midsummer night's mise en abyme
Henry Jaglom is a genius - not of a high - but rather - of a lower order -but a genius, nonetheless. He is one of the living masters (if not the master) of the low budget film - not an accolade to be taken lightly - in an age when money, which always has always spoken at least as loudly in the cinematic world as in ours, is reaching hitherto undreamt of decibels. This film - a romantic comedy (I can't quite fathom various reviewers' bemusement over the genre which is to me obvious from the opening frame)is one in a long series of intricate, small is beautiful, masterpieces. While not of the level of some of his best work (see 'Tracks'), the film is well-acted, superbly crafted, deftly realistic. And, when one considers it as an outrageous spoof on the Kevin Kline/Calista Flockhart version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (feted at the Cannes festival)- the billboard advertisement of which forms the centrally repeated backdrop for the action - not unlike the action of the Shakespearean original's merry-go-round romance - played out in this post-modern, rather banal, decadent, and materialistic context - with a low-brow hustler, brilliantly portrayed by Zach Norman, alternately the Pucklike/Bottomlike character of the ensemble - this film is truly hillarious!
But the story does have it's serious side (barely). Anouk Aimee, with one foot seemingly in the grave, shows us once again, what a great actress truly is, and why neither Cannes, nor any other part of the film industry is what it was, in terms of style or substance, back in the days when Montparnasse 19 (in which she co-starred with Cannes' native son, the tragic, enigmatic, Gerard Phillipe) was screening in local theatres. (I can still see her banging on her bedroom door. "Papa! Papa!" - certainly, one of her best scenes) Film Art vs. crass materialism aside, "movie money" proves to be money, nonetheless. But, no matter how fleeting, love will always endure.

The plot is rather jumpy, and doesn't really let us get too close to any of the characters. It mainly focuses on Alice Palmer (Greta Scacchi), an actress who has decided to write and direct a film for the first time. At the Cannes film festival, she meets a sleazy, virtually unknown producer(Zack Norman) who wants to make her dream a reality. The catch: Alice wants the French actress Millie Marquand(Anouk Aimee) to star. However, the producer of another film (Ron Silver), would also like Millie in his film in a cameo appearance. There is also a sidestory in which a young woman(Jenny Gabrielle) is making her first appearance in a film that has become an unexpected hit at Cannes, and is quickly turning her into something she has no wish to become: A star.

Gabrielle's character Blue seemed to have an interesting background, and I felt that her character should have been either more developed, or removed from the film entirely, as it really only seemed to be a confusing diversion from the actual plot of the film. The end doesn't really give you a resolution to any of the conflicts at hand, and left me disappointed. I felt as though I'd been brought to the top of a hill, and then discovered that it just drops off at the end.

But "Festival" does provide an interesting little visit into the world of Hollywood and filmmaking. All the characters, though some were rather ill-developed, seemed like they really could be real people, and I wondered whether writer-director Henry Jaglom had actually based some of the characters on people in the business.

If you're a real movie buff, I'd say give "Festival" a look. But it's really not a movie for everyone, and I'd say it's probably not worth owning, or even watching more than just once.

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