Claude Goretta

Quote:
A country road glimpsed through a dirty windscreen… a mangled car wreck on a garage forecourt…Volonté blowing up an inflatable coat hanger and reminding his assistant that ‘it’s the details that count’. And so they clearly do in Goretta’s film, although quite what they add up to is never sharply defined. A crippled TV journalist (Volonté) arrives in a Swiss village to interview a specialist in world food shortages disillusioned by the non-application of his theories. But he soon becomes embroiled in a web of local intrigue resulting from the death of a young immigrant worker. Goretta counterpoints his two stories with deft assurance, letting them strike subdued ironies off one another; there are thematic strands galore here, clearly signposted but seemingly left deliberately smudged. Yet there is no shortage of delights either: fine atmospherics, immaculately fluid camerawork, and a towering performance from Volonté, sympathy and disdain flickering back and forth across those marvellously expressive features.Read More »

A reserved young woman moves into an apartment with a young student she met while on vacation.Read More »

Synopsis

In September 1956, two young Swiss film enthusiasts, Claude Goretta and Alain Tanner applied for a grant from the British Film Institute to finance a film about London’s Piccadilly on Saturday night. Both in their mid-twenties, they were working at the BFI, where they had met Lindsay Anderson and the other Free Cinema members, as well film critics like Derek Prouse and John Berger, who offered encouragement and support.Read More »

Draughtswoman Nathalie Baye moves to Paris. This is the tale of her sad encounters and experiences, and the dignity she retains.
Aside from the subdued and true-to-life quality that Claude Goretta’s movies share – in my opinion – with his fellow Swiss Alain Tanner, this is a deeply emotional and depressing film. Nathalie Baye is – as usual – incredibly beautiful, moving and convincing.Read More »

Synopsis wrote:
After the death of his mother, middle-aged insurance employee inherits her small cottage surrounded by a garden. Selling the cottage which is situated on unexploited ground near the center of a big city makes him a rich man and he buys a big house in the countryside. He takes some time off and decides to throw a big garden party at the house and invite all his colleagues from the office. Aided by alcohol, the guests gradually lose all their inhibitions and reveal personality traits and frustrations that they normally keep hidden.Read More »

Synopsis:
‘George takes care of his invalid wife and holds down a full-time job but is forced into retirement for health reasons. When an investment firm wipes out his life savings, George takes up a life of crime. He is soon driven to the brink of insanity over the unfortunate series of events that transpire.’ [Edited to correct inaccuracies.]
– Dan PavlidesRead More »