The Best French Film Made in the Past 30 Years?

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GringoTex
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:57 am

#126 Post by GringoTex » Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:00 am

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.
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.

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Kinsayder
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#127 Post by Kinsayder » Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:05 am

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.
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.
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?
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.

Another Swiss director that springs to mind is Claude Goretta, though I'm not sure how Swiss one can call La Dentellière.

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Michael Kerpan
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#128 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:47 am

The Salamandre DVD is not subtitled in English (as I understand). There is, however, a decent subbed Tanner DVD set that includes "Jonah Who will be 25 in the Year 2000" and the less well-known but excellent "Middle of the World".

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carax09
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#129 Post by carax09 » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:57 pm

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...

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Kinsayder
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#130 Post by Kinsayder » Sat Feb 17, 2007 1:40 pm

carax09 wrote:Another enjoyable memory I have is of Ronchant's Monde Sans Pitie.
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).

Mireille Perrier is even more adorable as the tap-dancing wonky-toothed girlfriend of Denis Lavant in Boy Meets Girl.

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carax09
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#131 Post by carax09 » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:41 pm

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?

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Kinsayder
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#132 Post by Kinsayder » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:48 pm

The Eiffel Tower scene, where Vinz tries (and fails) to do Hippo's trick.

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carax09
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#133 Post by carax09 » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:28 pm

How could I have forgotten that?! Thanks, Kinsayder. I even secretly swore to myself to try that trick if I ever got to Paris (if I was with someone worth impressing).

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Kinsayder
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#134 Post by Kinsayder » Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:13 pm

You can practise here.

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Baron_Blood
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#135 Post by Baron_Blood » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am

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)

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domino harvey
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Re: The Best French Film Made in the Past 30 Years?

#136 Post by domino harvey » Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:31 pm

tavernier wrote:
Sat Oct 29, 2005 11:43 am
David Ehrenstein wrote:Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train. Not only the best French film of the last twenty years, but the greatest film ever made.
Funniest thing I've read in the past 20 years, maybe ever! =D>
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

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tenia
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Re: The Best French Film Made in the Past 30 Years?

#137 Post by tenia » Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:32 am

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.

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