Brief, hurried thoughts on Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966, Jean-Pierre Melville) and Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Black on Gray) (1970)

“What was it like?” It’s a question often asked to a filmgoer once they have returned home, leaving behind their cinematic companions and rejoining those friends or family who wished to remain in the sunlight, not submitting themselves to the darkness of the auditorium and its resulting hints of eyestrain. Sometimes the filmgoer wishes they …