'Ann And Eve' (1970, Ann och Eve)
Nov 26, 2017 1:32:06 GMT
pimpinainteasy and manfromplanetx like this
Post by petrolino on Nov 26, 2017 1:32:06 GMT
The enigmatic mystery 'Ann And Eve' sends bride-to-be Eve (Marie Liljedahl) on holiday to Serbia and Croatia in the company of vicious film critic Ann (Gio Petre) who's earned a reputation for being Sweden's most hated journalist. Shortly into their vacation, Eve starts thinking she might have been better staying in Stockholm. Both women become involved with local Croatian fishermen which leads to trouble. As Ann sets out to uncover the truth behind a murder she says she committed, Eve continues to question her existence.
The surreal detective thriller 'Ann And Eve' is a fever dream on film. The film's director Arne Mattsson was born on December 2nd, 1919 in Uppsala, Sweden - his contemporary Ingmar Bergman was born on July 14th, 1918 in Uppsala. With 'Ann And Eve', Mattsson carves out a technical gem with no end to its ambition. There's a bizarre dream sequence in which the camera is pulled so far out of focus the action practically disappears for a prolonged amount of time. Compare this to a spellbinding musical number performed by Serbian chanteuse Olivera Katarina who's backed by 9 Spanish guitarists. Max Wilen's camerawork is fluid but there's no real structure to the storytelling, prompting numerous episodes of emotional fantasy.
The city streets of Stockholm clash visually with small stone villages found in old Yugoslavia. A space age bungalow occupied by Ann and Eve is a striking piece of architecture and Mattsson captures beautiful imagery in Porec, Croatia which provides a fine historical setting. 'Ann And Eve' sometimes operates as a film looking in on itself and may be part auto-biographical. Francisco Rabal portrays symbolist film director Francesco who's interviewed by Ann about the crime of art making. Ann is also approached by Colonel Wilhelm Braun (Erik Hell) who holds connections to film crazy, communist revolutionary Josip Broz Tito. This aspect of the storytelling brings to mind films like Federico Fellini's '8½' (1963), Jean-Luc Godard's 'Contempt' (1963), Francois Truffaut's 'Day For Night' (1973) and Woody Allen's 'Annie Hall' (1977).
Gio Petre and Marie Liljedahl are terrific as mysterious tourists Ann and Eve. Composer Bengt-Arne Wallin supplies a cheery jazz accompaniment that's light and flirtatious with some amazingly intricate bass solos. This fascinating thriller from master filmmaker Arne Mattsson has me hoping to see much more of his work in future, including his legendary "proto-giallo" 'Mannequin In Red' (1958) which is believed to have changed the shape of thriller filmmaking in Europe.
Ulla Jacobsson in Arne Mattsson's 'One Summer Of Happiness' (1951)
Gunnar Bjornstrand, Ulla Jacobsson & Bjorn Bjelfvenstam in Ingmar Bergman's 'Smiles Of A Summer Night' (1955)
The surreal detective thriller 'Ann And Eve' is a fever dream on film. The film's director Arne Mattsson was born on December 2nd, 1919 in Uppsala, Sweden - his contemporary Ingmar Bergman was born on July 14th, 1918 in Uppsala. With 'Ann And Eve', Mattsson carves out a technical gem with no end to its ambition. There's a bizarre dream sequence in which the camera is pulled so far out of focus the action practically disappears for a prolonged amount of time. Compare this to a spellbinding musical number performed by Serbian chanteuse Olivera Katarina who's backed by 9 Spanish guitarists. Max Wilen's camerawork is fluid but there's no real structure to the storytelling, prompting numerous episodes of emotional fantasy.
Marie Liljedahl
Uppsala
The city streets of Stockholm clash visually with small stone villages found in old Yugoslavia. A space age bungalow occupied by Ann and Eve is a striking piece of architecture and Mattsson captures beautiful imagery in Porec, Croatia which provides a fine historical setting. 'Ann And Eve' sometimes operates as a film looking in on itself and may be part auto-biographical. Francisco Rabal portrays symbolist film director Francesco who's interviewed by Ann about the crime of art making. Ann is also approached by Colonel Wilhelm Braun (Erik Hell) who holds connections to film crazy, communist revolutionary Josip Broz Tito. This aspect of the storytelling brings to mind films like Federico Fellini's '8½' (1963), Jean-Luc Godard's 'Contempt' (1963), Francois Truffaut's 'Day For Night' (1973) and Woody Allen's 'Annie Hall' (1977).
"I can only imagine how prisoners at penitentiary screenings of Ann and Eve responded to this, not to mention how the film fared with critics in Sweden. But it seems to be popular opinion that Mattsson reached the peak of his popularity in the late fifties when he embarked on a series of thrillers beginning with Damen I svart (1958); the second one, Mannekang I rott (also 1958) is reputed to be a major influence on Mario Bava’s seminal 1964 giallo, Blood and Black Lace. Mattsson fell out of public and critical favor in the sixties and seventies despite his reputation as a superb craftsman of genre films. There were occasional highpoints such as The Doll and Yngsjomordet (The Yngsjo Murder, 1966) but his later work was often regarded as uneven at best. Ann and Eve might well have been intended as the ultimate rebuke to those that dismissed his later work but I find it fascinating for the way it straddles the line between exploitation and art before settling for a self-satiric fadeout."
- J. Stafford, Cinema Sojourns (Time Tripping Through The World Of Film)
- J. Stafford, Cinema Sojourns (Time Tripping Through The World Of Film)
'Day For Night' (1973)
'Kullerullvisan' - Bengt-Arne Wallin
Gio Petre and Marie Liljedahl are terrific as mysterious tourists Ann and Eve. Composer Bengt-Arne Wallin supplies a cheery jazz accompaniment that's light and flirtatious with some amazingly intricate bass solos. This fascinating thriller from master filmmaker Arne Mattsson has me hoping to see much more of his work in future, including his legendary "proto-giallo" 'Mannequin In Red' (1958) which is believed to have changed the shape of thriller filmmaking in Europe.
