I really really enjoyed
Ridicule,
which is about people being witty and cruel at Versailles just before the French Revolution. Which makes it sound not-nice, but it's most of the characters who are not-nice, and the movie itself is very nice. Also, you get to see puns in sign language, and bunnies go scuba-diving. (Really!)
Also second the rec for
A Very Long Engagement,
which is about World War I, and is a little magical-realist and a little punch-drunk and you get to see Jodie Foster narrate an entire portion of the movie (in very good French).
The City of Lost Children
is another one with an American speaking French in it, and flirting with too-silly-to-play-along for me. (The American is Ron Perlman, and his French is terrible -- presumably by design.)
I have seen me a fair amount of trashy-melodrama French film. I would put
Indochine
in that category, along with
Queen Margot
and
The Brotherhood of the Wolf.
I hated that last, and wouldn't have paid the price of a rental for either of the other two, but they both involved pretty people swanning about and having lots of sex and murder and angst. So, can't be all bad, right?
Just avoid
Camille Claudel.
It is bad and boring.
I just watched M, and I have to say I don't feel the love.
I didn't either. I think I'd read so much about it that I saw it and was like, "That's all?"
I went to Netflix to check. We got both films in 2004, with little to no wait. They were Region 1, in French with subtitles. Evidently they're being reissued, because the versions we watched are no longer available and there's no "add" to your queue option, only the "save" option as you described. Odd.
Still, it does indicate they do plan to offer then eventually. Sorry for the bum steer.
Just avoid Camille Claudel. It is bad and boring.
You'll notice I didn't put that or
Queen Margot
on the list, even though I own both of them! I will say however that if you like looking at Isabelle Adjani, she is stunning in both.
Queen Margot
often appeals to guy students because the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre is so violent. I think it is a bit cheesy, but I do so love Vincent Perez (who is also in
Indochine)
that I had to have it.
I saw Queen Margot with The Nice Catholic Boy I once dated. We both thought it was baaad, although Adjani must have been 40 and still looked about 16. Actually I sort of blame Queen Margot for our breakup, though I think it was just the timing (the breakup was inevitable, as I am neither Nice nor Catholic.
I love
City of Lost Children
so much. I have no French, though. And I still haven't seen
Delicatessen,
somehow.
Are the Red, Blue, White films considered to be French? Or Polish?
Are the Red, Blue, White films considered to be French? Or Polish?
OMG, how could I have forgotten them? They're right there on the shelf! Love them. Despite Kieslowski, they are considered French productions both for financing and language reasons (although most of
White
is in Polish).
(although most of White is in Polish).
Thank you! This explains why I've been sitting here wondering why I can't remember which language they were in even though I very clearly remember seeing them -- in France, in French, and yet somehow also with subtitles...
I love Trois Couleurs trilogy. Rouge is one of my all time favourite flicks EVER. Definitely in my top ten.
Hmmm. I've seen about the 75% of films on Megan's students-approved list, but I have this weird resistance to the French new wave. I can take Louis Malle in small doses (I actually like his last two films the best -- his adaptation of Uncle Vanya and the brilliantly nasty Damage -- hmm, it happens that both of them are in English, so maybe that's irrelevant), and Truffaut is OK, but I CANNOT stand Godard and haven't watched any Melville. Oddly enough, I love Eric Rohmer, despite the the never-ending navel-gazing and the incessant talk that define his films. The end of Le Rayon Verte always makes me cry, for some reason.
One of the most affecting French films in my memory is Claude Sautet's Un Coeur en Hiver, with Emmanuelle Beart and Daniel Auteuil, which is sparse and elegant and terribly wounding in a quiet way.
I love City of Lost Children so much. I have no French, though. And I still haven't seen Delicatessen, somehow.
That's the great thing about Jeunet, he's so visual that the language barrier is not as great as with the more "talky" French movies, or comedies.
