L'Atalante - 1934 ****

L'Atalante is a beautiful film, both in action and in photography. It has this weird, slightly surreal feel to it that I have only ever experienced in another masterpiece of it's time 'The Night of the Hunter'.
Jean Vigo only made a small number of films in his short life, and this is the one that defies time and stereotype. It's hard to explain how you feel after watching, but it's somewhere between deep exultation and heartbreak. It probably is a fair comment to make that it's one of the greatest films ever made.

La Ronde - 1950 ****

 

Max Ophuls never ceases to surprise me. He's just amazing and each of his films is a delightful experience. 'La Ronde' takes us through the streets and romantic situations narrated by Anton Walbrook at his most suave and sophisticated. He tells us story after story, merging himself into each one (i.e. a story surrounding a private restaurant booth has Walbrook playing a waiter to the couple). He also does his fair share of attempting to sing which although very out of tune is incredibly endearing and fits with the surreal style of the movie. A lovely film. Ophuls yet again gets two thumbs up from me.

The Earrings of Madame De...1953 **** 1/2

Max Ophuls has a wonderful way of encapsulating a time period. I found it with 'Letter From an Unknown Woman' and I find the same with this glorious masterpiece. Such a simple story, yet so painfully and emotionally told, this had me on the edge of my seat more than a couple of times. I cared so much about the characters that I had built up quite a lot of empathy for them by the end. The story follows a Countess in late 19th Century Paris who, after acquiring serious debts, decides to sell a pair of her earrings, bought for her by her husband. She decides not to tell him and instead mentions that the earrings have been lost. This simple white lie ends up having disastrous consequences for her and the people closest to her. Max Ophuls in my opinion is a master director. Charles Boyer is also wonderful as the spurned, jealous Count.

Read My Lips - 2001 ** 1/2

Vincent Cassel is a good actor but I found his performance here in this French thriller. Devos is a deaf woman working as an underappreciated secretary for an Architecture firm. Her boss suggests she hires an assistant to help with her heavy workload and she is surprised to find the agency sends her an ex-con. However she quickly realises that she is falling for him and wants to help him better himself, he on the other hand believes no one can help him.

La Carriere de Suzanne - 1963 ***

Another of Eric Rohmer's 'Moral Tales' this time revolving around a woman named Suzanne who meets two university students and, flattered by their attention towards her, begins to be used as they enjoy themselves with her money. The men are deeply unpleasant characters who think that they have some god given right to abuse Suzanne's trust and morals simply because she has something that they want. Suzanne however, has a few tricks up her sleeve.
I really enjoyed this. Not too long, not too drawn out, just right for the story matter.

La Notte - 1969 ***

Having been so bowled over by Antonioni's first offering (L'Aventura') I figured the second in the triology would be equally fascinating. Although I think Mastroianni and Moreau are fantastic actors I couldn't quite appreciate their relationship. I was aware that they were a married couple who had both been unfaithful but they didn't appear to have any chemistry between them, even in the few tender moments where they seem like they might be getting closer together. They spent most of the film at a party wandering around individually looking unhappy. Comparing this to the first film of the trilogy left me bitterly disappointed. Such a shame after the intensity of the first one.

Harry, He's Here to Help - 2000 ***

I can't say I think much of the translation of this film's title, it sounds completely unsuitable for the film. It sounds like the lead has broken down in their car and sent for the AA, which appears in the form of Harry..

I much prefer the rougher translation that the English have used ' With A Friend Like Harry.'

I must say this was a remarkably strange film, if slightly bizarre and unsettling.

Michel and Claire live in a lovely old French house on the outskirts with their 2 children. One day whilst out driving, Michel bumps into an old classmate named Harold at a rest stop.

Harold "Harry" invites himself and his girlfriend Plum, over to their house to have a drink despite it apparently being hundreds of miles out of their way. And once they reach the house, both Harry and Plum start to intergrate themselves into the family, and aren't going anywhere...

This is a sort of mixture of all the well known films that cover this 'captive at home' scenario, (The Strangers, Funny Games, The Talented Mr Ripley) although it's never quite that bad on the surface. It's more a terrible uneasiness of feeling like your visitors have outstayed their welcome and won't take the hint to leave. Harry starts off as a rather charming and friendly man, but soon it feels like his mask has slipped and he becomes outwardly obsessive (I'm assuming over Michel) to the point where he is trying to destroy everything in Michel's life. It's very weird, and there are a few loose ends as regards to what happens in certain scenarios that will have you scratching your head, but on the whole, an interesting and surreal experience into a very twisted mind.

The Soft Skin - 1964 *****

Francois Truffaut yet again serves up a sumptuous visual delight for us with this story of a famous writer who starts an affair with a woman he meets on his plane to a conference and continues the affair once back in Paris, despite being married with a small child.

You feel everything with this film. The uncertainty, the worry, the awkward moments (i.e where he has to pretend not to acknowledge her when she runs up to greet him in front of his work collegue) and they all appear true to life, as it appears this story was based upon Truffaut's own accounts of leaving his own wife for the actress Fanny Ardant.

Jean Desailly is not an attractive man, in fact his character is very unsympathetic and very shallow which makes it even more pathetic to see him throw away a good marriage with a wife who clearly loves him for someone he meets on a whim.

I have so far seen four Truffaut films that I know of: This one, The Girl Next Door, The 400 Blows, and Jules and Jim. Each one has been superb and I enjoy Truffaut's 'New Wave' approach to his film directing each time I see more.

Loulou - 1980 ****

One topic the French seem to do very well is relationships. And here we see the relationship between Depardieu and Huppert and all the good and bad parts of it, like reality. I think films that show perfect relationships are completely pointless, what do they prove and why are we being shown something that doesn't exist?!

Huppert meets Depardieu when she is out with her current boyfriend and finds herself infatuated by him, to the extent that she leaves her boyfriend almost immediately for this man. Her ex goes from being violent and angry over the situation to completely mellow and wanting to hang out with the pair as friends etc.

It's awkward to watch, but sometimes this sort of thing happens in the real world. People who are rejected sometimes can't accept what has happened.

Huppert's character is very raw, and not particularly likeable, after all, throughout the film she seems to flit from one man to the other without feeling or regret. But then again Depardieu's character is not exactly squeaky clean either, and Huppert's ex-boyfriend was fairly abusive in the relationship anyway. So who knows who is right and who is wrong. It's just gritty real life. Excellent film. (Huppert looked so young that I barely recognised her!)