"An Almost Perfect Affair" tells the story of Hal Raymond, an young American independent film director, who travels to the Cannes film festival in order to try and interest distributors in his latest film. While there, he meets and has an affair with Maria, the attractive wife of Federico Barone, a wealthy and successful Italian film producer.
I was interested in the comments from the reviewer who worked as a sound editor on this film and who states that the original intention was to make it as a satirical comedy about the movie industry. Although we cannot be sure how the film would have turned out if this plan had been adhered to, I can't help thinking that it would have been a better film than the one that was actually made. The best things about the film are the comic characters and episodes- Hal's more materialistic black friend Andrew, who tries to market his film as a "blaxploitation" action thriller, that French bureaucrat who combines exquisite politeness with exquisite uselessness, always more concerned with defending the honour of his nation than with actually doing anything to help anybody, and the scene where Hal successfully puts down a patronising wine waiter.
Unfortunately, the decision was taken to concentrate more on the romance between Hal and Maria than on the satire. There is an attempt to raise a potentially interesting point about the value of art: can an object, even a work of art on which its creator may have lavished great pains, ever have a greater moral value than a person? The question is raised when Maria, who has seen Hal's film and does not care for it, accuses him of caring more for his film than he does for her. He sees himself as idealistic because he cares more for artistic values than material ones; she regards his idealism as suspect because he cares more for artistic values than human ones.
As I said, this question is a potentially interesting one, but in the film it becomes less interesting because it is placed in the context of what is only a very shallow, brief romance. Maria is the sort of person who regards extra-marital affairs as a sign of "sophistication", which is a polite way of saying that she will always value her own gratification before the needs of anyone else, be that the needs of her husband or of her lovers. It is always quite clear that Hal is not the love of her life, that their romance is no more than a brief fling and that she has no intention of ever leaving her husband for him. (Hal, also, does not seem in any great hurry to abandon his steady girlfriend Karen for Maria). She cannot therefore complain if Hal values his film, on which he has spent two years of his life, more than he does a relationship which is doomed to fizzle out after a few days.
One thing I did like about the film was the attractive musical score by Georges Delerue, part Viennese waltz, part romantic piano concerto. Overall, however, I thought that "An Almost Perfect Affair" was not a great success. As a comedy it is only fitfully amusing and as a psychological study or exploration of philosophical issues it lacks depth. 5/10
I was interested in the comments from the reviewer who worked as a sound editor on this film and who states that the original intention was to make it as a satirical comedy about the movie industry. Although we cannot be sure how the film would have turned out if this plan had been adhered to, I can't help thinking that it would have been a better film than the one that was actually made. The best things about the film are the comic characters and episodes- Hal's more materialistic black friend Andrew, who tries to market his film as a "blaxploitation" action thriller, that French bureaucrat who combines exquisite politeness with exquisite uselessness, always more concerned with defending the honour of his nation than with actually doing anything to help anybody, and the scene where Hal successfully puts down a patronising wine waiter.
Unfortunately, the decision was taken to concentrate more on the romance between Hal and Maria than on the satire. There is an attempt to raise a potentially interesting point about the value of art: can an object, even a work of art on which its creator may have lavished great pains, ever have a greater moral value than a person? The question is raised when Maria, who has seen Hal's film and does not care for it, accuses him of caring more for his film than he does for her. He sees himself as idealistic because he cares more for artistic values than material ones; she regards his idealism as suspect because he cares more for artistic values than human ones.
As I said, this question is a potentially interesting one, but in the film it becomes less interesting because it is placed in the context of what is only a very shallow, brief romance. Maria is the sort of person who regards extra-marital affairs as a sign of "sophistication", which is a polite way of saying that she will always value her own gratification before the needs of anyone else, be that the needs of her husband or of her lovers. It is always quite clear that Hal is not the love of her life, that their romance is no more than a brief fling and that she has no intention of ever leaving her husband for him. (Hal, also, does not seem in any great hurry to abandon his steady girlfriend Karen for Maria). She cannot therefore complain if Hal values his film, on which he has spent two years of his life, more than he does a relationship which is doomed to fizzle out after a few days.
One thing I did like about the film was the attractive musical score by Georges Delerue, part Viennese waltz, part romantic piano concerto. Overall, however, I thought that "An Almost Perfect Affair" was not a great success. As a comedy it is only fitfully amusing and as a psychological study or exploration of philosophical issues it lacks depth. 5/10
