A weeks of decadence and indulgence for a weird group of Parisians during one of the most turbulent periods of its history.
Paris in the 60’s was a wonderful yet turbulent time to be alive. Cinema being reinvented with some of the best films of its history coming out of the lens of filmmakers who made it their life’s work to play with the art form. People fighting for the right of cinema as an art form, taking into the streets and demonstrating outside cinemas to see these palaces recognised as the seats of majestic art. The beautiful energy of the late 60’s sweeping around the world to whichever country would want to receive it. But at the same time, near the tail end, things began to get a bit messy with Mao’s take on communism begins to infest the nest. As many minds were being turned upside down, so were the streets, where no one truly knows who’s the real fascist.
What kept a band of people fused together during such wild times, was cinema. These film buffs shared something intimate and priceless, their love of cinema and the openness to strike up a conversation with anyone in the theatre. To an elitist society, these are the freaks, the rejects and heads who are glued to the cinema screen. But their unity is what got them through such noisy periods. One such film buff, ends up in this most happening place in the universe. The Dreamers (2003) drops Matthew, an American student in the vortex of all this reform, where at a protest outside the Cinémethèque Française, meets cool looking twins Isabelle and Theo. Instantly bonding over their fervent love and encyclopaedic knowledge of film, they become a trio of sybaritic force, but Matthew has questions about the twins’ open sexuality with each other. Tensions arise between them all, but one thing keeps them close to one another, cinema.
Like the inside of a croissant, there’s layers upon layers of visual pastry, whether it be by the hands of the camera or the locations. The camerawork is in no way ostentatious, it keeps us in the frame with the characters. Some very interesting instances of blocking and composition have the characters situated with, against and separate from one another as their relationship develops, and a singular movement of the camera restores this equilibrium.
As Matthew meets them, the state of their apartment is a clean immaculate place, full of culture and order. It doesn’t take long for it to descend into a bombsite that’s been completely cut adrift from care. The apartment is an inanimate example of when culture mixes badly with decadence. The apartment also serves as a visual metaphor for the state of their relationship as a trio.
Countless references are made to Classic and Nauvelle Vague cinema, with scenes plucked straight out of the films themselves and superimposed and cut upon the characters movements and environments. Done so seamlessly, each reference was poetic rather than gratuitous, often ending up with some narrative quaking consequences.
There’s no doubt, in my mind at least, that a lot of you will find Isabella and Theo’s sibling dynamic completely fucked up. I most certainly did. Their physical and psychological co-dependency is preternatural to such an extent that they’re seldom in frame without one another and whenever those odd moments do arrive, they feel unnerved and naked. Their sexual openness with one another is the sort you’d be likely to find in redneck country, so it’s a surprise to find it here.
It’s the 60’s damn it, so the film has a soundtrack to match. Opening up with my favourite Jimi Hendrix son, the soundtrack is kick ass the whole way through with lots of Big Brother and the Holding Company, some Doors here and there and tastefully placed Bob Dylan, against occasional traditional French songs. The night and day difference between those two types of music make crystal clear the sentiment Matthew holds that “the French can’t come up with a good rock band”. The political and cultural upheavals of those ill-fated times are captured wonderfully within the soundtrack.
Despite the questionable sibling dynamic between the twins, this film is beautiful and at times sexy (not when it involves the twins) and absurd. Their fervent love of film and the endless number of references to films which have shaped cinema, alone is something to watch the film for. They resonated with my desire for film and I enjoyed the whole thing all the way through.
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