L'Étoile de mer
Encyclopedia
L'Étoile de mer is a 1928
film
directed by Man Ray
. The film is based on a script by Robert Desnos
and depicts a couple (Alice Prin
and André de la Rivière) acting through scenes that are shot out of focus.
After opening to the couple walking along a road, the scene cuts to a caption
A short scene where the female alters her stocking.
From this point the couple retire to the upper bedroom of a house and the female undresses and retires, at which point the male bids her farewell.
The male leaves the house.
The film cuts to a female selling newspapers in the street, this is André de la Rivière in drag.
A man is shown purchasing a sea star
in a jar, returning it home to examine further.
The film then changes focus, following newspapers being blown in the wind while a man attempts to pick them up. Scenes from a railway journey appear briefly, tugboats docking at a wharfside followed by a panning city scape.
Followed by a montage of various rotating objects, including the sea star in a jar. A few still lifes appear, again featuring the sea star.
We rejoin the man as he ascends the staircase to the upper bedroom in the house, leaving the sea star at the foot of the stairs. The film cuts to the woman brandishing a large knife superimposed with the sea star.
We return to the female reclining in the bedroom.
The film then reveals a short end to the characters love triangle.
The female appears in a mirror with the word 'belle', which shatters. The affair is over, and the film brings to a close.
1928 in film
-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
. The film is based on a script by Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos , was a French surrealist poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day.- Biography :...
and depicts a couple (Alice Prin
Alice Prin
Alice Ernestine Prin , nicknamed Queen of Montparnasse, and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse, was a French artist model, nightclub singer, actress, memoirist, and painter. She flourished in, and helped define, the liberated, early 1920s culture of Paris.- Early life :Alice Prin was born in...
and André de la Rivière) acting through scenes that are shot out of focus.
Synopsis
Almost all of the scenes in this film are shot either off a mirror like the final shot, or through diffused and textured glass.After opening to the couple walking along a road, the scene cuts to a caption
Les dents des femmes sont des objets si charmants... (Women's teeth are such charming objects...)
A short scene where the female alters her stocking.
... qu' on ne devrait les voir qu' en rêve ou à l'instant de l'amour. (... that one ought to see them only in a dream or in the instant of love.)
From this point the couple retire to the upper bedroom of a house and the female undresses and retires, at which point the male bids her farewell.
Si belle! Cybèle? (So beautiful! Cybèle?)
The male leaves the house.
Nous sommes à jamais perdus dans le désert de l'éternèbre. (We are forever lost in the desert of eternal darkness.)
The film cuts to a female selling newspapers in the street, this is André de la Rivière in drag.
Qu'elle est belle (How beautiful she is)
A man is shown purchasing a sea star
Sea star
Starfish or sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names "starfish" and "sea star" essentially refer to members of the class Asteroidea...
in a jar, returning it home to examine further.
"Après tout" ("After all")
The film then changes focus, following newspapers being blown in the wind while a man attempts to pick them up. Scenes from a railway journey appear briefly, tugboats docking at a wharfside followed by a panning city scape.
Si les fleurs étaient en verre (If the flowers were in glass)
Followed by a montage of various rotating objects, including the sea star in a jar. A few still lifes appear, again featuring the sea star.
Belle, belle comme une fleur de verre (Beautiful, beautiful like a flower of glass)
Belle comme une fleur de chair (Beautiful like a flower of flesh)
Il faut battre les morts quand ils sont froids. (One must beat the dead while they are cold.)
We rejoin the man as he ascends the staircase to the upper bedroom in the house, leaving the sea star at the foot of the stairs. The film cuts to the woman brandishing a large knife superimposed with the sea star.
Les murs de la Santé (The walls of the Santé)
Et si tu trouves sur cette terre une femme à l'amour sincère... (And if you find on this earth a woman of sincere love...)
Belle comme une fleur de feu (Beautiful like a flower of fire)
Le soleil, un pied à l'étrier, niche un rossignol dans un voile de crêpe. (The sun, one foot in the stirrup, nestles a nightingale in a veil of crepe.)
We return to the female reclining in the bedroom.
Vous ne rêvez pas (You are not dreaming)
The film then reveals a short end to the characters love triangle.
Qu'elle était belle (How beautiful she was)
Qu'elle est belle (How beautiful she is)
The female appears in a mirror with the word 'belle', which shatters. The affair is over, and the film brings to a close.
Sources
- Flicks - March 2001 http://www.cinescene.com/flicks/flicks042001.html; Chris Dashiell (2001)