Osaka Elegy

 

This was an ok Kenji Mizoguchi movie. A woman agrees to become the mistress of her boss after her father can't pay his debts. Also, she financially takes on her brother's college education. While she does this all to help the family she loves in the end they just shun her bad reputation. There is a man she is in love with but later we will see he doesn't have a spine. Apparently, the Eclipse series put together a box set of Mizoguchi's movies that deal with the theme of fallen women. I'm looking forward to watching the rest.

A New Kind of Love

 

This romantic comedy was pretty bad. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman do have chemistry. They proved it in The Long Hot Summer and I recommend that movie. However, this was a mess. Joanne Woodward plays an androgynous fashion designer who reporter Paul Newman takes for a man. She gets a makeover that makes her unrecognizable. She deceives Paul by telling him she's a call girl.  Eventually, the truth comes out. The characters are unlikable. Pass. 

Pierrot Le Fou

 

It's obvious to me now that I don't care for Jean-Luc Godard. So far the only movies I've liked of him are Band of Outsiders and Breathless. I've liked two of his movies but have found that his films are pretty pretentious. I liked the first hour of this movie actually. In this movie, Jean-Paul Belmondo runs off with his babysitter. The second hour lacked structure. I do like Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina though. I wish more directors took advantage of Anna Karina's presence. She will be forever known for these Godard movies, however.