****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 cliffhanger (hence the title “melo”).
But everything is treated with absolute artificiality and behaviors that slip into most parodic absurdity 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 satire friendly and like a documentary film: that of a crazy director and three actor friends determined to have a good time.
