FilboidSludge

Jeanne Moreau chante “Le tourbillon de la vie”

dans le film de François Truffaut, “Jules et Jim”, 1962.

"Le tourbillon de la vie"

Elle avait des bagues à chaque doigt,
Des tas de bracelets autour des poignets,
Et puis elle chantait avec une voix
Qui sitôt m'enjôla

Elle avait des yeux, des yeux d'opale
Qui m'fascinaient, qui m'fascinaient,
Y avait l'ovale d'son visage pâle
De femme fatale qui m'fut fatal

On s'est connus, on s'est reconnus,
On s'est perdus de vue, on s'est r'perdus d'vue
On s'est retrouvés, on s'est réchauffés
Puis on s'est séparés

Chacun pour soi est reparti
Dans l'tourbillon de la vie
Je l'ai revue un soir, aïe, aïe, aïe !
Ça fait déjà un fameux bail 

Au son des banjos, je l'ai reconnu
Ce curieux sourire qui m'avait tant plu
Sa voix si fatale, son beau visage pâle
M'émurent plus que jamais

Je me suis soûlé en l'écoutant
L'alcool fait oublier le temps
Je me suis réveillé en sentant
Des baisers sur mon front brûlant

On s'est connus, on s'est reconnus,
On s'est perdus de vue, on s'est r'perdus de vue,
On s'est retrouvés, on s'est séparés
Puis on s'est réchauffés

Chacun pour soi est reparti
Dans l'tourbillon de la vie
Je l'ai revue un soir ah la la
Elle est retombée dans mes bras 

Quand on s'est connus,
Quand on s'est reconnus,
Pourquoi s'perdre de vue,
Se reperdre de vue ?
Quand on s'est retrouvés,
Quand on s'est réchauffés,
Pourquoi se séparer ?

Alors tous deux, on est repartis
Dans l'tourbillon de la vie
On a continué à tourner
Tous les deux enlacés

The title of Kate Walbert’s new novel, A Short History of Women, appears briefly in one of its chapters as the title of a pre-suffrage work of sociology, which was written, it will come as no surprise, by a man. It is a sly little jab, and belongs to the same armory of lucid, unhysteric provocation as the concluding line of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, in which we learn what a colonial administrator, whose actions have brought about the novel’s final tragic sequence, plans to call his book about Africa: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.

In that spirit, then, Walbert’s novel is about the history that isn’t written. Cleverly, it takes as its structure a series of short episodes, shuttling across decades, in the lives of five generations of women from the same family; the newest members of that family, whom we meet as late as 2007, frequently have only a partial or confused understanding of the legacy of their forebears. That legacy includes the woman at the top of the family tree: Dorothy Trevor Townsend, an Englishwoman who, in 1914, starved herself to death for the cause of suffrage. Her great-great-granddaughter, a freshman at Yale, appears only as her Facebook page – a device that could easily have felt needless and cheap, had it not so ruthlessly condensed easy comedy into a core of fierce sadness, as we watch the ambiguity and terror of the great-great-grandmother’s sacrifice squandered with a privileged teenager’s casual pith: ‘Color me revolutionary.’

Any novel called A Short History of Women implies a parallel history of men, if only by exclusion. Hemingway called one of his story collections Men Without Women in part because there is no such thing; the irony is built-in. The men in Walbert’s novel are, indeed, pushed to the periphery, even if its central female characters are highly and painfully conscious that their stories – complete, poignant, complicated – are occurring at the periphery of what is usually called history. With the exception of one chapter, men flit into view and then flit out again. They only partially shade the novel’s action, which charts English and American life from the end of the nineteenth century to the opening years of the twenty-first; yet the novel shapes itself around the major human event from which women have traditionally been excluded: war.

Male life in the book is nearly synonymous with military activity. Men, and even many women, asperse Dorothy Townsend’s effort to starve herself in the name of women’s suffrage, because that effort happens to coincide with World War I. The men dying in French fields know a far greater sacrifice, say her critics; their suffering makes a cartoon of hers. Later, we see Dorothy’s daughter, Elizabeth, now an adult, on V-J Day, moving in a kind of dream through a wildly celebrating Manhattan. Elizabeth is at one point with her friend Helen, and, when a man appears suddenly and kisses Helen, it leaves her in a daze.

Somewhere in the Forties, Helen is wrenched into a kiss and afterward takes my hand and holds it tightly, her glasses lost, one lens crunched by a heel before they’re retrieved. It’s an interesting perspective, she’s shouting. ‘I’m left-sighted,’ she’s shouting. ‘My father’s going to kill me.’

The moment, into which Helen is ‘wrenched’ – nothing romantic about that – casts a new light on the famous Life Magazine photograph of a white-hatted (and, one is meant to assume, heroic) sailor dipping a woman in Times Square at war’s end. It is not even specified whether the man who kisses Helen is a soldier himself or simply someone benefiting from what soldiers have done; in fact, Walbert’s subtle use of the passive voice means that the agent of the kiss – the man – goes unmentioned. It is as if Zeus, the original avatar of men’s rough claims on women, had descended invisibly to do the kissing.

V-J Day marked the victory of men over men, in a contest invented by men. Later episodes entrench this theme. A kaffeeklatsch of country club wives whose opposition to the Vietnam War blends with a discussion of the hegemony of male culture generally. An aging woman with three adult children and a failing marriage engaged in a protest of uncertain merit against the Iraq War, photographing soldiers at a military base in Delaware. Walbert applies her themes deliberately, like coats of paint.

In François Truffaut’s Jules et Jim, Jules, who like his friend Jim has just returned from the trenches of World War I, says that the tragedy of war is that it deprives a man of his own ‘personal battle.’ It does nothing to diminish the strengths of A Short History of Women to point out that this is, at least partly, true; war is a contest invented by men, but there are limits to its use as a proxy for male life generally. Men in war would prefer, in most cases, to be anywhere else. It is interesting to read A Short History of Women alongside The Suicide Run, a forthcoming posthumous collection by William Styron, whose stories comprise an examination of war through the eyes of young men – many of whom are substitutes for Styron himself, an active-duty Marine at the end of World War II and later during the Korean War – who have not yet experienced it, and who, if they are honest with themselves, would really rather not.

Styron’s characters, in their callow youth, are anything but pacifists. They feel a fierce, deep lack as men, simply because they have not yet seen battle. Since Homer, since the Vikings, men have proved themselves as men in mortal struggle; not even the full library of war’s horror has totally erased the belief that honor is bound up in lethal adventure.

The men in Walbert’s novel indeed exist as an almost unvaried atmosphere of violence, of unseen battle on foreign shores. Which is why Styron serves as a useful counterpoint. ‘My Father’s House,’ which was to be part of a novel but in The Suicide Run appears as a long story, is told by Paul Whitehurst, who awaits orders for his company to engage the Japanese in the waning days of World War II. His comrades itch for battle: ‘Jesus, I hope this is it’; ‘I hope the fuck it’s soon.’

Whitehurst, inwardly ashamed, feels none of the same bravado:

Oh, Jesus, I thought. I hope the fuck it’s never. I couldn’t even work up a falsely brave remark, and I felt twisted with envy at their breezy offhandedness.

Homer and Tolstoy wrote of war with great complexity, but with an air of reverent inevitability; war had a necessary part to play in the course of human events, and was consequently a necessary part of masculine life. In Tolstoy’s ferocious late novel Hadji Murád, the eponymous hero, a Chechen rebel leader turned to the Russian side, is depicted as almost unvaryingly noble; and war is portrayed not without a degree of sentimentality. His wife and family, whom he loses his life trying to save, are ciphers: they could be any wife and family. Martial literature has never stinted on the tragedy at the heart of war – the deaths of good men – but only a later addition to this literary tradition, emerging from writers like Styron, Mailer, James Salter, Tobias Wolff, and Tim O’Brien, who have themselves served in the military, employs a different set of scales to measure the worth of the men who fight. (One might think also of a recent film, The Hurt Locker, which offers an ambiguous portrayal of the relationship between men and war, and which was directed, not incidentally, by a woman.)

What makes Walbert’s book effective literary counternarrative is its tangible awareness of the narrative it seeks to counter. In other words, it keeps men in the picture, even as it lodges them at the edge of the frame. Another nice touch is that, acting as a presiding spirit in A Short History of Women, is Florence Nightingale: a woman who individually made enormous strides for all womankind while serving as a nurse to men wounded in battle; who suffused traditionally feminine work with nominally unfeminine toughness, and who did so deep within the masculine arena of warfare.

But I don’t want to overstate the politics of A Short History of Women; that would give too thin an impression of it. What makes it a good novel, what makes any novel good, is that under its skin of ideas is a body of living muscle, working organs, a beating heart. People converse, yearn, suffer. Walbert knows what Tolstoy knew: men with women – or women with men – is, for all the trouble it has caused us, our basic universal experience.

[Note: I will be reading with Kate Walbert this Sunday, October 4th, at KGB Bar, in the East Village.]

Criança gosta de ouvir toda noite a mesma história antes de dormir. Eu também. Não precisa ser sempre do mesmo jeito, desde que seja bem contada. Eventualmente até conto minha própria história pra mim mesmo, sempre de um jeito diferente. Mas as vezes encontro minha história nas palavras ou nas películas – de algum gênio. O gênio da vez é Truffaut, e a história é o clássico Jules et Jim.
Jules et Jim conta a história de um triângulo amoroso na França, no início do séxulo XX. Com essa fórmula eu poderia apresentar Os Sonhadores, mas esqueça a sonolência cult e ao mesmo tempo hiperativa deste: Truffaut é sensível, poético e trágico. Jules et Jim é uma história sobre amor, fidelidade e fracasso. Sobre liberdade também. E uma das coisas que mais gostei foi ver que é uma história sem vilões, onde qualquer julgamento moral exige a adoção da perspectiva de um dos três personagens principais, com quem o espectador provavelmente se identificará em algum momento – até porque os personagens encarnam certos estereótipos humanos muito gerais, ainda que por vezes suas condutas sejam um tanto excêntricas.
A história é simples: Jules e Jim são dois amigos inseparáveis. Jim é um sedutor e Jules um fracassado com as mulheres. Até que Jules encontra Catherine, por quem se apaixona e com quem decide viver. Mas sobre essa linha de história tão simples Truffaut enriquece infinitamente a narrativa através de um bombardeio poético de sutilezas. Sim, os personagens são riquíssimos e seus modos de responder às situações criam uma trama delicada onde valores como “amizade”, “fidelidade”, “amor” e “respeito” vão se  chocar, se transformar e aparecer sob diferentes perspectivas nas quase duas horas de filme (onde, por pelo menos uma hora, os mais românticos estarão engasgados de angústia).
Através das relações dos personagens Truffaut impõe a reflexão ao espectador: é necessário refletir, junto com Jim, Jules e Catherine, sobre a natureza do amor. Jules e Catherine se casam e vão viver longe do mundo. Tem uma linda filhinha chamada Sabine. Mas o que parece ser um quadro típico de felicidade conjugal e amorosa – que é o clima transmitido na cena em que Jim visita o casal pela primeira vez – é, por força da complexidade dos personagens, uma situação bem mais delicada. Jules é irremediavelmente ingênuo e compassivo. “A solicitude de Jules” conquistou Catherine. Mas como todo ingênuo, Jules é tolo e magoa Catherine sem perceber. Assim, Jules assiste com resignação sua amada Catherine adentrar por um caminho de traição que lhe serve como catarse do ressentimento: quando ofendida, Catherine trai. E se Jules é um tolo, sempre ofende Catherine o suficiente para mantê-la plena de pretextos para a traição.
A reaproximação de Jim e Jules (que haviam se afastado durante a guerra) insere um terceiro elemento fixo que instalar-se-á liquidamente na vida do casal. Até, finalmente, instalar-se também em sua casa e passar a viver como amante de Catherine. Com o beatífico consentimento de Jules que, por amor, cede a própria dignidade.
Catherine, contudo, é uma mulher de difícil convívio. É plenamente lúcida dos próprios desejos, mas completamente fria no que tange ao respeito para com seus dois cônjuges. Assim, é com frieza que ela lidará com o ciúme de ambos, embora ao próprio ciúme ela permita uma manifestação passional. Mesmo Jim começará a ser julgado na balança do ressentimento de Catherine: quando este lhe ofende, é pago com traição.
Jim, finalmente, é o elemento mais razoável do trio. Não é nem o santo nem o libertino. Tem uma espécie de namorada em outra cidade e passa pelo menos metade do filme resolvendo a própria angústia: deve ficar com Catherine ou com sua outra amante? É também através de Jim que compreendemos, em um dos últimos e mais brilhantes diálogos, de que maneira podemos ler essa história de um modo racional: Catherine tem um compromisso consigo mesma e sua aversão à hipocrisia da convenção da monogamia à levou a inventar uma forma de amor. Que também fracassou. Assim, Jim diz à Catherine que não se casará com ela, pois ela não lhe oferece o que pede em troca. Entrevemos, então, como será o final do filme: Catherine tenta matar Jim. Este escapa. Mas não por muito tempo. Em um inocente passeio de carro, Catherine atira o veículo em um rio, suicidando-se e levando Jim consigo.
O filme é riquíssimo e preenchido por reflexões – sempre presentes nos diálogos dos personagens – e narrativas paralelas. Como, por exemplo, a história que Jim conta sobre um soldado que foi seu colega na guerra e que apaixonou-se perdidamente por uma mulher à quem vira uma vez e com quem trocou intensa correspondência nas trincheiras. Esse homem ficou noivo por correspondência e seus sentimentos respeitosos se transformaram em uma paixão avassaladora. Infelizmente ele morreu nos campos de batalha antes de poder viver o amor.
De qualquer forma, vale comentar que no início do filme tive a impressão de que não iria gostar do filme. Que talvez fosse injustificada sua presença em algumas listas de “maiores filmes da história”. Mas a sutileza de Truffaut e sua delicada forma de contar uma história onde a moralidade esteja em um segundo plano diante dos projetos e desejos dos personagens individualmente considerados definitivamente valem as duas horas de atenção – e muitas outras de reflexão.

I am a big François Truffaut fan. BIG. I just finished the final film of the Antoine Doinel series (which began with the benchmark film, Les 400 coups / 400 Blows), and now I’m sad. Not unlike when I watched the series finale of Arrested Development. Or Freaks and Geeks.

So, I felt it appropriate to display my cyber-homage to the movie master for today’s installment of French Friday.

I have gathered all of the original French film posters (sometimes more than one per film, if I deemed said poster truly stellar) from my preferred selections of the Truffaut oeuvre.

Enjoy.

*Notes:

1. The first two posters are oddly similar. I couldn’t decide between them. Doinel looks a bit too orange in the first one, but the rest of the poster is a more accurate portrayal of his character in the movie. In the second one it looks like he just stepped out of the Walton household. John-boy?

and

2. Yes, I know Breathless was directed by Godard. But Truffaut wrote the screenplay, so I still think it counts.

OK, NOW enjoy.

My high school French teacher showed this last film to us in high school, which resulted in months on end of ma meilleure amie and I screeching, “LAIT!” If you’ve seen it, you’ll know why.

Introduzindo mais um comentário fílmico, diria que, antes de tudo, o filme ora analisado, é uma grande exposição da menor diferença que as pessoas podem ter/querer em uma relação; discute por entre falas e imagens, o que é uma indiferença irredutível entre amigos vivenciados por Henri Serre e Óscar Werner (Jules e Jim), e entre estes e uma mulher, a linda Jeanne Moreau (Theresa).

Na medida em que as mulheres se tornaram senhoras dos seus desejos, sintomas sociais vêm crescendo de forma muito eloquente. Um desses sintomas, tão bem tratado na abordagem desse ícone da Nouvelle Vague, é a marca da “violência” aflorando na mulher, antevista já nos idos dos anos 60, pela crítica certeira do mestre Truffaut. A mulher construída no filme é uma mulher de comportamento, digamos, desviado; ciente da sua capacidade de “poder” sobre os homens, ela busca manipulá-los como se eles fossem marionetes em suas mãos, aplicando todo tipo de “formula” – já que agora ela é sujeito relacional e não mais objeto – para ser a grande estrela das atenções, tendo todos os desejos supridos e (in) reprimidos – desconto de um tempo de “clausura”, quem sabe?. A mulher agora ganha à posição dianteira nas relações sociais e, sabedora disso, arma um conjunto de sistemas para a sua retroalimentação, fazendo insurgir o inicio da crise da masculinidade.

A mulher em não sendo mais propriedade de direito do homem, torna-os muito mais confusos e perturbados com o esse novo modo de “ação” – no sentido Habermasiano – causando um estado de surpresa aos homens: O que deseja uma mulher? Esta pergunta está perenemente declarada na relação entre os dois homens (Jules e Jim). Eles são o fio condutor para se possa “ler” essa construção que o filme nos trás.

Navegando na onda da literatura feminista do inicio do século vinte, encontramos obras como “Madame Bovary”, de Gustave Flaubert; “A Mulher de Trinta Anos’, de Balzac; “Capitu”, de Machado de Assis, enfim, obras da literatura que são plasmadas tão bem no filme,  mostrando o sexo feminino sob essa nova perspectiva (para a época) do ser mulher.

E não poderia ser diferente, pois surgem ao tocar dos anos sessenta, novos questionamentos acerca da mulher: (i) o que essa mulher quer; (ii) o que ela não quer; (iii) como ela pensa. Tudo isso no afã de saber qual o novo papel não só da mulher, mas, principalmente, do homem frente a ela (mulher). Afinal, uma grande parte das dificuldades dos homens está, ainda hoje, em sua incapacidade de enxergar o que as mulheres enxergam neles.

Parece-me que está posto neste filme a obsolescência de uma identidade da definição  do (ser) masculino e feminino. À guisa de exemplo, os amigos Jules e  Jim, são mais “mulheres” do que a personagem Theresa , e esta, por outro lado, é mais “homem” que os dois personagens. Dessa forma, Truffaut, é pioneiro na analise do comportamento “masculino” na mulher, e como esta nova conduta se tornaria trágica ao pondo dela não suportar tamanha mudança e vivenciar um sentimento de “morte existencial” em todas as suas relações amorosas, haja vista que ela não conseguiu se reconhecer em nenhum homem, a não ser nela mesma, o que só exemplifica o motivo pelo qual o filme termina inesperadamente trágico.

Não sem razão,  essa é uma  obra que queba com paradigmas do  modo de fazer cinema da época,  principalmente de uma modo histórico de fazer cinema americano, predominantemente machista, retratados através dos  filmes de faroeste e romance, onde a mulher ora era tratada como a doce mocinha, dona de casa, sempre a espera do marido; ora como objeto sexual que se dispunha a saciar os desejos do homem, e passa a ter uma nova formar de exposição do “modus operandi” de se fazer cinema, o que podemos afirmar, sem insegurança, que o masculino na arte cinematográfica estaria superado a partir da realização de Jules et Jim, enredando novas possibilidades de retratar a questão de gênero entre homens e mulheres. Esse novo olhar, aqui, é algo que não se esgotou ainda, muito pelo contrpario. Ele permanece sob novos prismas modernos, os quais ensejam novas observações entorno das transformações culturais na sociedade. Em resumo, assistir a Jules et Jim, é uma oportunidade que o espectador terá de ter contato com uma brilhante retratação de um período revolucionário da história da mulher na atuação nos palcos da sociedade, e como as mudanças muitas vezes são vistas como algo absurdo no primeiro momento.

Revendo aos filmes que me inspiraram no projeto da vídeo-instalação – Jules et Jim e Bande à part – penso na sutileza dos detalhes da linguagem cinematográfica. A freqüente falta de diálogos, trocados por expressões diversas como sorrisos e olhares, e o uso incisivo da câmera na mão nestes filmes, me faz pensar na sensação de naturalidade dos acontecimentos ou até mesmo no mero acaso. As mulheres podem trocar de amantes, se desejarem, e elas fazem isso com o descompromisso de quem, esporadicamente, fuma um cigarro. Porém, o fato de estarem com um ou com outro, tanto não depende de suas próprias escolhas, como o rumo que suas vidas podem alcançar tem, na própria causa, a conseqüência da devoção apaixonada. É neste momento que o trágico e o desnorteante invade a delicadeza do filme em busca do incômodo contrastante. Para Jules e Jim a perda de controle da situação amorosa supostamente guardada nas mãos de Catherine é na verdade fruto da loucura insana em que três vidas se encontram mergulhada: o delirar arrebatador do amor e da paixão, trazendo para o filme o caos. Após a calmaria experimentada pela sensação de paz e amor com os dois homens é incontrolável que venha a ventania. Vem para lavar a alma de quem se encontra com a sublime sensação de escape. A tempestade traz correria para aqueles que andam sem guarda-chuva na rua, mas mata a sede da plantação que está à espera da água para semear.

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1890 Monkeyshines 1891 Dickson Greeting 1891 Edison – Newark Athlete, Part I 1893 Men in Blacksmith Shop 1894 Annie Oakley shooting at targets 1894 Edison – Chinese Laundry – November 26, 1894 1894 Edison – Kinetoscope Films from 1894-1896 1895 Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (The Lumière Brothers) 1895 Edison – The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots – August 28, 1895 1895 L’Arroseur arrosé 1895 The Dickson Experimental Sound Film 1896 Bataille de Boules de Neige (Louis Lumière, 1896) 1896 Edison – The Kiss 1896 Fred Ott’s Sneeze 1896 Louis Lumiere – New York,Broadway At Union Square 1896 Rip Van Winkle 1897 Edison – Admiral Cigarette advertisement 1898 Turkish Dance, Ella Lola 1899 Cripple Creek Bar-room Scene (Edison) 1899 Edison – Bicyclist tricks 1900 Edison – Grandma’s Bad Boys 1901 Edison – Boxing Woman 1901 Edison – Circular panorama of electric tower – Pan-American Exposition, 14 August 1901 1901 Edison – The Martyred Presidents 1901 What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City 1902 Le voyage dans la lune 1903 Life of an American Fireman – Edwin S. Porter 1903 Move On 1903 NYC Ghetto Fish Market 1903 The Great Train Robbery Part 1 – Thomas A. Edison 1904 Westinghouse Works Part 1 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire 1909 Princess Nicotine 1910 Jack Johnson -vs- James Jeffries 1914 Cabiria Giovanni Pastrone 1914 Charlie Chaplin – The Kid Auto Race 1914 Der Golem or, The Monster of Fate 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur 1914 The Exploits of Elaine 1915 The Birth of a Nation 1915 The Italian 1916 Intolerance 1917 The Immigrant 1919 Broken Blossoms 1920 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari 1920 The Mark of Zorro 1921 Charlie Chaplin – The Kid 1921 Manhatta 1921 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1922 Buster Keaton – Cops (1 of 2) 1922 Nanook of the North 1922 Nosferatu 1923 Le retour a la raison – Man Ray 1923 Safety Last! 1923 Salome 1924 Body and Soul 1924 Buster Keaton – Sherlock Jr 1924 Buster Keaton – The Navigator 1924 Peter Pan 1924 The Thief of Bagdad 1925 Battleship Potemkin – Odessa Stairs Massacre – Pram 1925 Battleship Potemkin – Son Shot 1925 Charlie Chaplin – The Gold Rush 1925 The Freshman 1925 The Lost World 1925 The Phantom of the Opera 1925 Theodore Case Sound Test – Gus Visser and his Singing Duck 1926 Flesh and the Devil 1926 Son of the Sheik 1927 Buster Keaton – The General 2 1927 It – Clara Bow 1927 Metropolis – Montage 1927 Oktober – 1 1927 Sunrise 1927 The Jazz Singer 1927 Wings 1928 Charlie Chaplin – The Circus 1928 Steamboat Willie 1928 The Cameraman – Breaking the Bank 1928 The Wedding March 1929 Luis Bunuel – Un chien andalou Part 1 1929 Man with a Movie Camera 1929 St. Louis Blues 1929 The Broadway Melody 1930 All Quiet Along the Western Front – Trailer 1930 Morocco 1931 Charlie Chaplin – City Lights 1931 Dracula 1931 Frankenstein 1931 Fritz Lang’s M, ending, 1st part 1931 Le million 1931 Little Caesar 1931 The Champ 1931 The Public Enemy 1932 Freaks 1932 Grand Hotel 1932 Love Me Tonight 1932 Shanghai Express 1932 The Music Box 1932 Trouble In Paradise 1933 42nd Street 1933 Duck Soup 1933 King Kong – ending 1933 She Done Him Wrong – Mae West 1933 Snow White 1933 The Emperor Jones 1934 It Happened One Night 1934 It’s A Gift 1934 Little Miss Marker 1934 Tarzan and His Mate 1934 The Goddess 1934 The Man Who Knew Too Much 1934 The Thin Man 1935 A Night at the Opera 1935 Bride of Frankenstein 1935 Mutiny On The Bounty 1935 Naughty Marietta 1935 The 39 Steps 1935 Top Hat 1935 Triumph of the Will 1936 Camille 1936 Modern Times 1936 My Man Godfrey 1936 Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor – Part 1 1936 Rose Hobart 1936 Show Boat 1936 Swing Time – Trailer 1936 The Great Ziegfeld 1937 A Star Is Born 1937 Hindenburg disaster 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – hi ho 1937 Stage Door 1937 The Awful Truth 1937 The Life of Emile Zola 1937 Way Out West – ‘Blue Ridge Mountains’ 1938 Bringing Up Baby 1938 Love Finds Andy Hardy – Trailer 1938 Olympia 1938 Porky in Wackyland 1938 You Can’t Take It with You 1939 Destry Rides Again 1939 Gone with the Wind 1 – kiss 1939 Gunga Din 1939 La Règle du jeu 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Ninotchka clip 1939 Stagecoach 1939 The Wizard of Oz 1939 Wuthering Heights 1939 Young Mr Lincoln 1940 Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator 1940 Fantasia 1940 His Girl Friday 1940 Pinocchio 1940 Rebecca 1940 The Bank Dick 1940 The Grapes Of Wrath 1940 The Philadelphia Story 1940 The Shop Around the Corner 1941 Citizen Kane – Final Words 1941 Meet John Doe 1941 Sullivan’s Travels 1941 The Lady Eve 1941 The Maltese Falcon 1942 Casablanca 1 – play it again 1942 Cat People 1942 Holiday Inn – White Christmas 1942 Jam Session 1942 Random Harvest – She’s Ma Daisy 1942 Road to Morocco 1942 The Battle of Midway 1942 The Magnificent Ambersons 1942 To Be Or Not To Be 1942 Tulips Shall Grow 1942 Woman of the Year 1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy 1943 Meshes of the Afternoon – Part 1 1943 Shadow of a Doubt 1943 Stormy Weather 1943 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 1944 Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 Double Indemnity 1944 Going My Way 1944 Henry V – Trailer 1944 Laura – Trailer 1944 The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek 1945 Blithe Spirit 1945 Brief Encounter – end 1945 Detour 1945 Les Enfants du Paradis 1945 Mildred Pierce – Trailer 1945 Roma Citta Libera 1945 Spellbound 1945 The Body Snatcher 1945 The Lost Weekend 1946 It’s A Wonderful Life – ending 1946 La Belle et la bête 1946 My Darling Clementine 1946 Notorious 1946 The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 The Big Sleep 1947 Black Narcissus 1947 Brighton Rock 1947 Crossfire 1947 Miracle on 34th Street 1947 Out of the Past 1948 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948 Bicycle Thieves 1948 Hamlet 1948 Letter From An Unknown Woman 1948 Mr.Blandings Builds His Dream House 1948 Red River 1948 The Red Shoes 1948 The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre 1949 All the King’s Men 1949 Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949 The Heiress 1949 The Third Man – ending 1949 Twelve O’Clock High 1949 White Heat – Top of the World 1950 All About Eve 1950 Gerald McBoing-Boing 1950 Harvey 1950 In A Lonely Place 1950 Rashomon 1950 Sunset Boulevard 1951 A Place in the Sun 1951 A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 An American in Paris 1951 Duck and Cover 1951 Flying Padre – Stanley Kubrick 1951 Strangers on a Train 1951 The African Queen 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 The Thing from Another World 1952 High Noon 1952 Hurlements en faveur de Sade – Guy Debord 1952 Ikiru 1952 Magical Maestro 1952 Singin’ in the Rain 1952 The Bad and the Beautiful 1952 The Greatest Show on Earth 1952 The Quiet Man 1952 Umberto D 1953 From Here to Eternity 1953 Le Salaire de la peur 1953 Let’s All Go to the Lobby 1953 Mr Hulot’s Holiday 1 – start 1953 Roman Holiday 1953 Shane 1953 Stalag 17 1953 The Band Wagon – That’s Entertainment 1953 The Hitch-Hiker 1953 The Tell-Tale Heart 1953 The War Of The Worlds 1953 Tokyo Story 1953 Ugetsu 1954 A Star Is Born 1954 Carmen Jones 1954 Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954 Dial M For Murder 1954 House in the Middle Pt 1 1954 La Strada 1954 On The Waterfront 1954 Rear Window 1954 Sabrina 1954 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 1954 Seven Samurai – Akira Kurosawa 1954 The Caine Mutiny 1954 The Dam Busters 1954 White Christmas 1955 Blackboard Jungle 1955 Kiss Me Deadly clip 1955 Les Diaboliques 1955 Marty 1955 One Froggy Evening 1955 Pather Panchali 1955 Rebel Without A Cause – knife 1955 Richard III 1955 Rififi 1955 The Night of the Hunter 1956 Around the World in 80 Days – Trailer 1956 Don’t Knock The Rock – ‘Tutti Frutti’ 1956 Giant 1956 Invasion Of The Body Snatchers 1956 The Court Jester 1956 The Killing 1956 The Searchers – Trailer 1956 The Ten Commandments – Trailer 1957 12 Angry Men 1 1957 Bridge On The River Kwai 1 1957 Jailhouse Rock 1957 Le notti di Cabiria – Fellini 1957 Paths of Glory 1957 Pyaasa 1957 Rock You Sinners – Brighton Rock 1957 Smultronstället 1957 Sweet Smell of Success 1957 The Seventh Seal 1957 What’s Opera, Doc 1957 Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter 1957 Witness for the Prosecution 1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Mon Oncle 1958 The Defiant Ones – Trailer 1958 The Vikings 1958 Touch of Evil 1958 Vertigo – The Stairs, first time 1959 Anatomy of a Murder – Trailer 1959 Ben Hur – Trailer 1959 Les quatre cents coups 1959 North By Northwest – The Airplane 1959 Shadows 1959 Some Like It Hot 1960 A bout de souffle 1960 House of Usher 1960 La Dolce Vita 1960 Psycho 1960 Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – Trailer 1960 Spartacus 1960 The Alamo 1960 The Apartment 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany’s 1961 Dog Star Man – Prelude 1961 Judgment At Nuremberg 1961 Jules et Jim 1961 West Side Story 1961 Yojimbo 1961The Hustler 1962 Dr No 1962 How the West Was Won 1962 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 Lolita 1962 O Pagador de Promessas 1962 Ride the High Country 1962 The Manchurian Candidate 1962 The Music Man 1962 To Kill a Mockingbird 1963 8 1-2 – dream 1963 Charade 1963 Dog Star Man – Part II 1963 Shock Corridor 1963 The Birds 1963 The Great Escape 1963 The Nutty Professor 1963 The Servant 1964 A Hard Day’s Night 1964 Bande à part 1964 Deus e o diabo na terra do Sol 1964 Dog Star Man – Part III 1964 Dr. Strangelove 1 1964 Empire – Andy Warhol 1964 Goldfinger 1964 Mary Poppins – Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 1964 My Fair Lady – Wouldn’t It Be Loverly 1964 Zulu 1965 Darling 1965 Dr. Zhivago 1965 For A Few Dollars More 1965 Repulsion – Catherine Deneuve 1965 The Sound of Music 1966 A Man For All Seasons – Trailer 1966 Alfie 1966 Blow-up 1966 Fahrenheit 451 1966 Georgy Girl 1966 La Battaglia di Algeri 1966 Persona 1966 The Endless Summer 1966 The Good The Bad and the Ugly 1966 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf 1967 Belle de Jour – Luis Bunuel 1967 Bonnie and Clyde 1967 Cool Hand Luke – boiled eggs 1967 Far From The Madding Crowd 1967 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 1967 In the Heat of the Night – Trailer 1967 Mouchette 1967 Playtime 1967 Stop, Look and Listen 1967 The Graduate 1967 The Jungle Book – I Wanna Be Like You 1968 2001 Space Odyssey 1 – start 1968 Bullitt 1968 Carry on Up the Khyber 1968 If… 1968 Night Of the Living Dead 1968 Oliver! 1968 Once Upon a Time in the West 1968 Planet of the Apes 1968 Rosemary’s Baby 1968 The Producers – Springtime for Hitler 1968 Why Man Creates 1969 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 Easy Rider – ending 1969 Goodbye, Mr. Chips 1969 Kes – cane 1969 Midnight Cowboy – I’m walking here 1969 The Italian Job – doors 1969 The Sorrow and the Pity – bourgeois 1969 The Wild Bunch 1969 Women in Love 1970 Five Easy Pieces 1970 Love Story 1970 MASH 1970 Multiple Sidosis 1970 Patton 1971 A Clockwork Orange – droog fight 1971 A Touch Of Zen 1971 Fiddler On The Roof – To Life 1971 Get Carter 1971 Harold And Maude 1971 Shaft 1971 Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song 1971 The French Connection 1971 The Hospital 1971 The Last Picture Show 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – Pure Imagination 1972 Aguirre the Wrath of God 1972 Cabaret 1972 Deliverance – ‘Dueling banjos’ 1972 DT 1972 Frenzy 1972 Last Tango in Paris 1 1972 OffOn 1972 Sleuth 1972 Solaris 1972 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 1972 The Godfather – offer 1972 The Poseidon Adventure 1973 American Graffiti 1973 Badlands 1973 Coffy 1973 Don’t Look Now 1973 Enter the Dragon 1973 Frank Film 1973 La Nuit americaine 1973 Mean Streets 1973 Sleeper 1973 The Day of the Jackal 1973 The Exorcist – Pt.1 1973 The Sting 1973 The Wicker Man 1974 A Woman Under the Influence 1974 Blazing Saddles 1974 Chinatown 1974 Foxy Brown 1974 The Conversation 1974 The Godfather, Part II 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – ending 1974 The Towering Inferno – Trailer 1974 Young Frankenstein – Puttin’ on the Ritz 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – ending 1975 Barry Lyndon 1975 Dog Day Afternoon 1975 Flåklypa Grand Prix – 1 1975 Jaws 1975 Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 Nashville 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1975 Picnic At Hanging Rock – Trailer 1975 The Return Of The Pink Panther – Karate Kick 1975 The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Damn it Janet 1976 All the President’s Men – Trailer 1976 Car Wash 1976 Marathon Man 1976 Network 1976 Nuts in May 1976 Rocky – Adrian 1976 Taxi Driver – Talking To Me 1976 The Omen 1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976 The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1977 Abigail’s Party 1977 Annie Hall 1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 Eraserhead 1977 Killer of Sheep 1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar 1977 Powers of Ten 1977 Saturday Night Fever 1977 Soldaat van Oranje 1977 Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope – Deathstar1 1978 Dawn Of The Dead – mall 1978 DDD 1978 Every Which Way But Loose 1978 Grease – Summer Nights 1978 Halloween 1978 Midnight Express 1978 National Lampoon’s Animal House 1978 Pennies From Heaven 1978 Superman The Movie 1978 The Deer Hunter 1978 The Last Waltz – The Weight 1979 Alien 1979 All That Jazz – Bye Bye Life 1979 Apocalypse Now – Napalm in the morning 1979 Mad Max and Feral Boy 1979 Manhattan – start 1979 Monty Python’s Life of Brian 1979 Stalker – Tarkovsky 1979 Star Trek The Motion Picture 1979 The Black Stallion 1979 Woyzeck – Herzog 1980 Airplane! 1980 Atlantic City 1980 Flash Gordon 1980 Gregory’s Girl 1980 Heaven’s Gate 1980 Mon oncle d’Amerique 1980 Raging Bull 1980 Superman II 1980 The Elephant Man 1980 The Empire Strikes Back 1980 The Long Good Friday – ending 1980 The Shining – Here’s Johnny 1981 Chariots of Fire 1981 Das Boot 1981 Gallipoli 1981 Mommie Dearest 1981 Raiders Of The Lost Ark 1981 The Cannonball Run – 1 1981 The Evil Dead 1981 The Postman Always Rings Twice 1982 Blade Runner 1982 Boys from the Blackstuff 1982 Conan The Barbarian 1982 ET 1982 Fast Times At Ridgemont High 1982 First Blood 1982 Fitzcarraldo 1982 Gandhi 1982 Koyaanisqatsi 1982 Made in Britain 1982 Poltergeist 1982 Porky’s 1982 Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman 1982 Sophie’s Choice 1982 Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan 1982 The Draughtsman’s Contract 1982 The Thing 1982 The Thing 1983 A Christmas Story – Oh, Fuuudge 1983 Return of The Jedi 1983 Scarface 1983 Terms of Endearment 1983 The King of Comedy 1983 Trading Places 1983 WarGames 1984 1984 1984 A Passage To India 1984 Amadeus 1984 Dune 1984 Ghostbusters 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1984 Once Upon A Time In America 1984 Paris, Texas 1984 Police Academy 1984 Repo Man 1984 Stop Making Sense 1984 Stranger Than Paradise 1984 Supergirl 1984 The Karate Kid 1984 The Killing Fields 1984 The Never Ending Story – Trailer 1984 The Terminator 1984 This is Spinal Tap 1985 After Hours 1985 Back to the Future 1985 Brazil 1985 Clue 1985 My Beautiful Laundrette 1985 Out of Africa 1985 Ran 1985 Teen Wolf 1985 The Black Cauldron 1985 The Breakfast Club – dancing 1985 The Color Purple 1985 The Goonies 1985 The Official Story 1985 Weird Science 1985 Witness 1985 Young Sherlock Holmes 1986 9 1-2 Weeks 1986 A Better Tomorrow 1986 A Room with a View 1986 Betty Blue 1986 Big Trouble In Little China 1986 Blue Velvet – start 1986 Caravaggio – Derek Jarman 1986 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 1986 Flight of the Navigator 1986 Hannah and Her Sisters 1986 Hoosiers 1986 Jean de Florette 1986 Labyrinth 1986 Little Shop of Horrors 1986 Manon des Sources 1986 Mona Lisa 1986 Platoon 1986 Rita, Sue and Bob Too – Bananarama 1986 Short Circuit – Trailer 1986 Stand By Me – 1 1986 The Fly 1986 The Money Pit 1986 The Name of The Rose 1986 The Singing Detective 1986 Top Gun 1986 When the Wind Blows 1987 Der Himmel über Berlin Wings of Desire 1987 Dirty Dancing 1987 Fatal Attraction 1987 Full Metal Jacket – drill sergeant 1987 Harry and the Hendersons 1987 Naayagan 1987 Planes, Trains and Automobiles – waking up 1987 Robocop 1987 The Last Emperor 1987 The Princess Bride 1987 The Untouchables 1987 The Witches of Eastwick 1987 Throw Momma from the Train 1987 Withnail and I – Camberwell carrot 1988 A Fish Called Wanda 1988 Akira 1988 Big 1988 Child’s Play 1988 Coming to America – bride 1988 Dangerous Liaisons 1988 Die Hard 1988 Distant Voices, Still Lives – Trailer 1988 Mississippi Burning 1988 Rain Man 1988 The Accused – lawyer 1988 The Last Temptation Of Christ 1988 The Naked Gun 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1989 Back to the Future II 1989 Batman 1989 Born on the Fourth of July 1989 Cinema Paradiso clip 1989 Dead Poets Society – ending 1989 Do The Right Thing – 1 1989 Glory 1989 Henry V 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 My Left Foot 1989 Sex, Lies and Videotape 1989 Uncle Buck 1989 Weekend at Bernie’s 1990 Back To The Future III 1990 Dances With Wolves 1990 Edward Scissorhands 1990 Ghost 1990 Goodfellas 1990 Home Alone 1990 Miller’s Crossing 1990 Nuns on the Run 1990 Pretty Woman 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 The Hunt for Red October 1991 Beauty and the Beast 1991 Boyz n the Hood 1991 Cape Fear 1991 Daughters of The Dust 1991 Delicatessen clip 1991 Fried Green Tomatoes 1991 Robin Hood Prince of Thieves 1991 Terminator 2 1991 The Commitments 1991 The Silence of the Lambs – fava beans 1991 Thelma and Louise 1992 A Few Good Men 1992 El Mariachi 1992 Home Alone 2 1992 Howards End 1992 Leolo 1992 Malcolm X 1992 Peter’s Friends – song 1992 Reservoir Dogs 1992 The Bodyguard 1992 The Crying Game 1992 The Last of the Mohicans 1992 The Player – Trailer 1992 Unforgiven 1993 Carlito’s Way 1993 Falling Down 1993 Farewell My Concubinet 1993 Groundhog Day 1993 In the Name of the Father 1993 Jurassic Park 1993 Naked 1993 Philadelphia 1993 Schindler’s List 1993 The Fugitive 1993 The Piano 1993 The Remains of the Day 1993 The Wrong Trousers 1993 Three Colours Blue 1993 What’s Eating Gilbert Grape 1994 Chungking Express 1994 Clerks – corpse 1994 Drunken Master II – Final Fight Scene (Part 1 of 2) 1994 Ed Wood 1994 Forrest Gump 1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral 1994 Il postino 1994 Leon The Professional 1994 Muriel’s Wedding 1994 Pulp Fiction – dancing 1994 The Madness Of King George 1994 The Shawshank Redemption 1995 Braveheart 1995 Heat 1995 La Haine 1995 Nine Months 1995 Richard III 1995 Se7en 1995 Sense and Sensibility 1995 The Usual Suspects 1995 The White Balloon 1995 Toy Story 1995 Twelve Monkeys 1996 Brassed Off 1996 Fargo 1996 Jerry Maguire 1996 Romeo and Juliet 1996 Secrets and Lies 1996 Shine 1996 The English Patient 1996 Trainspotting 1997 As Good as It Gets 1997 Boogie Nights 1997 Good Will Hunting 1997 L.A. Confidential 1997 La Vita è blla 1997 Nil By Mouth 1997 The Full Monty – ending 1997 Titanic 1997 Waiting for Guffman 1998 American History X 1998 Elizabeth 1998 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 1998 Festen 1998 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 1998 Lola Rennt 1998 Rushmore 1998 Saving Private Ryan – D-day Scene (1-4) 1998 Taxi 1998 The Big Lebowski 1998 The Truman Show 1999 American Beauty 1999 Being John Malkovich 1999 Fight Club 1999 Magnolia 1999 Office Space – 1 1999 The Green Mile 1999 The Matrix 1999 The Sixth Sense 2000 Amores Perros 2000 Billy Elliot 2000 Chocolat 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000 Dancer in the Dark 2000 Erin Brockovich 2000 Gladiator 2000 Meet the Parents 2000 Memento 2000 Quills 2001 Amelie 2001 Donnie Darko 2001 Kandahar 2001 Legally Blonde 2001 Lord Of The Rings 2001 No Man’s Land 2001 The Royal Tenenbaums 2001 Wit 2002 Bowling for Columbine 2002 Chicago 2002 City of God 2002 Dirty Pretty Things 2002 Spider-Man 2002 Spirited Away 2002 Talk to Her 2002 The Magdalene Sisters 2002 The Pianist 2003 Finding Nemo 2003 Lost in Translation 2003 Monster 2003 Oldboy 2004 Crash 2004 Der Untergang 2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 2004 Gegen die Wand 2004 Hotel Rwanda 2004 Million Dollar Baby 2004 Napoleon Dynamite 2004 Shaun Of The Dead 2004 Sideways – Trailer 2004 Tropical Malady 2005 Brokeback Mountain 2005 Good Night, And Good Luck 2005 March of the Penguinsm – Trailer 2005 The Tulse Luper Suitcases 2005 V for Vendetta 2006 Borat – Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2006 Lage Raho Munna Bhai 2006 Little Miss Sunshine 2006 The Lives Of Others

On Tonight: Tough Fix, Truffaut – Roger Catlin | TV Eye

Download mp3 The Bride Wore Black – Leaving Quespin [2009] from mp3boo.com FREE !!! Tracklist : 01.And So It Begins 02.We&ll Do It Live 03.The.

Download mp3 The Bride Wore Black – Leaving Quespin [2009] from mp3boo.com FREE !!! Tracklist : 01.And So It Begins 02.We&ll Do It Live 03.The.

Francois Truffaut is the featured director tonight on Turner Classic Movies, with Jules and Jim (8 p.m.), The 400 Blows (10 p.m.), The Bride Wore Black (midnight), Small Change (2 a.m.) and The Wild Child (4 a.m.). …

Francois Truffaut is the featured director tonight on Turner Classic Movies, with Jules and Jim (8 p.m.), The 400 Blows (10 p.m.), The Bride Wore Black (midnight), Small Change (2 a.m.) and The Wild Child (4 a.m.). …

WEDNESDAY WEDDING WOW: The Bride wore BLACK… June 3rd, 2009 by thehdic. And pink… If I&ve told you Bab Divas once, I&ve told you a thousand times… Its your wedding, DO YOU and it will come out FABULOUS…. Do something fabulous, wild, …

“Per me non c’è alcun dubbio che a suo modo le abbia amate e che aveva ragione ad amarle tutte. Nessuna si equivale, ciascuna ha qualcosa che le altre non hanno, qualcosa di unico e insostituibile” (L’uomo che amava le donne – 1977)

Lasciate aperta questa finestra con il passo di Truffaut e fatevi un giro su corriere.it, repubblica.it oppure, se avete fegato, accendete la tv e guardate come vengono rappresentate le donne nel nostro paese.

1977-2009

Riparliamone. Dice la Cortellesi.

Anni di educazione televisiva e ora di educazione governativa ci hanno propinato modelli femminili di tutto rispetto: dall’ebete maggiorata di Drive-In, alle vallete sceme di Sanremo fino ad arrivare a una nuova specie: le crociate della libertà. Ma libertà di cosa? Di starsene chiuse in casa a guardare Uomini e Donne? Di farsi eleggere al Parlamento Europeo dopo aver partecipato al Grande Fratello?

Ed eccolo. Il ministro delle Pari Opportunità. Il messaggio è fin troppo chiaro. Le pari opportunità fra uomo e donna passano dai centimetri sottratti ai vestiti nei calendari.

Concludo come avevo iniziato, con una citazione di Truffaut ma questa volta ho una dedica speciale: alle crociate della libertà.

Week 14 is an all-out French new-wave extravaganza! Having watched Pierrot Le Fou over the Easter weekend, my love for the nouvelle vague has been rekindled.

Masculin Féminin (1966 Dir. Jean-Luc Godard):

Jules and Jim (1962 Dir. François Truffaut):

Previously on The Criterion Collection: Click here

On a Criterion related note: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was recently announced as being numner 476 in the collection. There was, of course, a backlash to this from some Criterion elitists who feel that it’s place isn’t warranted in such a prestigious collection alongside the “continuing series of important classic and contemporary films”. I think this argument is completely undone by this, and this.

Regardless, I quite enjoyed Benjamin Button, even if it was just a repackaged Forrest Gump. The special effects (just like as in Zodiac) where astounding in their subtly, performances were solid all round and as with any Fincher film, it looked incredible.

My only quibble with the CC version of Button is the cover. I understand that for the more commercially viable releases, Criterion need to feature artwork that is more in line with what’s featured on a cinema marquee than what would hang in an art gallery. The slipcases for both The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic are perfect examples of this. Frankly, the poster campaign for Benjamin Button was lazy. Very lazy. Brad Pitt is an extremely bankable actor, but it’s incredibly poor and blatantly obvious if your poster is just his FACE on a black background. The filmmakers may as well be saying: “Look, we don’t have a fucking notion how to market this…but Brad Pitt is in it! You love him, don’t you?”. I would have thought that Criterion might have rectified this by featuring the one decent piece of artwork that was released for the movie. Alas, they chose the floating, giant faces. Anyways, below is the actual Criterion artwork and below that, is the mockup I madeup in Photoshop.

DVD Artwork:

What could have been the artwork:

I like movies. I can say that. This is my favorite film. It has been my favorite for a long time. I do not know how many times I have seen it. Normally I watch it from time to time but a friend of mine has my copy for some time. I keep forgetting to ask for it so he keeps forgetting to bring it back. I haven’t seen it for some time. Nevertheless I love it.

Just in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of La Nouvelle Vague, the French New Wave, here comes Cinemoi, a UK television network that offers all French films, all the time.

(No, it’s not yet an option in the U.S.)

Full subscription to the network allows viewers to access a first-rate library of French films, subtitled in English — 30 new features and documentaries each month — as well as interviews with filmmakers and actors, and premieres of award-winning releases.

So what’s in the queue?

For starters, 14 films directed by French New Wave master Francois Truffaut — the schedule for the next few days includes multiple screenings of The 400 Blows, Jules et Jim, Antoine et Colette, and Shoot the Pianist.

Then there’s a mini-tribute to the late director/producer Claude Berri (Jean de Florette), with two of his most revered films: Uranus and Lucie Aubrac.

Cinemoi’s menu of movies was chosen by Julien Plante, a renowned curator of French cinema who has programmed more than 1,000 films at festivals, institutes , and independent cinemas.

The programming lineup includes films that fall into nine categories:  exclusive, thriller, drama, comedies, classics, family, documentary, ooh-la-la, and seasons (tributes to filmmakers, actors, genres, or themes).

Cinemoi, available on Sky channel 839 in the UK, is now in preview mode — Brit viewers can try a free taster every night until April 6, and they can sign up for a discounted rate until then.

Check out Cinemoi’s official site for more info and high-quality video clips.

Plans are afoot to make Cinemoi available in Europe. Here’s hoping that Bright House Networks (my local cable provider) and/or other cable outlets throughout the U.S. will pay attention, and bring Cinemoi stateside.

From Truffaut’s film Jules et Jim.

Cinema is different things to different people, but at the core it is a pastiche of various arts and sciences used primarily to tell a story and while being at it has the power to influence, entertain and stimulate by opening up doors to imagination of the viewer, play with emotional levels and coax into experiencing larger than life cinematic circumstances or realistic situations.

I could easily end up naming 100 movies off the hook that diabolically had me turn into a total film freak and movie maniac, but I had to finish a top 10 list that would contribute towards the auteurs top 10 aping a sight&sound top 10 poll.

By instinct,  I tend to like movies that more or less stick to my four point rule, of course these 4 points are not thought of each time I watch a movie, but subconsciously that is where my brain aims at.

Repeat Viewing – films that I can watch without the tolerance level hitting back at me. In a broad sense, those that I truly enjoy most.
Aesthetics & Techniques - how well the tools used convey the cinematic language or how sensible and beautiful the content was.
Influence/After-Effect – affecting me aesthetically (namely critical reflection of art, culture, nature and sesonri emotional values – judgment, sentiment, taste) – aesthetics can be relative, so whether it thrilled me or if I could relate to anything and learn about something become crucial.
Indulgence – even when gaudy, unaesthetic, if I could really feast on it leaving the logic and if’s and but’s behind.

not in any particular order,

2001: A Space Odyssey, 8 1/2, Seven Samurai, Fanny och Alexander, Pierrot Le Fou, In the Mood for Love, Jules et Jim, Pulp Fiction, Godfather I and II, Pather Panchali, Apocalypse Now

WHOA. IMAGE-HEAVY. APOLOGIES? 

Wow. I was just looking through a RANDOM community on LJ, film_stills and I started geeking out and feeling all inspired. There were tons of caps of some of my favourite obscure (ish) movies. I figured I’d post some of them here for you to fawn over.

Films are the most inspirational art medium to me (and this is coming from Meg the photographer). I admire many more filmmakers than I do photographers. I don’t know what that says, maybe I’m into the wrong hobby? I think if I could do anything it would filmmaking in some way. I think photography is amazing and so many photographers and photos inspire me in different ways but… I can’t tell you the buzz I get off certain films. I think to successfully convey an idea on film is just a magical talent that is nearly impossible to possess. these are just some random caps but they are unbelievably inspiring to me. I hope you feel the same way after seeing some of them (and if you haven’t seen the movies you MUST!!! the caps almost don’t do them justice!!!) 

(1966) Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up 

the best movie you’ve never seen. it’s based on David Bailey’s life, and plus you have the brilliant David Hemmings playing him with tons of hilarious and ironic references (Verushka, the Yardbirds?!) it’s such a good film. I don’t know many people who have seen this one so… put it on your blockbuster/netflix queue. now. 

“I am in Paris.”

(2006 I think?) Shane Meadows’ This Is England

I love this film. I can’t even descibe it to you. Not to sound condescending here, but most Americans won’t get this film (I don’t get parts of it either) so I don’t know if I should recommend it to you or not. This move affected me so deeply. the imagery is so. gorgeous. though, so that alone is worth it I think.

(2007) David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises

Cronenberg, (a naked) Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, Naomi Watts. What else do I have to say? This is ALMOST as amazing as History of Violence (and that’s saying a lot).

(1962 I think?) Francios Truffaut’s Jules Et Jim

(1963) Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2

don’t speak to me if you haven’t seen this film. I can’t explain to you how incredible I think it is. 

(holy shit, that second cap. LOVE.)

(2007) Anton Corbijn’s Control

Whatever, don’t need to talk about this. I know if you’re reading this you’ve seen it. It’s the most beautifully shot film of the decade bar There Will Be Blood. let the pictures speak for themselves… 

(2001) Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko 

(2003) Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers

Alright I’m biased. It has all my favourite actors in it in my favourite time period. But it is a nearly perfect film about 1960s Paris. I don’t understand all the hate it receives one bit. 

(2007) Wes Anderson’s Hotel Chevalier 

I love this ???short??? (it comes before the Darjeeling Limited) and I HATE. HATE. HATE. Wes Anderson and most of his bullshit movies. It’s such a beautiful film (idk what to call it).

(2005) Alfonso Cuaron’s A Little Princess

Just saw this in the comm and I almost fainted when I found out it was a Cuaron. I loved this film so much as a kid. I guess looking at the caps I should have guessed it was Alfonso… 

(2007) Bailie Walsh’s Lord Don’t Slow Me Down

there’s no shit I’m biased, but this is the best music doc of all time. Frankly I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like Oasis or think they’re all dicks and their music all sounds the same, if you like films you will love Lord Don’t Slow Me down.  Here are some caps to prove it.

(omg. perfect?)

and finally…

(1996) Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting

this  was my first “favourite movie of all time.” I’m so glad Danny Boyle is finally getting American recognition with Slumdog but he should have gotten it with Trainspotting. It’s a perfect movie. 

Il faut faire des compromis dans la vie, car si je manque le Lab.Synthèse vendredi (il fallait une sacré bonne excuse), c’est pour jouer dans un film. Court, muet, en noir et blanc. Et je serai un peu 60’s, un peu moi, un peu femme-enfant. Il me fallait donc dimanche faire  un compte à rebours de classiques et d’inspiration godarienne et trufaultesque dans mon lit en mangeant des clémentines.

Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way

Jules et Jim

Some Like It Hot

The Apartment

MGM: When the Lion Roars

Woody Allen: A Life in Films

Bomb It

Stoned

Helvetica

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

. . . and your favorite film is?

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

DAN BERING PHOTOS

. . . MONTMARTRE

Love, the French way!

Adaptation By: Jean Gruault & François Truffaut
Directed By: François Truffaut

There is something in Jules Et Jim, it’s just not something that I like. The characters are very flighty, but I’ve loved movies with flighty characters before. For me what it comes down is that I can’t in any way relate to the concept of love as portrayed in Jules Et Jim, whether from the female or male perspective. Because of that I spent the majority of the movie questioning why the characters were doing what they were doing. I often found myself thinking of them as quite idiotic, and not in an endearing way.

I did like the way the film was structured and how it was put together, as well as the score. But, I could never get past the fact that not only did I not care for any of the characters but I didn’t care about what happened to them because I couldn’t understand them. I don’t always need to relate to the characters I get to know, Odin knows I certainly can’t relate to Dirk Diggler in a lot of ways but that didn’t stop me from loving Boogie Nights. However with Jules Et Jim I didn’t feel the smallest inkling of investment in the characters, their actions, or their various plights.

I wouldn’t recommend Jules Et Jim, but for people that are willing to accept the version of love that the movie espouses I can see it viewing it as a favorite. But, alas it wasn’t for me and I don’t know if it ever will be.

Rating:

**

Cheers,
Bill