Tag Archives: French cinema

the failing marriage of a goddess (Film: Le mépris – Jean-Luc Goddard, 1963)

Posted on November 29, 2019 by admin

‘Le Mepris‘ (‘Contempt‘) is an attempt by Jean-Luc Godard to use a ‘state-of-the-art’ format and cinema technology for the year 1963, when the film was made. What does Godard do when he has a screen format and film usually reserved … Continue reading →

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art and love in difficult times (Film: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu – Céline Sciamma, 2019)

Posted on November 20, 2019 by admin

Feminine and feminist cinema. Is there such a thing? If there is one, I think ‘Portrait de la jeune fille en feu‘, the film written and directed by Céline Sciamma, which received the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film … Continue reading →

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looking for the lost life (Film: Le silencieux – Lino Ventura, 1973)

Posted on November 19, 2019 by admin

I decided to see ‘Le Silencieux‘ especially for Lino Ventura, an actor whom I greatly admired in the 60s and 70s. Specializing in ‘rough’ characters from one side or the other of the law, Ventura played in feature films. action … Continue reading →

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crumbling of an epoch (Film: L’heure d’été – Olivier Assayas, 2008)

Posted on October 10, 2019 by admin

I chose to see ‘L’heure d’ete‘ (film released in the English space with the title ‘Summer Hours’) especially for Juliette Binoche, an actress I greatly appreciate, and for director Olivier Assayas. Binoche does not have as consistent a role in … Continue reading →

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an ambiguous thriller (Film: L’amour est un crime parfait – Mathieu Amalric, 2013)

Posted on September 28, 2019 by admin

‘Love is the Perfect Crime’ (‘L’amour est un crime parfait’ in French) is one of the most formidable movie titles I can remember. A title that promises a combination of thriller and love story, which is indeed part of what … Continue reading →

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a theater love story (Film: Edmond – Alexis Michalik, 2018)

Posted on September 26, 2019 by admin

I saw the play ‘Edmond’ written and staged by Alexis Michalik in Paris almost two years ago. The show had received five Molieres prizes (the supreme distinctions of the French theater) and impressed me with the combination of modernism and … Continue reading →

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Clouzot films Picasso (Film: Le mystère Picasso – Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1956)

Posted on June 13, 2019 by admin

Pablo Picasso and a few other important artists of the 20th century (Constantin Brancusi is another example) had a love affair mixed with fascination with the photographic and film cameras. They recognized them as a means of artistic expression and … Continue reading →

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the French movie that Hitchcock would have loved to make (Film: Les diaboliques – Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955)

Posted on June 7, 2019 by admin

‘Les diaboliques‘ made in 1955 by Henri-Georges Clouzot ends with an explicit request from the viewers of not sharing the plot and especially the end of the film. Of course, I will honor this request. I will say, however, that … Continue reading →

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dream or absurd or both? (Film: Buffet Froid – Gérard Depardieu, 1979)

Posted on May 16, 2019 by admin

‘Buffet Froid‘ made in 1979 by Bertrand Blier can be seen as an almost perfect antithesis of the films of the French New Wave that had burst into the cinema world two decades ago. If the New Wave was a … Continue reading →

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unskilled robbers (Film: Bande à part – Jean-Luc Godard, 1964)

Posted on April 25, 2019 by admin

Jean-Luc Godard‘s films belong to a category of movies that are more interesting to talk about than to see. I do not want this statement to sound too pejorative, that’s not the intention, especially because I love the discussions about … Continue reading →

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