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Great French films and filmmakers aside from the usual suspects

ThisLife

11 months ago

The usual suspects would include: Renoir, Vigo, Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer, Chabrol, Rivette, Melville, Resnais, Varda, Akerman, Denis, Cocteau, Clouzot, Carne, Bresson, Tati, Malle, Assayas, to start.

ThisLife

11 months ago

I myself would throw in Maurice Pialat, Claude Sautet, and Philippe Garrel to start.

Dennis Brian

11 months ago

marguerite duras is well above many of those names.

Dimitri​s Psachos

11 months ago

Ummm, Akerman is Belgian.

Duras is primarily a legendary writer.

Santrop​ez

11 months ago

Emmanuel Lefrant’s experimental films are really good, specially Blitz. Completely blew me away.

Joks

11 months ago

Yeah, Duras wrote The Lovers, which is about 100 times better than the movie it was based on hahaa.

Can’t think of too many ones i love outside of those names that are not obvious. e.g Betty Blue, Delicatessen, City Of Lost Children etc.

Mr. Kaizer

11 months ago

I’m surprised that there are so many Duras fanboys around here (and maybe fangirls). Indeed she directed some very interesting films (Destroy She Said, India Song,…?).

Another writer who directed some great films: Alain Robbe-Grillet (Eden And After, The Man Who Lies,…?).

However… in film universe the two are best known for their work with Resnais I guess, Hiroshima mon amour and Marienbad.

Pierre

11 months ago

Jacques Tourneur
his father Maurice Tourneur
Jean Renior
Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jacques Audiard
his father Michel Audiard
Jacques Demy
Sacha Guitry
Coline Serreau
Bertrand Tavernier

to name a few…..

Wu Yong

11 months ago

Chris Marker, my friends.

Plus I recently saw La maison vide by Stephane Breton. Fascinating portrayal of poverty and the slow death of a very certain lifestyle. Going to see three more of his films soon enough.

Claude Sautet, too.

ThisLife

11 months ago

I’m aware both Akerman and Varda are Belgian, but they’re both Francophone and have made films within the French system, so that’s what I was implying.

Kenji

11 months ago

Jacques Rivette is a marvellous director- e.g Celine and Julie go Boating.

Also the pioneer Alice Guy-Blaché deserves to be better known.

Philippe Garrel, e.g Regular Lovers is worth checking out.

twodead​magpies

11 months ago

Eugène Green!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

George

11 months ago

Germaine Dulac…

Kenji

11 months ago

Louis Feuillade, of course; a major silent director, early master of long takes; see chapter on him in David Bordwell’s book Figures Traced in Light.

DADA WEATHER​MAN

11 months ago

I came in here to point out that The Usual Suspects isn’t French, but never mind.

VOLUPTE NOIR

11 months ago

Patrice Leconte. Monsieur Hire was excellent.

Doinel

11 months ago

Second Feuillade.

Jacques Feyder, technically Belgian but he worked in France. Le Grand Jeu, Carnival in Flanders.

Alice Guy from the early French silent era and while we’re in the silent era, of course Abel Gance.

Dennis Brian

11 months ago

Duras directed Trucks, one of the best films I have seen.

Bing147

11 months ago

Jacques Becker comes immediately to mind.

David Ehrenst​ein

11 months ago

Patrice Chereau

Marcel L’Herbier

Jean Gremillion

Georges Franju

Roscoe

11 months ago

What, no Georges Melies?

Klaus Capra

11 months ago

Jean-Daniel Pollet

Here is an extract from his “Méditerranée”

Kenji

11 months ago

@ David, you’ve picked a clip i recently put on the 1963 poll thread, for Judex. So elegant and entertaining

A film i like even more is Casque d’Or, directed by Jacques Becker, which we had a brief thread on quite a while back.

Sean John

11 months ago

My two cents worth: Marcel Pagnol

Sarah Karina-​Bogart

11 months ago

Ousmane Sembene is pretty great so Xala and Black Girl.

Matt Parks

11 months ago

Leos Carax
Léonce Perret
Marcel L’Herbier
René Clair
Luc Mollett
Jean Epstein
Andre Techine

Kenji

11 months ago

If Akerman and Varda count, then how about Max Ophuls? e.g Madame de, Lola Montes.

Matt Parks

11 months ago

Ophuls worked, I believe, longer in France than anywhere else, so . . .

twodead​magpies

11 months ago

of course! moullet! damn i wish more of his films had subtitles.

Wu Yong

11 months ago

Oh yeah… While we’re mentioning Ophuls… Marcel worked, though German (and a U.S. citizen) I think nearly entirely in France.

And while we’re mentioning documenters of the holocaust and Nazi atrocities… Claude Lanzmann.