|
|
French films Sci-Fi
|
Georges Méliès’ most famous film, Le Voyage dans la lune, is perhaps the best example of his remarkable imagination, artistic genius and talent as a film-maker. Not only did he write, direct and produce the film, he also had a hand in designing the sets and costumes. Although it may appear naïve and fanciful by today’s standards...
[More...]
|
|
Although much has been written about L'Inhumaine's status as a showcase for 1920s avant garde art, this is true primarily for only the first half of the film. In reality, L'Inhumaine could be said to be two films in one, somewhat clumsily joined at the hip. The first half is indeed something of an artistic canvas which seemingly flaunts Cubist set design for its own sake...
[More...]
|
|
Although lacking the maturity and stature of other silent films of the period, Paris qui dort is nonetheless one of the most important films in the history of French cinema. It is the first film of the great French film director, René Clair, and also - although it was not seen as such at the time – the first ever science-fiction movie...
[More...]
|
|
Abel Gance’s remake of his earlier 1919 film displays all the passion and power of that earlier film, but with the addition of sound to articulate the director’s protest against war. The final scenes where the dead soldiers return to life are haunting and beautifully filmed, but earned the film a horror classification when released in the UK...
[More...]
|
|
La Jetée is arguably one of the most distinctive and memorable of the films which emerged from the French New Wave filmmakers of the early 1960s. It tells a haunting and provocative story, with a powerful twist ending, through a series of black and white photographic still images, accompanied by an emotionless yet compelling narration...
[More...]
|
|
If there had to be just one word to sum up Alphaville¸that word would have to be weird. It is a film that constantly challenges our preconceptions, our expectations, and, as a result, manages to be both deeply disturbing and very funny at the same time. The film begins as what appears to be a pastiche of the American detective movie of the 1950s...
[More...]
|
|
Fahrenheit 451 is a fairly faithful adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s novel of the same name, and conveys the same message about the value of the written word with as much force and conviction. Unfortunately, the film is very badly let down by some pretty major technical and casting problems. This is the first of Truffaut’s two grand forays into science fiction (the second being a...
[More...]
|
|
Intended as a colourful adaptation of Jean-Claude Forest’s comic books of the 1960s, Barbarella has since acquired a reputation as very possibly the most gloriously over-the-top science fiction film in cinema history. The mere fact that the film never lets up for a moment but continues to take itself seriously right up until the closing credits...
[More...]
|
|
The most popular of the six Gendarmes films, Le Gendarme et les extra-terrestres was the biggest box office hit in France in 1979, attracting an impressive 6.2 million spectators. Although the Gendarme formula is beginning to look a little tired, by extending the range of the series into science-fiction parody the production team found a new lease of life...
[More...]
|
|
This low-key science-fiction drama from acclaimed director Bertrand Tavernier has proven to be chillingly prophetic. Twenty years on, fly-on-the-wall documentaries and "reality" shows have become the staple diet of most television networks in the Western world. Nothing is taboo in the ratings-hungry TV executives’ relentless pursuit to satisfy an increasingly sick society’s appetite...
[More...]
|
|
After the phenomenal success of Le Gendarme et les extra-terrestres (1979), director Jean Girault and comic star Louis de Funès were tempted to revisit the genre of sci-fi spoof with La Soupe aux choux. Both films were part of a craze in the 1970s and early 1980s for UFOs and science-fiction, following on the heels of Steven Spielberg’s box office hit Close Encounters of the...
[More...]
|
|
Luc Besson’s first full-length film is this extraordinarily bizarre yet stunningly realised post-apocalyptic drama which demands at least three viewings to make sense of it. Filmed in black and white with just two lines of dialogue, Le Dernier combat appears quite different to Besson’s later films (for one thing...
[More...]
|
|
The term "reality TV" hadn’t even been coined when this film was released in the early 1980s, yet what it shows is a vision of the future that has all but become our present reality. The power which television executives have to fashion and exploit the tastes of mass audiences for their own ends, the false sincerity of game show hosts who appear oblivious to the avalanche of excreta...
[More...]
|
|
Leos Carax reaffirmed his standing as an avant-garde French film director of the 1980s with this immensely stylish and daring thriller which pushes the film noir genre into exciting new territory. As with his equally prominent contemporaries, Luc Besson and Jean-Jacques Beineix, who show a similar cinematic approach, Leos Carax is far more preoccupied with visual style than narrative cohesion...
[More...]
|
|
Those who might have expected Jean-Luc Godard’s King Lear to be in any way a retelling of the famous Shakespeare play are in for a disappointment. Although the film makes a number of connections with the play (the character Learo and his daughter, the occasional use of lines from the original play, and some excruciatingly bad puns)...
[More...]
|
|
This is a very funny film which, in spite of the storyline, is not as black as the opening scene would suggest. Jeunet and Caro’s filmographic style is unusual – in fact genuinely surreal in places. The extraordinary O.T.T. performances from all of the cast members (particularly Pinon and Dougnac), the spooky incidental music...
[More...]
|
|
After the success of their earlier film, Delicatessen, Caro and Jeunet return to their nightmarish post-apocalyptic dream world with a film that has an equal visual impact. From the very first scene, we are treated to some absolutely stunning special effects wizardry which gives the film its unique atmosphere and momentum...
[More...]
|
|
Having established himself as a world class director through his films The Big Blue, Nikita and Léon, French director Luc Besson took on his most ambitious project to date and created a film which quickly became one of the cult phenomena of the 1990s. That film was The Fifth Element, an outlandish sci-fi comedy which set new standards in special effects and...
[More...]
|
|
After three successful social comedies (which include the popular Chacun cherche son chat), Cédric Klapisch’s first foray into a genre film comes as something of a surprise, but also a slight disappointment. Peut-être is a rather messy hotch-potch of traditional French comedy-drama and borrowed science-fiction ideas...
[More...]
|
|
This is a remarkable first film from Belgian director Pierre-Paul Renders, startlingly original in both its concept and its realisation, and so relevant to contemporary society (ironically more so now than when it was first released). The film is both a dark tragicomic exploration of the torment of solitude and also a stark warning of the dangers of living in a virtual world...
[More...]
|
© filmsdefrance.com 2009