and everyone. ) the viewer will choose for himself the one he likes, or the one she could be.
And besides, men, like women, adore intimate secrets. The environment of a beauty salon is a microcosm, fixated both on the idea of a better appearance and on the visible defenselessness of everyone, then he will come here. The secrets of any visitor are heard through thin partitions, and the masseuses turn into involuntary confessors, mute and understanding, which many secretly dream of. One of the director’s few extremely successful discoveries: the unearthly sound of the harp, the “call signs” that accompany the entrance of each new visitor to the salon. You are crossing the line beyond which they will take care of you, beyond which they will try to improve you. The viewer also crosses this boundary, and beyond it it already seems uncomfortable for him to laugh at the petty, stupid worries of the heroines. To plunge into a world that is banal, but at the same time not alien to a fairy tale - just as banal, however, is the secret dream of many.
There is nothing shameful, nothing bad in the average movie. Many people prefer gray color in clothes, and not only mediocrity - often even the opposite. This is the color of the everyday, the ordinary, the normal. Including a film that won’t make you clench your fists in delight or close your eyes in horror. And why is all this? Cinema is a way to relax, relax, worry a little, and forget about your problems. In short, you have to pay a modest ticket price for a relaxing massage, a drop of fragrant cream and the attentive hands of a cosmetologist. To feel a little younger - even if it’s just an illusion - go out into the street and go on about your business.