tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post4475020985776917006..comments2024-03-28T06:14:54.076-04:00Comments on And So It Begins...: the Directors: Jean-Pierre Melville Alex Withrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-11033227160337490512019-02-04T14:29:51.662-05:002019-02-04T14:29:51.662-05:00No. Shit?! I can't wait to watch this. Thanks ...No. Shit?! I can't wait to watch this. Thanks so much for letting me know!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-4719276212927789402019-02-02T21:18:31.293-05:002019-02-02T21:18:31.293-05:00Coming on TCM in March, Magnet of Doom.Coming on TCM in March, <i>Magnet of Doom</i>. thevoid99https://www.blogger.com/profile/03055459287396592446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-51620128678141368582018-04-02T10:04:04.197-04:002018-04-02T10:04:04.197-04:00DEFINITELY going to have to check out his work. A ...DEFINITELY going to have to check out his work. A 78 year long filmmaking career is insane!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-6823742846422953732018-04-01T09:25:44.567-04:002018-04-01T09:25:44.567-04:00I always find something deliciously dynamic in his...I always find something deliciously dynamic in his film-making. His run of movies from Guernica to Providence (starring the likes of Dirk Bogarde and Ellen Burstyn) are superb and each tackle cinema in their own unique way. Muriel, The War is Over, Je t'aime Je t'aime, All the World's Memory and Statues also Die are musts from this period, as is My American Uncle from 1980. Dude was making movies for 78 years (!!!)<br /><br />And Last Year at Marienbad! What a work of art, as is the profoundly moving Hiroshima mon amour. A master, for sure.Mark Woollonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05072777957640381767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-35689100118069455842018-03-27T10:13:59.699-04:002018-03-27T10:13:59.699-04:00So good, right?! Damn, I loved that movie. I need ...So good, right?! Damn, I loved that movie. I need to watch it again actually.<br /><br />I adore Resnais, but I haven't explored much of his work in several years. Last Year at Marienbad, especially, feels like one I need to go back and revisit.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-90995232453112032132018-03-23T07:48:38.746-04:002018-03-23T07:48:38.746-04:00Seeing Le Cercle Rouge again, I can't believe ...Seeing Le Cercle Rouge again, I can't believe I didn't speak about Jansen's first scene. What an introduction- scared the shit out of me first time I saw it :')<br /><br />Secondly, what are your thoughts on the films of Alain Resnais?Mark Woollonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05072777957640381767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-84311537374839833532018-01-08T10:51:24.315-05:002018-01-08T10:51:24.315-05:00Oh hell yeah. Melville is right up there with the ...Oh hell yeah. Melville is right up there with the all-time great filmmakers. His films have such distinction. Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-87925621387220349782018-01-07T15:30:19.941-05:002018-01-07T15:30:19.941-05:00My favorite French filmmaker. Only Bresson comes c...My favorite French filmmaker. Only Bresson comes close. Army of Shadows has such immaculate color composition. Those steely blues. UGH. Definitely top 20 worthy. Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03231911249238795602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-33157801991737189182017-12-24T15:55:23.566-05:002017-12-24T15:55:23.566-05:00Hey man, I hadn't seen any of his work until v...Hey man, I hadn't seen any of his work until very recently, so it's totally understandable. He made some great films though. I highly recommend them.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-24454857461244365522017-12-21T13:49:36.979-05:002017-12-21T13:49:36.979-05:00I'm ashamed to admit i have never watched any ...I'm ashamed to admit i have never watched any of these movies. But i will definitely try to check some of them out now. Sounds like he made a lot of interesting movies.Henrik J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12675100900709348187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-53301091940617468332017-12-20T16:22:02.728-05:002017-12-20T16:22:02.728-05:00That is a weird combo, but I'm so happy you en...That is a weird combo, but I'm so happy you enjoyed the film. Le Samouraï is just damn perfect. What a movie.<br /><br />Thank you so much in advance for reading the posts on Wait. I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on it!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-2426450127224440532017-12-20T16:21:05.983-05:002017-12-20T16:21:05.983-05:00Good stuff! Le Samouraï is my favorite as well. Fo...Good stuff! Le Samouraï is my favorite as well. For me, it was that most rare film that reopened my eyes to what films can <i>do</i>. I adore it.<br /><br />Have fun checking out his other work!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-53859825340897697752017-12-20T10:34:47.946-05:002017-12-20T10:34:47.946-05:00I saw Army of Shadows once on a double bill with G...I saw Army of Shadows once on a double bill with Godard's Alphaville. It's a weird combination, and I loved them both, but to this day, it's still the only Melville film I've seen.<br /><br />I've been wanting to check Le samourai out for quite some time, though, and your post might be the push I needed!<br /><br />By the way. I'm planning to go through you entire series of post on the making of WAIT in the next few of days... If you'd be interested in the thoughts of a fellow film maniac on it. I'd sure love to chat!Mathieu Gauvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564832898788429846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-37022122973918548102017-12-19T09:56:01.213-05:002017-12-19T09:56:01.213-05:00Of the two Jean-Pierre Melville films I've see...Of the two Jean-Pierre Melville films I've seen, I prefer Le Samouraï for the style, costumes, crime story, and enigmatic lead. Great visual storytelling, a full ten minutes elapses before the first word ("Jef?") is spoken. <br /><br />As you say, Army of Shadows is so different, a larger-scale narrative and containing 6-7 memorable individual scenes. A film that I feel is defined by the moments in the plot, rather than the characterization. It's well made but didn't hit me on an emotional level.<br /><br />I'll use your post as a guide when I want to dip into Melville's work again! Especially the 'masterful' filmsChrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09395044055566348346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-55270161078748005782017-12-18T11:26:58.144-05:002017-12-18T11:26:58.144-05:00Hell yeah man, really appreciate you motivating me...Hell yeah man, really appreciate you motivating me to check out his work. I had no idea I would be so immediately taken with all of his films.<br /><br />Who's next... looks like Krzysztof Kieślowski and Andrei Tarkovsky, both of which I'm going to rewatch their work in order, straight through. I hope to have Kieślowski up in the next month or two. And Tarkovsky to soon follow. Thanks in advance for reading all those Wait posts!!<br /><br />Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-1349161803425717712017-12-18T11:24:14.716-05:002017-12-18T11:24:14.716-05:00A lot of them were only recently released in Ameri...A lot of them were only recently released in America, which is so bizarre. So many of his films rank among the best crime thrillers I've ever seen. You'd love some of them!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-56418401160413107152017-12-18T11:23:28.066-05:002017-12-18T11:23:28.066-05:00The history behind why is work has been seemingly ...The history behind why is work has been seemingly kept in a vault for so many decades deserves its own post, but yes, I completely agree that his films should be studying and viewed as much as possible. So happy you're a fan of his work.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-33892924859551760962017-12-17T18:03:00.004-05:002017-12-17T18:03:00.004-05:00And I think I remember sending this over but anywa...And I think I remember sending this over but anyway: http://musicmotionmadnessfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/director-retrospectives-jean-pierre.htmlMark Woollonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05072777957640381767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-10140377684533910942017-12-17T18:00:58.861-05:002017-12-17T18:00:58.861-05:00Now this, this really made me smile.
I've ado...Now this, this really made me smile.<br /><br />I've adored Jean-Pierre Melville's work for years, and its insane to discover you'd not even seen it until FilmStruck dropped. Echo your thoughts on practically all of these, especially the A+ grades for his impeccable run 67-70. Army of Shadows comfortably resides in my top 15 films of all time: An at first unfathomably profound exercise in brutally assured direction that is both cold-blooded in its concision and yet utterly human between the seams. Le Cercle Rogue's disarming, almost discompassionate distance from its characters makes the ending genuinely harrowing and of course the extensive, near wordless buildup + 25-minute silent heist cement it as an almost overwhelmingly unblemished pinnacle of pure crime cinema. <br /><br />Unquestionably top 3 directors, up there with Alain Resnais for pièce de résistance French film-makers... and that raises the question of who comes next? Now that the beautifully insightful series on Wait (which I have lined up to review at some point) is over, who else is on the cards? Mark Woollonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05072777957640381767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-17105040844677271152017-12-16T15:56:14.891-05:002017-12-16T15:56:14.891-05:00Wow. I haven't seen any of these films. They a...Wow. I haven't seen any of these films. They all sound excellent.Stephhttps://clarefavara.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-35488535249579215782017-12-14T17:50:30.821-05:002017-12-14T17:50:30.821-05:00So far, I've only seen 5 films by Jean-Pierre ...So far, I've only seen 5 films by Jean-Pierre Melville based on this <a href="https://letterboxd.com/thevoid99/list/jean-pierre-melville-ranked/" rel="nofollow">list</a> but so far, I've yet to see a bad film from him. The man is definitely an original and truly someone more film students and young filmmakers need to seek out. thevoid99https://www.blogger.com/profile/03055459287396592446noreply@blogger.com