'FEMME FATALE' CLIMAX MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY SAUTET
ARMOND WHITE SAYS NO DOUBT ABOUT INFLUENCE OF STUNNING MONTAGE IN 'THE THINGS OF LIFE'
Armond White, writing about the current
Claude Sautet retrospective at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, says that "a stunning montage" in Sautet's
Les Choses de la Vie (
The Things Of Life) "no doubt inspired
Brian De Palma’s
Femme Fatale climax." Sautet's film, released in 1970, established his international reputation. White states that it is "a more operatic version of the usual Sautet melodrama." According to White, "The montage details life in shocking, lyrical increments. Jean Boffety’s cinematography captures natural light and existential tragedy in captivating, musical counterpoint. Sautet may be practiced in face-to-face contretemps but the car crash sequence–a Nouvelle Vague salute to the crisis/memories/fate flashbacks of Hollywood’s classic
Slattery’s Hurricane–is one of cinema’s most exquisite examples of melding kinetics to philosophy."
The Saute retrospective, running through August 16, is named after
The Things Of Life, and includes that film along with 12 other Sautet features.