French Cinema - an appreciation

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Blencathra, Oct 20, 2008.

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  1. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    One of my favourite movies in the 80s was "Betty Blue" (37°2 le matin). A wild erotic amour fou film by "Diva" director Jean-Jacques Beineix. Fabuleux.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    Tell No One. 2009 film based on a Harlan Coben novel. I liked the movie much more than the book. Directed by Guillame Canet.
     
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  3. Roninblues

    Roninblues 猿も木から落ちる。

    Le Grand Bleu - Luc Besson

    Beauty and the Beast - Jean Cocteau

    :righton:
     
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  4. jackfate9

    jackfate9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma, WA
    Love this thread. BTW the recent Rules of the Game Blu-Ray is really really good, and the bonus features are excellent (although mostly ported from the DVD).
     
  5. Mychkine

    Mychkine Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Great movie. Be sure to see from the same director, Jacques Audiard, Un Prophète, best french movie I've seen in years.
     
  6. Mychkine

    Mychkine Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    ...and for the Truffaut amateurs, be sure to check his Vivement dimanche, an amazing homage to film noir, with Jean Louis Trintignant and Fanny Ardant
    [​IMG]
     
  7. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    La Piscine is quite an interesting French thriller from the late 60s, especially the pairing of Alain Delon and Romy Schneider. It's just been released on blu-ray in the UK.
     
  8. Anyone into both Louis De Funès and comédie noire and who has never seen "Carambolages" by Marcel Bluwal (1963) owes it to him/herself to seek this one out... Also starring the splendid Jean-Claude Brialy, Sophie Daumier and Michel Serrault. Rewatched it last night: totally out-of-this-world, first class De Funès, screenwriting and film making! An incomprehensibly forgotten gem, influenced by Jacques Tati and to some extent by Jean-Luc Godard, and in return quite highly influent, in the end, on some modern, popular film stuff...

    This DVD was discovered by my wife at the national library. As big a fan of prime De Funès and early 60s cinema in general as I am, and now in my fifties, I would have been otherwise completely ignorant of its existence!
     
  9. Roninblues

    Roninblues 猿も木から落ちる。

    Jean-Pierre Melville
     
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  10. Mychkine

    Mychkine Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    My favorite french director.
     
  11. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I just noticed the Rene Clair's long-obscure Quatorze Juillet (1932), which I've been wanting to see for years, is finally available on DVD. Clair was one of the best directors of the 30s, someone who really had an understanding of the visual language of cinema. He also made some pretty good films once he came to Hollywood (I Married a Witch, for example, which will soon be available on Criterion).
     
  12. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    Louis Malle :
    Murmur of the Heart
    http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/murmur-of-the-heart-1971
    May Fools
    Au Revoir Les Enfants

    Truffaut:
    Small Change
    The Last Metro
    Jules And Jim

    Cocteau:
    La Belle et La Bete
    Orphée

    Both are utterly magical. Watch while eating a delicious meal with a great wine. Bliss.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2013
  13. Roninblues

    Roninblues 猿も木から落ちる。

    Mine as well. I have Jean-Pierre's films and the other French films. ;-)
     
  14. rockerreds

    rockerreds Senior Member

    I have always loved Gerard Depardieu and Miou-Miou.
     
  15. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Jean Cocteau's films are supreme for me but this one by Rivette is amusing and fanciful:

    Celine and Julie Go Boating (Celine et Julie vont en bateau). It's a takeoff on Alice in Wonderland etc. Celine and Julie do in fact go boating near the end but only for a few seconds. Juliet Berto (Celine) tragically died of cancer at 42. Dominique Labourier played Julie and is pictured on the VHS cover with the fake mustache etc.

    celine.jpg
     
  16. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    Menage (a sort of remake of the better film Les Valseuses, also with Depardieu.) Pretty funny. When Depardieu makes his true intentions known for the first time, it's hysterical. Not because of his intentions per se, but because one of the characters, and we, the audience had expected. The opposite.

    http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/menage-1986

    Silly interview with Depardieu:
    http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/menage-1986

    menage-movie-poster-1986-1020233363.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2013
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  17. Luckless Pedestrian

    Luckless Pedestrian Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
    I've become an Olivier Gourmet fan after seeing these recently:
    • Sur mes lèvres (Read My Lips)
    • Congorama
    • Le fils (The Son)
     
  18. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Following on from this old closed thread:
    French Cinema - an appreciation

    How about a new thread for French cinema? Films you like/love, films you've discovered, seen recently,... whatever.

    [​IMG]

    We got this from the library last week. "Je suis un assassin" by Thomas Vincent.
    Pretty good. Struggling crime novel writer François Cluzet (always good) gets caught up in a deadly triangle with his companion and an old friend (played by the sadly missed Bernard Giraudeau).
     
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  19. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Does my precious Jean-Pierre Junet count?
     
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  20. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne

    You mean Jean-Pierre Jeunet? If so, of course he counts! Quite a coincidence, we were thinking of watching "L'Extravagent Voyage du Jeune et Prodigieux T.S. Spivet" this evening. Is it good?
     
  21. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    It's a little too 'cutesy-poo' for my taste.....
    I definitely suggest "Mic-Macs", though!
     
  22. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Yes I saw "Mic-Macs" and all his previous films. He hasn't made many!
    Jean-Pierre Jeunet - Wikipedia
     
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  23. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Year Of The Jellyfish ( 1984)

    Uncut French version.
     
  24. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    [​IMG]
     
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  25. Jazzmonkie

    Jazzmonkie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tempe, AZ
    Some of my faves:
    Judex
    Les Yeux sans visage
    Tirez sur le pianiste
    Coup de Torchon
     
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