In the French Style

source: In the French Style

Wow, despite following Seberg a bit I had never heard of this movie and found it wonderful. I'm a sucker for films about Americans in Europe between the end of the war and before the hippies. Seberg is so desirable (gosh, she looks a lot like Tippi Hedren here) -- people seemed so much more adult at a much younger age. (I recall that line from You've Got Mail where Parker Posey says, Do you believe the Rosenbergs in the picture were around our age?). Always when viewing these films about young women in the late Fifties/early Sixties, I find it poignant to think about them, and how their lives may be changed by the upheavals of the late Sixties. And, of course, that's true of Seberg. Anyway, the movie is a treat -- watch it.

A slight but entertaining drama starring Jean Seberg as an American art student studying in Paris and finding that love can be a pretty cruel thing. She falls in and out of love over the next four or five years, first with duplicitous Philippe Forquet and then with globe-trotting reporter Stanley Baker. Seberg asserts herself nicely carrying the film, changing appearance from fetching student to principled adult. She's terrific as is Baker, though it's never really clear if he's a cad or if he really cares for Seberg. Irwin Shaw's script is a little too ambiguous for its own good. Directed by Robert Parrish and featuring Addison Powell as Seberg's not so forgiving father. The beautiful, sparingly used score is by Joseph Kosma.

Usually not my cup of tea, films strictly from female perspective about female lives, but I enjoyed this intimate and modest portrait of a American woman living in France, trying to make a living and to have fun at the same time. While I was happy it was not at all sentimental, I did find the story shallow and conventional, a bit like chick-lit in modern literature (a woman enjoying success and going out with non-existing charismatic and well behaved men). But the actors were convincing. Seberg of course is perfect for this part, like when she says smiling: 'Trying to impress him with how all-round marvelous I am.' She acts with a powerful glance. Also, she is the queen of beautiful smiles. I guess Stanley Baker was solid as always, but his part was underdeveloped. Philippe Forquet steals the show, as a kind of creepy boyfriend. But his drama doesn't get exploited as nothing really gets really nasty in this film. Forquet was, because of his looks, a logical counterpart of Seberg. Fun facts: he became specialized in playing French aristocrats in Hollywood films, and was once Sharon Tate's boyfriend. The relaxed tone of the film is probably its best quality. It is observing rather than trying to share a controversial opinion, like for example a film of Costa-Gavras would. It reminded me a bit of Ma nuit chez Maude, but more old-fashioned. There are also some neat shots of Paris, and a lot of shots from beautiful Jean Seberg. With a lot, I mean A LOT. The superfluous close-ups are hardy countable. But how could I argue with director Robert Parrish? She is downright gorgeous. When you are this pretty, and can act as well, well, why not? I rate it 7/10.

I'm indebted to an Internet friend who kindly burned me a copy of a film I've coveted since I saw it first. Often, of course, films we saw several years ago fail to stand up but this is not one of them and as I remembered the second half was laced with vintage Irwin Shaw dialogue that I still remembered verbatim. Next to John O'Hara Shaw wrote the finest American short stories of the twentieth century and here he blends two of them 'A Year To Learn The Language and In The French Style seamlessly into a hugely satisfying whole. I have never been enamoured of either Seberg or Baker yet here they combine to a fare-thee-well. Baker, more a 'presence' than an actor, clearly relished this one time he was provided with great dialogue and extracts the full mileage from Shaw's unmistakable style. Shaw's close friend Bob Parish, who was associated in one way or another - actor, editor, director - with some fairly classy movies yet never really made it, does sterling work behind the camera. One to cherish.

"You're going to say that I ought to leave Paris...that I ought to come home like a good little girl and be a nice, demure, hypocritical piece of merchandise on the marriage market...pretending I don't know which end of a man is up!" Jean Seberg stars as a 19-year-old girl from Chicago, studying art in Paris and beginning to show real promise, who abandons her talent for an unfulfilled modeling career and a series of romantic misfires; four years later, she's contemplating her future, fed up with the empty decadence, disappointment and heartache of her life. Irwin Shaw based his screenplay on two of his short stories, and he just about nails the insecure feelings of a directionless young woman desperate to hang on to her youth and beauty while seeking loftier paths in the bargain. The film is slowly paced but never dreary, nor insubstantial; it sneaks up on you. Seberg is tentative in her role, but also thoughtful and complicated. It's a Beautiful People movie, likely aimed at upscale female audiences of the time, yet it has a lot more resonance (and cool style) than most other "woman's pictures" of the era. *** from ****

Beautiful young Jean Seberg (as Christina James) leaves Chicago for Paris, to study painting. There, she meets beautiful young student Philippe Forquet (as Guy), who sits for a portrait. After a few months of dating, Mr. Forquet proposes he and Ms. Seberg have sex. Although she loves him, Seberg is reluctant, and wants to concentrate on forwarding her career; she dreams of becoming the next "Renoir, Matisse, (or) Picasso." Seberg and Forquet try to forge a relationship, but he has a secret. Seberg encounters other men with problems, like reporter Stanley Baker (as Walter Beddoes). Or, is Seberg, herself, the problem? Robert Parrish's "In the French Style" features excellent black-and-white location photography, by Michel Kelber. The performances are wonderful, and Seberg's carries the film, which loses direction after, to quote, "the years pass quickly," in Paris. This film is almost perfectly divided into two separate stories. The first part, with Seberg and Forquet, is the best. The story falls apart after Seberg's character becomes a modern day "Camille" - for too many minutes into the new drama, you're wondering what happened to the endearing (and extremely beautiful looking) young couple you've been following so far Forquet makes an additional, brief appearance. His main replacement, Mr. Baker, is given no opportunity to match the romantic build-up of Seberg and Forquet, which hurts the film considerably. After the important, mostly off-screen relationship with Baker gets going, the story switches gears to focus on the arrival of Seberg's father, Addison Powell, in Paris. Father Powell wants Seberg to give up "the life you lead" (meaning men and parties) and return to a more ordinary life in Chicago. Seberg has to make a decision about her future when Baker's (news correspondent) job takes him to the Middle East (a war zone). Seberg, who ended her life tragically in 1979, should have played "Camille"; she, like the movie, appears so full of potential. Forquet, who really has a handle on his character's age, is exceptional; unfortunately, he began disappearing after "The Young Rebels" (1970). Surprisingly, Powell appeared on TV's "Dark Shadows" (1968); as "Dr. Lang", he temporarily cured Barnabas Collins of vampirism. Fortunately, Baker went directly into lead roles that took better advantage of his worth, like "Zulu" (1964). ******* In the French Style (9/18/63) Robert Parrish ~ Jean Seberg, Philippe Forquet, Addison Powell, Stanley Baker

Having just read the new Garry McGee biog on Jean Seberg, I've found myself wanting to see all the films I could get my hands on, especially the early ones, which isn't easy considering their relative lack of availability. There is a large gap between 1959's "Breathless" and 1964's "Lilith", a period when Jean made mostly only French films (of which only "Breathless" is available on DVD). One of the only big studio pictures made during this time was "In the French Style," so I was excited when I finally found someone with a copy. I couldn't wait to see it, as I knew it was a vehicle for the star and would therefore feature her with plenty of closeups and opportunities to emote. I was surprised when I got my copy that this film was in black and white--by 1964 most major films were being produced in color and I just naturally assumed this would be too. I was also surprised that it doesn't look or play like an American movie, no big French Provincial, quintessentially '60's sets, no elaborate costumes even after her character becomes a model, etc. It's a rather grimy and bleak-looking little movie about a young American girl who goes to Paris to learn to paint and gets sucked up into the nightlife and has a number of affairs with businessmen who come and go, leaving her feeling empty by the film's end. But nothing really happens, the events never rise above the level of soap opera--a sleepy one at that--and it's hard to tell at times what the director was trying to get across. Jean looks beautiful throughout--which for me justified the expense of buying the film, and it wasn't that it was exactly boring. But it lacked a masterly touch. For example, when the character's father comes to visit and expresses disapproval of her painting and lifestyle, asking her to come home, her reaction is so listless it's impossible to tell if her character is supposed to be upset, indifferent, if she even feels close to her father at all. This emotional ambivalence pervades both her character and the film, until the viewer is left starving for a sympathetic character to invest in. With only a few touches where we get to see her character express some passion about something, it could have been so much better. As it is, it's kind of an exasperating film. Fans of Seberg will still love it however, as she is adorable and at the apex of her youth and beauty.

Adapted by Irwin Shaw based on two of his novels, Robert Parrish's vehicle for American actress famous for French films Jean Seberg in IN THE FRENCH STYLE also feels like two movies in one involving two polar opposite romances... The first with a young and opinionated French local Phillipe Forquet whose uptight, idealistic persona contrasts his innocent boyish looks, and it's unbelievable that Seberg's Christina James... an American on perma-vacation in Paris to become an artist... would have lasted in this relationship for a narrated three months, wherein the best aspects are the actual Paris exterior locations... Meanwhile the following more grown-up half is mostly shot indoors, from apartment rooms to restaurants to a loud jazzy artsy shindig where the best sequence occurs before Christina's second romance with roving reporter Stanley Baker who, like hedonistic playboy Jack Hedley, treats her with respect but no love, which makes the casting of such a perfectly gorgeous ingenue seem all wrong... But she hits the right notes when her progressive father visits... their one major sequence as Addison Powell's Mr. James tells Christina exactly what she needs not wants to hear is more interesting than all the sweet-nothings by those random suitors, that not only don't deserve her company but hardly fit the movie... At least not the one starring Jean Seberg, who often seems like she's being visited by various actor-friends on the set of a much deeper, richer and more intriguing art film than IN THE FRENCH STYLE, which attempts both avant garde detachment and mainstream melodrama while partially failing, twice... But backed by gorgeous B&W French-travelogue-style cinematography, this particular STYLE is like a moving postcard that's very nice to look at... particularly Seberg, at her most beautiful here: And that's saying something.

American artist Jean Seberg come to Paris from Chicago, hoping to break into the art world and find romance, but her American ways of romantic thinking isn't the Parisian way of thinking. She's idealistic but immature, and being 19, that's understandable so when she encounters the handsome engineer Philippe Forquet, their arguments over what to expect from each other and cultural differences leads to a vicious fight where both parties are hurt. After a dinner party where she is basically ignored for being American, Seberg returns to him, tries to find herself in his way of romantic loving, and this leads to a series of additional encounters that threatens to destroy her dreams as well as other aspects of herself. Certainly Seberg is lovely, and her character is as complicated as the actress herself. Forquet give her back exactly what she gives to him, and she has to see that she's not in Illinois anymore and her ways aren't necessarily going to be accepted overseas. The sudden twist about who he really is is shocking. Additional romances aide her in growing up, but are pretty inconsequential as far as the film is concerned. The arrival of her father, Addison Powell, makes her take a look at her destructive life that perhaps isn't meant to be lived in a free world like the art community of Paris. While this is basically a romantic drama, there are some very amusing light-hearted funny moments about the difference in cultures and the difference in genders between the cultures. Forquet is dashing and romantic but macho, yet certainly more appealing than Stanley Baker as a bland British suitor. The film overall is pretty generic and doesn't really make a strong impact. Ironically when Seberg does slap, she doesn't get slapped back, but basically gets a taste of the coldness that comes from such an action. Interesting for a few things but not one that I'll particularly recommend.