Seraphine is the story of a French artist in the early 20th century who was mentally ill. She painted flowers mostly, but not the sort of thing in Phil's garden. In her case, her art may have arisen from her illness, her obsession with religion. It was a very good film, if a little short on conflict and action.
But that's not what I want to talk about here.
French movies are very willing to create a character out of the minuti
ae of life. The filmmaker is willing to linger on the prosaic details of their day: what they eat, wear, say. French films are really great short stories.This almost never happens in US films.
I am not a Francophile by any means but I revere their approach to making movies--that the lives of ordinary people are worthy of filming. That we don't need to skip over the book on the counter, the soup brewing in the pot, the flowers in the garden, the conversation going on.
Do you like French movies, too? What are your favorites? I love the work of Claude Chabrol especially.
11 comments:
Favorites in French cinema? Cocteau, almost certainly...OPRHEUS, THE TESTAMENT OF ORPHEUS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Like THE 400 BLOWS and others of Truffaut, not much of Godard after BREATHLESS (hey, I thought he was self-parodying in his cameo, and it turned out, not so much), Rene Clair, and lots of more recent folks. including those directed by Chabrol.
I think that you see this sense of quotidian life in some US films, some even good...though such US/French products as BEFORE SUNSET are the first such items that come to mind.
Other US examples of this sort of thing--Wayne Wang's films, Richard Linklater's more personal films not involving Julie Delpy, Charlie Kaufmann's films in their fantasticated way (I've only just now realized that he was responsible in part for that fine sitcom NED AND STACY), films such as SIDEWAYS and KISSING JESSICA STEIN...nope, not the predominance of US films, but certainly an undercurrent...
Love those two films--and I'm not an Ethan Hawke fan.
Oh, I remember NED AND STACY. When FOX was just a fledgling, right?
You MUST check out the work of Patrice Leconte. He is an amazing filmmaker and very "french". His film The Hairdressers Husband is one of the most painfully romantic movies I have ever seen. Monsieur Hire is a great thriller (sort of) Ridicule, The Widow of Saint Pierre, Man on the Train...great stuff. Not all of his films make it to the US but what I've seen I've really loved.
This is twice now you've lamented over the state of US movies. Can I send you a DVD of my film? It sounds like something you might like. It's not slick or expensive but I've gotten a great response from festival audiences to the story and writing and acting. Plus it's only an hour long so what do you have to lose?
Eric
p.s. I'd be remiss in not mentioning the genius of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. One of the most amazing film makers working today. Everyone knows Amelie, but his early fils with Marc Caro are phenomenal. You can skip his Alien movie (most people did)
I see you're point and it's a good one, but I don't know if I can agree. I've never really particularly understood the interest in everyday life in the sense that we all live that kind of live every minute. We live that life, as do our parents, our spouses, our children. We know that life intimately. I guess I prefer to read and watch about things that I don't know well and haven't experienced.
I have seen everything by Patrice Leconte and love all of those movies.
I'm less familiar with Jeunet.
You've made a movie, I'd be thrilled to see it. (aa2579@wayne.edu)
I see your point too Charles, but the everyday life of people really varies for me. US movies so seldom are interested in these things. And that was not always the case.
Fox wasn't brand-new when they ran NED AND STACY, but they were a little more patient with their comedies then.
Charles, one thing the attention to quotidian detail does is ground a film, give it, not to be redundant, a sense of life as it is lived. More useful, to be sure, in a film such as WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY than it is in, say, CRANK, but not every film should be CRANK.
From netflix right now I have what is my Fave French Flick( Currently) La Magnifique from 1973.
here is their take on the film:
Fiction is spliced with reality for hack spy novelist Francois Merlin (Jean-Paul Belmondo) when his neighbor, beautiful college student Christine (Jacqueline Bisset), selects Merlin as the subject of her term paper in this campy 1970s action-comedy. In Christine's presence, Merlin's reality shifts between his boring life and the thrilling world of his heroic spy character and alter ego, Bob Saint-Clair.
What I like about it is that it is fun, and there is one shot from the film where the spy hero is driving into the city and to his hotel that just has this energy and momentum that-- that-- Zings, that's the only word I can think of to describe it.
Overall I tend to like Non-USA produced films, they just have a much better balance of art and commerce in their production and creation.
I agree with Eric Beetner. Plus godard,melville ttruffaut. the old school.
Off the top of my head? "Queen Margot," "Monsieur Hire," "The Hairdresser's Wife," "La Haine," and of course, "Amelie."
It's nice when they have the cinematic history that they have, coupled with the fact that the state is willing to pick up some of the tab, so that the corporations are not so obsessed with the bottome line. It doesn't always make for a better film, but it certainly almost guarantees a more interesting film.
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