Good point. I guess JLG/JLG is also a very Swiss film, as it's completely centered aound Godard and his lifestyle on Lake Geneva.Cinetwist wrote: It would be ridiculous to call his whole oeuvre Swiss, but some of his films genuinely are, whether it's because they were made there, or commissioned/funded by the Swiss.
For example; Operation Beton, Slow Motion, Detective and Liberty and Homeland are all Swiss to varying degrees. I believe the first and the last are entirely Swiss.
The Best French Film Made in the Past 30 Years?
- GringoTex
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- Kinsayder
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- Location: UK
All the Swiss people I've met are pretty dapper in English. Being multilingual can be an asset rather than a problem, particularly if you're producing cinema for an international market.Gropius wrote:Another obvious factor detrimental to filmmaking in Switzerland is that there are three main official languages (four including Romansh), each with its own regional identity. The Babel problem.
It has indeed been revived, restored and reissued.The DVD came out in France last year. It's a great film, a sort of politicised, post-68 Jules et Jim.carax09 wrote:After reading a feature on Bulle Ogier in a FilmComment several years ago, I've been hoping for a revival of La Salamandre. Has anyone had an opportunity to see it?
Another Swiss director that springs to mind is Claude Goretta, though I'm not sure how Swiss one can call La Dentellière.
- Michael Kerpan
- Spelling Bee Champeen
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- Contact:
- carax09
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:22 am
- Location: This almost empty gin palace
Thanks for the tips, Kinsayder and MEK, Tanner definitely seems like one to explore.
Off the Swiss tangent for a sec, I don't think anyone has talked about Cantet's Human Resources, a familial drama which plays out against the backdrop of the fight for the 30 hour work week. I had a chance to see it on the big screen and thought it was excellent.
Another enjoyable memory I have is of Rochant's Un Monde Sans Pitie. This film centers on the amorous adventures of a proto-slacker/hipster with the unfortunate name of "Hippo" who woos a workaholic translator played by the lovely Mirielle Perrier. Hippo is supported by his drug dealing younger brother, and spends most of his days standing around looking cool in a daffy duck t-shirt and a blazer. It took Urban Outfitters 25 years to start dressing their mannequins that way...
Off the Swiss tangent for a sec, I don't think anyone has talked about Cantet's Human Resources, a familial drama which plays out against the backdrop of the fight for the 30 hour work week. I had a chance to see it on the big screen and thought it was excellent.
Another enjoyable memory I have is of Rochant's Un Monde Sans Pitie. This film centers on the amorous adventures of a proto-slacker/hipster with the unfortunate name of "Hippo" who woos a workaholic translator played by the lovely Mirielle Perrier. Hippo is supported by his drug dealing younger brother, and spends most of his days standing around looking cool in a daffy duck t-shirt and a blazer. It took Urban Outfitters 25 years to start dressing their mannequins that way...
- Kinsayder
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Yes, a wonderful film, and an iconic one for many young French filmmakers, including Kassovitz, who pays a good-natured tribute to it in La Haine. It's a shame that Rochant never made anything to match it (Les Patriotes seems underpowered for a spy film, and Anna Oz is just silly).carax09 wrote:Another enjoyable memory I have is of Ronchant's Monde Sans Pitie.
Mireille Perrier is even more adorable as the tap-dancing wonky-toothed girlfriend of Denis Lavant in Boy Meets Girl.
- carax09
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She has such an appealing awkwardness in Boy Meets Girl, that I'd have to say that I see her as the ultimate Carax ingenue, barely edging out Delpy and Binoche.
Here's hoping that Artificial Eye add Strangulation Blues as an extra in their upcoming set.
I've been trying to think back to the homage to Rochant in La Haine that you referred to, and it must have gone over my head. Could you help me out?
Here's hoping that Artificial Eye add Strangulation Blues as an extra in their upcoming set.
I've been trying to think back to the homage to Rochant in La Haine that you referred to, and it must have gone over my head. Could you help me out?
- Baron_Blood
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Obvious choices:
Hail Mary (Godard)
L'Argent (Bresson)
Under the Sun of Satan (Pialat)
Trouble Every Day (Denis)
Code Unknown (Haneke)
L'Humanite (Dumont)
Fat Girl (Breillat)
Perceval (Rohmer)
La Belle Noiseuse (Rivette)
Vagabond (Varda)
Less obvious choices:
Fascination (Rollin)
Blood of Doctor Jekyll (Borowczyk)
My Nights are More Beautiful Than Your Days (Zulawski)
L'Ange (Bokanowski)
La Belle Captive (Robbe-Grillet)
Fruits of Passion (Terayama)
Hail Mary (Godard)
L'Argent (Bresson)
Under the Sun of Satan (Pialat)
Trouble Every Day (Denis)
Code Unknown (Haneke)
L'Humanite (Dumont)
Fat Girl (Breillat)
Perceval (Rohmer)
La Belle Noiseuse (Rivette)
Vagabond (Varda)
Less obvious choices:
Fascination (Rollin)
Blood of Doctor Jekyll (Borowczyk)
My Nights are More Beautiful Than Your Days (Zulawski)
L'Ange (Bokanowski)
La Belle Captive (Robbe-Grillet)
Fruits of Passion (Terayama)
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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Re: The Best French Film Made in the Past 30 Years?
Bumping this ancient thread because for some reason I have always remembered our late departed (from this forum-- don't board the train yet!) David Ehrenstein's absurdly effusive opinion of this film and now that I've seen it, I side with everyone on page two of this thread trying to figure out who the fuck could ever value this film that highly. This is two confused hours spent with the most insufferable characters imaginable (literally only Vincent Perez' trans character has any positive attributes, but she's mostly used as an object of pity so what good are those here even?), the relationships between which aren't always entirely clear because the film is always either obfuscating in a mad dash to the next noisy outburst or hilariously blunt ("Did he tell you he's HIV Positive?" has to rank up there as one of the least plausible lines, in context, I've ever heard uttered in a film-- this is the plot point that receives explicit clarity?). The praise for the soundtrack is also a laff and a half - "What if the Big Chill but a bad college radio station?" Imagine waiting your entire life for this film, good lord
- tenia
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Re: The Best French Film Made in the Past 30 Years?
Same here. I discovered the movie when it got released in France on BD and wondered what the hell this was. It's disjointed, not very pleasing, and rather overlong in such a context.