It's Only The End of The World

Juste La Fin Du Monde (It's Only The End Of The World)

This was one big question-mark film we caught at Alliance Francaise today. Firstly I don't understand French. It didn't help that there was so much dialogue and it was real quick conversation. My eyes had to move between the visuals and catching the subtitles. Furthermore, I was trying to read the expressions of the actors and actresses and trying to catch the subtle nuances. Didn't help that I don't quite remember the synopsis other than the fact that Marion Cotillard is so "chio".

The perspective and shots were quite unseen in my world. The scenes were mostly slow moving with a lot of dialogue and real intense towards the end.

Initially i thought Catherine was married to Suzanne. She was Antoine's wife. He's filled with so much anger. Maybe because they are unable to conceive and Louis, the brother and lead of the show is the surrogate father. There were intense moments when I thought the brother, a homosexual, was attracted to the sister-in-law. And Louis was attracted to Antoine.

And the mom. Her passing words to her son, "we'll be better prepared the next time" may mean that this is all a pretence?

And the sister whom he has never met - Suzanne. They are really strangers. He does not accept the invitation to sit on her bed. She adores him like crazy and has all those newspaper clippings of him.

And in the end, he never told them about his illness. Although at many moments the air is charged with so much tension I thought "yes he's finally going to say it". Nope. Didn't happen.

On the contrary, he spoke about other things. E.g. as his mom wished - to encourage his sister. As Antoine wished - to continue that conversation in the car. To visit again to make up for all that lost time. Which was so sad yet beautiful.

That mundane talk in the car without expression of true feelings. That seems so true of everyday life, especially with people we're familiar with and love.

In the end, he imagines the cuckoo flying out from the clock and I keep thinking he's just not going to find his way out and die. True to be told it seemingly flies back into Time but the camera pans to a bird that has fallen asleep.

It is a peaceful sleep.

Where is your Diamond Island?

"Diamond Island" by French-Cambodian filmmaker, Davy Chou.
Loved this film which was screened at Alliance Francaise on 21 March 2017. It starts with this publicity commercial of this beautiful, utopian ideal of city living in Cambodia called Diamond Island, set just a stone's throw away from Phenom Penh. There's this game reality about this commercial (imagine SIM City publicising this) and the best part... The highlight on this island has a ship-like tower that bears so much resemblance to Marina Bay Sands.

And that is true. I thought it must be a parody. They are at this moment building a hotel which looks like that in Cambodia, on Diamond Island.

This feature film about the loss of innocence of those 4 boys and the differing lives they lead because of the opportunities presented is sad yet so true.

Quotes from A Writer

“Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths.”

“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn’t know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”


~ Joseph Campbell

I write so that I will not forget.