The Wages of Fear

1953 Director Henri-Georges Clouzot

This film earned Henri-Georges Clouzot the reputation as a "French Hitchcock." In truth, Clouzot's ability to sustain suspense may have even exceeded Hitchcock's; when originally released, Wages ran for 155 tension-filled minutes. Based on the much-imitated novel by Georges Arnaud, the film is set in Central America.

The Southern Oil Company suffers a well fire, which can only be put out with the use of high explosives. It offers a bounty to any truck driver who can deliver enough nitroglycerin to do the job. So starts a nail biting trip across some of the most treacherous terrain on earth. Through tense interactions and flashbacks, we become intimately acquainted with the four drivers who sign up for this death-defying mission. The first half of the film slowly, methodically introduces the characters and their motivations. The second half, the drive itself, is a relentless, goosebump-inducing assault on the audience's senses.

This is a quite unique film and one of the first to use multiple languages simultaneously without excuse. Filmed against stunning backdrops and meticulously acted, this is a real treat in the art of suspense. The Wages of Fear was remade by William Friedkin as Sorcerer in 1977.

Subway

1985 Director Luc Besson

Luc Besson created this tongue-in-cheek look at the denizens in the tunnels of the Paris Metro, all set to a thumping good soundtrack.

Christopher Lambert plays a young man who steals a portfolio from the host of a cocktail party and uses it as leverage to secure a date with his wife. In the meantime he takes refuge in the labyrinth that is the Parisian Metro. She is rebellious and bored with her bourgeois life and welcomes the distraction. This underground world is populated with various characters that hinder and help the protagonist along the way. Through all of these encounters and activities, the police and others are after him for their own reasons, none of which coincide.

Subway is an art house film that is a surreal feast for the senses.  Espionage, blackmail & passion make it an intense ride.

The Return

2003 Director Andrei Zvyagintsev

This is Zvyagintsev's debut film about sibling relationships. A tense psychological drama set along a journey to a remote island.

One summer, two brothers are surprised by the arrival of their long absent father. Although the boys only know him from an old photograph, he persuades them to accompany him on a fishing trip. One brother takes to his father immediately while the other shows a deep contempt and distrust. The father shows an amount of favouritism to the older bother, which worsens matters with the younger. Finally they arrive at the island only to find that the father has another agenda.

Ivan Dobronravov plays the younger brother and puts in an award winning performance. I have never seen a more intense piece of acting by one so young. The story is meticulously filmed in breathtakingly beautiful landscapes. As a debut film, Zvyagintsev set a very high standard, which he gratifyingly managed to maintain in his follow up film "The Banishment". This is a director to watch out for.

Three Colours: Red

1994 Director Krzysztof Kieslowski

This is the concluding film in the Three Colours Trilogy and sadly also Kieslowski's last film. It takes the fraternity part of the French flag as its theme. It also very neatly ties off all the loose ends of the preceding two films.

The film draws heavily on the connectedness of humans via the telephone and the abuse that this lends itself to. Through an accident Valentine is drawn into the life of a retired judge who has taken up telephonic eavesdropping. Her relationship with him leads him to make a startling resolution regarding his obsessions.

This is the triumphant conclusion to the Trilogy and the point of convergence for the three sets of characters in the series. It is the warmest of all three films and this stems from the main theme of the colour red. On a deeper level, it is a film about the invisible connections that intertwine our lives. From the opening scenes until the very end where all the seemingly loose elements converge, the colour red pops up like an eyesore, and this imagery even extends to the characters themselves. If Kieslowski will be remembered for anything, it will be the well-written and well-directed intellectual puzzle called "Red".

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

1997 Director Thomas Jahn

This is a road/buddy movie with a difference. Both parties are terminally ill. This film deals with the tragedy of their circumstances in a hilarious but sympathetic manner.

Martin, arrogant and impatient, suffering from a terminal brain tumour meets Rudi, mild mannered and introverted, suffering from leukaemia in a hospital. They decide to drown their sorrows and end up driving in a stolen car across Germany into Holland in order to see the sea once before they die. The car belongs to a bunch of bungling crooks and what follows is both funny and touching.

If you make allowances for some German slapstick this film is very enjoyable with a lot of genuinely funny moments. Moritz Bleibtreu plays a Turkish immigrant who’s grasp of German leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately these language gags don’t translate too well into subtitles, so an understanding of the language helps. This is a good example of German humour at its best. Watch out for the surprise cameo of Rutger Hauer in the only English speaking part.

Stalker

1979 Director Andrei Tarkovsky

This is Tarkovsky’s seminal masterpiece loosely based on Arkady and Boris Strugatski’s science fiction novel, Roadside Picnic.

The film is based on the premise that at some point aliens visited our planet and left behind dangerous and contaminated zones. Stalkers are those that have mastered the art of navigating those zones and plundering their riches. The film deals with a writer and a professor taken into to the zone by such a stalker in search of a fabled room where their innermost wishes can be granted. It is a journey of introspection and changing motives.

This is Tarkovsky at his very best. Although the original version was completely destroyed by the developing laboratory because an experimental film stock was used, Tarkovsky set about re-filming the entire project anew making many changes along the way. He employs no special effects whatsoever relying instead on atmosphere and beautifully choreographed cinematography. A haunting soundtrack compliments the long close up tracking shots and the careful juxtapositioning of black and white and colour shots makes this a landmark film.

Three Colours: White

1994 Director Krzysztof Kieslowski

This is the second film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colours Trilogy", which deals with the equality part of the french flag.

The film follows a reign of bad luck visited upon a Polish hairdresser in Paris. It starts with a pigeon poignantly defecating on him, which sets the tone to his life. He is divorced by his wife for impotency and non-consummation. With nothing to keep him in Paris and no money he plans an ingenious way to get back to Poland. Once there he decides to take charge of his destiny and plots a terrible revenge against his, now, ex-wife.

This episode in the trilogy is less seminal than the other two and shot linearly. There are several recurring themes that were started in the "Blue" and although not as visually arresting as the other two is nevertheless a captivating film.

Stroszek

1977 Director Werner Herzog

This is Herzog's most poignant film, and sadly, Bruno Schleinstein's last film. Written specially for Bruno because of Herzog's preference of Kinski in the lead role of Woyzeck, this is a wry vision of the "B" side of the American dream.

Bruno Schleinstein plays a dysfunctional street busker who, having just been released from prison, finds it difficult to pick up a life outside. Having been attacked and humiliated by his girlfriend's pimp they decide to throw in their lot and emigrate with their elderly neighbour to Wyoming, USA. The great American dream soon turns to disillusionment and despair.

This is a keenly observed study of the American way of life with all its anachronisms and has one of the most surreal endings of any film ever made.

Three Colours: Blue

1993 Director Krzysztof Kieslowski

This is the first of a trilogy of films by Kieslowski, loosely inspired by the colours of the French flag and their corresponding symbolic qualities, the basic focus of Blue is liberty.

It stars Juliette Binoche as the lone survivor of a car crash that killed her husband, a famous composer, and their only child. The husband left behind an unfinished composition that was the culmination of his life's work. The wife attempts at starting over, purging all remnants of her former existence in an attempt to sever her ties to the past, only to be repeatedly drawn to the music. In the end she decides to finish the work herself.

This is a meticulously shot film and the marks a new style that was to become Kieslowski's trademark.  He crafts the mood of this film so completely that when watching it, you find yourself immersed in the plight of Julie as she rebuilds her life. She is in all but 1 of the scenes. It set a very high standard which he kept consistently in the other two films in this series. In this film he introduces a number of recurring themes and has managed to produce a faultless piece of work.

Belle de Jour

1967 Director Luis Buñuel

This is satirist and surrealist Luis Buñuel adaptation of the 1928 novel by Joseph Kessel. This film dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel. Because of a question of copyright and ownership, Belle de Jour disappeared shortly after its 1967 release, not even resurfacing on videotape. When it was reissued theatrically in 1994, many critics placed this perplexing film on their lists of that year's best films.

Catherine Deneuve stars as a wealthy but bored newlywed. Early in the film she is kidnapped, tied to a tree, and gang-raped. It turns out that this is only a daydream, but her subsequent visits to a neighboring brothel, where she offers her services, certainly seem to be real. This illusion/reality dichotomy extends to the final scenes, in which we are offered two possible endings.

In 1967 this was probably a very avant-garde film exploring areas of sexuality that were taboo. In today's world this film has become very dated. I was disappointed when I revisited it. The acting by the principle actors is very wooden and staged. The daydreams are could have been a great deal more explicit and Belle's character does not develop in a smooth transition. On top of that there is quite a bit of poor editing. As a landmark film it's worth watching but it does require perseverance.

O'Horten

2007 Director Bent Hamer

This is a melancholic journey into a life that has been stripped of its meaning.

After 40 years of loyal service as a train driver, Odd Horton, retires and  realizes the path ahead is a journey without printed timetables and well-known stations. He empathises with his aged mother and her unrealised dreams of becoming a ski jumper in the times when women were not permitted to enter that sport. He ambles aimlessly through a series of mishaps until he decides to take control once more.

Beautifully shot against a Norwegian winter Bent Hamer captures much that is uniquely Norwegian, notably the incessant Bergen rain. This film is a wonderfully skewed view of the human condition, and gives us that somewhat absurdist vision with great warmth, a little melancholy and universal appeal.

Kontroll

2004 Director Nimrod Antal

This is Nimród Antal debut film. A journey into the Budapest underground. Superficially reminiscent of Luc Besson's Subway, this is a much darker tale.

Set in the Budapest subway system it deals with the lives of a team of ticket inspectors, their trials and tribulations with stroppy customers and their interactions with the denizens of this subterranean world. At the outset their chief remarks that the number suicides,or jumpers, is rising. The team leader of a motley crew of inspectors suspects that the rise is not what it seems and eventually confronts the serial killer with a breathtaking outcome.

The films starts quite oddly with a personal appearance of the real chief of the underground system reading a disclaimer to the effect that the Budapest ticket inspectors are not at all as portrayed and that their transport system is quite safe. That aside, this is a very well made film placing a dysfunctional team into extraordinary situations. I think it benefits a second viewing. Antal manages to generate an uncomfortably real feeling of menace when dealing with the protagonist and the revealing chase sequence packs a punch that will make you sit up.

Diva

Diva 1981 Director Jean-Jacques Beineix

Two tapes, two Parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed. All these characters twist their way through an intricate and stylish Beineix film.

When young postman makes pirate recording of an American opera singer, he becomes the target of Malaysian music pirates. But when that tape becomes confused with a cassette of murder evidence, he also finds himself hunted by a team of ruthless killers. This is an unforgettable journey into the Parisian underworld of teenage shoplifting, exquisite opera and odd philosophy.
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Diva is a stunning combination of quirky romance, black comedy, savage action, not least for it's famous subway motorcycle chase. It is one of the most stylish and influential thrillers and makes for engaging and enjoyable viewing.

Micmacs

2009 Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Prepare to have your senses assaulted with rapid fire gags that will leave you reeling.

Bazil is the innocent victim in a drive by shooting, having already lost his father in a distant war. He is adopted by a rag tag group of misfits living in a scrap yard and solicits their help in plotting his revenge against two rival arms dealers.

Jeunet has created a true masterpiece in this film. Many of the favourite characters of Amelie and Delicatessen are here along with a host of new caricatures. There are running gags and homages to previous films, notably the cello and the saw from Delicatessen. It was a real delight to watch and the mere 101 minutes passed in seconds. This is fast paced slapstick at it very best. As with all of Jeunet's previous films the cinematography was faultless, the characterisations impeccable and the performances breath taking. This is a terrific roller coaster of a revenge movie.

Satyricon

1968 Director Federico Fellini

This film is a fabulous trip into a totally decadent civilization delivering a brilliant visual fantasy unlike anything you have seen before.

Step into the bawdy, erotic and titillating world of Rome during the days of Emperor Nero, where two competing teachers play tricks on each other while vying for the same lover's charms.  Paralleling the self-indulgence of modern society, these Roman citizens pursue their own gratification above all else, resulting in both intense pleasure and enormous despair displayed in visually seductive scenes that are both shocking , unprecedented and brilliantly stunning.

This is a visually stunning piece with elaborate sets beautifully filmed with the precision that is very like Fellini. The plot is complex and convoluted and sometimes difficult to follow if you're reading subtitles. Much of the Latin is not translated, which is odd since it's not far from Italian. But this means that some narrative appears unconnected and illogical at times. Nevertheless this is a visual feast of ingenious originality.

Les Vacances de M. Hulot

1953 Director Jacques Tati

The first appearance of Hulot and a masterpiece of gentle slapstick.

Pipe-smoking Monsieur Hulot takes a holiday at a seaside resort where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another.  Tati's wildly funny satire of vacationers determined to enjoy themselves includes a series of precisely choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers. 

This is a masterpiece of comic timing and running gags that made Tati famous. It's a delight to watch and captures a gentle, less rushed time, now long forgotten. Many of the participants were local people employed on the spur of the moment. The Hotel still exists unaltered in Saint Marc sur Mer, where this was filmed. In fact, the town erected a statue of Monsieur Hulot on the promenade overlooking the beach where most of the action was filmed. A very fitting tribute to a true cinematic gem.

Cronos

1993 Director Guillermo del Torro

This the Guillermo del Toro's directorial debut film.

The film tells the story of elderly antique dealer Jesus Gris who, with his eight-year-old granddaughter Aurora,  discovers an ancient artifact secreted within a statue obtained from the estate of a 16th-century alchemist. Unbeknownst to Gris, the device houses an immortal parasite which will grant eternal life to its host. Naturally, there is a terrible price for this gift, which Gris is doomed to discover after the object anchors itself to his body. He begins to develop an extreme aversion to daylight, as well as an agonizing thirst for human blood. To compound matters, dying millionaire has learned of the device's existence.

This is a classic Vampire tale albeit with an inventive twist to it. It pays homage to many of the classic films of this genre. The cover hails it as one of the greatest chillers of all time, but I think it falls short by quite a mark. The girl's role is ambiguous and her actions are counterintuitive for one so young. If you are a vampire film fan then this is probably worth the view. If this isn't your preferred genre then you're not missing anything by giving it a miss.

Fitzcarraldo

1982 Director Werner Herzog

This film is made more remarkable by the fact that the deed was actually accomplished rather than staged. It was a herculean undertaking.

This is the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man and his obsession to build an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian jungle. The highlight of the story is Fizcarraldo's mind numbing effort to haul a 300 ton steamship over the mountains.

Never known to do anything by halves Herzog tackled Fitzcarraldo by boldly embarking on the same journey.  No trickery was used in filming this grueling sequence, and stories still persist of disgruntled South American film technicians awaiting the opportunity to strangle Herzog if he ever sets foot on their land again. In the end, Herzog proved to be as driven and single minded as his protagonist, and it is the audience's knowledge of this that adds to the excitement of Fitzcarraldo. His relationship with the his leading man, Kinski, became strained beyond breaking point and Kinski's savage outbursts so shocked the reserved and mild mannered natives that it is rumoured they offered to kill him for Herzog.

Damnation

1988 Director Bela Tarr

Bela Tarr began his career making social realist domestic dramas, similar to the work of John Cassavettes. The feature before Damnation, Almanac of Fall, showed Tarr moving toward a more visually stylized form of filmmaking. With Damnation, the first of his collaborations with novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Tarr adopts a formally rigorous style, featuring long takes and slow tracking shots of the bleak landscape that surrounds the characters.

Shot in black-and-white, Damnation tells the story of a depressed man in love with a married woman who sings at the local bar. She dreams of becoming famous, but she herself embodies all of his hopes and dreams. He is offered smuggling work by the bartender but eventually decides to offer the job to the singer's husband. This gets the husband out of the way for a while, but things don't go as he plans. There's a big, drunken dance, which everyone in town attends. Afterwards, one betrayal falls upon another, leaving him in despair, alienated from all of humanity.

This film laid the groundwork for Tarr's next collaboration with Krasznahorkai, Satantango, a seven-hour film which they spent years developing, and which many consider Tarr's masterpiece.

The Sacrifice

1986 Director Andrei Tarkovsky

This film, sadly, was Tarkovsky's last. He brings together all his legendary imagery skills in a tale of hope over desperation.

It begins in Bergmanesque fashion on a small, remote island, where friends and family gather for a birthday celebration. The revelry is interrupted by a radio announcement that World War III has begun, and Mankind is only hours away from utter annihilation. As the roar of the overhead missiles is heard, each of the guests reacts differently to the news. The most dramatic response is the host's, who promises God that he'll give up everything he holds dear if war is averted.

The Sacrifice is so dependent upon its visuals and overall mood that any attempt at a detailed synopsis would be woefully inadequate. The willingness of Tarkovsky's protagonist to fore go all his possessions may well have sprung from the cancer-ridden director's awareness that he, too, would soon be giving up everything to face his Maker. The irony of the film is that the house in question was burnt down as the final act of the film but because the shots did not come out right Tarkovsky, ever the perfectionist, rebuilt the entire structure against the clock to get the final shot as he intended. The "Making of" film is every bit as nail biting as the main event.

Carlos the Jackal

2009 Director Olivier Assayas

This is Assayas' biographical film of the ultra-left-wing Venezuelan terrorist, mercenary or revolutionary, depending on your point of view, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, popularly known as "Carlos the Jackal."

It is broken into 3 distinct periods covering 1974 to 1993. The first deals with his Arab connections and the build up to the OPEC event. The second deals with the OPEC event and its fall out. The third takes up the story from when he obtains Syrian protection until his abduction and arrest by the French.

At six hours long, there is enough time to give this complex subject enough depth. It encapsulates the emotion of those turbulent years very accurately. The interconnections that the Palestinian cause had were truly mind boggling. This is a rare insight into a historical era that is largely untaught in the west. Once seen it is the sort of film that you can dip in and out of forever.

Day Watch

2006 Director Timur Bekmambetov

This is Bekmambetov's second and last installment of the ill fated trilogy.

Day Watch opens in the 14th century, when a Mongol warrior, acquires the "The Chalk of Destiny," that can be used to guide the course of history. Cut to today, the Day Watch and the Night Watch are ongoing. Two Warriors of Light, Anton and Svetlana, develop feelings for one another as they patrol the Night Watch together. As the story progresses, the pair must respond to a distress call from an octogenarian victim of a vampire attack committed by Anton's 12-year-old son. Anton must suddenly wrestle with two conflicting desires; the need to protect his offspring by destroying incriminating evidence, and his own desire to remain loyal to the Night Watch.

Several interesting concepts are explored notably body swapping and that there is no such thing as complete impartiality. This is a sequel worthy of the original. I hope that the concluding installment Twilight Watch is resurrected by the same director. Like Night Watch this film merits several viewings.,

Night Watch

2004 Director Timur Bekmambetov

This is the first installment in a trilogy of two by Bekmambetov. The concluding installment, Twilight or Dusk Watch, was, unfortunately, shelved. I hope the project is taken back up before Hollywood makes a poor American imitation.

In 1342, the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Darkness, realising that a final battle will only result in both being annihilated, declare an uneasy truce under which each side will form a law enforcement team to monitor the other side's activities. The Warriors of Light, who enforce the powers of good, patrol the Night Watch, while the Warriors of Darkness, who openly embrace evil, patrol the Day Watch. Each watch group also contains "Others," mortals with supernatural powers from both sides that include vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and the like. Prophecy suggests that one day, a Great One will surface and permanently extinguish the threat of an apocalyptic war between the two sides by upsetting the balance, lending greater power to either good or evil and thus determining the future of mankind forever.

Unless you understand Russian reasonably well you will have to pay a great deal of attention to the tone while reading the subtitles or you will miss much of the underlying irony and pathos in the film. Darkly shot with great action sequences and some very inventive special effects this is a very enjoyable film. More is gained by repeat viewings.

Even Dwarfs Started Small

1970 Director Werner Herzog

To call this film the German version of Tod Browning's Freaks without the romantic element, would be to do it an injustice. This is without doubt Herzog's most bizarre film and makes for uncomfortable viewing.

I have heard it said that the film is set in a dismal mental institution, wherein dwell several midgets, dwarfs and other "oddities", but since there is a complete absence of any traditionally shaped humans including the Head of the asylum and a passing motorist, I am inclined to think that this is set in a world of misfits. The inmates stage a coup, taking over the asylum and utterly reversing the status quo. Their newly found freedom rapidly spirals into cruel anarchy.

There are several scenes of taboo content that one almost never sees and won't forget once seen. This is a very brave voyage for Herzog considering the substantial ban that Freaks had to endure.

Angel-A

2005 Director Luc Besson

This is a dark comedy from Besson and not just because it's been shot in black and white.

Jamel Debbouze (the shy grocer from Amelie) plays a bungling scam artist with a little too much good in his heart for his own good. As his debts mount and his gangland enemies close in he decides to jump into the Seine only to find a long legged blond girl about to do the same. They team up in a voyage of self discovery with surprising results.

Paris is always a good background to a film and the moody location shots work particularly well. Unfortunately, once you have discovered who Angela-A is the film loses its inertia and becomes increasingly predictable culminating in a disappointing end. If as much depth had been given to the supporting characters the whole thing would have been more believable.

It's worth seeing once and is not representative of Besson's other work.

Amélie

2001 Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay, this magical comedy was met with overwhelming acclaim. 

A painfully shy waitress working at a Paris café makes a surprising discovery and sees her life drastically changed for the better.  From then on, she dedicates herself to helping others find happiness in the most delightfully unexpected ways!  But will she have the courage to do for herself what she has done for others?

Jeunet's cinematography sets new standards in this film, which is captivating from the title to the credit sequence. His narrative style is reminiscent of Godard's Bande a part but it is his vivid colouring techniques that make this film so memorable. Audrey Tautou plays the lead superbly and went on to carve a very impressive acting career. The film is full to the brim with interesting characters, many of which are regulars to Jeunet films.

A genuinely funny and moving french film. I find it hard to believe anyone has not yet seen this gem. If that's you then you know what you should be doing tonight.

Old Boy

2004 Director Park Chan-wook

South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook directed this violent and offbeat story of punishment and vengeance.

A husband and father, for reasons he doesn't understand, finds himself locked up in an appartment, with no idea why or whom his jailers may be. With a small television as his only link to the outside world and a daily ration of fried dumplings as his only sustenance, he struggles to keep his mind and body intact, but when he learns through a news report that his wife has been killed, he begins a long and difficult project of digging an escape tunnel with a pair of chopsticks. Before he can finish he is released, with as little explanation as when he was locked up. He's soon given a wad of money and a mobile phone by a man on the street. He is left to struggle to unravel the secret of who his captor was, what happened to his wife and daughter, and how to best get revenge.

Intriguing and captivating, this is a very watchable film. There are a couple of scenes that are not for the squeamish and it's 18 certificate is well earned. The plot plays out at just the right tempo and the end revelation is completely unexpected.

Japón

2002 Director Carlos Reygadas

This is Carlos Reygadas' brave debut film about a man on the brink of suicide regaining the will to live under decidedly unusual circumstances.

A quietly despondent man leaves behind the city for a journey into a quiet village in the valley, telling anyone who cares to know that once he's settled in, he intends to kill himself. The man takes a room with Ascen, an elderly woman who lost her husband some years ago. Keeping to himself, he paints, thinks, and prepares himself for death, while Ascen slowly becomes aware of the depth of his depression. As Ascen's nephew attempts to rob her of her share of the family estate, the man feels a desire to live waking inside him again, as well as the desire for a woman. Improbably, the man turns to Ascen for physical affection, and sensing his need for comfort, she complies, though the seduction lacks a great deal in the way of romance.

The cinematography is excellent and befitting of the stunning location. The characterisation has had a great deal of attention paid. Although Ascen was a local woman of no acting background, her performance is worthy of praise. One to see, but because of the explicit content, it's probably better if the children are elsewhere.