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RE: (EN) A FILM POEM : WILL YOU CUM?
Indeed, I grew up watching their films, especially Traffaut and Malle. And I love Cocteau.
And Buñuel should really be in there too, because even though he was Spanish, his work really didn't come into its freest expression until he moved to Paris, where he had not only better access to film equipment and financing, but to willing and appreciative audiences.
And without the surrealist movement that gained its foothold in France, many directors worldwide would likely be making far different films. David Lynch immediately leaps to mind.
Buñuel, of couuurse! I agree he's a french director in that sense. You've got amazing tastes :) Makes me think of Jean-Claude Carrière, we always forget to mention the scriptwriters and he's a true master. I'm so fond of the surrealist movement, from poetry to films, I'm fascinated by the lives and inventions of this period, currently studying the beautiful relationship inbetween black boxers and poets of that era, Cocteau and Al Brown by example, sooo amazing. You're right, Lynch is very clearly post-surrealist.
Yes, I agree, screenwriters don't get nearly enough credit.
"Night of the Hunter" is a great example of that as well, as Agee's script was described as being massive and unfilmable, so Laughton went back to the book, and largely re-wrote the script himself. Another uncredited effort on his part.
And he was evidently not confident that he should even be directing. Lilian Gish, in a 1978 interview, said that she had once given him a suggestion for a scene, whereupon his response was, "Oh my God, I'm doing it wrong," and the other actors in the film reported similar interactions.
But they had such immense respect for him as an actor, that they were willing to bend over backward for him as director, and from the end result, we can see that he was, in truth, a great director.
And the shame of it all, is that it was the Hollywood studio system that crushed his spirit, to the point that he never directed again. What a loss for us all.
As for Buñuel, although I had already seen a couple of his films, it was my husband Marek who really put him on my map, as he had been in love with him as a director for years before we met.
And, having since re-watched the films I had already seen, and seen the films I had missed before, yes, he was flatly amazing. What creativity, and what heart!
Peter Weir, the Australian director, is another I have always loved, and I was lucky to catch him and get him on my radar relatively early in his career.
The first film I remember seeing of his was "The Last Wave," which my mom, my sister and I saw at an Australian film festival close to our home in Santa Monica, California, and we were quite frankly blown away.
We were all already fans of Richard Chamberlain, whom we had seen, and would see again, in a succession of beautifully acted roles in local theatre; and it introduced us to, and made us staunch fans of, Australian Aboriginal actor Gulpilil. I recently re-watched the film again, after a forty year lapse, and it was as moving and relevant as it was the first time I saw it in the theatre.
When "Gallipoli" came out, which was the film that introduced American audiences to Mel Gibson, it was Peter Weir at the helm, and it was because he was director that we went to see the film. Which is still, today, among the finest anti-war films ever brought to cinema.
"King of Hearts," with Alan Bates and Genevieve Bujold, is another of my favorite films, another brilliant anti-war film, and another filmed by a French director.
I was heartened to see that it is still being lauded, and in my home town paper, too!
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-king-of-hearts-archive-20180308-story.html
Both Alan Bates and Genevieve Bujold were favorite actors of mine growing up. Both had amazing careers, and were in a large percentage of my favorite films.
My single favorite film with Bates, the brilliant and underrated "Whistle Down the Wind," with a very young Hayley Mills as protagonist. As the "Movies on TV" book once pronounced, "An almost perfect film," with which I must agree. Profound and immensely moving.
And he was in SO many more great films, with always stellar performances on his part. "Women in Love, "An Unmarried Woman," and on and on.
Same with Bujold. From "Anne of the Thousand Days," to "Swashbuckler," to "Coma," and many more, she was always a top-notch performer.