(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
«Show, don't tell» it is often called in the film industry. From this, there is little reason why Olivier Assayas' Between the lines should work especially well, all the while it's a movie where it's talked almost continuously. Attention to literature, and most of all about the challenges of the publishing industry in the face of the digital age.
But the art of writing good dialogue should not be underestimated – just look at the majority of Woody Allen's films. And that's more than the exquisite replica exchanges in Between the lines which can bring the mind of the aforementioned American filmmaker, while at the same time the film must be said to be distinct French.
«Life imitates art far more than art imitates life", Reads a famous quote by Oscar Wilde. IN this film, however, is about art that imitates life, more specifically what is gradually referred to as "reality literature".
Between the lines (Original title Double dirty, English title Non-fiction) is a smart and enjoyable ensemble comedy with five central characters: publisher Alain (Guillaume Canet), actor Selena (Juliette Binoche), writer Vincent (Vincent Macaigne), political advisor Valérie (Nora Hamzawi) and young and ambitious Laure (Christa Théret) ), working on digital strategies in the same publishing house as Alain. Alain and Selena are a couple, Vincent and Valérie as well. But it would have been neither Woody Allensk nor pronounced French if there were no side-strikes in these ranks.
Infidelity is also deeply portrayed in Vincent's books, including his latest novel – which Alain rejects at the start of the film, despite having published all of his friend's previous books. Like these, the new novel is so-called autofiction – autobiographical fiction – in true Knausgårdsk fashion. One of Alain's alleged reasons for denial is that he feels a certain discomfort to a famous woman implicated in a depiction of a sexual act during a movie visit. The book also specifies the film in question as Michael Hanekes The white ribbon, while in reality (that is, the reality of the film, for those who may be in doubt) it should have been not as high cultural Star Wars – The Force Awakens. But everyone who has watched the Seinfeld episode deals with purging below Schindlers liste, will believe that Star Wars may still look better.
"Nobody knows anything" the film industry says that no one can predict what will happen in the future. Of course, this has never prevented most people who work with film from seeing and thinking up and in mind. So also in the publishing industry, you have to believe Assayas' movie, where it is regularly predicted about where you are heading. The conversations go into blogging versus traditional authorship, e-books rather than paper publishing, Twitter, reading boards and audio books – the latter preferably read by a celebrity. At one point it is even mentioned that the critics have lost their meaning, without seeing any reason to go into the exact the.
The film would have been neither Woody Allensk nor distinctly French if there were no side-strikes in these ranks.
The parallels to the film industry, with all its challenges of streaming, downloading and changing viewing habits, are many and obvious. Although many enjoyable films have been made about the film industry, however, it is a sensible choice for Assayas rather to envision a related environment in this film. In this way, he constantly communicates many of the same points (between the lines, one might say), with less danger of appearing navel-gazing. In this context, it may also be mentioned that Between the lines is photographed on 16mm film, presumably as an ironic stick to today's more popular digital recording formats.
"Everything has to change in order to stay the same", reads a quote by Italian author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which is discussed in a scene in Between the lines. Whether this is the case for the publishing industry, of course remains to be seen. Anyway, the movie is not acting really about the structural, technological and economic challenges in this industry.
Despite all his talk show Between the lines so definitely a plot. This is about the challenges of the love and professional life of established, grown-up people – including a series of infidelity intrigues that are exemplarily un-hilariously told. These intrigues are interwoven relatively elegantly with the problematization of so-called reality literature, with writers almost inevitably publishing more than themselves. Admittedly, the film does not need to go very far into the potential damage this can cause, but ultimately it is also more of a comedy than a drama.
In keeping with this, Lampedusa's quote may be given its full relevance if viewed in the context of the central characters' love relationships, regardless of both literature and the related industry. I suspect that the wording expresses the actual message of the film – contradicting the said mantra of showing, not telling.
Between the lines has Norwegian
cinema premiere May 10.
