Desire (1937) & Quadrille (1938)

 Sacha Guity's "Desire" and "Quadrille"


I recently watched this pair of Sacha Guitry films, 1937's "Desire" and 1938's "Quadrille." I was excited to watch after thoroughly enjoying his previous two efforts, 1936's "The Story of a Cheat" and 1937's "The Pearls of the Crown." I felt as though Guitry had some quirky and comedic style that really entertained and was able to tell stories in a unique and fruitful way. It was a style that seemed very out-of-the-box and almost proto-New Wave in its simplistic yet innovative metatextuality and unconventionality. That being said, it was TOO out of the box to create an imbalance in the filmmaking climate at the time. These films still adhered to a level of conventionality that still was necessary for the sake of storytelling and entertainment.

 I felt, though, that "Desire" and "Quadrille," although having this Guitry aesthetical flare, was more of Guitry 'phoning' it in, for lack of a better word. Both films felt like Guitry spinning his wheels, making an attempt at a story without actually telling one. There were plenty of elements that would've made these films great, but Guitry felt very tame. That being said, I don't feel like these films were that bad at all. I just felt like they did not live up to the creative and entertaining levels his previous two ventures did.



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