Daguerrotype (film)
Daguerrotype (also known as The Woman in the Silver Plate;[1] Japanese: ダゲレオタイプの女; French: Le Secret de la chambre noire[2] or French: La Femme de la plaque argentique)[3] is a 2016 romantic horror film written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.[4] It stars Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, Olivier Gourmet, Mathieu Amalric, and Malik Zidi.[5]
Daguerrotype | |
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Japanese poster | |
Directed by | Kiyoshi Kurosawa |
Written by | Kiyoshi Kurosawa |
Starring | |
Music by | Gregoire Hetzel |
Cinematography | Alexis Kavyrchine |
Edited by | Veronique Lange |
Release date |
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Running time | 131 minutes |
Country |
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Language | French |
Plot
Stéphane, a renowned fashion photographer, lives in seclusion in a dilapidated house in the Paris suburbs, together with his daughter and muse Marie. Stéphane is obsessed with his wife's unexpected death and creates her daguerreotypes every day, using his daughter as a photomodel. In order for him to do so, Marie has to remain immobile for a long time, wearing an old-fashioned blue dress.
Jean, a young Parisian and the new assistant of Stéphane, falls in love with Marie. He is disturbed by the long photo sessions and, together with Marie, tries to figure out how to free Stéphane from his obsession. Jean decides to convince Stéphane to sell his real estate. The money received for the sale may be used to start a life elsewhere—both for Jean who wants to live with Marie and for the photographer who can recreate his photography studio. But things do not go as planned.
Cast
- Tahar Rahim as Jean
- Constance Rousseau as Marie
- Olivier Gourmet as Stephane
- Mathieu Amalric as Vincent
- Malik Zidi as Thomas
- Valerie Sibilia as Denise
- Jacques Collard as Louis
Release
The film had its world premiere in the Platform section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September 2016.[6] It was released in Japan on 15 October 2016,[7] and in France on 8 March 2017.[8] It also screened at the 21st Busan International Film Festival,[9] the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival,[10] the 2017 Nippon Connection,[11] and the 2017 Japan Cuts.[12]
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 46% based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 5.88/10.[13]
Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a favorable review, saying, "A double-take scene in an empty church is an especially strong moment because of Rahim's (and Kurosawa's) tacit understanding of understatement."[14] Meanwhile, Sam Fragoso of TheWrap gave the film an unfavorable review, describing it as "two or three movies haphazardly wrapped into one."[15] Andrew Barker of Variety called it "Heavy on moody atmospherics yet fundamentally inert."[16] Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine stated that it is reminiscent of William Dieterle's 1948 romantic fantasy film, Portrait of Jennie.[17]
References
- Chang, Justin (13 April 2016). "Cannes: Films Jockeying for Position in Ultra-Competitive Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- Morain, Jean-Baptiste (3 March 2017). "Le Secret de la chambre noire". Les Inrockuptibles. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- Gester, Julien (31 March 2015). "Kurosawa, un visage français". Libération. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- Schilling, Mark (12 October 2016). "Kiyoshi Kurosawa's cinematic apparitions". The Japan Times. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "Daguerrotype". Japan Society. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "黒沢清、「ダゲレオタイプの女」ワールドプレミアで"夢のよう"と感慨ひとしお". 映画ナタリー. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "西島秀俊が黒沢清「ダゲレオタイプの女」舞台挨拶に登壇「僕、出てないけどね」". 映画ナタリー. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "フランスに愛される黒沢清監督 「ダゲレオタイプの女」がいよいよ現地で公開". 映画.com. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "黒沢清「新しい一章の始まり」、釜山映画祭で「ダゲレオタイプの女」の意義語る". 映画ナタリー. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "黒沢清監督、海外デビューに感慨「初めて国籍から離れて人間ドラマを作った」". 映画.com. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "Daguerreotype". Nippon Connection. 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- Lucca, Violet (17 July 2017). "Interview: Kiyoshi Kurosawa". Film Comment. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- "Daguerrotype (Le secret de la chambre noire) (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- Hoeij, Boyd van (12 September 2016). "'Daguerreotype' ('Le Secret de la chambre noire'): Film Review - TIFF 2016". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- Fragoso, Sam (11 September 2016). "'Daguerrotype' Toronto Review: Atmospheric Horror Feature Should Have Been a Short". TheWrap. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- Barker, Andrew (16 September 2016). "Film Review: 'Daguerrotype' (Le Secret de la chambre noire)". Variety. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- Uhlich, Keith (11 September 2016). "Toronto Film Review: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Daguerrotype". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 21 February 2017.