Le Train En Marche, made in 1971 by Chris Marker and his SLON group, is the precursor in many ways to a more well-known Marker film; the 1992 feature The Last Bolshevik (Le Tombeau d'Alexandre). The latter film is a more complete reckoning with the life and work of Soviet film-maker Alexander Medvedkin, but … Continue reading Le Train En Marche (Chris Marker, 1971)
Every so often a film just blindsides you. I have been a fan of Claude Chabrol almost as long as I’ve been a cinephile, my admiration stemming from early, formative viewings of Le Boucher and La Ceremonie, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Chabrol work quite like this one and was not expecting … Continue reading La Rupture (1970, Claude Chabrol)
For all the acclaim he has received, both popular and critical, how can it be that Jacques Tati still features so rarely on lists of, say, the ten greatest film directors? Is the reason as simple as the comedian’s curse, that condition that means that, no matter the greatness of the work itself, it will … Continue reading Trafic (Jacques Tati, 1971)
