****1/2 (Four and a half stars)
There was a time (which was beautiful) when Alain Resnais decided, with the complicity of some actors (Arditti, Azéma and Dussolier, named ut supra) have fun with the movies. Here take an old play (not old: old) about a man who brings his best friend over to his house, which ends in his wife (the man’s, not the best friend’s) falling in love with him (the friend’s) and that triggers a melodrama (hence the title “Mélo”).
But it’s all dealt with absolute artificiality and behaviors that slip into absurd as parodic as possible. even the tragic outcomedue to the sound of little birds, results in tremendous comedy.
It’s true, friends: if you want to see it as a real melodrama, then you and Resnais are respectful of the
game rules. But it is much, much better to see it as friendly satire and like a documentary: that of a crazy director and three actor friends determined to have a good time.
