La cartomancienne (1932) User Reviews

Medium's medium

[Polaris_DiB · 8/10 · 6 April 2007]

I see this short as basically an impression of what the future looks like through fortune tellers' eyes. There's more to it than that, including a lot of alchemical symbolism, but the way in which this short transists from card-reading to abstract montage editing provides a very light narrative about the future of the woman concerned.

I like the really grainy, yellow and orange tinted aspect of this film. I don't know if it's purposeful or if age has changed the look of this film, but it almost looks as if everything is made out of sand... another alchemical formation. All of the work involving the water is beautiful, especially the moment right after the man appears and right before one can tell it's actually a man.

The ending is very neat. I like how the woman rises out of the water, that entire scene seems very mythic.

--PolarisDiB

Symbolism and male nudity

[MarceloGilli · 7/10 · 24 November 2006]

A woman is looking for the perfect man. She ascends a flight of stairs and meets a fortune teller. The figure of man wearing a bathing suit appears. The film is full of symbolism that uses alchemical motifs -- so we are told -- and can be understood as a work of pure visual art, working through beautiful association of geometrical patterns or fusions. The only thing that nearly spoils the film is the asymmetry between the nakedness of the masculine figure and the abundance of garment on the feminine one. Was it one-sided prudishness or what? I had never heard of this filmmaker and, looking at his filmography, I don't see any familiar titles. Judging by this film, he was a talented artist.

That's A Woman Who Uses Cards To Read Character And Foretell

[boblipton · 6/10 · 16 January 2024]

A young woman carries a basket of laundry, but pauses to have another woman read a pack of worn-out cards to see her future. The cards speak of love, and we then see the first woman and a young man encounter each other.

Jerome Hill's experimental film is a valiant attempt to tell the tale in a purely visual manner. In broad outline, he certainly succeeds. In detail, he inundates the audience with many images filled with symbolic portent, from the half-ruined castle in which the card reading is given, to the more obvious ones like the circlet of flowers the first woman weaves. I have the impression that this was done in an effort to allow the audience to choose their own interpretation.

praises from an experimental film lover

[mrdonleone · 10/10 · 18 February 2010]

you want to see the very principles of experimental filming? don't hesitate watching 'La Cartomancienne', a short film work of pure genius. you get to see lights that transcend into images like Busby Berkeley would adapt in his 'Gold Diggers ...' series. you see philosophical images which raises questions faster than answers, like the scenes from a David Lynch movie, only sixty years later. you see unclear things and entities in the water of a lake, as Kenneth Anger would do in his 'Eaux Artifices', thirty years later. in fact, the whole picture can't be reviewed without making comparisons with Maya Deren's 'Meshes of the Afternoon'. they contain both almost the same story in other pictures. our conclusion is that there would be no experimental film today without 'La Cartomancienne' in 1932.

Unseen Cinema D1

[Michael_Elliott · 13 March 2008]

La Cartomancienne (1932)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

French love story about a fortune teller lusting after a strongman. The story is incredibly slow moving and boring but the visual effects are quite amazing as are the special effects.

In Youth, Beside the Lovely Sea (1925)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

An early widescreen film that was told by cutting the two sides of the image off and replacing them with a different image. This makes for a nice look, although the story is still a drag.

Melody on Parade (1936)

** (out of 4)

Musical short about Presidents of the United States with the added bonus of a sing a long.