Country: France
Released: February 17th, 1923
Genre: Drama, Romance
Directed by: Abel Gance
Produced by: Abel Gance
Instead Elie becomes depressed, especially when he finds out that Norma wasn't biologically his sister and that he missed out on some sweet ass poontang. Also bummed out about not getting to fuck his daughter, Sisif copes by naming his engine 'Norma,' getting blinded in an accident, and trying to commit suicide (for like the eight time) by driving 'Norma' into a dead end.
And that's all just part one.
Then Sisif is reassigned to the alps with his son, Norma visits them because she is dissatisfied with her marriage, Hersan gets jealous of the (incestuous) relationship she and Elie might be having, he kills Elie before dying himself, Sisif blames Norma for some reason, she becomes destitute, and the rest of the movie is just her living with the increasingly blind Sisif without his knowledge until she's finally discovered and forgiven.
This movie really demonstrates the differences in social expectations of the past versus today. The film doesn't really treat Sisif or Elie's infatuation like all that big a deal, at least not the incestuous aspects of it. At first it seems to, what with Sisif's guilt at pulling a Woody Allen and being sexually attracted to his adopted daughter. That alone would have made for an interesting film and would have explored some pretty risqué dynamics. However when Elie starts getting hot for Norma nothing really negative comes of it beyond the fact that she's already engaged. No one really brings up the fact that they're brother and sister. The whole thing is just so god dammed jarring too. These characters are convinced for most of their lives that they're biological siblings, so all the flirting they do can be waved away as the director's misunderstanding at how siblings behave. Yet despite growing up as siblings, behaving as siblings (save for one or two of the aforementioned flirty moments), and being convinced they're siblings, the second Elie finds out Norma was adopted all that goes out the window and he can't wait to get in her pants. Had the film just focused on Sisif's relationship with Norma his guilt would have made sense but now with Elie in on the act it becomes clear that the incest was never the issue, that some other aspect of his infatuation was causing him guilt. Is it the age difference? That's the only other issue I might see but it ain't exactly as bad as incest here, guys! Everything feels weirdly normalized when it shouldn't be.
Just a quick side-note: I don't need to explain why this is messed up, right? Like, no one's gonna be shrugging and using their non-biological status as family members as a justification for the relationship? I assume we can all tell why this is creepy as all hell. I mean, ignoring the exploitative power dynamics in play at taking advantage as your position as a father/brother figure to extract sexual favours and the rape-like nature of said actions, it's still really gross.
Which is a problem because it undercuts the whole movie. Any interesting shot, any great character moment or impactful scene is always overshadowed by the creepy spectre of familial relations that hangs over the whole thing. It's just kind of hard to silence that voice in your head constantly whispering "They're siblings, they're siblings, they're siblings." And that's not even mentioning how weird it is that a father and son are pining for the same girl (their god-damned daughter/sister) and no one finds that odd.
Still, that voice does get quieter over time and I did almost forget how all the love-interests are related. If you can do that then you may find a pretty solid movie. Many of the editing choices and shots are interesting, particularly the rapid-fire editing used to cut frantically between images during suspenseful moments. Even though it doesn't make up for the overbearing use of iris shots (a trend in film I can't wait to leave behind) you do feel the innovation on display in many of the cinematographic choices. Plus despite the complaints above Sisif is great. This is really his story, and he is fascinating to watch. His alcoholism and guilt are very well portrayed by Séverin-Mars, who has a commanding presence on screen, and the final shot of his death was actually kind of heart wrenching as was when he learned of his son's death.
There are the makings of a fantastic film trapped beneath the crushing length and weird love-triangles. Which is what makes said love-triangles all the more frustrated. Had they just changed the dynamic, say, given Sisif a wife and made Norma a close family friend not a family member, then the oddly glossed over incest would have been avoided.
As it stands though La Roue is a fantastic film with a few fatal flaws. Whether or not said flaws will ruin the film really depends on the person. For me, it made an otherwise great movie into just a good one. Maybe you can ignore the problems, or maybe they'll disgust you beyond redemption. I don't know how contemporary audiences must have felt, but judging from the glib attitude the film takes for the whole thing they probably couldn't care less. That or I'm missing something here. Either way take a look and decide for yourselves.
Released: February 17th, 1923
Genre: Drama, Romance
Directed by: Abel Gance
Produced by: Abel Gance
Written by: Abel Gance
It sure has been a while, huh? After a few distractions things are getting back on track, and what better way to end a week-long hiatus than with a four and a half film about incest!
Wait, what?
Yes it seems that Schnieder, praise be his name, has chosen to bestow upon me a love letter to incestuous relations in the form of La Roue. Why? Who knows. All I know is that it was four hours of my life I'm never going to get back so as far as I'm concerned everything can go fuck itself... much like protagonist Sisif wanted to fuck his daughter.
Did I mention the incest yet?
The film opens with a train wreck as engineer Sisif (Séverin-Mars) stumbles across a baby who's parents were killed in the crash. Taking pity on her he decides to name her Norma and raise her along with his son Elie. Years later Sisif is a miserable alcoholic while Elie (Gabriel de Gravone) has taken up violin making and Norma (Ivy Close) is enjoying her life at the train depot, celebrating that she has not a care in the world. But cares do come in the form of Jaques de Hersan (Pierre Magnier), some rich guy who wants to marry Norma, and if watching these old movies has taught me anything it's that horny rich guys are nothin' but trouble. Anyways Sisif gives his blessing for Hersan to take Norma away, confessing to his lust for her and hoping that getting her far away will solve everything.
Spoiler alert!
It doesn't.
And that's all just part one.
Then Sisif is reassigned to the alps with his son, Norma visits them because she is dissatisfied with her marriage, Hersan gets jealous of the (incestuous) relationship she and Elie might be having, he kills Elie before dying himself, Sisif blames Norma for some reason, she becomes destitute, and the rest of the movie is just her living with the increasingly blind Sisif without his knowledge until she's finally discovered and forgiven.
So as you can see there's a lot going on in this incest movie, most predominantly the incest. I guess we might as well talk about the incest.
Holy shit why is there so much incest!?
Just a quick side-note: I don't need to explain why this is messed up, right? Like, no one's gonna be shrugging and using their non-biological status as family members as a justification for the relationship? I assume we can all tell why this is creepy as all hell. I mean, ignoring the exploitative power dynamics in play at taking advantage as your position as a father/brother figure to extract sexual favours and the rape-like nature of said actions, it's still really gross.
Which is a problem because it undercuts the whole movie. Any interesting shot, any great character moment or impactful scene is always overshadowed by the creepy spectre of familial relations that hangs over the whole thing. It's just kind of hard to silence that voice in your head constantly whispering "They're siblings, they're siblings, they're siblings." And that's not even mentioning how weird it is that a father and son are pining for the same girl (their god-damned daughter/sister) and no one finds that odd.
Still, that voice does get quieter over time and I did almost forget how all the love-interests are related. If you can do that then you may find a pretty solid movie. Many of the editing choices and shots are interesting, particularly the rapid-fire editing used to cut frantically between images during suspenseful moments. Even though it doesn't make up for the overbearing use of iris shots (a trend in film I can't wait to leave behind) you do feel the innovation on display in many of the cinematographic choices. Plus despite the complaints above Sisif is great. This is really his story, and he is fascinating to watch. His alcoholism and guilt are very well portrayed by Séverin-Mars, who has a commanding presence on screen, and the final shot of his death was actually kind of heart wrenching as was when he learned of his son's death.
There are the makings of a fantastic film trapped beneath the crushing length and weird love-triangles. Which is what makes said love-triangles all the more frustrated. Had they just changed the dynamic, say, given Sisif a wife and made Norma a close family friend not a family member, then the oddly glossed over incest would have been avoided.
As it stands though La Roue is a fantastic film with a few fatal flaws. Whether or not said flaws will ruin the film really depends on the person. For me, it made an otherwise great movie into just a good one. Maybe you can ignore the problems, or maybe they'll disgust you beyond redemption. I don't know how contemporary audiences must have felt, but judging from the glib attitude the film takes for the whole thing they probably couldn't care less. That or I'm missing something here. Either way take a look and decide for yourselves.
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