One Hundred and One Nights (1995)

Agnès Varda's giddy, goofy love letter to the cinema resembles countless movie moments that have been shaken, not stirred, and poured out as a rich, heady cocktail. The phantom of a plot finds vivacious but aging film legend Simon Cinema (Michel Piccoli in a moppy blonde wig) spending his waning days reminiscing over the history of movies with the young Camille (perky, spirited Julie Gayet) and his best friend, an unnamed matinee idol identified in the credits only as "the Italian movie star" and played with great charm by Marcello Mastroianni. Simon "becomes" the film greats under discussion (from Luis Buñuel to Gene Kelly, and in one inspired moment even Michel Piccoli himself) while dozens of real-life cinema legends stop by to pay their respects. The list of cameos is a veritable who's who of American and European cinema: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Catherine Deneuve, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Gina Lollobrigida, Jeanne Moreau, Hanna Schygulla, and dozens more. As intimate as A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Cinema and as idiosyncratic as a Jean-Luc Godard cinema essay, this is film history as coffeehouse banter, adorned with film clips, inspired tributes, jokey references to classic scenes, and a score swimming in memorable musical motifs. If you're not in on the joke, Varda's tribute may seem arcane and obscure, but die-hard film lovers and cinema buffs will appreciate her affectionate whimsy as she ricochets and riffs through the legacy of film. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

must learn FRENCH first!

THE DVD WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SUBTITLED IN ENGLISH! WHOEVER WROTE THE AD WAS HONEST BUT WHAT HE/SHE DID NOT SAY WAS IT ONLY WORKS DURING THE TRAILER!
THE ENTIRE MOVIE HAD NO SUBTITLE! April 8, 2007

No subtitles

The DVD has no English subtitles so don't buy this unless you can understand French. March 10, 2007

Film lover's dream, movie lover's nightmare

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE NIGHTS, or rather LES CENT ET UNE NUITS DE SIMON CINÉMA, ought to appeal to those steeped in French New Wave, Italian Neo-Realist, and various other genres and movements in European cinema. Produced in the hundredth anniversary year of moving pictures, give or take a month or two, it's a Euro-cinemaphile's delight. One-hundred-year-old Mr. Cinema's memory is fading, and he hires a pretty - nay, beautiful - young woman to stimulate his memory with talk of movies past.

With my rube's knowledge of European cinema I knew almost every scene in this film referenced an earlier movie or star, although I was never quite sure who or which. For instance, the beautiful Camille (Juliet Gayet) must ride a bicycle to Mr. Cinema's estate, and in one scene, for no particular reason, the bicycle is stolen. Although I've never seen it, I'm sure act was meant to remind us of Vittorio de Sica's "The Bicycle Thief." Marcello Mastroianni has a fairly substantial role in the film, too, playing `The Italian Friend' of Mr. Cinema's who wants to buy his old films. Mastroianni is dressed as a magician in a number of scenes, with an identically costumed actor behind him pulling a rabbit out of his hat. I figure - this is a guess - that this is supposed to remind us of a Fellini film, although that's about the best I can do with that. And so it goes. Old French actors and actresses like Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo have small parts. Can't place the woman in the flowing purple robes, though, who I think is sposed to be personating Death. The one person I definitely recognized was Robert de Niro, who played a scene in a swan gondola with Catherine Deneuve, although both spoke French half the time.

I'm not mocking any of this. If I were more familiar with the actors and the movies this one would probably have been a lot of fun. Without that to fall back on, though, the movie wasn't all that terrific. Camille has a boyfriend with whom she schemes to cheat the old man out of enough money to finance a movie he's making, but even that plot stream seems borrowed or reflected from an earlier source. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE NIGHTS was okay, a kind of disjointed time-killer that would probably be a lot more appropriate for a lover of European cinema.
January 18, 2006

It was probably a good film....

But it was hard for me to tell, because the subtitles didn't work on my copy, or the next one I got..... April 4, 2005

If you don't love movies, don't see this one...

But if you DO love movies, well, the more you love and appreciate them, the more you will love and appreciate this one! This is an AMAZING homage to movies and to the role they play in our lives. It is boundless in its imagination, wit and charm, and it balances beautifully between the sophisticated and the sentimental. I love the cinema from France and from all other countries, but I watched this with someone who had not seen many films outside the USA and he still managed to adore this, even though he was unfamiliar with many of the films and stars that are referred to in this film. The more familiar one is with French cinema, the more one will appreciate this film, but there are plenty of Hollywood films and stars that are referred to as well (including a scene with a Liz Taylor clone that is hilarious!). This film's quintessential charm will hold anyone in a spell who knows intrinsically that cinema equals MAGIC! Varda understands that perfectly (as did her late husband, the great director Jacques Demy, who she also refers to in this film). She creates a loving tribute to the past century of films just in time to celebrate its centennial (fans of the Lumiere Brothers and Georges Melies will identify some great gags associated with their films!). If you aren't already obsessive about movies, you will be after seeing this one!
This one definitely deserves a hundred and one stars!! June 20, 2002

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