by Yazmin Ghonaim

MARIE BAIE DES ANGES (Mary of the Bay of Angels) Manuel Pradal (1998) Manuel Pradal's film, Marie Baie des Anges (Mary of the Bay of Angels) offers the spectator a disjointed view of the life of the young and relentless characters who populate the story, and of the way they merge so freely and savagely into a vibrant and inviting, nature-filled setting. Filmed in different locations along the coast from Marseilles to Rome and focusing on the Riviera, the film integrates several of the images Pradal considers to be "legendary elements of the mediterranean", such as the soccer stadiums, the Grand Prix, the Carnival and American sailors. The story involves Marie (Vahina Giocante), a teenage girl who learns how to explore the power ofher sensuality, and Orso (first-time actor, Frederic Malgras), a restless adolescent who lives freely and who is skilled at exploiting indiscriminately the powers of his rebellious character. When the two meet, their identities seem to become reinforced and satisfied by the other. Their heated curiousity takes them to an island and into a world of their own. Marie Baie des Anges is more than a potrayal of "living dangerously", it is a filmic narration of the motions the characters go through as they react to the natural forces of their desires and instincts. What results is an orchestration of their "giving in" to the only way they know how to be. Composed of images of sex, violence, guns, blood, cigarettes, heavy drinking, promiscuity and prostitution, the film surprisingly manages to transmit these without the glamorization which typically would result in desensitizing the characters (and the spectators). Instead, Marie Baie des Anges brings unto a visual level the potential forces of youth and its simbiotic relationship with nature.		DVD Music Books Search by keywords:
Outstanding Features: Location Shooting Marie Baie des Anges (Mary of the Bay of Angels) © 1998 Cinephiles - All rights reserved.