1. Jules et Jim (1961)
2. Les 400 coups (1959)
3. Baisers volés (1968)
4. La nuit américaine (1973)
5. Le dernier métro (1980)
6. Tirez sur le pianiste (1960)
7. Antoine et Colette (1962)
8. Les Mistons (1957)
7. Domicile conjugal (1970)
8. L’amour en fuite (1978)
9. Vivement Dimanche! (1983)
10. La peau douce (1964)
11. Les deux anglaises et le continent (1972)
12. L’homme qui aimait les femmes (1977)
I still need to see :Fahrenheit 451 (1967) The Bride Wore Black (1967) L’enfant sauvage (1969) La sirène du Mississippi (1969) L’histoire d’Adèle H (1975) Small Change (1976) La chambre verte (1978) La femme d’à côté (1981)
To celebrate JLG’s 81st birthday, I’ve decided to make my Top of all his films. Since he is a living legend and one of the most influential directors of all time this list is a work in progress because I haven’t seen all his films. His final film; Film socialisme is the conclusion of his colossal filmography. A proper review for this film will be posted here as soon as I watch it.
I still need to see :Les Carabiniers (1963) La Chinoise (1967) Le Gai Savoir (1968) Un Film comme les autres (1968) Sympathy For the Devil (1968) Le Vent d'est (1969) Pravda (1970) [co-directed by Paul Burron & Jean-Henri Roger] British Sounds (1970) Lotte in Italia (1971) [co-directed by Jean-Pierre Gorin] Numero Deux (1975) Ici et ailleurs (1976) [co-directed by Jean-Pierre Gorin & Anne-Marie Miéville] France/tour/detour/deux/enfants (1977) [co-directed by Anne-Marie Miéville] Détective (1985) King Lear (1987) Puissance de la parole (1988) Hail Mary (1985) Nouvelle Vague (1990) Oh, Woe is Me (1993) JLG/JLG (1995) Je vous salue, Sarajevo (1993) Histoire(s) du cinéma (1998) Origin of the 21st Century (2000) Notre musique (2004) Film socialisme (2010)
Pauline, 15 years old, is going with her cousin Marion at Granville to spend the rest of her summer vacation at the Beach. This coming of age story is one of Rohmer’s most famous film. The fact that it depicts the summer vacation of two young women and especially the nakedness of the steamy body of Marion may have a certain attraction to the audience. However, Rohmer’s approach to adult relationships, their love affairs and sexual intercourses represents many of his favourite elements to work with in his most successful plots.
In the case of Pauline à la plage, Pauline is the witness of the many intercourses and visions of the adults about love and how they want it, perceive it, and deal with it. On one side you have the recently divorced Marion who cannot love her husband because she knows him too well and she needs to be burning of love. On the other side you have Pierre who’s deeply in love with Marion and who is her masculine reflection. He prefers to fall in love a person he knows and he can trust, a person who is familiar and reliable. Opposed to him Henri, Marion’s other pretendant and the one she will fall for is the representation of the libertine always ready to charm a new woman and be free of obligations and fidelity. Pauline will also have an adventure be she will learn more from the many intercourse between the adults around her. Rohmer represented the adults in their relationships like people who don’t know how to act and react to the confrontations and how they can hurt others and especially themselves. It seems like if everyone isn’t with the right person and how when on a vacation a person you don’t have anything in common can attract you just because it is something new or different. Well, we people go in vacation they want to be disoriented not only by the scenery or from their normal lives but also by the people that surrounds them. It is really clear that Marion is still looking for what she is and what she wants. At the same time, Pauline knows exactly what she wants.
I kind of liked the breezy feeling of the film and even if some scenes sound false the rhythm feels right. As Rohmer always did there are not a sparse scene or a useless technique used. Minimalist and simple are his films and it makes them efficient and easy to catch at the first glimpse.
I still need to see :Perceval (1978) Le beau mariage (1982) Pauline à la plage (1983) Full Moon in Paris (1984) L’arbre, le maire et la médiathèque (1993) Rendez-vous de Paris (1995) The Lady and the Duke (2001) Triple Agent (2003) La romance d’Astrée et Céladon (2006)
Les parapluies de Cherbourg aka The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1963)
Les parapluies de Cherbourg is the concretization of Demy’s childhood fantasy : to direct an entirely French musical. Brought into filmmaking by documentaries, Demy was the mellow part of the French New Wave. A member of the “left bank” because he lived on the left side of the river and because of his left approach on life, Jacques Demy made one of the first films of Catherine Deneuve and one of the most famous French film.
This wonderful tale of a beautiful romance is filled with lavish colours and entirely sang dialogues. At some point this ultimate effort of a total musical can get on the nerves of some viewers. I think it depends of the songs and the moments of the film. Moreover, I ain’t a great fan of musicals at the first place. I love The Red Shoes, Vincente Minnelli, Gene Kelly, and Stanley Donen musicals but it is at most what I can endure. A film like Moulin Rouge or Chicago was a total pain for my tastes. In the case of Demy’s film it is a question of mood, you have to be fully prepared to watch it and the quirky directing of Demy, the costumes, the sets, and many technical aspects can deeply bother someone with more subtle tastes and apprehensions. However, Les parapluies de Cherbourg was one of the most successful films of the French New Wave. The music by Michel Legrand has passed through time and still is a cultural reference for francophones like me.
The reference to Singin’ In The Rain is clear in the generic and Jacques Demy always presented his film like a ballet of umbrellas. Apart from being strongly influenced by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen his French touch comes from Jean Cocteau, Robert Bresson and Austrian born Max Ophüls.
One of the most important aspect of this film is the rigorous reality of the facts presented by Demy. The dates and the Algerian War, two constraints the New Wavers didn’t give much importance. They didn’t wanted to make films about politics or economics. It was one of the first French films to evoke this conflict.
Even with its great success with the critics and the moviegoers on both sides of the Atlantic, Les parapluies de Cherbourg is a film I consider to have aged badly. My favourite scene of the film is the final one at the gas station with the Christmas scenery that fits with the overly coloured palette of costumes and sets. A nice film but not a favourite of mine.
This post is part of the Seven days of the French New Wave event going on Le Mot du Cinephiliaque from December 1st to 7th 2011.
Agnès Varda, being one of the most famous filmmaker of the Nouvelle Vague and one of the few women to direct films in this era, is still shooting in the 2000's. Her first feature, La pointe courte might be the first film of the French New Wave. But her most widely known picture is Cléo de 5 à 7. Cléo (Corinne Marchand) is a pop singer waiting for the results of her last visit at the doctor. She might be having a cancer. We follow her struggle through the two long hours she has to wait to know the results.
This fable about the 1960's and the bland persona that the modern world and those frivolous years has brought to our society is well portrayed here. Cléo's character is very narcissic and her devotion to her beauty and her career is infectious. She'll even put on a record of one of her songs in a restaurant to watch people if they'll listen to the song playing. Her name, short for Cleopatra, says a lot about her, how she thinks she is a queen, how everyone should listen to her and be at her services. Hardly happy and never satisfied by anything, her mood swings all the time. Well, the wait of the result sure is stressing in some way but we easily guess that it's one of her trait of personality. The presence of Corinne Marchand is the focal point of the film and Varda's camera just has to swing and follow her around to deliver her beauty and undress the character in front of our eyes. Cléo is like an onion that you have to peel to discover the diamond within when she meets Antoine the first character she seems to really apreciate.
This is a true Nouvelle Vague classic and the style of Varda and her simple technique makes this one of the little gems of this era. Since, Cléo isn't as sympathetic has she'll become near the end of the film it is harder for the audience to fully immerge himself in the story of a whinny woman. However, the princess syndrome of stardom and instant popularity couldn't be more actual. Even if it isn't really scratched by the plot some elements makes us think about anyway. A great film to get into the French New Wave. Since it was my first Varda ever I'll have to catch up and see her earlier and later work to put this one in the perspective of her whole career.
