The French Connection review

 Number 453 on the top 1000 films of all time is William Friedkin's 1971 neo-noir crime thriller 'The French Connection.'

NYPD detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider) are trying to bring the influential and wealthy French heroin smuggler Alain Charnier (Fernado Rey) to justice.

The French Connection was William Friedkin's fifth film, but also the one that arguably made his name. Considering that this film netted him Best Director awards from the Academy, the Golden Globes the Directors Guild of America, I think it's fair to say this was his breakout film. No doubt the success of this allowed him to go onto even, arguably, greater heights of directing The Exorcist a few years.

 Supposedly the scariest horror film of all time. I say supposedly as I really hated the Exorcist. Although evidently I'm in the minority with that opinion as The Exorcist went onto receive ten Oscar nominations including Best Director for Friedkin.

However, I think the French Connection was a much better film to warrant a Best Director win. True, The French Connection is a bit complicated and confusing like most neo-noir films are, but it was still very entertaining. After all, Friedkin directed what some label to be one of the greatest car chase scenes in movie history. Popeye drives hell-for-leather to catch a would-be assassin. This is complicated by how the assassin is on the train and Popeye is in a car, yet in a thrilling sequence, we see him stop at nothing to bring this killer to justice in one way or another.

Although I think Friedkin earned the Best Director Oscar, I'm less convinced by Gene Hackman winning the Best Actor Oscar for Popeye. True, he was good, but I don't think this was one of his best performances. 

He was better in Mississippi Burning, where he was also nominated for Best Actor Oscar losing out to Dustin Hoffman, or the Conversation where Hackman wasn't even nominated. The Conversation's biggest theme was paranoia and we saw that through and through in Hackman's performance. Here I think he was more your every-day hero. Nothing wrong with that, but not Oscar worthy.

Anyway, this is a minor criticism in what was a thoroughly entertaining film. Just a shame, Friedkin went onto direct the Exorcist. 

Three Colours: Blue review

 Number 336 on the top 1000 films of all time is Kryzstof Kieslowski's first installment of his French Three Colours trilogy: Blue.

Julie (Juliette Binoche) has just survived a car crash. Her daughter and famous composer husband did not. Shutting down from the world, she tries to close herself off to everything, but her past life continues to intrude into the present.

As is the nature of this list, I often watch film trilogies out of order. Here I watched the final film 'Red' first. Luckily, these three films are only linked thematically and not narratively. Each film in this trilogy corresponds with a colour of the French flag - in this case, blue. This film also explores the theme of 'libertie' or freedom.

As much as Julie tries freeing herself from her past, it always finds a way to resurface. She was a tragic character. And Binoche made her both believable and likeable. Kieslowski used her a way to explore the theme of grief. Shutting down as Julie does is an all too common response to this severe trauma. Yet she has constant reminders of the past to having a stranger trying to return her daughter's necklace to her having a relationship with her late husband's best friend. Together, they try to complete her husband's final symphony.

The colour blue was also factored into the film's cinematography with many of the scenes having a distinctive blue filter achieved by placing a filtered gel over the lens. This is another motif that carried over to the other films. It made the film look so nice on-screen, as well as really dialling into Julie's grief.

Three Colours: Blue was a good film with a unique colour aesthetic which really helped it to explore the theme of grief.

Persepolis review

 Number 301 on the top 1000 films of all time is the French 2007 adult-animated, coming-of-age, biographical drama Persepolis.

Persepolis was directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. Satrapi also wrote the film adapting it from her autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. It tells the story of Marjane (Chiara Mastroianni) a young woman growing up in the midst of the Iranian revolution. To escape the horrors, her family reluctantly send her to a French lycee in Austria, but after struggling to fit in and going through much trouble and strife, Marjane grows homesick and returns to her parents in Iran.

Ever since I started doing the challenge of watching the top 1000 films of all time, I've had the opportunity to watch some of the most amazing films that I never would have had the chance to have done otherwise. If it wasn't for this list, then I never would have heard of Persepolis, but thank God I did, because it was a great film.

Firstly, it looked beautiful on-screen. The animation was gorgeous. Granted, it was only simple two-dimensional drawings, but this was completely intentional. Satrapi requested that the animations were kept as simple and as traditional as possible, so as not to date the film. To that end, she also deliberately chose to have the film rendered in black-and-white. This all had the effect of giving the visuals a gentle beauty. Everything was subtle and understated. There was nothing to distract you from the story.

Just like the animation, the story was simple, but no less masterful. If you strip away the horrors of the Iranian revolution, we have a basic coming-of-age story. One where Marjane, who like everybody else, is looking for acceptance and meaning. In this sense Persepolis was a microcosm of real life. In a case of the grass being greener, Marjane reluctantly leaves her home for a new life in Europe, only to realise that her fantasies don't match up to reality.

On a more macro level, Persepolis also showcased the horrors of the Iranian revolution in stark and brutal detail. The horrors that the regime committed were laid bare for everybody to see. Nothing was dressed-up or exaggerated. Everything was real. The voice performances and the animation all added to this powerful presentation.

I thoroughly enjoyed Persepolis. It was a relatable story told and presented with basic, but gorgeous animation. Yes, it was simplistic, but simplicity is not always a bad thing, as Persepolis proved in spades.

Before Sunset (2004) review

 Number 272 on the top 1000 films of all time is Richard Lintlaker's romantic-drama 'Before Sunset' - sequel to the 1995 Before Sunrise.

Jesse Wallace (Ethan Hawke) is an American writer on the last stage of his European book tour in Paris. he is promoting the book that he wrote about a fleeting romance he had with French lady Celine (Julie Delphy,) whom he met in Vienna nine years prior. The events of which constitute the plot of Before Sunrise. Little does he know that we will soon re-unite with her in Paris.

I absolutely loved Before Sunrise. It is low in spectacle, action and budget, but high in authenticity and romantic chemistry between its two leads. I loved the original so much that I couldn't wait to watch the sequel. It was reminiscent of the beginnings of relationships where everything is exciting, new and fresh. Did Before Sunset live up to the hype? Not quite.

It was still a highly entertaining film, but it lacked the spark that the first one had. In many ways, it was a rehash of the first one. Only this time, Jesse and Celine are in Paris, instead of Vienna, and instead of an entire night together, they only have an hour before Jesse has to return to America at sunset.

Considering it's been nine years since their last encounter, Jesse and Celine have as much chemistry, as they did before. The same can be said for Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy who co-wrote the film along with Richard Lintlaker. If you told me that the pair were dating in real life I wouldn't have been shocked as they were brilliant together. Obviously they weren't as Ethan Hawke was finalising his divorce with wife Uma Thurman. Anyway, Jesse and Celine's dialogue sparkled. And the film had a fantastic air of authenticity. It didn't just feel real. It was real.

Yet the film still lacked something. It is only a paltry eighty minutes long, but it still felt longer than it should have been. On the surface, it seems that Jesse and Celine are picking up where they left off - even though they're both in new relationships - Jesse is married with a son, but we soon learn that they never truly recovered from their fateful encounter. Jesse is trapped in a loveless marriage while Celine never sees her photojournalist boyfriend. They're still both deeply in love with each other. While Before Sunrise showed the excitement of the beginning of the relationship, Before Sunset, seemed to focus more on the relationship after the honeymoon period has worn off.

This all culminates in a tearful confrontation at the film's climax. But this should have come sooner. I couldn't see what this film was building to - I wonder if it would have been similar to how Before Sunrise ended. But *spoilers*

it ended on a less ambiguous, but equally hopeful note. 

Richard Lintlaker captured lightning in the bottle with Before Sunrise. He couldn't quite do the same with Before Sunset, but it was still a great film nonetheless.

Ne Le dis a personne (Tell no one) review

 Number 753 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2006 French adaptation of Harlan Coben's thriller of the same name.

Dr Alexandre Beck (Francois Cluzet) is a paediatrician in Paris who is slowly recovering from the murder of his wife eight years prior. However, when he discovers that his wife might actually be alive, he is hurtled into a dangerous and mysterious world.

This is the second adaptation of Harlan Coben's work that I have seen after Netflix's Safe. The two both have a doctor protagonist investigating the disappearance of a loved on. Both adaptations are incredibly complicated I wonder if it's fair to describe Coben as one of those crime writers who's too clever for their own good.

Don't get me wrong - I did enjoy Ne le dis a personne, as much as I understood it. And I'm not just talking about the fast-spoken French, but the complicated plot line that often took precedence over the characters especially the female characters.

Beck has a number of different women in his life from his sister to his sister-in-law to his lawyer, but they all blended into one with no distinguishable features. I also found it unlikely that a middle-class doctor like Beck would have an unexpected friend/ally in the local gangster Bruno who feels indebted to Beck after he treated his haemophiliac son. Whenever Beck is in trouble Bruno is the deux ex machina come to save the day. Honour among thieves, I guess?

I think I just about understood everything by the end of this fast-paced crime thriller. Perhaps convoluted, overly-complicated plots is just the nature of the genre and I best get used to it.

Three Colours: Red review

 Number 222 on the top 1000 films of all time is the French final part of the 'Three Colours trilogy: Red.'

Valentine Dussaut (Irene Jacob) is an aspiring model who accidentally runs over Rita - a German Alsatian belonging to an old, bitter ex-judge Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant.) When Valentine tries explaining, Joseph couldn't care less, but it is revealed that he whiles away his time eavesdropping on people's phone conversations. One of these people is Valentine's neighbour Auguste (Jena-Pierre Lorit,) a trainee lawyer.

This is another film trilogy that I'm writing out of order, as is often the nature of this list. I enjoyed Three Colours: Red much more than I thought I would. I thought it would be a pseudo-intellectual arthouse film, but it was actually very interesting and thought-provoking.

Joseph Kern was an instantly engrossing character. Misanthropes are not the most original of characters, but they are engaging. He posed lots of interesting questions that I wanted answering. Why was he so callous? So lonely? Why was he listening into these conversation? And what can these conversations tell us about the human condition? That behind closed doors, the facade drops and we're not as nice as we like to think we are? Jean-Louis brought this man to life and stopped him from being a cliche.

Irene Jacob was also very good as Valentine Dussaut. In many ways, she is the audience proxy. As she is simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by Joseph's actions, so are the audience. The only character I was unsure about was Auguste whose storyline wasn't really given a chance to shine. He felt like he should have been a main character, but he was portrayed as a subplot.

Nonetheless, this was still a very interesting film. Now, I just have to go back and watch the first two parts of this trilogy.

Before Sunrise review

 Number 239 on the top 1000 films of all time is the romantic drama 'Before Sunrise.'

Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is a young, American man backpacking through Europe. On a train from Vienna, he meets the French lady Celine (Julie Delphy) and the two instantly hit it off. They spontaneously decide to spend the night together in Vienna, knowing that at sunrise, they will go their separate ways, unlikely to ever see each other again.

Generally, I'm not a fan of romance films. They can be either overly-sentimental or overly depressing. But Before Sunrise pleasantly surprised me. It was funny, uplifting and wonderfully understated. As can be expected with romances, a lot of the film hinges on the leading couple. If the actors don't have chemistry together, this will visibly translate to the screen. But I thought that Hawke and Delphy were great together. I've seen Hawke in Training Day and Lord of War, so I know he is a credible action star. But he was also likable and charismatic as Jesse. Julie Delphy was also charming as Celine. She brought a hopeful optimism to Jesse's cold cynicism.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Richard Lintlaker's subtle direction. It is left up to the audience to decide whether Jesse and Celine sleep together or not. This is never depicted on-screen. But in so many other films, it seems like a pre-requisite to have a gratuitous graphic sex scene that does nothing for the plot. You might expect this in romances, but not in dramas. Yet it happens almost all the time. Lintlaker's decision to let the audience make up their own minds was a refreshing take and added well to the fairytale aspect of the film.

And, in many ways, this is a fairytale. It is embedded in a the fantasy of a holiday, whirlwind romance. this can be reality for some people, but, at times, it leant into incredulity. I haven't been to Vienna, so I don't know whether this is the case, but are there really beatniks smoking by the river in the dead of night ready to write poetry for whoever is ready to pay them?

*Spoiler alert* And the film ends on a lovely, uplifting note. When it comes time for Jesse and Celine to say goodbye in the train station where Celine is going home to Paris, they vow not to write or call each other, but to meet at the station in six months time. As it is a romance, you would expect a happily ever after, but it was difficult to see how this could transpire. I was expecting a final twist in the tail that would spoil things.

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Before Sunrise. It lacked the sentimentality you would expect from many romances. And Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy were great together.

La Vie En Rose review

 Number 603 on the top 1000 films of all time is the musical biopic La Vie En Rose.

This French film tells the story of famed singer Edith Piaf, otherwise known as the Little Sparrow. Marion Cotillard stars as Piaf. From her impoverished childhood to her untimely death, we see the rise and fall of France's national chanteuse. 

I didn't like this film. It wasn't just that the subject matter didn't interest me - I am neither French nor a baby boomer so Edith Piaf has never been something that's high on my music list. Call me a culturally ignorant millennial, but c'est comme ca. I didn't like the way the story was told. It seemed random, chaotic and very incohesive. Like many other films it is told in a non-linear fashion and regularly plays around in time. 

It opens up on Edith as an adult and then cuts to her childhood and then to her as an adolescent, but whereas with other films there is a logic to this time-jumping, I failed to see any logic here. It was like the film-makers had realised at the last minute they had forgotten something important and stuffed it in anywhere they could. For example, near the end of the film we find out she has a child who died from Meningitis. We find this out in a flashback, but why was something of this magnitude not revealed until so late in the film? Not to mention all the numerous flash-forwards where we see Edith's ailing health.

And I certainly don't mean to diminish Marion Cotillard's performance. She won the Best Actress Oscar for this role - just one of six actors to win the award for a non-English speaking role - and she was good as Piaf. We bore witness to the many trials and tribulations of Piaf's life and Cotillard took us through her emotions well. And I think she embodied the character well. Reportedly she shrunk her already petite 5"6 frame to reach Piaf's diminutive 4"11 role. And I do remember reading somewhere that she worked with a dialect coach to capture Piaf's speaking voice as best as she could, although all the singing was dubbed by French singer Jil Aigrot.

Maybe this film would have been better suited to a lover of classic French music and not a philistine like me, but c'est la vie. Non, je ne regrette rien. 

Papillon review

 Number 275 on the top 1000 films of all time is the historical drama epic prison film 'Papillon.'

Henri 'Papillon' Charierre (Steve Mcqueen) is a famed safecracker who is sent to prison after being wrongly convicted for the murder of a pimp. He is sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal system of French Guiana in a supposedly inescapable prison. Within the prison, he meets famed counterfeiter Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman) and the two become fast friends as they scheme to escape the prison together.

This was the 350th film that I have watched since I've started slogging through this list. And I've come to the conclusion that two hours is my cut off point. If a film is over two hours there has to be a very good reason. The Godfather, the Green Mile and Braveheart are all notable exceptions, but then you get films like the Last of the Mohicans, Gone with the Wind or, indeed, Papillon that just go on and on and on. You think you've reached the ending, but then there's another ending and another and another. This isn't to say that they are necessarily bad films, but they're all much longer than they need to be. Papillon is no exception to this rule.

Similarly to the Last of the Mohicans, it was very bloated. There was a lot of slow-motion and grandiose music that made the film half an hour longer than it needed to be. And then we come to the various endings. We see Papillon, Degas and orderly Maturette (Robert Deman) escape the prison and wash up on Honduras. We could have ended the film there, but then we see Papillon being taken in by a native tribe, in probably one of the slowest portions of the film, before being recaptured and taken back to the prison. 

Again, it could have ended there, but Papillon is moved to the remote Devil's island where he re-unites with Degas who has since lost his marbles. Papillon then tries another escape attempt by diving into the sea. We could have ended things here, but we get a voiceover telling us that he survives and finally the film ends. These constants endings really killed the tension. It would have been nice if things were left up to the viewer, but any ambiguity was completely dispelled. 

Also the sound mixing wasn't very good either. There were multiple scenes especially when Papillon and Degas are being brought by boat to the prison, where it was difficult to hear the characters speaking over the sound of the waves. I'm sure I missed many important details there.

The film wasn't all bad though. Steve McQueen was great as the formidable Papillon. He is sent there after coming to Degas' aid by attacking a guard. Degas returns the favour by sneaking him food in solitary confinement and Papillon never gives up his friend. Papillon almost loses his mind in solitary as the guards starve him and leave him in darkness. It is difficult to believe that anybody could survive torture like that. And the scene where we see a prisoner being guillotined, as a warning, was disturbing to watch.

It is a shame about the bloating and the slow motion and the multiple endings, because it did have the potential to be a great film.