MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

Ratings out of

ALAIN RESNAIS (1922 -     )

Wild Grass (2009)

Private Fears in Public Places (2006)

Not On the Lips (2003)
Same Old Song (1997)
Smoking/No Smoking (1993)
Gershwin (1992)
Lest We Forget (1991) (segment "Pour Esteban Gonzalez Gonzalez, Cuba")
I Want to Go Home (1989)
Mélo (1986)
Love Unto Death (1984)
Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983)
Mon oncle d'Amérique (1980)
Providence (1977)
Stavisky... (1974)
The Year 01 (1973)
Je t'aime, je t'aime (1968)
Cinétracts (1968)
Far from Vietnam (1967)
The War Is Over (1966)
Muriel, or the Time of Return (1963)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
Chant du Styrène, Le (1958)
Mystère de l'atelier quinze, Le (1957)
Toute la mémoire du monde (1956)
Night and Fog (1955)
Statues Also Die (1953)
Pictura: Adventure in Art (1951)
Gauguin (1950)
Guernica (1950)
Châteaux de France (1948)
Jardins de Paris, Les (1948)
Malfray (1948)
Van Gogh (1948)
Alcool tue, L' (1947)
Bague, La (1947)
Journée naturelle (1947)
Lait Nestlé, Le (1947)
Portrait d'Henri Goetz (1947)
Van Gogh (1947)
Visite à César Doméla (1947)
Visite à Félix Labisse (1947)
Visite à Hans Hartung (1947)
Visite à Lucien Coutaud (1947)
Visite à Oscar Dominguez (1947)
Open for Inventory Causes (1946)
Schéma d'une identification (1946)
Aventure de Guy, L' (1936)

 

 

Edited by Jim_K - 6/19/11 at 6:54am

Wild Grass (2009)   

Private Fears in Public Places (2006)
Not On the Lips (2003)
On connaît la chanson (1997)
Smoking/No Smoking (1993)
Gershwin (1992) (V)
Lest We Forget (1991) (segment "Pour Esteban Gonzalez Gonzalez, Cuba")
I Want to Go Home (1989)
Mélo (1986)
Love Unto Death (1984)
Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983)
Mon Oncle d'Amérique (1980) 
Providence (1977)
Stavisky... (1974)
L'An 01 (1973)
Je t'aime, je t'aime (1968)
Cinétracts (1968)
Far from Vietnam (1967)
The War Is Over (1966)
Muriel, or the Time of Return (1963)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961) (Own the Blu)
Hiroshima mon amour (1959) (Own the DVD)
Styrène (1958)  (Own the Blu) 
Le Mystère de l'atelier quinze (1957)
Toute la mémoire du monde (1956)  (Own the Blu) 
Night and Fog (1955) (Own both DVDs)
Statues Also Die (1953)
Pictura: Adventure in Art (1951)
Gauguin (1950)
Guernica (1950)
Châteaux de France (1948)
Les Jardins de Paris (1948)
Malfray (1948)
Van Gogh (1948)
L'Alcool tue (1947)
La Bague (1947)
Journée naturelle (1947)
Le Lait Nestlé (1947)
Portrait d'Henri Goetz (1947)
Van Gogh (1947)
Visite à César Doméla (1947)
Visite à Félix Labisse (1947)
Visite à Hans Hartung (1947)
Visite à Lucien Coutaud (1947)
Visite à Oscar Dominguez (1947)
Open for Inventory Causes (1946)
Schéma d'une identification (1946)
L'Aventure de Guy (1936)

Seen 12
Own 5

Edited by Bill McA - 7/24/11 at 5:24pm

1. Night and Fog
2. Hiroshima mon amor

I've never heard of this guy, and never seen any of his films, though I recognize several of the titles on my to rent list.

In order of merit:


1.Last Year At Marienbad (1961) ***1/2
2.Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) ***
3.Muriel (1963) ***
4.Night And Fog (1955) ***
5.La Vie Est Un Roman (1983) ***
6.Stavisky... (1974) ***
7.Mon Oncle D'Amérique (1980) ***
8.Smoking/No Smoking (1993) ***
9.On Connaît La Chanson (1997) **1/2


Resnais is quite simply one of the most important of all film-makers; his influence is evident in practically any non-linear film you can think of. Unfortunately, for his detractors, he is forever synonymous with impenetrable arthouse tripe.

I'm not saying that I understood MARIENBAD for one minute but, just because it's "difficult" doesn't make it worthless in my eyes! However, such people may very well by surprised by the last 2 films in my list which display a hitherto unforeseen lightness of touch on Resnais' part which is positively infectious at times.

I have to say, though, that with the exception of NIGHT AND FOG, I've only watched all of these once and, in some cases, only in French without subtitles(!); besides, I've also got L' AMOUR A` MORT (1984) on VHS and would love to watch LA GUERRE EST FINIE (1966), JE T'AIME, JE T'AIME (1968; one of my personal cinematic 'holy grails'), PROVIDENCE (1977) and MELO (1986).

I've seen almost all feautures for a nouvelle vague seminar. I think Resnais is simply somebody who wants to tell his stories in a different way than the usual ones, therefore he experiments with the structures of his stories.

NIGHT AND FOG no rating
Very moving ducumentary with memorable music and text though it's not without danger to make an "aesthetic" holocaust docu.

HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR
It's a very accessible movie about two lonely people in Japan who try to cope with the fact that it's their last day together because the actress will go back to Europe (Emmanuelle Riva is marvelous). Additionally they remember the horrors of war which affected them in different ways. The occasionally ponderous dialogue by Duras is the drawback of the film. The nearest to a five star movie.

LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD
The pretentious art house movie without story and characters, but with much heavy organ music, camera travellings and endless repetitions. Unwatchable and no it has intentionally no meaning

MURIEL, OR THE TIME OF RETURN
Arguably even worse than MARIENBAD, this incredibly slow movie offers four miserable dissatisfied characters who live in an ugly modern city. It doesn't amount to anything and is filled with pointless cuts and music. MARIENBAD at least looked good.

THE WAR IS OVER
Following the flop of MURIEL Resnais took Montand an returned to a more accessible style of filmmaking though the start is still tough, it's a quite interesting story of a aging revolutionary if a bit overlong.

STAVISKY
Not very typical for Resnais this is a rather glamorous movie about the swindler Stavisky who brought great havoc to the French society of the 30s. The movie has beautiful music and a nicely elegiac tone though it doesn't develop much of a narrative drive, you don't learn enough about the character and the history, the Trotzki subplot is extremely pointless.

PROVIDENCE
The film is for a big part of the running time a surrealistic dream composed by an aging writer. I found these scenes very mean, misanthropic and finally repetitive. The happy end in the reality is slow and not overly interesting. Overrated bore.

LOVE UNTO DEATH
Terribly pretentious picture about a death obsessed couple. Heahy and gloomy atmosphere, lot of pretentious talk and the regular pointless intercutting of snow flakes to Henze's grating music. Never again.

MELO
Very enjoyable adaptation of a boulevard melodrama in a deliberately theatrical style. The play on which it is based is quite good and it's very well played except for Azema who hams it up in the style of a silent diva. I know it's meant to be theatrical and it's the intention of the director but it's terrible nevertheless. with this film Resnais begins to be very accessible to the normal public.

I WANT TO GO HOME
Something between a light comedy and a bitter farce, this clash of Europe and USA, high culture and comic is again quite repetitive (especially at the beginning with Green going fast on the viewers nerves) and a bit forced.

SMOKING/NO SMOKING
Two films and dozens of variations of the same story which takes many different turns edepending which decisions the characters make at certain points of the story. All roles played in a funny and virtuouso manner by Azema and Arditi, it's funny and then moody again, but again it's not unproblematic to present so many alternative stories for a charachter, it's hard to remember what happened in all these stories.

ON CONNAIT LA CHANSON
A rather fluffy affair in which the characters begin to sing French chansons to express their feelings, it's again in this partly funny partly serious tone like its predecessor, maybe a bit overlong and not very memorable.

.

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

Mon oncle d'Amérique (1980) - 8/10

Providence (1977) - 7/10
Je t'aime, je t'aime (1968) - 7/10
Guerre est finie, La (1966) - 6/10
Muriel, or the Time of Return (1963) - 8/10
Last Year at Marienbad (1961) - 10/10
Hiroshima mon amour (1959) - 8/10
Chant du Styrène, Le (1958) - 7/10
Toute la mémoire du monde (1956) - 8/10
Night and Fog (1955) - 8/10
Guernica (1950) - 3/10

I simply adore Marienbad.

Edited by Martin Teller - 10/9/10 at 10:24pm

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

My American Uncle ***1/2 out of ****

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

Just Hiroshima Mon Amour for me.

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

added Muriel, or the Time of Return (1963) - 8/10

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

added Providence (1977) - 7/10

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

added Je t'aime, je t'aime (1968) - 7/10

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

UPDATED:

Private Fears in Public Places (2006)

Seen 4
Own 3

Re: MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #230 - The Films of ALAIN RESNAIS

added Chant du Styrène, Le (1958) - 7/10
added Toute la mémoire du monde (1956) - 8/10

UPDATED:

I Want to Go Home (1989)
Mélo (1986)

Seen 6
Own 3

UPDATED:

Love Unto Death (1984)

Seen 7
Own 3

UPDATED:

Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983)

Seen 8
Own 3

UPDATED:

 

Styrène (1958)  (Own the Blu) 
Toute la mémoire du monde (1956)  (Own the Blu) 
 

Seen 10

Own 5

 

 

UPDATED:

 

Mon Oncle d'Amérique (1980) 
 

Seen 11

Own 5

 

UPDATED:

 

Wild Grass (2009)   

 

Seen 12

Own 5