French Film Search and Destroy

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The Wages of Fear, one of the greatest films ever made.
A Bout de Soufle
Jean de Florette
Cyrano de Bergerac

Ed (dali), Monday, 24 February 2003 12:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's only a metter of time before this thread becomes a Laetitia Casta wank fest.

Lara (Lara), Monday, 24 February 2003 12:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

lara- you say it like this isn't a good idea.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 24 February 2003 12:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

Betty Blue!

Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 24 February 2003 12:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

(I haven't decided whether I meant search or destroy)

Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 24 February 2003 12:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search:

La Regle Du Jeu
Three Colours Blue
L'Apartement

Destroy:

Last Year at Marienbad

bert, Monday, 24 February 2003 12:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search JACQUES TATI

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 12:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

search: Le Parfum D'Yvonne, Delicatessen, all films by Melies (none of which I've seen), that Lumiere Brothers film, Jean De Florette & Manon Des Sources, all swashbucklers, Ridicule, etc.

destroy: films in which people sit around and smoke gitanes self-importantly (apart from A Bout De Souffle), lush historical dramas with no plot (e.g. that one about the Sun King's composer), etc.

DV (dirtyvicar), Monday, 24 February 2003 12:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

that Lumiere Brothers film

Which of the several thousand do you mean?

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

For starters:

Search

Les Enfants du Paradis
Delicatessan
Jean de Florettes
Manon des Sources
L'Adolescente
And God Created Woman

Lara (Lara), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search: "Tante Danielle", by Etienne Chatiliez

Skottie, Monday, 24 February 2003 13:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search Danielle Darrieux in Madame de . . ., Godard in the '80s, Robert Bresson, Jean Renoir, Louis Feuillade, The Young Girls of Rochefort. . . .

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Umbrellas of Cherbourrg, And God Created Women.

anthony easton (anthony), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh there are just so many!

Search: Savage Nights, Diva, The Horseman on the Roof
Destroy: The Hairdresser's Husband (or Wife, whatever, it was wretched)

Amateurist, which is your favorite Tati? I like Playtime.

felicity (felicity), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

and yes, Rules of the Game = one of the best films ever

felicity (felicity), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

borsalino!

gareth (gareth), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:20 (twenty-one years ago) link

Is Bunuel French? Search the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Belle du Jour.

felicity (felicity), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

Playtime is the greatest.

I like everything Tati. I didn't like Traffic as much as the others but then I saw it on an itsy bitsy TV so who knows? Have you seen his last, Parade?

Buñuel is Spanish but his last few films were made in France. Likewise Max Ophüls is Austrian but his last few (brilliant) films were made in France.

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ooh I love Letter from an Unknown Woman. La Ronde is rub.

felicity (felicity), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

I haven't seen Traffic or Parade. Just the M. Hulot ones. Any good? Or have I blown it with La Ronde -- is Chevalier in that? oops

felicity (felicity), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

Amelie, The City Of Lost Children....thats about as 'high-cultured' as i get personally

stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

search

gainsburg-je t'aime.
assayas-l'eau froide.
truffaut-400 coups
vigo-zero en conduit.
godard-pierrot le fou

but there's so much stuff....

destroy
amelie.

and, yes, a good commercial release Vidocq. You wouldn't expect your regular XIXth century immortal french alchemist performing matrix style kung fu moves that good...

francesco, Monday, 24 February 2003 13:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

i haven't seen La Haine mentioned so far tho - what is up widdat?

stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

I haven't seen La Ronde. Rent Le Plaisir if you can.

Parade is a very odd film--the oddest I know. It's charming but very demaning in its own way (not unlike Playtime). You have to see it once, then see it again with suitably revised expectations.

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

la haine-hype,hype,hype

francesco, Monday, 24 February 2003 13:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

destroy Amelie? is this because it irritates you that the film is perhaps too tailored towards the mainstream, or do you genuinely think its a bad film?

likewise - whats to dislike about La Haine?

stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

Yes, La Haine is terrible.

Also terrible: Claude Lelouch. He gets a pass for inventing the, er, Lelouch, though.

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

Amelie is the Norah Jones of contemporary movies.

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

you're all dead inside

stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

well maybe I've been too severe, you know I've got a friend who've been so obsessed with that movie that pushed me into critical extremism :) but, at the end of the day I think it's a little bit stereotypical mixture of past french cinema bits amour fou and stuff. but it's too decorative and nice. the first few minutes, tough, are amongst the best things happened to cinema that year.

francesco, Monday, 24 February 2003 13:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

P.S. I like Amelie.

Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

er...Amelie or La Haine?! i assume you mean the former

stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search: Nikita, Le Boucher, Le Samourai

Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Monday, 24 February 2003 13:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

heh, felicity, did we talk about The Hairdresser's Husband? I saw it once with friends, we also rented Motel Hell. Motel Hell was better.

Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train is pretty good.

hstencil, Monday, 24 February 2003 14:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

sorry, "La Haine" is classic.

as is "The Self Made Hero"

"Amelie" proves you can't base an entire film out of some attractive bird staring doe-eyed at the camera.

DV (dirtyvicar), Monday, 24 February 2003 15:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

We need Nicole here for some good old fashioned Amelie hate. (My favorite character was the lawn gnome.)

No Ally on this thread yet?

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 February 2003 16:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

More Search

Delicatessen
Le Jour Du Fete (My favorite Tati)
La Vaccance de M. Hulot
La Haine
Milou en Mai
Clubbed to Death
Doberman

Destroy
Amelie (or rather just feh)

Can anyone tell me what the film is that features Gerard Depardieu as a gay burglar who mugs a couple and ensnares them into his life of crime and buggery?

Ed (dali), Monday, 24 February 2003 16:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

Gigi. No, wait...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 February 2003 16:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

Destroy Amelie, for cryin' out loud. It's probably Le Pen's favourite movie...

And I personally could never stand Jacques Tati.

But that said, search away for Bande apart (Band of OUtsiders), Le Mépris (Contempt), Truffaut's Doinel movies, anything by Renoir (especially Grand Illusion + Rules of the Game), Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, errr. Lots more.

For more recent stuff I highly stuff by Ozon (Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes, Sous le sable--and 8 femmes is sort of a treat). Also Olivier Assayas' Irma Vep, one of my favourite movies and sadly underseen.

slutsky (slutsky), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

Also, they just released a Day For Night DVD with English subtitles. So I can finally see the damn thing.

slutsky (slutsky), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

i highly stuff ozon also, sitcom anyway

mark s (mark s), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

'shoot the pianist' is my favourite.

I like 'a woman is a woman' a lot, too.

I like 'amelie'.

'alphaville'!

RJG (RJG), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

Rivette's 'Celine and Julie Go Boating' and Eustache's 'Le Maman et la Putain'

Andrew L (Andrew L), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search
Baxter
Man Bites Dog
La Jetee

Destroy
Luc Besson's English Films

No One (SiggyBaby), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh yeah, "Chloe in the Afternoon," Eric Rohmer.

slutsky (slutsky), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

amelie is the best film i have never seen

gareth (gareth), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

What else have you seen Gareth?

Andrew L (Andrew L), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

City of Lost Children is one of my favorite films ever.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 24 February 2003 18:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

search: Last Year at Marienbad! (bert you are wrong! - even if it was bad, you still get to watch Delphine Seyrig walking around Austrian Gardens - mmmm)

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 24 February 2003 18:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

most underrated French film: Un Homme et une Femme

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 24 February 2003 18:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

titchy isn't that a Godard short?

I like tv random anything (corey), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:40 (thirteen years ago) link

Pretty sure it's this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051102/

I like tv random anything (corey), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:41 (thirteen years ago) link

I like it! Best Resnais film I've seen in 30 years.

My American Uncle (1980) is better

xyzzzz__, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:53 (thirteen years ago) link

that was the one I was thinking of re WG.

kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, 30 July 2010 16:09 (thirteen years ago) link

Just watched Jessica Hausner's Lourdes, which gets a firm recommendation.

Bill A, Saturday, 31 July 2010 21:42 (thirteen years ago) link

If nothing else, Sylvie Testud is amazing. Great performances throughout in fact, and a really beguiling mix of oddness and o_0 at what Lourdes is like.

Bill A, Saturday, 31 July 2010 21:50 (thirteen years ago) link

yeah, lourdes is great; has anyone seen any other hausner? her characterisation was so delicate and subtle.

baby i know that you think i'm just a lion (schlump), Saturday, 31 July 2010 22:36 (thirteen years ago) link

one month passes...

new-to-US F. Ozon Le Refuge (Hideaway) is not bad at all, best I've seen from him in 10 years.

kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 13:50 (thirteen years ago) link

I came to thread to rep for Classe tous risques, directed by Claude Sautet, with Lino Ventura as a tough guy on the run with two little kids in tow and a bunch of friends who are vacillating between helping him and crossing him.

Redd Cadillac & A Blecch Moustache (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:11 (thirteen years ago) link

which I guess various people have already repped for on other threads.

Redd Cadillac & A Blecch Moustache (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:14 (thirteen years ago) link

Destroy: Mathieu Kassovitz's annoying Spike Lee knockoff Cafe au lait.

Redd Cadillac & A Blecch Moustache (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:53 (thirteen years ago) link

I think I'm still down on Ozon after 5x2, so I'm not really willing to give the new one a chance.

a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:05 (thirteen years ago) link

Watched Rivette's Joan Of Arc biopic yesterday - all 6 hours - and loved it. But I don't need to hear about Joan Of Arc ever again.

Also, "La Nuit de Varennes" is awesome, esp. for Mastroianni as Casanova and the lead guy from Les Enfants Du Paradis (Barrault?) as the old pornographer. Loved their scenes together.

Zooster vs. The Slapp (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:58 (thirteen years ago) link

one year passes...

http://www.ica.org.uk/31715/Film/Hadewijch.html

Anyone seen? I know most ppl have problems w/his films, which is one reason why I'm happy to entertain the notion that he's better than Bresson, whom he is compared to.

xyzzzz__, Sunday, 5 February 2012 12:46 (twelve years ago) link

sacrilege

Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 5 February 2012 15:33 (twelve years ago) link

crucify me :-)

xyzzzz__, Sunday, 5 February 2012 20:50 (twelve years ago) link

ihttp://frenchfilms.topcities.com/1936_Un_roman_d_un_tricheur.jpg
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, February 3, 2005 2:33 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Re. Sacha Guitry: Also search Désiré and Les perles de la couronne. And Eclipse could do worse that to put out another set of Guitry films.

Seraphim? I don't even know him! (j.lu), Monday, 6 February 2012 19:18 (twelve years ago) link

'Hadewijch' ws pretty fkn good. I just loved the actress and her gait is so...Bressonian I guess, weight of the world on her knees and arms.

Not sure where to begin but the story, while boringly pushing the 'provocation' button had the politics-to-religion ratio spot on -- best exemplified by the terrific scene of muslim and christiam prayer in the guy's room.

xyzzzz__, Sunday, 19 February 2012 20:57 (twelve years ago) link

two months pass...

Destroy: Mathieu Kassovitz's annoying Spike Lee knockoff Cafe au lait.

Haven't seen anything M.K. has directed since La Haine, which I remember liking, but if that was so amazing why has he since made stuff nobody liked? (Halle Berry and Vin Diesel thrillerz, o boy)

World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 19:03 (eleven years ago) link

see also bob swaim and la balance

i guess some ppl just have one gd film in them - or, only once find themselves in the right circumstances to make a gd film.

Ward Fowler, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 20:11 (eleven years ago) link

should i revisit 'betty blue'? it's been over a decade and i barely remember anything beyond the opening scene and the song they play over the credits.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 21:51 (eleven years ago) link

a lot of directors begin their careers with lean, raw, kinetic thrillers that more or less beat the audience into submission. films with something to prove. few directors, however, keep making those sorts of films. most graduate quickly to more ambitious/mainstream/thoughtful fare, often with disappointing results.

10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 21:58 (eleven years ago) link

two years pass...

Moreau! Belmondo! Had no idea these two made a Brook/Duras film in 1960.

http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/moderato-cantabile

this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 October 2014 18:37 (nine years ago) link

David Ehrenstein on Duras:

http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/the-films-of-marguerite-duras

this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 October 2014 18:49 (nine years ago) link

can someone tell me how is Naked Childhood by Maurice Pialat (his debut).

seen lot's of praise , but almost no "official" Reviews

nostormo, Thursday, 16 October 2014 19:33 (nine years ago) link

it was produced by truffaut, and has things in common w/ 400 blows. there is some tough to watch animal cruelty, and some nakedly human performances that also might make you want to look away, if you weren't so transfixed by the truth of the acting. it is one of the great directorial debuts, certainly as good as anything else by Pialat (which is high praise imho)

sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 16 October 2014 19:45 (nine years ago) link

great. i will watch!

nostormo, Thursday, 16 October 2014 19:50 (nine years ago) link

thnx

nostormo, Thursday, 16 October 2014 19:50 (nine years ago) link

ILX search tells me i put it on my "best rep watches" for 2004, so that's the best i can do.

this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 October 2014 19:54 (nine years ago) link

oh cool Ehrenstein still writes besides trolling comments sections.

guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 October 2014 19:55 (nine years ago) link

one month passes...

Jean Grémillon retro in NYC

http://www.movingimage.us/films/2014/11/21/detail/jean-grmillon/

Since the only ones that seem "available" digitally are Lumiere d'été, Remorques and Le ciel est à vous, another argument for quitting my job to go to rep screenings.

things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 19 November 2014 16:24 (nine years ago) link

two months pass...

anyone seen anything here? new Techine and Honore....

http://www.filmlinc.com/films/series/rendez-vous-with-french-cinema-2015

touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 12 February 2015 16:07 (nine years ago) link

well Melvil Poupaud AND Anders Danielsen Lie are in Fidelio, l'odyssée d'Alice, so that's double-stud action...

touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 12 February 2015 16:16 (nine years ago) link

I really liked Outside Satan. Quiet, contemplative violence, beautifully shot.

Dave fischer, Friday, 13 February 2015 05:10 (nine years ago) link

five months pass...
one year passes...

so the Pagnol trilogy from the '30s, what of it? Nick Pinkerton:

https://www.artforum.com/film/id=65686

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 5 January 2017 16:31 (seven years ago) link

I like. Didn't someone like Orson Welles say Raimu was his favorite actor or the world's best actor or something to that effect?

The Magnificent Galileo Seven (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 5 January 2017 16:35 (seven years ago) link

Wiki sez "was considered the ultimate actor by luminaries such as Alec Guinness, Marlene Dietrich, and Orson Welles."

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 5 January 2017 17:01 (seven years ago) link

My partner's french and this x-mas her brother gave me a buncha French popular classics: Yves Robert, "La Traversée De Paris" with Gabin and Bouvril, Coluche, a Lelouche movie with Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel, a buncha Louis de Funès movies that are supposedly much better than the Gendarme stuff. It's interesting how these mainstream things are much more obscure outside France than Rivette or Eustache even (Lelouche exempted - I gather we're not supposed to like him?).

Daniel_Rf, Friday, 6 January 2017 11:59 (seven years ago) link

I love some Lelouche and among my film loving friends in France - all in their late 20s-late 30s - his stuff is pretty much embraced. The one your partner got is fun - the pairing of Ventura and Brel never fails (see "L'Emmerdeur").

Actually have "La Traversée De Paris" lined up to watch. I haven't seen Bourvil in anything other than "Le Cercle Rouge" so seeing him do his thing as a comedian will probably be a little jarring at first.

Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 6 January 2017 14:33 (seven years ago) link

This looks great:

https://www.barbican.org.uk/film/event-detail.asp?ID=20802

xyzzzz__, Friday, 6 January 2017 16:25 (seven years ago) link

two years pass...

just a few days ago I was nearly going to suggest to my gf we watch "Going Places" ('74 Bertrand blier) cuz I knew it was expiring from Netflix and that it was French and she knows a bit of the language -- dodged a bullet there lmao, its not horror but it is like extreme nasty French misogyny/nihilism. its hard to be convincing and be like I swear I had no idea this was the subject matter! even when that is 100% true ~
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, September 30, 2015 12:08 PM

Rewatched this week (remembering hardly anything from decades back) and yeah this would never be distributed today...

But surely it is meant as a commentary on what we now call toxic masculinity? Or was Jeanne Moreau just a witting accomplice to misogyny?

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 23 May 2019 02:07 (four years ago) link

two months pass...

Finally watching the Pagnol Marseille trilogy on CC. Raimu reminds me of Gleason and Zero Mostel; I wonder if they saw his work.

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 21 August 2019 17:12 (four years ago) link

Gigi. No, wait...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, February 24, 2003 11:35 AM (sixteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Search Gigi (Audry, 1949).

Urgent and key: Search Razzia Sur La Chnouf (Decoin, 1955; just released in a Region A Blu-ray by Kino Lorber)

Anne Hedonia (j.lu), Wednesday, 21 August 2019 18:00 (four years ago) link

also, the (first) US condensation of the Pagnol trilogy was directed by James Whale and written by Preston Sturges :o

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 21 August 2019 18:12 (four years ago) link

eight months pass...

Also, xpost, what?

My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 May 2020 20:22 (three years ago) link

three months pass...

All seven episodes of Pialat's 1971 TV series The House in the Woods have now been uploaded to YT, with English subs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1aHhIVFRt8&list=PLh06URz4IJQ4iUTdz7ECikWiRvfLaeCXc&fbclid=IwAR2JjPTudCJuabeLkOKV5OBjLVoLQKWHC5OIkJzQ890BzUTbQ3aUY4z6COI

Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 12 August 2020 15:49 (three years ago) link

👍👍👍

xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 12 August 2020 15:57 (three years ago) link


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