Tartuffe (1925, F.W. Murnau)

A reminder, if needed, of how rigorous the film-maker can be (even more so than the theatre director, the musician, the novelist, no matter how unlikely the nature of his medium may make that seem). Moliere’s words are necessarily forsaken in an adaptation of his work during the silent era, but no matter for Murnau …

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Trafic (Jacques Tati, 1971)

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 …