The Best French Film Made in the Past 30 Years?

[numediaman2]

One of the great thing about online forums is that anyone can have an opinion and there is not damn thing you can do about it. If Ehrenstein thinks Ceux qui m'aiment prendront la train is one the greatest films ever made that's the way it is. And if you disagree, well so be it.

But I've got bad news for you: acting like Karl Rove online won't change a damn thing. Sorry.

And if you don't like it, you can ignore me, too. I'll be heart broken I assure you.

[Anonymous]

I'll have to go with Trois Couleurs: Rouge, followed by Irma Vep.

However, it should be noted that, where I live, older French films are available more easily than those made in the last 30 years -- so, I am sure I have missed out on quite a few great ones.

[David Ehrenstein]

Have you seen Beau Travail and Les Amants du Pont Neuf Viv? They're prettyteriffic too.

[Anonymous]

Have you seen Beau Travail and Les Amants du Pont Neuf Viv? They're prettyteriffic too.

Yeah, they are both on my "To Watch" list. The Lovers on the Bridge is available, but I don't think any of Claire Denis' films are.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I'll go with "L'Argent" but how would one fit "Perceval" in? I love that movie, but how could one praise its beauties to the skeptical? I'm always ill-pressed to do so because its idiosyncratic nature scares off all of my friends.

[David Ehrenstein]

Well then get crackin' !

Amelie is a film made as if Godard, Rivette, Truffaut, Rohmer, Bresson and Tati never happened. But they did.

[jorencain]

Well then get crackin' !

Amelie is a film made as if Godard, Rivette, Truffaut, Rohmer, Bresson and Tati never happened. But they did.

I agree; "Amelie" is a good entry point into French cinema, just as "Life Is Beautiful" led me into the world of Italian films. I enjoyed both of them quite a bit when I first saw them, but now, having watched so many more films from each country, I would never place either of those at the top spot. At this point, "Amelie" has become merely cute for me.

[Anonymous]

One of the great thing about online forums is that anyone can have an opinion and there is not damn thing you can do about it.

Is "real life" any different? Opinions are personal, and the ignorance here is quite alarming.

I agree with David that Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train is the greatest French film in 30 years, although not quite the greatest film of all time (because that's 8 1/2), but certainly close.

[Michael]

8 1/2 and Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train. Stan, you have the most excellent taste in film.

The latter has such a force that keeps pulling me back to watching it again and again since David E turned my attention to it. Is there a director that could match Chereau's depth and richness of compassion? How can anyone forget the train window reflecting the tears filling up the eyes of Louis as he turns away after getting the hard truth from his lover? Chereau's unique and quiet details for complex emotions, humans and environments stun me every time. It is really breathtakingly grand in every sense.

As for the best French film as of today, it's really hard to say. I can see Train taking that spot but I also love Sebastien Lifshitz (Come Undone, Wild Side) and Claire Denis (Beau Travail). I recently saw Ruiz's Time Regained which I loved a lot.

[MichaelB]

I'm tempted to opt for something really left-field like Walerian Borowczyk's Docteur Jekyll et les femmes (1981), but that's only because Blanche is (fractionally) too old to qualify. Incidentally, why are two of Borowczyk's best films completely unavailable on legit DVD anywhere in the world?

But I cannot tell a lie: it's L'Argent all the way.

I can't think of a single other French film (and not too many from anywhere else) that's had the same impact on me. I first saw it when it came out - it was my first Bresson, and I remember being highly disconcerted by it at first because he seemed to be wilfully disregarding the rules of basic film grammar (bear in mind I was still in my teens and had a far narrower idea of the medium's possibilities). But about five or ten minutes in I realised what he was doing (or, in his case, wasn't doing, and why) and from then on the film became painfully riveting. And even a dozen viewings on, it still grips like a molewrench: the last ten minutes in particular are almost unbearable to watch.

[David Ehrenstein]

If you look and listen to the penultimate shot -- when he tosses the axe into the pond -- it's exactly like 3-D. Not sure of that effect works on home video.

L'Argent is great but when it comes to late Bresson I'd give the edge to Le Diable Probablement. It's one of the best films ever made about youthful despair, and is as highly regarded by young French filmmakers as Eustache's The Mother and the Whore.

[Anonymous]

8 1/2 and Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train. Stan, you have the most excellent taste in film.

Well thank you very much, that's very kind. Just like you, it was David Ehrenstein who introduced me to Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train. I am forever grateful to him for that.

The latter has such a force that keeps pulling me back to watching it again and again since David E turned my attention to it. Is there a director that could match Chereau's depth and richness of compassion? How can anyone forget the train window reflecting the tears filling up the eyes of Louis as he turns away after getting the hard truth from his lover? Chereau's unique and quiet details for complex emotions, humans and environments stun me every time. It is really breathtakingly grand in every sense.

You're absolutely right, Chéreau's film is an epic of emotion, of feeling. That's a quality he shares with Bresson.

[Kinsayder]

I'd like to put in a vote for Caché, a film that succeeds on various levels and rewards (demands!) repeated viewings.

Some other personal favourites, though I wouldn't claim they are "best" in any absolute artistic sense (just recommendations) ... La Dentellière (Goretta), L'Homme pressé (Molinaro), Le Diable probablement (Bresson), Le Dossier 51 (Deville), Garde à vue (Miller), Le Choix des armes (Corneau), Boy Meets Girl (Carax), Le Bon plaisir (Girod), Le Pont des Arts (Green), Un monde sans pitié (Rochant), Le Rayon vert (Rohmer), Conte de printemps (Rohmer), Jeanne la Pucelle (Rivette), Le Septième ciel (Jacquot), Extension du domaine de la lutte (Harel), Feux rouges (Kahn) ...

[Barmy]

The last two Carax's. Or "India Song" if we can pretend it is 2005.

[fred]

Seven Pialats to choose from. I guess I'll go with Van Gogh, by a hair.

[Cinesimilitude]

Man Bites Dog would be my favorite if it counts, followed closely by Kieslowski's Rouge. I also more recently really enjoyed Yann Samuel's Love me if you Dare.

[Barmy]

LOL at "Train"love. Yes, the over-the-topness and scenery chewing is good for a bit of a larf, but best French film since 1977? #-o

[Michael]

How in the world I forgot Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating?

[Michael Kerpan]

I never really try to assess "best", but insofar as one may voice favoritism, I pick Rivette's "Pont du Nord".. I love the way Rivette captures "hidden" (and now probably largely vanished) sides of Paris. I also love the way he used the mother-daughter interaction of actresses Bulle and Pascale Ogier -- as his fictionally chance-met heroines.

[Michael]

Has Rivette made a film like Celine and Julie in any way since?

[Michael Kerpan]

Probably the most Celine and Julie-esque Rivette film (other than C&J) is "Love on the Ground" (starring Geraldine Chaplin and Jane Birkin). But "Pont du Nord", like C&J, is centered around a bond between two women, brought about by chance, who set off on a (partially) shared quest. I personally prefer PdN to C&J.

"Gang of Four" expands the paradigm to a group of young women (all students in Bulle Ogier's rather mysterious and quirky female-only acting school). another one of my favorites. "Up Down Fragile" involves a couple of young women who are gradually drawn together in a joint enterprise -- set against the story of another young woman trying to make some sort of connection (with a long lost mother -- who may or may not be Anna Karina) and having great difficulty shaking off her fear of others (except for her cat).

[Anonymous]

LOL at "Train"love. Yes, the over-the-topness and scenery chewing is good for a bit of a larf, but best French film since 1977? #-o

Quite ignorant and intolerant. Are you simply unable to accept other people's tastes or what is your problem? There are three people here who love Chéreau's film passionately and if you can't understand it, then you may just as well avoid your useless comments.

As for Rivette's Céline and Julie Go Boating, that's older than 30 years, but yes, indeed a great film (and so are Duelle and Noroit which I discovered recently and fell in love with!). Also, one should not underrate/forget La belle noiseuse.

[Barmy]

Train is a very fun film, despite/because it is ludicrously over the top to the point of silliness. My choice of the Carax flix could be subject to the same accusation. However, the characters in Train are almost universally loathsome and self-hating. NTTAWWT. There is no humanity in that film.

[Steven H]

Has Rivette made a film like Celine and Julie in any way since?

I thought The Story of Marie and Julien was amazing, and it blended the supernatural with "reality" in a similar, if less fun, way. I loved every second of both films.

[Michael]

Oh, don't mind Barmy. You know the real reason why he hates Train.

Anyway, thanks for all the Rivette recommendations. I saw Celine and Julie very recently and fell so much in love with it.