Bande à part (Band Of Outsiders)

Any good lover of film knows the name Jean-Luc Godard. One of the most famous French filmmakers of all time, Godard is known for his influence on the French New Wave movement that dominated 1960s French cinema. Godard is known for his unique filmmaking style and for his films to reference other films. One of Godard’s most famous works, and most approachable, is Bande à part. This 1964 film was an adaptation of Dolores Hitchens’ Fool’s Gold. The film is a clear and obvious influence on filmmakers everywhere including today and one of Godard’s best.

The film’s plot is simple. Two guys like one girl and they all want to rob the girl’s aunt. The film follows the trio as they go on misadventures and plan to make the robbery that is the film’s climax. While the plot is simple, it is the filmmaking that is outstanding to watch. Godard’s films have a specific and creative feel to them that makes them exclusively Godard. The cinematography and camerawork are fluid and still to this day unique and stand out from the majority of films that come out. The different camera styles, the looks into the camera, and even the subtle glances and looks throughout the  film stand out. In fact one of the funniest, and coolest, parts of the film comes at the end as it promises a sequel in Brazil; this sequel was never made and its obviously a joke played by Godard.

What makes Bande à part stand out from the lot of Godard’s films are three specific scenes that have been referenced to and have influenced film for all time. The first and my personal favorite is the dance scene titled “the Madison dance.” The group gets up in a café and starts doing a little organized dance to the music in the café. It comes out of no where but its absolutely delightful. The biggest influence of this dance lands on Quentin Tarantino who used similar random dance scenes in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. The nest scene is the moment of silence, which happens right before the dance scene. The trio is just sitting in the café and decides to have a moment of silence. When they start the sound of the film goes silent and the audience can literally hear nothing. A clear style that reflects the New Wave moments but I really enjoyed it when the film came to that point. The last scene is the Louvre scene where the trio races through the Louvre to beat the world record.

Overall these three scenes and the spectacular filmmaking by Godard make this an instant classic. A highly enjoyable film and any respectable film lover should watch it as they will see its imprint on cinema easily.
4/4

Le Samouraï

Every once in a while you will come across a film that from beginning to end you know you are watching a masterpiece. Once again we come across Jean-Pierre Melville but this time I am reflecting on his 1967 classic Le Samouraï. The film came out in 1967 in France starring Alain Delon based on Joan McLeod’s novel The Ronin.

The film opens up with slow, patient Hitchcock zoom while our protagonist smokes in his bed and an empty apartment besides a tweeting bird and big windows. You can tell this man is organized, professional, and most of all efficient. The cinematography right off the bat is gorgeous and you can feel the sensation that your about to go an a cinematic thrill ride. With an amazing performance from Alain Delon, we follow the hit man as he goes on a job at a nightclub. The music and sound is very specific and makes us focus in more on every movement and noise. After his hit we start seeing the police investigation as Costello (Delon) he goes through a police line up and investigation. The police continue to try to convict him by bugging his room, following him, even threatening those few close to him. All of them fail, but something more interesting has happened, the people who hired him have almost killed Costello. Now everything is spiraling, Costello must survive the police and his enemies in enough time to get revenge and learn about why he was betrayed.

The story here is great but what really stands out here is the amazing, incredible filmmaking going behind the camera. This film has some extraordinary camera movement and cinematography; the look of the film itself reflects our protagonist. There are some awesome sequences as well in the film including when the police try to follow Costello (failing) and the western shootout feel that occurs when another hit man attempts to kill Costello. Another attribute that takes this film to the next level is the overall cool factor that Costello has. Everything that this man wears and does feel immediately bad ass and you want to be just like him. He seems untouchable, able to get away with murder and escape the police right when they have him under their nose. Even the music makes him feel suave and mysterious!

It is just one incredible film! It requires a tad bit of patience but not like 2001: A Space Odyssey patience. It is remarkable shot and made, the framing is extraordinary, and a classic in cinema. It is a highly influential film, just look at The Killer and Drive!  A must see for any fan of film!
4/4

Bob Le Flambeur

John Woo once said that “Melville is God to me”. The man who has made such films as The Killer and Hard Boiled looks at this French director as a main influence on his work and possibly the greatest director of all time. Jean-Pierre Melville is a French director who worked from 1945 to about 1972 making 13 films and a short film. In 1956 he decided to make a French gangster film reflecting his adoration of American gangster films. The films stands as a landmark in cinematic history for multiple reasons and is a highly entertaining film at the same time.

There are multiple factors that make Bob le Flambeur stand out as a film. For one the use of the single jump cut is huge for a film at this time and would stand out as an influence on Jean-Luc Godard’s work. Godard even mentioned that Bob le Flambeur is his favorite Melville work. The film also included the use of handheld camera, something that would also be influential on French cinema. The combination of these make Bob seems as landmark for the French New Wave movement.

Still technique is not the only thing that stands out about the film; it also is a great story to watch. Roger Duchesne puts in a great performance as Bob, the brains behind the operation, as we follow him gather a team to rob the casino. The gathering of the team and the planning of the robbery feel like a huge influence on the Ocean films and interesting to see each piece of the puzzle come together. The film also follows the interesting relationship between the officer and Bob, which Woo later used in The Killer, and a love triangle between Bob, Anne a girl which he is trying to save, and Paolo his protégé.

Though the part of the film that stands out the best to me is the interesting and unexpected ending. As we make it to the end of the story, within 5 minutes we see a favorite character die and Bob end up winning a fortune at the casino. It happens so fast that we barely have time to wrap our minds around it. Roger even gets arrested but its implied that he will be able to buy his way out. So what the whole movie has been building up to can’t be put into action and it turns out Roger didn’t even need to rob the casino at all. The irony that the gambling that was destroying his life at the beginning of the film eventually saves him is clearly seen. Some will hate it but it happen so quickly you barely have time to form an opinion on it while its happening.

Bob le Flameur is an entertaining film and a hugely influential film for French cinema and international cinema. Is Melville God? Maybe not but he certainly was a genius with film and impacted it like few have. Even Stanley Kubrick himself that Bob was the greatest crime film and made him give up doing them himself.

3.5/4

Fantastic Planet

When I was young I had a hard time falling and staying asleep which led me to late nights and early mornings watching TV. Since there was never any good television programs on that late I would just surf the movie channels until I found something good enough to entertain myself. One of those nights I came across a strange, animated film titled Fantastic Planet. I was still young and knew nothing about it. The film came across as a weird and confusing movie so I switched away from it. Now that I am older, I looked up Fantastic Planet and saw that it won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. I decided to give it another chance to see if I would enjoy it now that I am older and more mature in my film knowledge. Read on to see my thoughts...

Fantastic Planet is a 1973 animated picture directed by René Laloux who co-wrote it with production designer Roland Topor based on the book Oms en série. The story is set on a futuristic planet where humans are known as Oms and are pets of gigantic blue Draags on the planet Ygam. The follows Terr, an Om whose mother is killed at the beginning, who becomes a pet of the Draag Tiva. Terr eventually escapes and joins the rebel Oms and educates them with a Draag learning device. The Oms have to survive the dangerous planet, creatures, and Draags who want to eliminate them while also figuring out a way to escape. The film won the 1973 Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival.

The Cabin In The Woods

Expectations will either make or break a movie. Sometimes you hear stuff about the movie and go in and find out everything you heard was complete bull...I am looking at you The Orphanage. Then sometimes you go and expectations are met and even beat to beyond our imaginations. This my friends is how I felt after walking out of The Cabin In The Woods which may be my new favorite film of the year! We rarely get to see smart, intelligent, well paced, mature, and unique horror films these days. Unless it is from Japan or Korea and at a time Italy, we generally can expected just slasher horror that can barely entertain an audience. The Cabin In The Woods will hopefully change that, it should be a game changer, that will bring new minds and new perspectives to the horror genre. I have high hopes for where the genre is headed after this film, but for now read on to get my specific thoughts.

The Cabin In The Woods is written by Joss Whedon and co-written and directed by Drew Goddard. The films stars Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Richard Jenkins, and Bradley Whitford.  The films follows every horror cliche in the book, we find a group of teenagers on the way to a vacation in a (guess what) cabin in the woods. Still, not everything is as at seems. Random occurrences seem more ordered and planned rather than coincidental. As the story unravels we learn not everything is as it seems and this is not merely some cabin in the woods. I would tell more but the less you know about the film the better.

Quai Des Offevres

France in cinema history has had some of the most interesting films during its run. Their film has had significant impact on American cinema and the rest of the world. One of those directors is Henri-Georges Clouzot who directed Quai des Orfèvres. The film follows Jenny Lamour is want to become famous and a theater star. When she starts making moves on a perverted businessman (Brignon), her husband (Maurice) decides to threaten he businessman with murder. Unfortunately, Jenny goes to meet the businessman secretly and Maurice follows her. That same evening Brignon is murder and it is time for Inspector Antonie to solve the case.

            The best part of the films comes in its second half in the film after the murder of Brignon. The Inspector Antoine is one a stand out as a great character that really carries the film. He is charming and likeable and it is too much fun watching him through the police procedurals. His best stuff comes during the interrogation scenes as we continuously cut between the three citizens the police are holding. It is great editing and marvelous direction at the same time, very noir-ish and its impact on film noir can be clearly seen. There are some great night scenes in the street and also an amazing shot in the jail of blood running from one cell to the other. Though where Clouzot’s magic really shines is in the script where the dialogue is gold! The script is snappy and really explores the struggle of the common man and the criminals that run the streets. Clouzot is also a master of slowly pulling out the story as Inspector Antoine begins to discover the story detail by detail.

            Overall, Quai des Orfèvres is a French classic and a very entertaining story. It’s pace is smooth and fluid, you will never get bored. The story pulls you in and you wait every second to find out how the story will unravel. I know I wasn’t sure how it all was going to end but when it all was over I highly enjoyed it. 
3/4

M

M

Fritz Lang will forever stand as one of the greatest directors of all time. His work spans from Metropolis to The Big Heat and his imprint on cinema can be seen everywhere. M though stands as one of his finest masterpieces and is one of my all time favorite movies. The story follows a serial killer who kills children and follows the town’s reaction. The film’s story is incredibly well done and the direction and cinematography behind it are perfect. It’s every thing you want in a movie takes it to a masterful level.

            The camera work is very fluid and I love the shots in this film. Some of my favorite shots that stand up are the close up of the “M” hand, Hans seeing the child in the mirror, and the shot of Hans Beckert seeing the “M” on his back. There are plenty more shots but those were some of my favorites. As expected with Fritz Lang, there are some great tracking and zoom shots. The whistling motif

            Though what made M so fantastic in my opinion was that the story focused more on the reaction to the serial killings of the public rather than the serial killer himself. The opening scene says it all as we follow the kids singing songs of the child killer to the mother looking for her daughter. Lang lets the visuals tell everything as we cut to the empty seat at the table where the daughter should sit. As the film continues we see how the public’s paranoia reaches dangerous heights even attacking an innocent old man just for talking to a child. At the same time as we see the public’s reaction, Lang also focuses on the police’s actions and how they react to stop the murderer. The comparisons between the two groups adds a whole different layer to an already deep film but it works.

            The best part of the whole film comes at its climax. As the public has captured Hans we see the combination of exploring the mind behind the killer and the anger mob mentality that the towns people take on. Peter Lorre deserves some major credit for giving a wonderful performance as Hans and really pulls sympathy from the audience.

            Overall M is a masterpiece and one of Fritz Lang’s greatest films! It is definitely one of Germany’s best and it also has a huge influence on cinema just like Dr. Caligari.
4/4

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari

A masterpiece film, one that be fundamental for centuries, The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari is one of the greatest and most influential pieces of film history. The 1920 silent film directed for Robert Wiene and screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carly Mayer has been known for its unique style that would set the precedent for German Expressionism and impact film forever. The weird and jagged sets reflected expressionist paintings at the time and created a tense and horrific tone. Everything feels out of place and the film will make you feel uncomfortable. Along with the sets the film became a huge influence on film noir through its use of shadows and nighttime shooting. The incredible thing is that the shadows were indeed painted in because of lack of resources. The cinematography also plays a huge part into this style, creating the tone and mood that lasts throughout the film. The film includes some fantastic close ups too, including the famous one of Cesare’s awakening. Lastly it is also the actors who did not stick to traditional acting but moved in an unrealistic and moved like the environment around them.

            The film opens up and continues to have a surreal feel to it. The story is told through flashback and we can already tell that something is wrong. This helps the horror aspect of Caligari function so well. As the story progresses we notice one of the major steps Caligari took in film, by making the exterior represent the interior of the characters. In fact one could say the exterior becomes one of the characters in the film. Still the best part of Caligari comes at the end with its twist ending. When we learn that indeed Francis is insane and that he is stuck in an insane asylum, an important theme breaks out that sticks with cinema to this day. The idea of being trapped in time, that our fate is inescapable. Since the film is told through flashback, we know that there is no escape for our protagonist. Everything that is being told has already happened, and nothing will be able to save him from his fate. Francis is indeed trapped.

            Overall Caligari is an incredible film to watch because of its huge influence of cinema. As one of my classmates said, “you can see a part of Caligari in every movie.” The horror is powerful, the cinematography marvelous, and most importantly a great story to boot. It is a film everyone should watch, especially fans of cinema, as it has left its mark on film for ages and will continue to. 
4/4