Hi everyone, I'm very new to the forum and would like to introduce myself while setting up this thread.

My name is Jordan, I am 18 years old and live in the mid-west USA. I spend most of my time watching movies, working, finishing school, or doing something movie related. I've always been interested in French culture, specifically their beautiful films. Dolcevita showed interest in this too and asked me start the festival for French films, so here we go...

We have compiled a list of some of the important and most enjoyable films:

8 Women
The 400 Blows *
Alphaville *
Amelie
Artemesia
Band of Outsiders *
Bed & Board *
Breathless *
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Children of Paradise
The City of Lost Children
Claire's Knee
Cleo from 5 to 7
Contempt *
The Crimson Rivers
Day of Night *
Diva
The Decalogue *
The Devil Probably
The Double Life of Veronique The Double Life of Veronique *
Fahrenheit 451 *
La Fille sur le pont
French Twist
The Grand Illusion *
Indochine
Irma Vep
Irréversible
Jean De Florette
La Jetee
Jules et Jim *
Love on the Run *
Manon of the Springs
Microcosmos
Mr. Hulot's Holiday
My Life to Live *
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Queen Margot
The Red Balloon
Rififi
Rules of the Game *
San Soliel
Shoot the Piano Player *
Small Change *
Stolen Kisses *
Tatie Danielle
Three Colors - Blue *
Three Colors - Red *
Three Colors - White *
The Unbrellas of Cherbourg
The Trial of Joan of Arc
Wild Child *
Winged Migration
A Woman Is a Woman *

Truffaut = *
Godard = *
Renoir = *
Kieslowski = *

If you are seriously interested in the French cinema, I would start by viewing the works of François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Renoir, or Krzysztof Kieslowski which I have highlighted with an asterisk. This certainly doesn't mean disregard the other films, since they are all equally influential and amazing in their own respects. If you have any suggestions I'm sure there will be more added to list.

Now it's up to you to decide whether you'd like to participate or not. I hope you have a great time enjoying the joys of French cinema if you have the chance. Thank you.

*Participants so Far*
slowreader
dolcevita
lovemerox

Hey everyone...this was a joint list so we'll be co-hosting. Mind you, slowreader will do most of the talking, because he saw the good movies, like 400 blows, and I saw the annoying crummy ones, like Umrellas of Cherbourg. I think we both agree that Kieslowski is incredible, so if anyone's interest is peaked, that one that gets a thumbs up from both hosts.

As for the other recommendations, they are the most famous directors in cinema history, and what I have seen, such as Cleo, is really superb and exceptional. So check them out asap.

Vive le France!

-Dolce

I have not seen 8 woman, and would love to watch it and discuss it here with you guys:):):)

Oh its a fun movie, catherine denuvre rolls around on the floor with another woman and gets explorative. Good colors too, and very highly stylized. I think you'll think it was alright. Let us know what you thought after you see it.

-Dolce

Oh dont worry I will, DO you know if I can get this movie at most major video rental stores? :wink:

I think so. It was a pretty big release two years ago, and I think Entertainment magazine claimed it was the biggest Oscar snub that year...so probably.

Good luck finding it and let me know what you thought about the sister when she sings while taking off her coat and arm gloves... :wink:

You'll see what I mean when you see it next week.

-Dolce

I have yet to see 8 Women myself, and hope to be able to find that over the weeked, and if not I will blind buy it. I think I can trust you dolce. :wink:

I also plan to see the The Decalogue which I've been meaning to blind buy since I've heard it's incredible, but it's hard to throw around $80 for a 3 disc set.

People should be able to find Amelie and Brotherhood of the Wolf at their video stores since they are the most commercialized and at the same time I think they are the most overrated. But it all depends on what is available.

Vive le France!

OK, I'm in on this one too!

The Brotherhood of the Wolf is vastly overrated. Amelie, however, is not.

By vastly overrated I mean... it sucked. Mediocre plot, bad writing, long stretches of nothing happening and mostly poor CG. I could forgive the CG but ... no... nothing. It's just not that great. The extended version is a little better. I actually had to sit through it twice :?

If I were to give people 10 French films to watch I would go...

01 The Grand Illusion
02 Alphaville
03 Blue
04 The Passion of Joan of Arc
05 Rules of the Game
06 Amelie
07 Jules et Jim
08 400 Blows
09 Beauty and the Beast
10 The Triplettes of Belleville

I am, however, not an expert

Uh-oh. Sorry, Contempt was a bit of a let down. I have to say the only thing it had going for it was my ability to relate to the hostility between the characters. I thought there was a serious miscaste with Bardot, and that cameo by Lang cameo was just another way to ruin a character with too recognizable a person acting it. Perhaps they were not as recognizable then, but, again, its not 1963. Now, it feels old. I can definately sit back and look at how the irritation and the way in which the Bardot claimed she was doing nothing differently when in fact her small habits were overbearing with animosity. Same for Piccoli, but I thought Bardot was already a huge star by then no? It added a "glamorous" edge to the bickering that ruined it for me. It should have been no-names. Godard's revisitation of their, well, growing contempt, also starts to get me a little too used to what I'm going to see next.

So while I was a bit shocked at how astute he was dealing with the subject for the first hour, I started to feel like I could skip or fast forward scenes afterwards. And the cinematography didn't do much to encourage me not to. It was just kind of what I expected, and didn't linger on Bardot pareticularly creatively. The more I think about it, the less I was really into the movie. I guess the only thing that held me through it was the "Oh...How True" element, and that's not quite enough for me to feel like I should put this up there on the all-time greats more-or-less recommend in to someone whose tastes I'm not 100% sure run along these lines. Ugh, it was just bitter with no ultimate reason for being so.

-Dolce

p.s. LMR, did you get to peak at 8 Women? I'll let you know what I thought after I hear from you.

Technically, 8 women is more than a "filmed play;" it’s a musical. While the content of the songs do not necessarily advance or pertain to the plot, the characters are expressing themselves by singing rather than speaking. This preference of song over spoken word is an essential element of what makes a musical a musical. Clearly, a film, which is really a musical, that looks like a play isn’t for everyone. But it’s such random fun. It's just like Clue...only with an all female cast.

A must see in my opinoin, Im actually very suprised that this movie didnt get MORE recognition that it did.