Iron Director: Louis, Luis (Malle v. Buñuel)

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It’s time for the third entry in the Iron Director series. In the first edition, the theme was “Directors I became obsessed with in 2010”- Francois Truffaut and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with Truffaut emerging victorious. In the second edition, I pitted two people that I consider to be the two greatest living American directors, Martin Scorsese and the Coen Brothers. Scorsese just barely earned the win. For this entry, we’ll be taking a look at two guys with the same name, albeit different spellings- Louis Malle and Luis Buñuel. To set the mood, I highly recommend watching this clip of The Kingsmen singing Louie, Louie. These two have always been linked in my head for a handful of reasons. I have an ongoing internal conversation about which of the two is my 2nd favorite director of all-time. I’ve mentioned both of them as my 2nd favorite on multiple occasions. Depending on the week, you’re liable to get a different answer. I’m a great admirer of both of their filmographies. Both have worked, and excelled, in several countries. There aren’t a lot of similarities on the surface, but going a little deeper shows that they’re not wildly different. Let’s dig in:

Malle, Adjusted

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When you see lists of great directors, Louis Malle is often buried towards the bottom or excluded altogether. It flummoxes me every time I see it. It’s not that he’s viewed with any type of ill will. Most critics speak highly of his work. I can’t specify exactly what it is that keeps him from higher praise, but I’m a firm believer that he deserves higher standing. He’s one of my five favorite directors. Here are some aspects of Malle’s work that makes him stand out for me.

A List Par Excellence: The Top 50 French Films of All-Time

EDITOR’S NOTE: I made this list in 2010. I updated the list in 2011. The updated list is more complete and puts far less emphasis on personal preference. The new and improved version can be found here.

On the cusp of Bastille Day, and with such a rich history of French cinema, I felt that it was only fitting to create a list of the 50 best French films. Initially, I’d planned on simply listing them in no particular order. However, mon ami, I eventually determined that it wouldn’t be fair to not put forth the extra effort. They’re now listed at least in order of personal preference, with some weight given to overall quality. In other words, there are likely more influential films or higher quality films further down the list. But their higher quality doesn’t overcome my overall enjoyment of the other films higher up on the list.

Nazis took my country and all I got was this stupid blog entry

I don’t have a ton of time so I thought I’d just toss together a quick little entry today. I’m a junkie for French history. I love it. And I especially love occupation-era movies because it’s kind of a neat little sociology lesson about France- the way they dealt with the Vichy regime, all of the nasty political undercurrents, the resistance, the proverbial “sorrow and the pity” regarding their role in the Holocaust. I find it absolutely fascinating. Here’s a list of ten films about Occupation-era France.