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A different way of telling a story

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Alain Resnais, like a lot of brilliant people, can be interesting even when he's not very entertaining. But in Not on the Lips, he's not even really that interesting.I liked the way the movie began, with the cute credits and the opening shot with the women singing. At that point I had high hopes. As the empty-headed characters chattered, I thought perhaps this was an Oscar- Wilde/Noel Coward sort of thing that would mock the upper classes.But as I watched further, I began to feel that instead, this was just a rather tedious trifle that has nothing to say. So I looked it up on wikipedia, which says it's an old operetta and that Resnais purposely made it as originally intended. Apparently that chatter was supposed to be interesting.I rather liked the music, although it's disconcerting when the subtitles don't bother to rhyme (sometimes they do, sometimes not). It's got a nice look to it. But about a third of the way through I just couldn't see how I could stand anymore of this superficial claptrap, and I stopped watching.

This film is about a woman whose husband is not aware that she married an American guy before. Chaos breaks out when the American husband is invited to their home.The film takes place entirely inside the beautiful residence of a rich couple. Sets are lavish, costumes are dazzlingly beautiful as a result. The songs are fun and got this nostalgic feel to it. The entangled relationships between the seven characters are entertaining to watch, and they kept me intrigued as to how things will turn out between them. Even though it was not easy to catch up with the subtitles, it was still delightful to watch."Not on the Lips" is a fun, light hearted, old style musical. I was told that this style is called "operetta", and I am liking my first exposure to operetta.

A 1920s musical farce, with a fine cast. Most of the music is uninteresting, except for the bigger production numbers. The sets are fine, the costumes are gorgeous, and the plot complications very amusing. It is just preposterous enough to be pleasing. Sabine Azéma is glamorous as Gilberte Valandraye, the central character, married to Georges Valandraye (Pierre Arditi), a sophisticated husband with a crackpot theory about feminine nature—women properly bonded with their first lover/husband will always be faithful. So Georges, who is exceedingly suave, worries not at all about the way men court his wife, and he does not know his new American business partner Eric Thomson (Lambert Wilson) is also his wife's first husband. Eric has a quirk, too: he will not kiss. Meanwhile, one of Gilberte's suitors, a young multimedia artist named Charly, pursued by young Huguette (Audrey Tautou, mostly wasted as an ingenue), makes everyone jealous, and the other suitor, Farandel (Daniel Prévost) does not. The last scene takes place in an elegant bachelor pad à chinoise, in which everything is first confused impossibly and then sorted out. Pleasant, though not exciting. Wondering what it means that Resnais, the maker of such tonily strange films forty years ago, now makes a conventional farce—I think it would be fruitless speculation.

Alain Resnais, darling of the avant garde, continues his journey back to the mainstream and, let's face it, BEYOND the mainstream, with this lush photography of even lusher decors and costumes by Vanity Fair out of Vogue. Nothing wrong with that, of course, if you can get past the hypocrisy. Here we have, set in the twenties, that old standby the second husband who has to cut a deal with his wife's ex, a sister-in-law and two ingenues thrown in for good measure with everyone breaking into song at the drop of a lorgnette. Pierre Arditi does suave as if he invented it and whether by design or accident contrives to sound like Charles Boyer on medication;Mrs. Resnais, Sabine Azema does style as effortlessly as Astaire and Audrey Tatou has cornered the current market in gorgeous. This should be enough to either encourage or deter you. 6/10