Tag: french
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The Story of French Impressionism, Part I: Édouard Manet
In contrast to the bold, triumphant, and defined political works of earlier European painters, like Eugene Delacroix for example, the Impressionists were a more muted, subtle group of less defined painters, at least conventional wisdom instructs us so. The Impressionists give us only a glimpse of something, a passing blurred picture of motion; like a […]
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Coeur fidèle (1923) Review
Coeur fidèle (Faithful Heart) (1923) Director: Jean Epstein ★★★★☆ Coeur fidèle is a beautiful, slow-moving French Impressionist film. Jean Epstein once said: its purpose was “to win the confidence of those, still so numerous, who believe that only the lowest melodrama can interest the public… to create a melodrama so stripped of all the conventions ordinarily […]
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J’accuse (1919) Review
J’accuse (1919) Director: Abel Gance ★★★★★ J’accuse is the great tragic war film by the French master director of epic silent film, Abel Gance. Like his other silent films, J’accuse is a lengthy but worthy film. In the modern edited-down version it lasts nearly three hours, but the original was 14 reels long and Gance […]
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À propos de Nice (1930) Review
À propos de Nice (1930) Director: Jean Vigo ★★☆☆☆ Jean Vigo made this short and avant-garde, documentary-styled film when he was 25 years old (in English the title is “Concerning Nice”). It was his debut film – a silent montage exposing French culture in the Mediterranean tourist city of Nice. He made the film with […]
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Under The Roofs of Paris (1930) Review
Sous Les Toits de Paris (Under the Roofs of Paris) (1930) Director: René Claire ★★★☆☆ René Claire (1898-1981) was heralded as one the great directors of French cinema during the 1930s. He was the son of a soap distributor but he lived the life of a ceaselessly disappointed writer, artist, and musician. He initially was […]
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Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902) Review
Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902) Director: George Méliès “A Trip to the Moon” ★★★★★ Georges Méliès’s films tend to present fantastical journeys through time and space with technical innovations and aesthetic splendor. While many of his short movies were created to complement his performances as a magician, his later films such as The Impossible […]
Great Books Guy 