The movie Claire Denis calls “so beautiful, so erotic”
There’s a poetic and atmospheric quality that runs through the films of Claire Denis, and her unique approach to visual storytelling, plus an ability to dive headfirst into the most complex of human interrelationships, has established the French director as one of the most influential of her generation.
Believing in unconventional and impressionistic narrative structures, Denis looks deep into the themes of identity and society by capturing the minor details of our varied behaviours. In the likes of 35 Shots of Rum, Beau Travail, High Life and Both Sides of the Blade, Denis has proven herself to be a filmmaker of serious consideration.
Like any filmmaker worth their salt, though, Denis not only possesses profound talent behind the camera but also a deep fascination with the history of the medium of cinema itself. When naming some of her favourite movies of all time in a feature with Le Cinema Club, Denis spoke highly of the 1971 Robert Altman film McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
“This film is so beautiful, so erotic,” Denis said. “I am obligated to use the term erotic because, in this film, there is life, emotions and the absolute beauty of desire. I would have liked to have been those two actors!” The two actors Denis refers to are, of course, the legendary Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.
Set in the Pacific Northwest at the height of the gold rush, Altman combines the western genre, romance, and character study to deliver a work of American cinema brilliance. Revolving around the unlikely partnership between gambler and entrepreneur John McCabe and a savvy British madam Constance Miller.
The pair eventually set up a brothel in a small mining town, and Altman examines the themes of greed and ambition in his usual style of long takes, complex interwoven dialogue and naturalistic performances. The film subverts many traditions and tropes of the western film genre, leading to it being considered anti-Western, showing the American frontier to be more nuanced and complex than many other films depict it.
Remembering her first experience with McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Denis noted, “The day after I saw it, I took my mother to see it, and until the end of her life, she talked about this film. There are few actors, like Julie Christie and Warren Beatty, who can create and express desire so well. And then there is the scenery, the cinematography…”
Check out the trailer for Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller below.
