Life Is a Bed of Roses
Encyclopedia
Life Is a Bed of Roses is a 1983 French film
directed by Alain Resnais
from a screenplay
by Jean Gruault
. The English-language distribution title of the film is Life Is a Bed of Roses, though it has also been known as Forbek's Castle and Life Is a Fairy Tale. A literal translation of the original title is "Life is a novel [or story, romance]"; in the film the French quotation (or misquotation) is attributed to Napoleon.
.
In legendary times, the baby son of a king is rescued by his nurse when his father is killed by a rival. When the boy grows up, he kills a dragon, rescues a maiden, and reclaims his kingdom, to initiate a reign of love and happiness.
In 1914, the wealthy Count Forbek announces to his friends his plan to build an extravagant castle, a "temple of happiness", as a home for himself and for them, which he will dedicate to Livia, the woman he intends to marry. His plans are disrupted by the onset of the First World War, and Livia marries Raoul, an army officer; but in 1920 the castle is sufficiently complete for Forbek to entertain his friends there. He invites them all to participate in an experiment in which their present discontents and all their memories will be wiped away when they drink a potion, and they will be reborn as new people, re-educated to live in perfect harmony. Livia alone secretly avoids drinking the potion and observes its effect on the others. When she learns that Raoul has died in the experiment, she denounces Forbek's scheme, and he is devastated by her rejection.
In the 1980s, the castle has been converted into the Institut Holberg, a progressive school and teacher-training establishment. An educational conference brings together delegates who include Walter Guarini, a utopian architect, Nora Winkle, an American anthropologist, Elisabeth Rousseau, an earnest provincial schoolmistress, and Roger Dufresne, a games expert at the Institute. The determination of Georges Leroux, the conference convenor, to unite everyone in shared ideals of how the next generation should be educated is subverted when Elisabeth's demonstration of her practical method of integrated teaching provokes an outbreak of ideological disputes. Meanwhile, Nora's mischievous plan to foster a romance between Elisabeth and Roger has completely contrary results. The conference breaks up in disarray.
, as Walter Guarini
Ruggero Raimondi
, as Michel Forbek
Geraldine Chaplin
, as Nora Winkle
Fanny Ardant
, as Livia Ceraskier
Pierre Arditi
, as Robert Dufresne
Sabine Azéma
, as Elisabeth Rousseau
Robert Manuel
, as Georges Leroux
Martine Kelly, as Claudine Obertin
Samson Fainsilber, as Zoltan Forbek
Véronique Silver
, as Nathalie Holberg
André Dussollier
, as Raoul Vandamme
Cathy Berberian
, as the Nurse
proved to be successful, the producer asked them to work on another film together. They developed an original scenario from their personal interests and enthusiasms into a three-tiered narrative which explored different attitudes towards happiness. Resnais's interest in 18th century British architecture and the extravagant projects of William Beckford
provided the starting point for the section about Forbek and his castle.
Music was a significant element of the film. Resnais was eager to use an alternation of speaking and singing in the dialogue. The final scenes of the 1980s section with its shifting romantic coupling was modelled with The Marriage of Figaro
in mind. The operatic dimension of the film was further emphasised by the casting of the bass Ruggero Raimondi
in the role of Forbek (though he does not sing). The singer Cathy Berberian
appeared in the legendary sequence, in the singing role of the old nurse which was one of her last performances; she died before the film was released.
To create distinct visual textures for different sections, different types of film stock were used: Eastmancolor for the 1920s section about Count Forbek, and Fujicolor for the 1980s episode of the educational conference.
For the legendary scenes, the graphic artist Enki Bilal
(who had previously designed the publicity poster for Mon oncle d'Amérique) created grotesque images of trees, plants and roots, painted on glass, which were placed in front of the camera to give an air of unreality to the filmed sets and landscapes.
For the exterior scenes of the castle, a château on the outskirts of Paris was used; the set designer Jacques Saulnier built a structure around it to give its extravagant aspects which were in a mixture of styles, including many oriental influences. This produced the effect described in the film as "une pâtisserie" ("a cake"). Interior scenes were filmed at the Studios de Boulogne.
It was also coolly received by English-language critics when shown at film festivals. Some reviewers saw the film as a comic counterpart to its predecessor Mon oncle d'Amérique which had also used a triple narrative as the means of exploring theories of human behaviour; and both films were written by the same screenwriter, Jean Gruault. A rare positive reaction was stated in Sight & Sound: "After Mon oncle d'Amérique, which drew its multiple narratives from the forbidding stuff of the behavioural sciences, Resnais's latest collage seems quite frivolously based, intertwining fairy tale, comedy of manners and Feuillade-like fantasy. But the result is the same: a delicious celebration of imaginative possibility and narrative cunning".
Robert Benayoun
, the critic and friend of Resnais, attributed the film's lack of success to the public's confusion when confronted with what appeared to be an overtly comic film from a director previously more associated with serious themes. Benayoun asserted however that this film "was made more than ever in the full likeness of Resnais: composite in style, baroque, intricate, built upon levels which are multiplied without restraint".
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
directed by Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
from a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Jean Gruault
Jean Gruault
Jean Gruault , is a French screenwriter and actor. He wrote 25 films between 1960 and 1995. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the 1980 film Mon oncle d'Amérique.He was born in Fontenay-sous-Bois, Paris....
. The English-language distribution title of the film is Life Is a Bed of Roses, though it has also been known as Forbek's Castle and Life Is a Fairy Tale. A literal translation of the original title is "Life is a novel [or story, romance]"; in the film the French quotation (or misquotation) is attributed to Napoleon.
Plot
The film interweaves three stories from different eras but sharing a common location, in the forest of ArdennesArdennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
.
In legendary times, the baby son of a king is rescued by his nurse when his father is killed by a rival. When the boy grows up, he kills a dragon, rescues a maiden, and reclaims his kingdom, to initiate a reign of love and happiness.
In 1914, the wealthy Count Forbek announces to his friends his plan to build an extravagant castle, a "temple of happiness", as a home for himself and for them, which he will dedicate to Livia, the woman he intends to marry. His plans are disrupted by the onset of the First World War, and Livia marries Raoul, an army officer; but in 1920 the castle is sufficiently complete for Forbek to entertain his friends there. He invites them all to participate in an experiment in which their present discontents and all their memories will be wiped away when they drink a potion, and they will be reborn as new people, re-educated to live in perfect harmony. Livia alone secretly avoids drinking the potion and observes its effect on the others. When she learns that Raoul has died in the experiment, she denounces Forbek's scheme, and he is devastated by her rejection.
In the 1980s, the castle has been converted into the Institut Holberg, a progressive school and teacher-training establishment. An educational conference brings together delegates who include Walter Guarini, a utopian architect, Nora Winkle, an American anthropologist, Elisabeth Rousseau, an earnest provincial schoolmistress, and Roger Dufresne, a games expert at the Institute. The determination of Georges Leroux, the conference convenor, to unite everyone in shared ideals of how the next generation should be educated is subverted when Elisabeth's demonstration of her practical method of integrated teaching provokes an outbreak of ideological disputes. Meanwhile, Nora's mischievous plan to foster a romance between Elisabeth and Roger has completely contrary results. The conference breaks up in disarray.
Cast
Vittorio GassmanVittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman Knight Grand Cross OMRI , popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor and director...
, as Walter Guarini
Ruggero Raimondi
Ruggero Raimondi
Ruggero Raimondi is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures.-Early training and career:Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II...
, as Michel Forbek
Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin is an English-American actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin first came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago . She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville...
, as Nora Winkle
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant is a French actress. She has appeared in more than fifty motion pictures since 1976. Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in Pédale douce.-Early life:...
, as Livia Ceraskier
Pierre Arditi
Pierre Arditi
Pierre Arditi was born on 1 December 1944 in Paris, child of the French paintor Georges Arditi , from Marseille, and a Belgian mother. He is an award-winning French film and stage actor...
, as Robert Dufresne
Sabine Azéma
Sabine Azéma
Sabine Azéma is a French actress. Born in Paris, she graduated from the Paris Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, and began her film career in 1975...
, as Elisabeth Rousseau
Robert Manuel
Robert Manuel (actor)
Robert Manuel , a French actor and film director.- Filmography :* 1935 : La Petite Sauvage by Jean de Limur* 1936 : Salonique, nid d'espions by Georg Wilhelm Pabst* 1937 : Orage by Marc Allégret...
, as Georges Leroux
Martine Kelly, as Claudine Obertin
Samson Fainsilber, as Zoltan Forbek
Véronique Silver
Véronique Silver
Véronique Silver was a French actress.She was born in Amiens.-Filmography:* 1954 : Si Versailles m'était conté..., directed by Sacha Guitry, with Michel Auclair, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Jean-Louis Barrault, Bourvil, Claudette Colbert and Gino Cervi* 1957 : Méfiez-vous fillettes, directed by Yves...
, as Nathalie Holberg
André Dussollier
André Dussollier
André Dussollier is a French actor.-Filmography:* 1970 : Ils, directed by Jean-Daniel Simon* 1972 : Les Chemins de pierre, directed by Joseph Drimal...
, as Raoul Vandamme
Cathy Berberian
Cathy Berberian
Catherine Anahid Berberian was an American soprano and composer. She interpreted contemporary avant-garde music composed, among others, by Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati , Igor Stravinsky.She also interpreted...
, as the Nurse
Production
When the collaboration of Resnais and Jean Gruault on Mon oncle d'AmériqueMon oncle d'Amérique
Mon oncle d'Amérique is a 1980 French film directed by Alain Resnais.- Plot :The didactic film is built around the ideas of French physician, writer and philosopher Henri Laborit, who plays himself in the film...
proved to be successful, the producer asked them to work on another film together. They developed an original scenario from their personal interests and enthusiasms into a three-tiered narrative which explored different attitudes towards happiness. Resnais's interest in 18th century British architecture and the extravagant projects of William Beckford
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford , usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed to be the richest commoner in England...
provided the starting point for the section about Forbek and his castle.
Music was a significant element of the film. Resnais was eager to use an alternation of speaking and singing in the dialogue. The final scenes of the 1980s section with its shifting romantic coupling was modelled with The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
in mind. The operatic dimension of the film was further emphasised by the casting of the bass Ruggero Raimondi
Ruggero Raimondi
Ruggero Raimondi is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures.-Early training and career:Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II...
in the role of Forbek (though he does not sing). The singer Cathy Berberian
Cathy Berberian
Catherine Anahid Berberian was an American soprano and composer. She interpreted contemporary avant-garde music composed, among others, by Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati , Igor Stravinsky.She also interpreted...
appeared in the legendary sequence, in the singing role of the old nurse which was one of her last performances; she died before the film was released.
To create distinct visual textures for different sections, different types of film stock were used: Eastmancolor for the 1920s section about Count Forbek, and Fujicolor for the 1980s episode of the educational conference.
For the legendary scenes, the graphic artist Enki Bilal
Enki Bilal
Enes Bilal is a French comic book creator, comics artist and film director.-Biography:Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to a Slovak mother and a Bosnian father who had been Josip Broz Tito's tailor, he moved to Paris at the age of 9. At age 14, he met René Goscinny and with his encouragement applied...
(who had previously designed the publicity poster for Mon oncle d'Amérique) created grotesque images of trees, plants and roots, painted on glass, which were placed in front of the camera to give an air of unreality to the filmed sets and landscapes.
For the exterior scenes of the castle, a château on the outskirts of Paris was used; the set designer Jacques Saulnier built a structure around it to give its extravagant aspects which were in a mixture of styles, including many oriental influences. This produced the effect described in the film as "une pâtisserie" ("a cake"). Interior scenes were filmed at the Studios de Boulogne.
Reception
When the film was released in April 1983, it received many bad reviews: a critic for Le Monde called it a "catastrophe". It also drew the lowest-ever number of cinema admissions in France for a Resnais film to that date.It was also coolly received by English-language critics when shown at film festivals. Some reviewers saw the film as a comic counterpart to its predecessor Mon oncle d'Amérique which had also used a triple narrative as the means of exploring theories of human behaviour; and both films were written by the same screenwriter, Jean Gruault. A rare positive reaction was stated in Sight & Sound: "After Mon oncle d'Amérique, which drew its multiple narratives from the forbidding stuff of the behavioural sciences, Resnais's latest collage seems quite frivolously based, intertwining fairy tale, comedy of manners and Feuillade-like fantasy. But the result is the same: a delicious celebration of imaginative possibility and narrative cunning".
Robert Benayoun
Robert Benayoun
Robert Benayoun was a French film critic and author, and one-time member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival of 1980. He wrote books on Tex Avery, Woody Allen, Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, and Alain Resnais.He wrote screenplays for and directed three films...
, the critic and friend of Resnais, attributed the film's lack of success to the public's confusion when confronted with what appeared to be an overtly comic film from a director previously more associated with serious themes. Benayoun asserted however that this film "was made more than ever in the full likeness of Resnais: composite in style, baroque, intricate, built upon levels which are multiplied without restraint".