Transit
History Repeated?
The French-German production Transit, directed by Christian Petzold, is an odd bird of a film. It takes place in present-day France (oddly, no one has a cellphone, however), where unidentified “Fascist” occupiers are moving through the country arresting foreigners. The … Read More
Le Retour du Héros
Handsome Cad vs. Jane Austen Stand-in
I’m not a big fan of French comedies, which tend to be broad and slapsticky to the point of ridiculousness and sometimes offensiveness – don’t forget that this is the country that famously adores Jerry Lewis – but I was … Read More
Un Beau Soleil Intérieur
Let the Love Light In
Un Beau Soleil Intérieur (Let the Sunshine In), directed by Claire Denis, opens with a closeup on a man and woman having sex. At first, only the woman’s body is visible, but we soon see the man on top of her, … Read More
Le Redoutable
Taking the 'God' Out of Godard
The title of the film Le Redoutable comes from a radio play Jean-Luc Godard (played by Louis Garrel) listens to every morning in his kitchen. He repeats its catchphrase in a voice dripping with radiophonic drama from time to time … Read More
Barbara
Worshipping at the Altar of a Departed Chanteuse
Mathieu Amalric’s Barbara is less of a biopic than a worshipful homage to the chanteuse who won the hearts of the French with her plaintive songs of heartbreak and incest. So what, you might say, who needs another straightforward biopic anyway? The … Read More
Visages Villages
Seeing the Power of the Imagination
What a surprising pleasure to see the new documentary Visages, Villages, by 89-year-old Agnès Varda, made with 34-year-old artist JR and first shown out of competition at this year’s Cannes Film festival. Throughout the course of the film, both Varda … Read More
L’Amant Double
Psychosexual Gothic Romance
I hate reading reviews of films before I see them because I like to be surprised and want to avoid being influenced by someone else’s opinion. I do, however, try to get a sense of whether a film is a … Read More
Les Fantômes d’Ismaël
Hitchcock, Bergman, Truffaut? Non!
The popular French film director Arnaud Desplechin is back with a new movie, Les Fantômes d’Ismaël (Ismael’s Ghosts), which opened this year’s Cannes Film Festival. This is another one of the director’s sprawling, apparently autobiographical, angst-ridden psychodramas, so sprawling that … Read More
L’Opéra
Backstage at the Opera (And the Ballet)
The Opéra National de Paris is a big, unwieldy machine that encompasses not only the French national opera company but also the national ballet. Jean-Stéphane Bron’s new documentary, L’Opéra, like Frederick Wiseman’s recent documentary on the National Gallery in London, … Read More
Le Secret de la Chambre Noire
Creaky Vehicle for Ghost from the Past
Le Secret de la Chambre Noire (Daguerreo-type; misspelled as Daguerrotype), the first movie by Japanese horror film director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to the great Akira Kurosawa) to be made outside of his country, in France, is basically an old-fashioned … Read More