Saturday, December 27, 2014

Movie review - "Two Weeks in September" (1967) **

The considerable star power of Brigitte Bardot is the only real thing going for this romantic drama which is about a model (guess who) in a relationship with a dull, uncharismatic elder man (I don't think he's meant to be that way, that's just how Jean Rochefort came across) who goes to England for a photo shoot for two weeks and has a fling with a younger dude (Laurent Terzieff).

This was the period in Bardot's career when she seemed to be aiming at the international market - she made Viva Maria, had her cameo in the Hollywood flick Dear Brigitte, was about to appear in Shalako. Most of the action is set in England and Scotland, although the dialogue is still French.

The support cast is interesting. The part of a lecherous fashion photographer is played by Michael Sarne, who later directed Joanna and then, notoriously, Myra Breckenridge. His assistant is Murray Head, later famed for Jesus Christ Superstar and One Night in Bangkok. And the owner of a castle in Scotland where Bardot and Terzieff run away to is played by none other than James Robertson Justice - who, like everyone else, speaks (or is dubbed - I couldn't tell) mostly French.

But it's not much of a movie. Dramatically it's severely hurt by the fact that Bardot is torn between two men, but we only ever see her spend much time with the younger onee - Rochefort disappears from the movie after the first ten minutes, and is only a presence/voice on the phone. He really needed to appear. Also no one really has much of a character - Bardot is attracted to this young guy, who wants him all to himself, but she can't leave... and that's about it.

The plot is reminiscent of the later Goodbye Emmanuel; at least that had some eroticism to it, more than this. There is one or two good moments where Bardot and Terzieff are lounging about on some straw, and the star is always watchable, but this simply isn't a very good movie.

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