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Event
INDISCRÉTIONS (THE NEW TESTAMENT)
Dir. Sacha Guitry, 1936.
France. 96 mins.
Guitry sets a trap in this case, a Rube Goldberg of a dinner party with the express purpose of catching his aging wife in the arms of another man! Its out with the old and in with the new at Chez Marceline, where Madame and Monsieur battle with rapier wit for the soul of their decades-long, childless marriage. Madames young conquest is soft, pliant, and eager to please, but its a newfound secretary organized, hard-working and, above all, discreet that provides the man of the house with his much-needed secret weapon. Between breaking in a new butler, keeping one jaundiced eye on his philandering wife, and preparing for dinner with a boring couple, Guitrys white-haired, flustered protagonist performs a plate-spinning act that could sell out the Comédie Française.
Prolific polymath Sacha Guitry, born in Russia in 1885 to a family of French showfolk, made his name on the stage as an arch playwright of uniquely Gallic light comedies. At home, Guitrys wry observations on matters romantic, personal, and political have earned him a well-deserved reputation as a satirist of the highest order. And, like many of his fellow countrymen, his oscillation from stage to screen and back again resulted in a jam-packed body of work that freely blurred the distinctions between either medium. Director, writer, and often star, Guitrys well-trained ear for conversation is unparalleled, and his apparent gift for eliciting fine performances ought to be an example to working filmmakers the world over.
Stateside, in a firmament populated with Renoirs and Clairs, Guitrys cinematic and theatrical oeuvres remain relatively unknown. These three films, all from 1936, comprise little more than half of his cinematic output for that year - in addition to the titles presented here, Guitry also counted another two feature films and five plays within that brief span. At his height, he was by all accounts Frances foremost theatrical belletrist, but by decades end, goose stepping would reverberate across the Champs-Elysée and the output of this once-avid triple threat would slow to a crawl. Although the sparkling days of Guitrys pre-War Paris are but a distant memory, we can still cherish this trio of fripperies and the rosy-cheeked, winking time they represent.
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LocationSPECTACLE THEATER (View)
124 South 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11249
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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