Georges Franju

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Georges Franju

#1 Post by HerrSchreck » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:37 pm

Image

Georges Franju (1912-1987)

"What I really stand for is even the opposite of anarchism, because I abhor all that is individual whenever collective movements can be seen to be neccessary."

"I am in favor of shooting outdoors like many people, but what I'm thinking of here is not films themselves but the institution of cinema. It's obvious that location shooting struck a fatal blow to the prestige of an art whose secrets and rituals, as well as initiates, were protected by studio walls
."


Filmography

Dernier mélodrame, Le (1979) (TV)
Discorde, La (1978) (TV)
"Homme sans visage, L'" (8 episodes, 1975)
- Le secret des Templiers (1975) TV episode
- Le rapt (1975) TV episode
- Le sang accusateur (1975) TV episode
- La marche des spectres (1975) TV episode
- La mort qui rampait sur les toits (1975) TV episode
(etc,)
Nuits rouges (1974) R2 Editions Cahiers du Cinema Coffret Franju w Judex, R2 PAL MoC double feature w Judex
Ligne d'ombre, La (1973) (TV)
Faute de l'abbé Mouret, La (1970)
"Service des affaires classées, Le" (4 episodes)
- Le coffre aux souvenirs TV episode
- L'ennemi intime TV episode
- Un chien de sa chienne TV episode
- Une chance sur un million TV episode
Marcel Allain (1966)
Rideaux blancs, Les (1965) (segment "Les rideaux blancs")
Thomas l'imposteur (1964)
Judex (1963) R2 Editions Cahiers du Cinema Coffret Franju w Judex & Nuits Rouges, R1 Sinister Video, R2 PAL MoC double feature w Nuits Rouges
Thérèse Desqueyroux (1962)
Pleins feux sur l'assassin (1961)
Yeux sans visage, Les (1960) R1 CC dvd,R2 Second sight DVD, R1 Kino VHS, R2 Connoiseur VHS
Tête contre les murs, La (1959)
Première nuit, La (1958)
Notre Dame - cathédrale de Paris (1957)
Monsieur et Madame Curie (1956)
Sur le pont d'Avignon (1956)
Théâtre national populaire, Le (1956)
À propos d'une rivière (1955)
Mon chien (1955)
Navigation marchande atlantique (1954)
Poussières, Les (1953)
Grand Méliès, Le (1952) Included in R1 Flicker Alley Melies; The First Wizard of Cinema
Hôtel des Invalides (1952)
En passant par la Lorraine (1950)
Sang des bêtes, Le (1949) included in R1 CC dvd of Les Yeux sans visage
Métro, Le (1934)


Web Resources

Strictly Film School on Les Yeux sans visage

Film Philosophy: The Films of Georges Franju by Michael Duplessis, USC.

Editions Caheirs du Cinema Judex/Nuits Rouges page.

imdb Franju page

filmereference.com Eyes Without a Face page


Forum Resources

MoC Judex Nuits Rouges page

CC Eyes Without A Face page

Georges Franju page


In Print

Books

Georges Franju by Kate Ince

Georges Franju; Une esthetique destabilization by Gerard Leblanc

Georges Franju; Impressions et aveux by M.-M. Brumagne

Franju (Movie Editions) by Raymond Durgnat

Articles:
La Technique Cinématographique (Paris), no. 196, 1959.

Lebovits, Jean-Marc, and Francis Tranchant, "Entretien avec Georges Franju," in Cinéma (Paris), March 1959.

Vérité, J. M., in Cinéma (Paris), July 1959.

Variety (New York), 26 August 1959.

Truffaut, François, "Entretien avec Georges Franju," in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), November 1959.

Dyer, Peter John, in Monthly Film Bulletin (London), March 1960.

Delahaye, Michel, in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), April 1960.

Vas, Robert, in Sight and Sound (London), Spring 1960.

Oms, Marcel, in Positif (Paris), May 1960.

Tailleur, Roger, "Pour un portrait," in Prèsence du Cinéma (Paris), June 1960.

Callenbach, Ernest, in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), Summer 1962.

Ajame, Pierre, "Georges Franju; ou, La Terreur comme un des beaux-arts," in Nouvelles Littéraires (Paris), 30 January 1964.

MacLochlainn, A., "The Films of Luis Buñuel and Georges Franju," in Film Journal (New York), Summer 1971.

Gow, Gordon, "Franju," in Films and Filming (London), August 1971.

Wood, Robin, "Terrible Buildings: The World of Georges Franju," in Film Comment (New York), November-December 1973.

Milne, Tom, "Georges Franju: The Haunted Void," in Sight and Sound (London), Spring 1975.

Badder, D. J., "Georges Franju," in Film Dope (London), April 1979.

Conrad, Randall, "Mystery and Melodrama: A Conversation with Georges Franju," in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), vol. 35, 10 March 1982.

Revault d'Allonnes, Fabrice, in Cinéma (Paris), 24 September 1986.

Chevrie, Marc, in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), November 1986.

Klein, Andy, in Los Angeles Magazine, vol. 33, no. 9, September 1988.

Svehla, G.J., "Revisiting The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus,"' in Midnight Marquee (Baltimore), no. 38, Spring 1989.

Peyras, P., "Si tes yeux t'offensent, arrache-less!" in Focales, no. 1, 1992.

Peyras, P., "Que cache le cadre de Bazin?" in Focales, no. 2, 1993.

Brownlie, T., "Eyes Without a Face (Les yeux sans visage)," in Film (London), vol. 4, no. 3, 1995.

Sinclair, Iain, "Homeopathic Horror," in Sight & Sound (London), vol. 5, no. 4, April 1995.

Télérama (Paris), no. 2371, 21 June 1995.

Brown, G., "The Looking Glass," in Village Voice (New York), vol. 40, 21 November 1995.

"Franju Classic Gets New Facelift," in Video Watchdog (Cincinnati), no. 31, 1996.

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Hopscotch
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#2 Post by Hopscotch » Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:17 am

Has anyone read the Ince book? I've searched my library high and low and it's definitely missing. Might have to pull an ILL, but I'd like to know that it's worth it.

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Zazou dans le Metro
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Re: Georges Franju

#3 Post by Zazou dans le Metro » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:25 am


wpqx
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2008 5:01 am

Re: Georges Franju

#4 Post by wpqx » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:36 pm

Sadly my Judex DVD appears to be a low grade VHS rip complete with impossible to read light subtitles. Having seen the original I was at least able to follow the story fairly easily. Still hoping to find a copy of Hotel des Invalides it seems the only early film of his available is Blood of the Beasts.

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Cold Bishop
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Re: Georges Franju

#5 Post by Cold Bishop » Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:24 pm

wpqx wrote:Sadly my Judex DVD appears to be a low grade VHS rip complete with impossible to read light subtitles.
You are aware that Eureka has released this?

wpqx
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2008 5:01 am

Re: Georges Franju

#6 Post by wpqx » Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:06 am

I was not aware and my financial situation being what it is, import DVDs are pretty much out of the question. The fact that it is out there makes me look forward to eventually revisiting it, but by then some nice R1 company might just put it out.

JonathanM
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Re: Georges Franju

#7 Post by JonathanM » Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:19 pm

Cold Bishop wrote: You are aware that Eureka has released this?
It's rather well cleaned up too. Crisp as a freshly laundered SS uniform.

I'd be interested in hearing what people on here think about Judex actually as I found it a really frustrating experience. There are moments of searing beauty. The Cocteau and Impressionism-fueled fancy dress ball and the weird but incredibly memorable scene in the pub where the villains dance. I don't think those scenes will leave my consciousness for quite a while yet.

However, the story-telling in the film is horrific. Given Franju's track record you'd expect him to have a good handle on genre film-making but the narrative was so disjointed and filled with weird and pointless set pieces that it felt as though rather than paying homage to the source material, he was in fact taking the piss out of it.

Was I being a bit too much of a genre geek?

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Georges Franju

#8 Post by Gregory » Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:03 pm

David, I like that you picked out those shots of the tree-lined road. They happen to be part of a set of similar images that resonate strongly with me for some reason.

Compare also this Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph (1968) of Brie:

Image

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: Georges Franju

#9 Post by HerrSchreck » Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:58 pm

Yea, those are images that will resonate very strongly with anyone thoroughly schooled in the giants of French Impressionist film. You get tremors of Kirsanoff (the departure of the two sisters along the dreary tree-lined country-road into Menilmontant, which is probably the founding of this archtype; not to mention Brumes de Automnes), some very specific shots in Epstein, and of course Gremillon.. Maldone in particular. I love Grem's use, in the shot above from Maldone, of either a reflector or a spot blasting down into the upper of the frame. The image is bursting to the brim with emotional resonance. It seems to whisper dreary secrets from the past, and cautioun viz the future.

Ah, the resonance of properly lensed country roads...

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Georges Franju

#10 Post by Gregory » Sun Apr 19, 2009 4:29 pm

HerrSchreck wrote:...You get tremors of Kirsanoff (the departure of the two sisters along the dreary tree-lined country-road into Menilmontant, which is probably the founding of this archtype.
Yes, that's a wonderful shot, with the camera in the midst of the tunnel, showing the girls disappear and re-materialize. In a lesser film this technique might come across merely as a time ellipsis (or whatever the term would be), but here the effect is more mysterious.

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Cinetwist
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Re: Georges Franju

#11 Post by Cinetwist » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:34 am

JonathanM wrote:However, the story-telling in the film is horrific. Given Franju's track record you'd expect him to have a good handle on genre film-making but the narrative was so disjointed and filled with weird and pointless set pieces that it felt as though rather than paying homage to the source material, he was in fact taking the piss out of it.
Well it is worth noting that Franju really wasn't a fan of Feuillade's Judex (it is his weakest I've seen too) and he thought that it failed, Judex simply isn't as compelling a protagonist, what with being so virtuous. I read this from an interview he gave in the early eighties I think, but I can't remember in what journal. So it's quite likely that he wasn't paying homage to Judex at all but to Feuillade/Cocteau/impressionism in general. Whether he was taking the piss out of it, I'm not so sure.

I'll try and find the interview this evening.

karmajuice
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:02 am

Re: Georges Franju

#12 Post by karmajuice » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:13 pm

If you're looking for quality storytelling in Judex then you're looking for silver in a goldmine. The film is so narratively incoherent that it's practically anti-narrative. Based on what Franju has said about the film (the Masters of Cinema DVD booklet is a great resource for this), he knows good and well that the story makes no sense. That doesn't concern him. He sought to evoke the surreal and impressionistic images inherent in these pulp stories -- I would argue that the twists and deus ex machinas and the fractured narrative are all a part of this effort, and are all heightened with that purpose in mind. It straddles the line of parody, certainly, and it is self-conscious in its conception and structure, but not for the purpose of poking fun at pulp. Let's call it neo-pulp, because its relationship to Feuillade (and pulp in general) is similar to the distinction between neo-noir and film noir.

And it's true that Franju wanted to remake Fantomas rather than Judex, but I think he tried to make the most of what he had. Even if he had remade Fantomas, I imagine it would be similarly structured.

HarryLong
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Re: Georges Franju

#13 Post by HarryLong » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:35 pm

he knows good and well that the story makes no sense. That doesn't concern him. He sought to evoke the surreal and impressionistic images inherent in these pulp stories
Intriguingly my first viewing of JUDEX was on a rather washed-out video on which the subs were practically indecipherable much of the time. I just gave up & let the visuals have their way with me. It worked beautifully. (But then I was slightly prepared for this by LES YEUX which is overwhelmingly visual with a very slim storyline.)
In many ways it's unfortunate Franju couldn't acquire the rights to FANTOMAS. The Hunnebelle series is fun, but hardly the kind of experience that Franju would have made of the material (of course I'm presuming an alternate universe where Jean Marais would still be cast as the master villain).

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Zazou dans le Metro
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Re: Georges Franju

#14 Post by Zazou dans le Metro » Sun May 24, 2009 9:32 am

Restored Franju 'Eyes' here with french subs and interesting bonus. Screen caps on the test page.

http://www.ecranlarge.com/dvd_review-list-7749.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cross posted on french dvds with fr subs thread

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: Georges Franju

#15 Post by HerrSchreck » Sun May 24, 2009 9:35 am

Odd.. in some shots (like the closeup of Scob w the mask) the CC looks more contrast balanced (look at her hair, you can see the strands in more detail).. then in others i e the one w the car, the CC looks darker.

All in all it looks like a wash. The CC is one of their finest releases, and certainly I feel no need to upgrade.

yoshimori
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Re: Georges Franju

#16 Post by yoshimori » Sat Feb 08, 2014 12:25 pm

My favorite Franju (and my favorite Cocteau) finally on disc ...

Thomas l'imposteur

... in France, no subs, but a sub file can easily be tracked down for those who need/want it:

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Georges Franju

#17 Post by Calvin » Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:12 am

Image

I see that The Demise of Father Mouret has been released on Blu-Ray in France. Every listing - Amazon, Potemkine, FNAC - seems to list the audio track as being English. I'm assuming that this is a mistake, but am hoping that they meant to list English subtitles instead. Does anybody here have it?

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MichaelB
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Re: Georges Franju

#18 Post by MichaelB » Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:42 am

I don't, but I'll certainly be buying it - my unsubtitled Italian DVD was the best that I could manage when I needed to watch it, but I'll be only too happy to replace it. (Quite aside from the linguistic challenges, the transfer could hardly have been more basic.)

A quick Google is reporting back either English with French subtitles or French with no subtitles. The latter would be more in line with what I'd expect.

UPDATE: Ordered - due Thursday, apparently.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Georges Franju

#19 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Apr 18, 2021 12:00 pm

This thread bump is reason enough as any to ask: Why doesn't Thérèse Desqueyroux have a physical release yet? (and will the fact that Fox was the distributor in France stop it from ever materializing now?)

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swo17
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Re: Georges Franju

#20 Post by swo17 » Sun Apr 18, 2021 1:07 pm

It has an unsubbed French DVD but there is a custom English-subbed DVD-R circulating

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MichaelB
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Re: Georges Franju

#21 Post by MichaelB » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:39 am

MichaelB wrote:
Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:42 am
I don't, but I'll certainly be buying it - my unsubtitled Italian DVD was the best that I could manage when I needed to watch it, but I'll be only too happy to replace it. (Quite aside from the linguistic challenges, the transfer could hardly have been more basic.)

A quick Google is reporting back either English with French subtitles or French with no subtitles. The latter would be more in line with what I'd expect.

UPDATE: Ordered - due Thursday, apparently.
J'ai une réponse définitive: ce disque est seulement en français sans sous-titres d'aucune sorte (même pas pour les sourds et malentendants).

And if you didn't understand that, I'm afraid this release is not for you.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Georges Franju

#22 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:37 pm

I can read French pretty well...but listening is another thing, and unless I have a little help (even sporadic subtitles like Godard's The Image Book would be enough), this is a tough call for me.

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domino harvey
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Re: Georges Franju

#23 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:05 pm

English subs are out there, they'd just need to be retimed to the Blu-ray

Stefan Andersson
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Re: Georges Franju

#24 Post by Stefan Andersson » Thu Dec 02, 2021 9:07 am

In March 2022, Gaumont´s "DVD Découverte" series will release a DVD collection of five Franju shorts: En passant la Lorraine, Hôtel des invalides, Le Théâtre national Populaire (containing the only known footage of Gérard Philipe on stage), Mon chien et A propos d'une rivière.

The Cinematheque Francaise has restored Le sang des bêtes.

Other Franju shorts belong to Pathé and other rights holders. One short belonging to Gaumont is not included in the above release.

Source: https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/viewto ... f#p2937534 - Dec. 2 post by 1kult.

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MichaelB
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Re: Georges Franju

#25 Post by MichaelB » Thu Dec 02, 2021 2:53 pm

Oh, that's wonderful news. Especially since I've only seen a couple of them.

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