Film to Travel the World

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A French and English Film to Stoke Your Globetrotting Fire

One of the best parts about the film festival is that it’s a cheap and efficient way to travel around the world. On Saturday, I took a jaunt to Europe, where the French left me swooning with lofty revelries about art, before the Brits’ dry wit brought me back down to earth.

For anyone with any interest in Paris’ art culture, Avenue Montaigne cannot be missed. The film offers moving and funny insight into the often overlooked ways art can be created, as witnessed by a country girl struggling to find her way in Paris. When Jessica lands a job as a waitress in a bar across the street from a classy theatre, her shocking lack of Parisian propriety is a breath of fresh air in the midst of the chichi Avenue Montaigne. Any foreigner who has struggled to fit-in in Paris will be gratified that Jessica’s ingenuousness eventually pays off, winning her friendships with many of the famous artists who frequent the bar.

The original French title Fauteuils d’Orchestre, or “Orchestra Seats,” is far more revealing of the film’s underlying message than is the curious English translation. Through portraits of various collectors, musicians, and actresses and those who serve them, the film examines the struggle people go through to get the best seats in the house — and the happiness one can find in relinquishing those dreams. A subtle illustration of that possibility is the moment when the theatre’s housekeeper slips into a classical concert through the back door. Standing alone at the very back of the room, the housekeeper — who long ago abandoned her own theatrical ambitions and found contentment instead in the company of artists — allows the beauty of the music to bring tears to her eyes.

Scenes of a Sexual Nature won’t make you care about any of the characters, but you’ll relate to them all anyway — perhaps more than you want to admit. Set in London’s Hampstead Heath, the film is a series of snapshots into the inner workings of various couples’ relationships. It subtly explores the disconnect between lust and the rest of our lives, and the trouble this compartmentalization can get us into. A couple happily signs their divorce papers between embraces, bemoaning the fact that sex isn’t everything. A sycophantic man concocts an elaborate lie to explain his roving eye to his wife. And Ewan McGregor’s character begs his boyfriend to start a family with him, just before sneaking off into the woods with another man.

The film’s greatest achievement is in approaching the endless topic of sex and love solely through dialogue casual enough to be entirely believable. Anyone who has ever had a crush, broken heart, or one night stand will find relief in playing the role of passive observer to the subtle awkwardnesses and intimacies that underlie all romantic moments.

Both films will show once more today, Monday, January 29. Scenes of a Sexual Nature will be at the Metro 4 at 1:15 p.m., while the Lobero will show Avenue Montaigne at 4:30 p.m.

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