French Cinema

My Favorite Jean Renoir Films (Revised and Updated)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Grand Illusion (1937)

2.   The Rules of the Game (1939)

3.   A Day in the Country (1936) (Short Film)

4.   The River (1951)

5.   The Southerner (1945)

6.   The Golden Coach (1952)

7.   La Chienne (1931)

8.   The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)

9.   Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)

10. La Bete Humaine (1938)

11. Toni (1935)

12. French Cancan (1954)

13. Picnic on the Grass (1959)

14. The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir (1970) (TV Film)

15. The Lower Depths (1936)

16. Elena and Her Men (1956)

17. La Marseillaise (1938)

18. The Elusive Corporal (1962)

19. The Diary of a Chambermaid (1945)

20. The Testament of Doctor Cordelier (1959) (TV Film)

My Favorite Max Ophuls Films (Revised and Updated)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Earrings of Madame de… (1953)

2.   The Reckless Moment (1949)
(I watched it on TCM a few years back)

3.   La Ronde (1950)

4.   Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

5.   Le Plaisir (1952)

6.   Caught (1949)

7.   Lola Montes (1955)

8.   Liebelei (1933)
(I saw it on an old VHS Tape)

9.   La Signora di Tutti (1934)
(I saw it on an old VHS Tape)

10. The Exile (1947)
(I watched it on TCM a while back)

My Favorite Jean-Pierre Melville Films (Revised and Updated)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Le Samourai (1967)

2.   Army of Shadows (1969)

3.   Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

4.   Leon Morin, Priest (1961)

5.   Le Doulos (1962)

6.   The Silence of the Sea (1949)

7.   Bob le flambeur (1956)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   Un flic (1972)

2.   Second Breath (1966)

3.   Les Enfants Terribles (1950)

My Favorite Louis Malle Films (New)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Lacombe, Lucien (1974)

2.   Murmur of the Heart (1971)

3.   Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)

4.   Au revoir les enfants (1987)

5.   Atlantic City (1980)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Fire Within (1963)

2.   Elevator to the Gallows (1958)

3.   The Lovers (1958)

4.   My Dinner with Andre (1981)

My Favorite Chris Marker Films (New)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   La Jetee (1962) (Short)

2.   Sans Soleil (1983) (Documentary)

3.   One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich (1999) (Documentary)

4.   Grin Without a Cat (1977) (Documentary)

5.   A.K. (1985) (Documentary)

My Favorite Krzysztof Kieslowski Films (New)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Decalogue (1989) (Mini-Series)

2.   A Short Film About Killing (1988)

3.   Three Colors Trilogy (1993-1994)
Blue (1993)
White (1994)
Red (1994)

4.   The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

5.   A Short Film About Love (1988)

My Favorite Abbas Kiarostami Films (Revised and Updated)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)

2.   Close-Up (1990) (Part Documentary)

3.   Life, and Nothing More… (1992) (Part Documentary)

4.   Where is the Friend’s Home? (1987)

5.   Taste of Cherry (1997)

6.   Ten (2002)

7.   Through the Olive Trees (1994)

8.   The Traveler (1974)

9.   Certified Copy (2010)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   10 on Ten (2004) (Documentary)

2.   Homework (1989) (Documentary)

3.   ABC Africa (2001) (Documentary)

4.   Like Someone in Love (2012)

5.   Shirin (2008)

6.   Five (2003) (Documentary)

My Favorite Jean-Luc Godard Films (Revised and Updated)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Goodbye to Language (2014)

2.   Nouvelle Vague (1990)
(I watched it on youtube)

3.   Made in U.S.A. (1966)

4.   Masulin Feminin (1966)

5.   Weekend (1967)

6.   Film Socialisme (2010)

7.   Every Man for Himself (1980)

8.   In Praise of Love (2001)

9.   Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967)

10. JLG/JLG – Self-Portrait in December (1994)
(Documentary)
(I watched it on an old VHS Tape)

11. La Chinoise (1967)

12. Notre musique (2004)

13. Detective (1985)

14. The Carabiniers (1963)

15. King Lear (1987)
(I watched it on an old VHS Tape)

16. The Little Soldier (1960)

17. Hail Mary (1985)

18. A Married Woman (1964)

19. Passion (1982)

20. Pierrot le fou (1965)

21. First Name: Carmen (1983)

22. Vivre sa vie (1962)

23. Number Two (1975)

24. Contempt (1963)

25. Here and Elsewhere (1974)
(Documentary)

26. Alphaville (1965)

27. Tout Va Bien (1972)

28. Breathless (1960)

29. Joy of Learning (1969)

30. Band of Outsiders (1964)

31. Sympathy for the Devil (1968)
(Concert Film/Documentary)

32. A Woman Is A Woman (1961)

33. Oh Woe Is Me (1993)

34. For Ever Mozart (1996)

35. Keep Your Right Up (1987)

My Favorite Federico Fellini Films (Revised and Updated)

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   La Dolce Vita (1960)

2.   Nights of Cabiria (1957)

3.   Fellini Satyricon (1969)

4.   La Strada (1954)

5.   8 1/2 (1963)

6.   I Vitelloni (1953)

7.   Amarcord (1973)

8.   Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

9.   The White Sheik (1952)

10. Roma (1972)

11. Variety Lights (1950)
(co-directed with Alberto Lattuada)

12. The Clowns (1970)
(Docufiction)

13. Il bidone (1955)

* * * * (Out of * * * *) (Short Cinema)

1.   Spirits of the Dead (1968)
(Segment: “Toby Dammit”)

2.   Boccaccio ’70 (1962)
(Segment: “The Temptation of Dr Antonio”)

3.   Love in the City (1953)
(Segment: “Marriage Agency”)

* * * * (Out of * * * *) (Television)

1.   Fellini: A Director’s Notebook (1969)
(Episode of “NBC Experiment in Television”)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   And the Ship Sails On (1983)

2.   Intervista (1987)

3.   Ginger and Fred (1986)