It took me a while to develop a taste for Godard… I eventually got there via Renoir and Truffaut… I agree with Truffaut that Jean Renoir is the greatest of all filmmakers, his great humanity underscores all his work. In my 20’s I thought ‘Breathless’ was rubbish.. now after many years of delving into French masters like Clouseau, Melville, Clement, Carne and Duvivier, I think it’s a great film. Le Mepris (Contempt)got me liking him, and A Bande Apart blew me away.
Poetic realism is a little mis-named, I prefer Poetic Fatalism, it seems to take on more depth for me. My favourite in this genre is easily Pepe Le Moko, and Port of Shadows, both masterpieces that had the French sending the Hollywood of Von Sternberg back to it, to inform the likes of Bogart and film noir.
Too many great films to mention…….. 400 Blows made me weep, La Grande Illusion made me even sadder about war, Lower Depths lifted me up. Bob Le Flambeur amazed me with it’s style and verve, Le Trou had me on edge…… I have to stop!
Are the French the greatest filmmakers? I think a compelling case can be made……
Hi Edouard, good luck with your presentation….. yes Godard was an effort, but the rewards immense. Equally Clouzout, especially Le Corbeau…. and Carne’s Le Jour Se Leve and Hotel Du Nord, both stunning… so you have to mention Jean Gabin, as important as Bogart for me. And my favourite quote from an actress anywhere belongs to Arletty, who made great films with Carne… she was asked why she was a little too cosy with some German officers during the occupation, she replied.. “Of course my heart is French, but my arse is international”!
Mon dieu, what style!
Andre, Godard can be tough, if you were underwhelmed by A Band Aparte, you remind me of my reation to Breathless when I was younger…. what’s the fuss I said, loudly and to anyone who’d listen. I am embarrased to admit, I should have kept my mouth shut and investigated some more. After realising that the French look at things differently to my Anglo cinema eyes, I worked my way back over many years to Godard, through Renoir (who both John Ford and Truffaut called the greatest, so who am I to argue?) and Truffaut… the film that got me sold on him oddly was the Criterion edition of Contempt. I found it stylish, witty and challenging. Then I did Breathless again and thought it was superb. Too cool by half. But by this stage I was late 30’s… 10 years on I would say that France is my cinematic ‘spiritual’ home.
Good luck on the journey.
One of the few respected films I won’t watch again… I found it very stomach turning and quite disturbing. I get the feeling Lynch is trying too hard, which is a feature of all his flawed work, whereas his great stuff seems effortless. I think I ‘got’ it, I just didn’t want it.
JP…. I take issue with the Hitchcock complaint!… it’s a worthy companion to 39 Steps, witty, stylish and crisp. Of course you have to cut a little slack for the model photography and cricket references… but it’s still pretty sweet. The screenwriters (Gilliat and Launder) made some films as a directing team too… ‘I See A Dark Stranger’ and ‘Green For Danger’ being 2 I like. But you have to have a taste for quaint British films, and they’re not Powell and Pressberger.
As for Criterions I don’t like…. hmmm… by the time I launch into a CC purchase I at least know I like the film… so no complaints yet.
Great idea Juan… I’m a musician from Sydney, and Criterion has been my weakness for nearly 10 years I’d guess… I’d have about 500 or so. Through them I developed a great passion for French and Italian films. Growing up in Australia in the 70’s there was pretty much only British and American films, and fairly mainstream at that. The European films come at life from a slightly strange angle for me, maybe that’s what I find mesmerising in them… fav’s include Melville, Carne, Malle and Jean Renoir above all of them. I love all kinds of film, but especially ones that make you think… too little of that going on these days.
Thanks again for the idea.
Rogue Male, Murphy’s War….. both with the inimitable Peter O’Toole
Agreed with… Withnail And I, McCabe and Mrs Miller and especially The Beguiled…. Clint’s best performance I gthink.
Well Renoir is the greatest of all filmmakers I think… and of course there are wonderful films in every culture… but the French seem to consistently make high quality stuff. The Germans, The Brits, The Italians come and go it seems… and for the amount of films the Yanks make, I’m thinking their percenatge of getting it right is a lot lower than out froggy friends. Vive Le Cinema du Francois!! (apologies to anyone who can actually speak French, my abilities in that area? tres merde!)…
I think The Life Of Brian is by far the funniest film ever made! but that could just be me…..
Eric Idle jokingly said, when asked what the follow up to Grail would be, “Jesus Christ, Lust for Glory”….. they started writing it with JC as the central figure, but dropped it soon after (too much baggage) for a contempory character, Brian. There is a book with some excerpts of never filmed script from this, including an hilarious scene where Joeseph is having trouble with Mary’s explanation of being in the family way, given her still virgin status! Beautiful.
I think you’re a little harsh… it was violent for it’s time… now it seems tame compared to the pornography level violence that is so prevalent.. it devalues films that could be so much better, and is only pandering to a game boy mentality.
As a film it’s not his best… Conversation and GF2 beat it, but for me it’s still an elegant and insightful piece of work. Imitations and an over exposure to soap opera type plots may have lessened it’s impact to succeeding generations, but it’s still a great film, full of brilliant performances….
I just think it encourages people to take Michael Bay and his ilk seriously…. that’s the worry. Then he’ll start taking himself seriously and he’ll make something like ‘The Island’….. whoops!
The Rock is good mindless escapism, well done for what it is…. If Criterion want to be associated with that then that’s their perogative I guess. I don’t mind a film that knows what it is, the ones with pretentions other than what they are bug me… that’ll be The Island and Armageddon to start with….. and half of Pearl Harbour.
I think you tend to get era’s in every country that are stronger than others. The Yanks from 1931 to 1945… again 1967 to 1980 made some incredible films, the Brits from 1940 to 1950, the Italians post war, eastern Europe in the ’60’s, the French in the 30’s, the late 50’s to the mid 1970’s were particularly productive.
Edouard, given what you’ve said about this so far, you need to get your teeth into some of the more poetic Italian films, as the best of them can match the French at every level. I’d say I Vitteloni and Nights of Cabiria from Fellini, Obsessione from Visconti, and
L’ Aaventura or L’Eclisse from Antonioni might be enjoyable for you.
Antoine… I love this film, and as a result have tracked down most Haneke and have not been let down by him once.
You can see his technique develop from the early ‘Fragments of Chance’ through ‘Code Unknown’ and it reached it’s apotheosis with ‘Cache’ I think. You may well be onto something, I was just absorbed as he uncovered the layers of denial Auteils character had built,
and had accepted the tape as just a Hitchcockian ‘Mcguffin’..a device to propel the action. Given I think Haneke is the modern equivalent of a Godard and Antonioni, your theory has some appeal to me. Like those two iconoclasts Haneke will test you, he’’ll hold a shot beyond daring, so that you have to bump into the reality of thinking that it’s a long shot! In other words he’ll remind you it’s a film, and force you to react. Where others will cut, he’ll stay. Where others will move, he’ll linger. Where you think a straight line will do, he’ll find an angle. Of course he sets his stories in political frames, but reveals the public policy through the personal. Themes of belonging are a common thread… what does it mean to be a human and how and where do I fit in? His are an addictive treat, like an Altman puzzle, they eat their way inside. Cache is stunning, as is Piano Teacher and Hour of The Wolf with Isabelle Huppert. I haven’t seen his English language Funny Games yet, but I loved the original.
The Hari Krishna’s used to run a small cinema in Kings Cross Sydney, showing arty or foreign films, and you sat on bean bags.
You could get a great Indian rice dish pre show and then watch any of a number of exotic films in ridiculous comfort. It was there I first saw Renoir’s ‘Le Regle De Jeu’ . Doesn’t get any better than that.
Antoine…… I worked my way back to an earlier example of his ‘seemingly disconnected story timeline’ technique… 71 Fragments of a Chronicle Of Chance… it’s raw and rough, but uterrly entrancing…….. he polished it up a bit for ‘Code Unknown’ and added the thriller overlay for ‘Hidden’, but he has mastered the jigsaw puzzle approach as much as Altman I think. ‘Nashville’ and ‘Short Cuts’ come to mind as the best of his films with that technique? I also love his (which Criterion has a version of) ‘3 Women’ with Duvall and Spacek… it’s so European in feel and pacing it’s a wonder it got made in the States at all!
Bobby…. the thing that flaws Vertigo for me is the reveal… I feel it less now than when I first saw it years ago, but I remember thinking that early on we’re in Stewarts position and sympathise with him, is it isn’t it? etc… but after the reveal we are seperated from that impulse… I kept thinking ‘of course it’s her you idiot’!… do you think it would have been better to have the audience still guessing?
that said it’s still a wonderful film…….
Lovely film called ‘The Long Voyage Home’….. some O’Neil short stories, so double good. I only have a crappy old VHS of it, so Criterion would be ideal!
and yes, Ford is at least the greatest American director, even if he tried to con everyone he was Irish…
Donnie Darko was a great first effort, and I thought a sure hand was at the wheel… what happened with the second film? Is it a case of too much budget too soon, or the Emperor’s New Clothes in modern dress?
Thanks Brandon, I’m the reverse…. I found Donnie witty, intriguing and well realised, and I found Southland a mess….. I know satire is difficult and complex, but I just found that attempt confused and obvious.
not available here in Oz…. D’oh! another import needed……. I’ll order it now, thanks. And congrats on the German title… I read the McBride last year… your thoughts?
French Film over 3 years ago
It took me a while to develop a taste for Godard… I eventually got there via Renoir and Truffaut… I agree with Truffaut that Jean Renoir is the greatest of all filmmakers, his great humanity underscores all his work. In my 20’s I thought ‘Breathless’ was rubbish.. now after many years of delving into French masters like Clouseau, Melville, Clement, Carne and Duvivier, I think it’s a great film. Le Mepris (Contempt)got me liking him, and A Bande Apart blew me away.
Poetic realism is a little mis-named, I prefer Poetic Fatalism, it seems to take on more depth for me. My favourite in this genre is easily Pepe Le Moko, and Port of Shadows, both masterpieces that had the French sending the Hollywood of Von Sternberg back to it, to inform the likes of Bogart and film noir.
Too many great films to mention…….. 400 Blows made me weep, La Grande Illusion made me even sadder about war, Lower Depths lifted me up. Bob Le Flambeur amazed me with it’s style and verve, Le Trou had me on edge…… I have to stop!
Are the French the greatest filmmakers? I think a compelling case can be made……
Go to Comment
French Film over 3 years ago
Hi Edouard, good luck with your presentation….. yes Godard was an effort, but the rewards immense. Equally Clouzout, especially Le Corbeau…. and Carne’s Le Jour Se Leve and Hotel Du Nord, both stunning… so you have to mention Jean Gabin, as important as Bogart for me. And my favourite quote from an actress anywhere belongs to Arletty, who made great films with Carne… she was asked why she was a little too cosy with some German officers during the occupation, she replied.. “Of course my heart is French, but my arse is international”!
Mon dieu, what style!
Go to Comment
breathless or contempt over 3 years ago
Andre, Godard can be tough, if you were underwhelmed by A Band Aparte, you remind me of my reation to Breathless when I was younger…. what’s the fuss I said, loudly and to anyone who’d listen. I am embarrased to admit, I should have kept my mouth shut and investigated some more. After realising that the French look at things differently to my Anglo cinema eyes, I worked my way back over many years to Godard, through Renoir (who both John Ford and Truffaut called the greatest, so who am I to argue?) and Truffaut… the film that got me sold on him oddly was the Criterion edition of Contempt. I found it stylish, witty and challenging. Then I did Breathless again and thought it was superb. Too cool by half. But by this stage I was late 30’s… 10 years on I would say that France is my cinematic ‘spiritual’ home.
Good luck on the journey.
Go to Comment
Eraserhead over 3 years ago
One of the few respected films I won’t watch again… I found it very stomach turning and quite disturbing. I get the feeling Lynch is trying too hard, which is a feature of all his flawed work, whereas his great stuff seems effortless. I think I ‘got’ it, I just didn’t want it.
Go to Comment
Now, how about CRITERION issued films you just don't like!! over 3 years ago
JP…. I take issue with the Hitchcock complaint!… it’s a worthy companion to 39 Steps, witty, stylish and crisp. Of course you have to cut a little slack for the model photography and cricket references… but it’s still pretty sweet. The screenwriters (Gilliat and Launder) made some films as a directing team too… ‘I See A Dark Stranger’ and ‘Green For Danger’ being 2 I like. But you have to have a taste for quaint British films, and they’re not Powell and Pressberger.
As for Criterions I don’t like…. hmmm… by the time I launch into a CC purchase I at least know I like the film… so no complaints yet.
Go to Comment
New to The Auteurs? You Belong Here over 3 years ago
Great idea Juan… I’m a musician from Sydney, and Criterion has been my weakness for nearly 10 years I’d guess… I’d have about 500 or so. Through them I developed a great passion for French and Italian films. Growing up in Australia in the 70’s there was pretty much only British and American films, and fairly mainstream at that. The European films come at life from a slightly strange angle for me, maybe that’s what I find mesmerising in them… fav’s include Melville, Carne, Malle and Jean Renoir above all of them. I love all kinds of film, but especially ones that make you think… too little of that going on these days.
Thanks again for the idea.
Go to Comment
DVD'S YOU MUST OWN over 3 years ago
Pepe Le Moko is a killer film…. to see how Von Sterberg influenced the French, who in turn influenced Film Noir. No Pepe, no Rick in Casablanca?
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YOUR FAVOURITE "ROAD MOVIE" ? over 3 years ago
Mad Max 2….. can’t get any ‘roadier’ than that! and Mel when he was palatable……
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Underrated Films... over 3 years ago
Rogue Male, Murphy’s War….. both with the inimitable Peter O’Toole
Agreed with… Withnail And I, McCabe and Mrs Miller and especially The Beguiled…. Clint’s best performance I gthink.
Go to Comment
French Film over 3 years ago
Well Renoir is the greatest of all filmmakers I think… and of course there are wonderful films in every culture… but the French seem to consistently make high quality stuff. The Germans, The Brits, The Italians come and go it seems… and for the amount of films the Yanks make, I’m thinking their percenatge of getting it right is a lot lower than out froggy friends. Vive Le Cinema du Francois!! (apologies to anyone who can actually speak French, my abilities in that area? tres merde!)…
Go to Comment
The best Monty Python film? over 3 years ago
I think The Life Of Brian is by far the funniest film ever made! but that could just be me…..
Eric Idle jokingly said, when asked what the follow up to Grail would be, “Jesus Christ, Lust for Glory”….. they started writing it with JC as the central figure, but dropped it soon after (too much baggage) for a contempory character, Brian. There is a book with some excerpts of never filmed script from this, including an hilarious scene where Joeseph is having trouble with Mary’s explanation of being in the family way, given her still virgin status! Beautiful.
Go to Comment
Objections to The Godfather over 3 years ago
I think you’re a little harsh… it was violent for it’s time… now it seems tame compared to the pornography level violence that is so prevalent.. it devalues films that could be so much better, and is only pandering to a game boy mentality.
As a film it’s not his best… Conversation and GF2 beat it, but for me it’s still an elegant and insightful piece of work. Imitations and an over exposure to soap opera type plots may have lessened it’s impact to succeeding generations, but it’s still a great film, full of brilliant performances….
Go to Comment
WHY!!! over 3 years ago
I just think it encourages people to take Michael Bay and his ilk seriously…. that’s the worry. Then he’ll start taking himself seriously and he’ll make something like ‘The Island’….. whoops!
Go to Comment
WHY!!! over 3 years ago
The Rock is good mindless escapism, well done for what it is…. If Criterion want to be associated with that then that’s their perogative I guess. I don’t mind a film that knows what it is, the ones with pretentions other than what they are bug me… that’ll be The Island and Armageddon to start with….. and half of Pearl Harbour.
Go to Comment
French Film over 3 years ago
I think you tend to get era’s in every country that are stronger than others. The Yanks from 1931 to 1945… again 1967 to 1980 made some incredible films, the Brits from 1940 to 1950, the Italians post war, eastern Europe in the ’60’s, the French in the 30’s, the late 50’s to the mid 1970’s were particularly productive.
Edouard, given what you’ve said about this so far, you need to get your teeth into some of the more poetic Italian films, as the best of them can match the French at every level. I’d say I Vitteloni and Nights of Cabiria from Fellini, Obsessione from Visconti, and
L’ Aaventura or L’Eclisse from Antonioni might be enjoyable for you.
Go to Comment
(UN)HIDDEN CAMERA: THE "REAL" SENDER OF THE TAPES over 3 years ago
Antoine… I love this film, and as a result have tracked down most Haneke and have not been let down by him once.
You can see his technique develop from the early ‘Fragments of Chance’ through ‘Code Unknown’ and it reached it’s apotheosis with ‘Cache’ I think. You may well be onto something, I was just absorbed as he uncovered the layers of denial Auteils character had built,
and had accepted the tape as just a Hitchcockian ‘Mcguffin’..a device to propel the action. Given I think Haneke is the modern equivalent of a Godard and Antonioni, your theory has some appeal to me. Like those two iconoclasts Haneke will test you, he’’ll hold a shot beyond daring, so that you have to bump into the reality of thinking that it’s a long shot! In other words he’ll remind you it’s a film, and force you to react. Where others will cut, he’ll stay. Where others will move, he’ll linger. Where you think a straight line will do, he’ll find an angle. Of course he sets his stories in political frames, but reveals the public policy through the personal. Themes of belonging are a common thread… what does it mean to be a human and how and where do I fit in? His are an addictive treat, like an Altman puzzle, they eat their way inside. Cache is stunning, as is Piano Teacher and Hour of The Wolf with Isabelle Huppert. I haven’t seen his English language Funny Games yet, but I loved the original.
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Movies that should be in the library over 3 years ago
Some glaring omissions to be sure…. but none moreso than..
Grapes Of Wrath
My Darling Clementine
sheesh!
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What is your most memorable film going experience? (Only one per post please!) over 3 years ago
The Hari Krishna’s used to run a small cinema in Kings Cross Sydney, showing arty or foreign films, and you sat on bean bags.
You could get a great Indian rice dish pre show and then watch any of a number of exotic films in ridiculous comfort. It was there I first saw Renoir’s ‘Le Regle De Jeu’ . Doesn’t get any better than that.
Go to Comment
(UN)HIDDEN CAMERA: THE "REAL" SENDER OF THE TAPES over 3 years ago
Antoine…… I worked my way back to an earlier example of his ‘seemingly disconnected story timeline’ technique… 71 Fragments of a Chronicle Of Chance… it’s raw and rough, but uterrly entrancing…….. he polished it up a bit for ‘Code Unknown’ and added the thriller overlay for ‘Hidden’, but he has mastered the jigsaw puzzle approach as much as Altman I think. ‘Nashville’ and ‘Short Cuts’ come to mind as the best of his films with that technique? I also love his (which Criterion has a version of) ‘3 Women’ with Duvall and Spacek… it’s so European in feel and pacing it’s a wonder it got made in the States at all!
Go to Comment
GREAT FLAWED FILMS over 3 years ago
Bobby…. the thing that flaws Vertigo for me is the reveal… I feel it less now than when I first saw it years ago, but I remember thinking that early on we’re in Stewarts position and sympathise with him, is it isn’t it? etc… but after the reveal we are seperated from that impulse… I kept thinking ‘of course it’s her you idiot’!… do you think it would have been better to have the audience still guessing?
that said it’s still a wonderful film…….
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John Ford over 3 years ago
Lovely film called ‘The Long Voyage Home’….. some O’Neil short stories, so double good. I only have a crappy old VHS of it, so Criterion would be ideal!
and yes, Ford is at least the greatest American director, even if he tried to con everyone he was Irish…
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Directors over 3 years ago
Michaels…… Haneke and Mann.
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Is 'Southland Tales' the worst follow up film after a fantastic debut? over 3 years ago
Donnie Darko was a great first effort, and I thought a sure hand was at the wheel… what happened with the second film? Is it a case of too much budget too soon, or the Emperor’s New Clothes in modern dress?
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Is 'Southland Tales' the worst follow up film after a fantastic debut? over 3 years ago
Thanks Brandon, I’m the reverse…. I found Donnie witty, intriguing and well realised, and I found Southland a mess….. I know satire is difficult and complex, but I just found that attempt confused and obvious.
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Favorite auteurs missing from the profile selection box. over 3 years ago
yes…. MELVILLE!!! and Joe Sternberg is a glaring ommission.
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John Ford over 3 years ago
Agreed on Wagonmaster….. an absolute gem, a subtle and understated Ford.
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Is 'Southland Tales' the worst follow up film after a fantastic debut? over 3 years ago
but the question remains…… who is number one?
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John Ford over 3 years ago
not available here in Oz…. D’oh! another import needed……. I’ll order it now, thanks. And congrats on the German title… I read the McBride last year… your thoughts?
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Movies That Should Be In the Criterion Collection over 3 years ago
Sounder – Martin Ritt. superb.
and Celine and Julie Go Boating is available out of the UK…
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Movies that should be in the library over 3 years ago
Bonnie and Clyde anyone??? the most recent golden age of American Cinema started there methinks!
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