French Sci Fi

It must have been in the early to mid 1980s that I first got a dose of French sci fi on public television. It was a twin bill of Francois Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451- his first English language film, and Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville.

I've seen the Truffaut film 2 or 3 times since, but have yet to rewatch Alphaville. Trufaut's film was based upon the same titled novel by Ray Bradbury, whereas, I believe, the Godard film was original.

Nonetheless, both films were crashing bores. While I recall a few scenes from the Truffaut film, and the bad sets, the Godard film seems lost to me. All I recall is striving to stay awake, since the Truffaut film, which ran first, came on at about 10 pm, and the Godard film started around midnight.

Anyway, here's a slice of Godard:



And, as I'm not ready to yawn again so quickly, I'll pass on the whole film, but, as I am a generous sort, you can take a looksy and remind me of the sleep I missed:

Francois Truffaut And French Cinema

Francois Truffaut is one of those directors who is solid, competent, but has little to say. Unlike his bitter rival, Jean-Luc Godard- who had some technical talent, but slathered on his politics with foot thick butter, Truffaut was sort of like his gastronomic foodsake, truffles.

His films are wan, filigreed, and after a second viewing, you realize just how little was given to you.

Of all the French filmmakers whose work I've seen- admittedly only a dozen or less, the only one who seemed consistent was Jean-Pierre Melville, and even his films are lightweight. The only ones who reached greatness were Alain Resnais, Louis Malle, and Robert Bresson, and even their work is hit and miss.

I shall watch more, but French cinema (at least that I've seen) seems to pale next to the Italians, and even the Brits. The Spanish are equally hit and miss, as was New German Cinema- let's face it, after Werner Herzog, it is a long, steep cliff.

Anyway, here's to Truffaut: