By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Barbara Hammer
Country: united_states
Year: 2006
Running time: 56
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816207/
Bruce says: “In 1937 Claude Cahoun and Marcel Moore moved from France to the Isle of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands in
the English Channel off the coast of Brittany. Claude, nee Lucy Schwab, was young when her father divorced her mother and married another woman who also had a daughter, Suzanne Malherbe. Lucy and Suzanne were raised together and became lovers. LOVER OTHER is a portrait of two surrealist photographers and collagists who were way ahead of their time, two defiant women who stood up to the Nazi forces that occupied their village during World War II.
“Art world stories often are unimaginative and dull on screen. The magic of the art does not come through. Barbara Hammer, working with tons of archival photos of the women and many wonderful examples of their art, weaves their history and art in with Kathleen Chalfont and another actress reading their writings and acting out the women’s intense feelings. Jersey residents, who remember the women from the war years, reminisce. And an art historian explains why Cahoun and Moore are important. Hammer gives her audience a true sense of her subjects and their sphere.
“Claude and Marcel were nudists; they shaved their heads. They loved costumes; they loved cross dressing. Their art was certainly collaboration. Sometimes Claude was the subject and sometimes, Marcel. One standout photo is of Claude in graveyard wearing a diaphanous evening gown and a leather cycling helmet. Fellow villagers did not know what to make of them. ‘Slightly off-beam,’ ‘Out of the ordinary,’ ‘Of that persuasion,’ are some of the comments from Jersey residents.
“When the Nazis invaded the Channel Islands they increased the population by half. Claude and Marcel both spoke and wrote German. They brazenly cursed and ridiculed the soldiers. They would write notes and slip them into the soldiers’ pockets. The main residence, the soldatenheim, was across the road. The two women would sneak into the dining hall and leave messages under their plates encouraging mutiny among the German troops. The women were brave, yet foolhardy. Part way through the occupation, all Jews were required to register. In 1944 Claude and Marcel were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to six years in prison and death. In front of the judge, Lucy asked, ‘Which sentence would you like us to serve first?’
“I always hesitate to suggest that a filmmaker should have done something different. However, LOVER OTHER is too short for my taste. I would appreciate additional history to complete the picture of life in Jersey or even Montparnasse where the couple lived in Paris when they were young. HISTORY LESSONS is the only other Barbara Hammer film I’ve seen. It features a montage of archival lesbian still photos. Hammer is drawn to still photography and uses it well. 4 cats
“LOVER OTHER was screened at the 2006 Provincetown International Film Festival.”