Afternoon of Mr. Andesma -- Marguerite Duras

Author: (French) Marguerite Duras (Duras, M.) wrote, translated by Wang Daqian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: It's a bit like Ravel's ballet "Boléro," with two tones of sound coming and going, cycling back and forth, hesitating to speak, endless and boundless. It truly deserves to be called a deeply surreal poetic piece. —Reviewer Liu Enbo
I've always told Marguerite, "If you have a work I want to adapt into a film, it's 'Afternoon of Mr. Andesma.'" She replied, "If I haven't filmed it, you can do it after I'm gone." This is a film she wanted to make. —Film Director Michel Porto.
On a summer afternoon, the activities of Mr. Andesma, seventy-eight years old, waiting for the terrace contractor to arrive at the newly purchased house for his beloved only daughter on the mountain, unfold over several hours. The protagonist's memories of the past, the ups and downs of his thoughts, and the interplay of light and shadow in the mountains create a melancholic atmosphere, foreshadowing the shadowed prospects of an aging, wealthy man.