An era of its own. A time when American was in a transition from separatism to civil rights. The 70's was a Golden Age on so many levels and the influence echoes around the world in present day. Blaxploitation is considered in my opinion to be the coolest of cool. Touching on the most sensitive material in America at its time and exploiting them on the big screen or the vinyls in your record player produced for a glorified genre that nobody will ever be able to duplicate. Our mission at Blax-Pride is to educate those who are unfamiliar with this era and combine knowledge with those who are familiar.
Also you will notice Kung Fu movies on this site as well. What does this have to do with Blaxploitation? Well, the more action packed Blaxploitation films did not just street fight. Oh no.....they thought they were Kung Fu Masters. Chinese martial art movies gave a sense of invincibility to these actors. Seeing how cool it was to be a masterful fighter, why not just integrate this with Pimpin', Hustlin', Jive Talkin' and Pam Grier? Blax-Pride!!!
Starring
Bernadette Lafont
Michel Duchaussoy
Bulle Ogier
Serge Marquand
Lester Bowie*
Malachi Favors*
Joseph Jarman*
Roscoe Mitchell*
Don Moye*
*The Art Ensemble Of Chicago
theauteurs.com
The picture's title is from a bit of vulgar French rhyming slang—none of the characters here are named Sophie. Rather, Lafont plays Celine, a free spirit whose affair with the rather more stuffy Phillipe (Michel Duchaussoy) looks pretty damn unpromising from the start. "I want to love one woman who would represent all women," Phillipe declaims as he and Celine sit at the foot of an electrical tower. "I would like to love all men as if they were one man," Celine counters.
In case we don't get the point, Mizrahi's camera pans up to show the warning plaques on the tower: "Zone de Confusion," not to mention "Danger de Mort." Fundamental philosophical differences aside, the two marry anyway; Phillipe sweeps Celine into his very proper French home (she doesn't re-hang that Ho Chi Minh portrait), Celine finds a soul mate in Julia (Ogier), the oppressed wife of Phillipe's piggish best pal Jean Pierre (Serge Marquand, the naked fellow above, responding to a dare from Celine), there's much consciousness-raising and eventual tragedy...and then Celine goes and checks out the Art Ensemble, and has a brief chat after the gig with Mitchell, who pronounces the sexual habits of white Europeans "a drag."
Provided by Cinnemageddon user trixymo thru Funkback
Link to soundtrack review
Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Les stances à Sophie (1971)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Les stances à Sophie aka Sophie's Ways (1971)
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[...] Lewis does not say very much about Les Stances à Sophie but it is easy to imagine Mizrahi being profoundly impressed by the group’s performances. [...]
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