La Belle Captive
Along with his status as an important postwar writer of the New Novel school, Alain Robbe-Grillet's place in film history is secure thanks to his debut screenwriting effort,Last Year at Marienbad, the all-time puzzle picture. His own directing efforts have been less accessible outside France, but the 1983La Belle Captiverepresents the Robbe-Grillet idea. R-G based the movie on his own novel, which was itself inspired by the paintings of Magritte. The set-up is one of those nightmare-chasing-its-own-tail scenarios:  a man (Daniel Mesguich) becomes entranced by a young woman (Gabrielle Lazure) dancing in a nightclub, but later that night he finds her crumpled body on the road. The woman becomes his obsession; meanwhile, his boss (who happens to be a hot babe on a motorcycle) gives him a mysterious assignment. Any initial intrigue on either the erotic or whodunit front quickly dissipates in a maddening series of teases, and even if you like reality/fantasy/dream interplay, your patience may grow thin after a while. The movie's cheapjack '80s look doesn't help, but more than anythingLa Belle Captivereminds us of the difference between a writer, however talented, and a real director, like Alain Resnais. Resnais' direction ofLast Year at Marienbadis an elegant glide into ever-deepening mysteries of place, personality, and memory, but Robbe-Grillet's direction ofLa Belle Captivenever finds wings for its ideas.--Robert Horton