Thoughts about My Sex Life or How I got Into an Argument by Desplechin

Last night I watched Arnaud Desplechin's three hour homage to academic life My Sex Life or How I Got Into an Argument. The film was like a graduate film program thesis. Except it was much longer and had more layers. The characters were nuanced and had depth to them. I particularly like Paul Dedalaus played by Matheiu Amalric. He seemed like so many academics are; struggling to complete his doctorate degree, seeking to move up from adjunct status, all the while trying to maintain some level of sanity and social life.

The women of the film are good too. Dedaulus has many girlfriends; Valerie the disturbed one, Sylvia the petite one, and Esther his longtime girlfriend whom he wants nothing more than to break up with. Along with the commentaries about academic life in France, the film does veer into the relationship drama genre. There is a lot sleeping around and switching of partners. It's too bad I live in a dung heap of rural area where there is no dating scene. I often think of moving to Paris and living there. Perhaps that's why I've studied the French language and watch French films? Because I think France is better than the US? Maybe. Well, watching films will do that, they will make you reflect on the place you live and compare to the place dramatized in the film. And, hopefully we'll understand ourselves and the World we live more than at the beginning of the film. We don't watch films just to escape, we watch films to understand our selves, our world, and our surroundings.

Desplechins debut film shows signs of auteur distinction. I saw his latest film My Golden Days, which is similar in some ways to My Sex Life. Golden Days deals more with High School and college years than a philosophy doctorate students struggles to finish his degree and end up with the girl. It's a great first film. It has similarities to Francois Truffaut who was a master at creating characters and conflicts. Perhaps not as technically sophisticated or risk taking like Godard or Resnais, but he tells a good, complete story which is entertaining. Perhaps Golden Days is where Desplechin takes more risks. In that film he deals more with memory and has Dedaulus as an adolescent and a middle aged man reflecting back on his lost youth.