While I was
on vacation, my dear blogger friend John LaRue at The Droid You’re Looking For
published his annual list of the 50 Greatest French Films of All Time. Being
a Francophile and a Francophone myself I couldn’t get more excited about his wonderful
yearly achievement.
The first
thing that pops right into my face this time is the amount of French films I
still haven’t seen from his list. Being obsessed with other quests, I didn’t
let myself sail onto outside territories than the list I’m currently working on.
The infamous 1000 Greatest Films of All Time by TSPDT. What John threw involuntarily
in my face was the fact that sometimes we need to dig a little deeper and
appreciate more than just the canons we are told are great films. Out of his
list I count 24 movies I’ve never seen. That’s almost half the damn list. I
need to get some French treats!
Out of the
27 ones I actually seen I could easily add many French films not on the list
and brag about the fact that I have seen almost all the films Eric Rohmer,
Jean-Luc Godard, and François Truffaut made. It could be an easy task. However,
I wanted to react in a better way to rank the ones I’ve seen and add my
omissions.
It goes
like this:
27. The
Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
26. The Red
Ballon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956)
25. Un Chien Andalou
(Luis Bunuel, 1929)
24. Shoot
the Piano Player (François Truffaut, 1960)
23. Z
(Costa-Grava, 1969)
22. Bande à Part
(Jean-Luc Godard, 1964)
21. Day for
Night (François Truffaut, 1973)
20. Zéro de Conduite
(Jean Vigo, 1933)
19. A Trip
to the Moon (Georges Méliès, 1902)
18.
Napoléon (Abel Gance, 1927)
17. The
Phantom of Liberty (Luis Bunuel, 1974)
16. Weekend
(Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
15. Les Vacances de M.
Hulot (Jacques Tati, 1953)
14.
Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945)
13. Cleo
From 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
12. Contempt (Jean-Luc
Godard, 1963)
11. Mon Oncle (Jacques
Tati, 1958)
10. Le Samouraï
(Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)
9. Last
Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961)
8. Grand Illusion
(Jean Renoir, 1937)
7. The
Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1928)
6. Night
and Fog (Alain Resnais, 1955)
5. The 400 Blows
(François Truffaut, 1959)
4. The Discreet Charm
of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Bunuel, 1972)
3. L’Atalante (Jean
Vigo, 1934)
2. À bout de souffle
(Jean-Luc Godard, 1959)
1. La Règle du Jeu
(Jean Renoir, 1939)
 |
| It may seem cliché to put La Règle du Jeu as the best French film but I do believe it is. |
Omissions (in no particular order) :
Ma Nuit Chez Maud
(Eric Rohmer, 1969)
Love in the
afternoon (Eric Rohmer, 1972)
Diaboliques
(Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955)
The Wages of
Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1952)
Pierrot le fou
(Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
Jules and Jim
(François Truffaut, 1961)
Eyes Without
a Face (Georges Franju, 1960)
Mon Oncle d’Amérique
(Alain Resnais, 1980)
A Man
Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)
Au hazard Balthazar
(Robert Bresson, 1966)
Playtime (Jacques
Tati, 1967)
La Jetée (Chris
Marker, 1962)
Pickpocket (Robert
Bresson, 1959)
Beauty and
the Beast (Jean Cocteau, 1946)
The Crime
of Monsieur Lange (Jean Renoir, 1936)
Lola Montès (Max
Ophüls, 1956)
Lacombe, Lucien (Louis
Malle, 1974)
Thanks, I missed that post too while I was on vacation.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! What do you think of the original list?
DeleteI actually don't feel qualified to really comment on it. There were actually quite a few I haven't seen yet too. Mostly the before the new wave films.
DeleteWait a second, there's stuff I've seen that you haven't?! Who's the native French speaker here?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this, Michael. Un Chien Andalou is a tough one to rank for me because I love it to pieces, but it's ultimately a short film, and I've seen more influential stuff in the last few years. I really need to see more of the more recent French films, more Rohmer, a few old Renoir films (including Monsieur Lange), and Mon Oncle d'Amerique.
Sadly, I haven't seen as many as you did! I am planning to watch a bunch of Resnais in the future. I just don't get Abel Gance that much but I know he's been influential but I think I'm not that interested in experimental Cinema as I wish I would...
DeleteWell, I've only seen 16 of them, and I haven't seen his number 1 yet (although I will eventually since it's on the 1,001 Movies list.)
ReplyDeleteMy pick for best among the ones I've seen would be Children of Paradise. I would have had Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring much higher.
I completely agree that both Diaboliques and especially The Wages of Fear should be on the list.
Children of Paradise stands as one of the greatest french films of the 1940's, a masterpiece.
DeleteClouzot is a great filmmaker if you ask me!