Muriel

A disappointing Resnais. It's difficult to believe just two years earlier he directed Marienbad. In contrast, Muriel is a straightforward production, with murky colors, some basic drama, and bland characters. A far cry from the befuddling and more challenging film he made two years before.

Old lovers reunite when Alphonse returns to the village Hélène resides. Hélène is a middle-aged widow who runs an antique shop, Alphonse is on the road with his niece Françoise, who is in fact his younger lover. Bertrand, Hélène's stepson, takes Françoise out to see the town, so Hélène and Alphonse can catch up about the old days.

The film isn't as dreary or dramatic as the plot makes it out to be, but the cinematography sure looks that way. Drab and grimey colors give the film a very unattractive look, while the soundtrack doesn't really make things better either. I didn't care much for the drama and the characters either, so in the end, there wasn't much left for me to appreciate.