La marche nuptiale: A Stumble Through 1935 Melodrama

Should you watch this?

If you like movies that feel like a dusty stage play, you might find something to love here. If you need pacing faster than a tortoise on a nap, stay far away. This isn't exactly Big Game when it comes to thrills. It’s for the folks who want to sit in a dark room and watch people suffer in very fancy outfits.

The whole thing feels a bit trapped. Not in a bad way, exactly, but the camera feels like it’s glued to the floorboards. You spend a lot of time watching characters walk into rooms just to look sad and say something devastating. It’s heavy, man.

Odd little details

• The way people hold their cigarettes in this movie is an art form all by itself.
• The lighting in the second act—everyone looks like they’re being haunted by their own shadows.
• There is a moment where a character just stands by a window for way, way too long. I think I checked my watch twice before they finally moved.

It’s not as polished as the stuff coming out of Hollywood at the time, like Evelyn Prentice. But there is a grit to the performances that feels surprisingly real. Assia Noris is doing a lot of heavy lifting with just her eyes. She knows something we don't.

The dialogue is thick. It’s like eating a sandwich with way too much bread. You have to work through it to get to the point, but the point is usually worth the trouble. Sometimes the lines feel like they were written by someone who had never actually had a conversation with a human being, but maybe that's just the 1935 style.

I found myself thinking about La femme en homme halfway through, wondering why this one feels so much more claustrophobic. Maybe it’s the lack of outdoor space. Everything happens in these velvet-lined rooms that feel like they’re slowly shrinking.

If you’re looking for a breezy time, you picked the wrong century. But if you want to see a bunch of talented actors try to navigate the messiness of love without ever really saying what they mean, this will do. 🎻