French Film Critics

February 24, 2005 6:43 PM

Ten best film list a critique of the U.S? The venerable [some say notorious] French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema unveiled their ten best films of 2004 list recently. Other than their list typically leaning toward films by auteurs - such as Ingmar Bergman and Hou Hsiao-hsien [and Tarantino] - they also included The Village by M. Night Shyamalan. With that choice are they rewarding the artistic merits of the film [which most critics view as minimal] or are they making a statement about The United States? In short do they view the U.S. like the characters in the film - an isolated bunch of paranoid [Puritan] villagers living and acting off of their fears? Or is there some other reason they would choose the film as one of the year's best?
posted by Rashomon (38 comments total)

Don't forget the "editorial" and "GetaBlog" tags!
posted by squirrel at 6:57 PM on February 24, 2005

squirrel, I'm sure Rashomon thinks of it quite differently.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:07 PM on February 24, 2005

Maybe they just have bad taste C'mon, The Brown Bunny?

(In a related note, I saw the Naked Gun dubbed into Russian in the early 1990s. Many of the people in the audience were from the Cinema club. Did they mistake the idiocy for art? Or were they making fun of us? I'm not sure I care. But I know I wouldn't trust their recommendations for American movies).
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 7:11 PM on February 24, 2005

This would definitely be number one on my "Top Ten Worst Top Ten lists of 2004".

Brown Bunny? I mean come on...
posted by toftflin at 7:13 PM on February 24, 2005

Domo arigato for the chuckle, Faint of Butt.
posted by squirrel at 7:23 PM on February 24, 2005

I had no idea Bergman was still alive.
posted by kickingtheground at 7:33 PM on February 24, 2005

You might be right, but the joke is on the French. M. Night Shyamalan selected Adrian Brody to play the village idiot based on Brody's only prior performance of any note, Count Nicolas De La Motte in The Affair of the Necklace. (I think he played a pianist in some film that got him a bit of notice but I can't remember the name of the film.) It's obvious that Shyamalan selected Brody to associate the French with idiots. And those French ended up liking it! What a le riot!
posted by sexymofo at 7:35 PM on February 24, 2005

I guess I'm the only person in the US who actually enjoyed the film. Then again, I do have some French ancestors.

Does this mean nobody finds it conceivable that they actually liked the film?
posted by davejay at 7:51 PM on February 24, 2005

Jeesh, I thought Gerry was a pretty good film too (if you enjoy "watching paint dry", Ming-liang Tsai style films), but they already have it on their 2002 list.

This list reminds me of a story... after the horrible reception of the Brown Bunny at Cannes, someone told Gallo that some of the French critics liked it, and he responded that that was just adding "salt on the wounds".
posted by bobo123 at 7:55 PM on February 24, 2005

This thread is not about slamming Vince Gallo; it's about slamming them ingrate surrender-monkey frogs! Hop to it! Also, "What a le riot" would be much more effective as "Quel riot!" but might betray that one once studied the French language--if you can call it that--what I certainly haven't!
posted by squirrel at 8:09 PM on February 24, 2005

Does this mean nobody finds it conceivable that they actually liked the film?

Nobody I know, myself included. "The Village" was junk, but I'll say this: Shalamayan has talent as a director, but he really shouldn't direct his own scripts.

I'd say yeah, it is a political choice by the magazine, but then again I'm sure plenty of French thought "The Village" was junk, too.
posted by zardoz at 8:51 PM on February 24, 2005

They elected Mullholand Dr best film of 2001. I better pay attention to the Cahiers. But also elected Space Cowboys as the ninth the same year. Okay, maybe not THAT attention.
posted by nandop at 8:55 PM on February 24, 2005

First of all, the french critics may like the version of Brown Bunny which was re-edited and then released worldwide after Cannes. Even Roger Ebert, who stood up and yelled at the screen during the movie's Cannes screening (so I heard), likes the new edit.

Second, for those who believe that there's merit to The Village,

*SPOILER ALERT*

it's about people who move into wilderness preserve and pretend to be werewolves to scare their children into obedience. It is stupid. Very very stupid.

*End Spoiler Alert*

In other news, is there a reason to believe that that's why it's on the list other than the fact that the movie is horrible? I mean, did you read somewhere that that's why they did it? Seems awfully fishy to me.
posted by shmegegge at 9:02 PM on February 24, 2005

and also, what's a good resource for finding out the code for mefi posts? I mean, can we do something besides bold, italicize and link text? For instance, could I color that spoiler text above to be blue so you can't read it unless you highlight it?

[/threadjack]
posted by shmegegge at 9:05 PM on February 24, 2005

Yes, since, of course, everything that goes on in this world is directly related to American politics.
posted by InnocentBystander at 9:35 PM on February 24, 2005

schmegegge, try the Metafilter Wiki. There's a section on HTML. The last link has what you're looking for, the others show you how to get there.

/end threadjack
posted by Arch Stanton at 10:04 PM on February 24, 2005

Hey, Brown Bunny was hilarious. Hilariously good.

Anyway, the auteur is dead! Just look at the prodigious output from Yea Olde American School -- like Scorsese et. al. The new ones, like Payne and the rest, they're not a scratch on the others in their heyday.
posted by gsb at 10:26 PM on February 24, 2005

I liked The Village!

And I'm NOT FRENCH!
posted by Windopaene at 11:05 PM on February 24, 2005

It's obvious that Shyamalan selected Brody to associate the French with idiots. And those French ended up liking it! What a le riot!
posted by sexymofo

That's not obvious to me. I think it's a bit of a stretch. Brody is a solid actor with a very distinctive appearance. The latest director that created a buzz did a movie with the latest actor that created buzz. I think the theme of using fear to control the people struck a relevant chord. Insightful comment from Rashomon. This seems much more logical to me:

In short do they view the U.S. like the characters in the film - an isolated bunch of paranoid [Puritan] villagers living and acting off of their fears?
posted by VP_Admin at 11:20 PM on February 24, 2005

I liked The Village! And I'm NOT FRENCH!

Well, Windopaene, then you must be a part of the French agenda to depict and to encourage the depiction of Americans as an isolated bunch of paranoid [Puritan] villagers living and acting off of their fears.

Which is of course untrue. Ahem.
posted by squirrel at 11:31 PM on February 24, 2005

Yes, since, of course, everything that goes on in this world is directly related to American politics.
Apparently, if this site is any indication, not only does everything in the world directly relate to American politics, but in fact directly relates to the person of George Bush.
posted by Sangermaine at 12:16 AM on February 25, 2005

Rashomon, please keep editorialising out of the front page. And when you do editorialise, please make it make sense. The theory that a French magazine liked a particular film because of dislike of the USA is ridiculous.
posted by salmacis at 12:35 AM on February 25, 2005

A good number of critics, and not only the French ones, did view the Village as a commentary on post 9-11 America. It's not ridiculous to think that the Cahiers (I haven't read their review so I can't say for sure) found it remarkable because, in addition to its own cinematographic merits (that I personally found remarkable), it had a content that went beyond the horror genre. It's always been the Cahiers' line, and this has baffled Americans for decades: indeed, it's the root of the whole The-French-love-Jerry-Lewis meme. It's quite fun, by the way, to see that what non-US critics love in US movies (mainstream movies criticizing and commenting on the US zeitgeist) is often what the US critics and public hate. See Heaven's Gates for another example: total disaster in the US, seen as a masterpiece abroad.
However, to see the Cahiers' choice as just another example of America-hating doesn't make much sense.
posted by elgilito at 1:31 AM on February 25, 2005

I could care less if someone editorialises on the front page. They're usually the more interesting posts anyways.
posted by Sir Mildred Pierce at 2:11 AM on February 25, 2005

I dug the village. I ain't french neither.

as with all Shyamalan movies, I figured the twist out before the movie revealed it but I don't mind
posted by dabitch at 3:32 AM on February 25, 2005

As for the Jerry Lewis thing, it turns out it was the drop-dead-serious delivery and translation of the actor who dubbed Jerry's lines juxtaposed with the looney action that the French fell in love with. Finally, an explanation I can live with,.
posted by the_savage_mind at 6:03 AM on February 25, 2005

I guess I'm the only person in the US who actually enjoyed the film.

SPOILERISH





I would have liked The Village if Night had had the guts to just make a period piece with a minor supernatural element (or none at all), as I'm convinced he really wanted to do. The twist was stupid stupid stupid and all about marketing: not suspenseful and the definition of ham-fisted allegory.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:26 AM on February 25, 2005

I'm wondering how many people are going to miss sexymofo's sarcasm before the thread is over.
posted by mikeh at 6:47 AM on February 25, 2005

I don't think Night has ever made a good movie. Good eye, yes. But his storytelling is for shit. All his plots are structured exactly the same, and revolve around a sudden twist at the end (usually obvious w/in 5 minutes of the movie's beginning) that negates everything in the previous 2 hours.
posted by papakwanz at 7:34 AM on February 25, 2005

Lame post, bunch of generic links, simplistic editorializing.
Cahiers was instrumental in the re-evaluation of what the US considered "trash" film at its time, like westerns, crime movies, etc. So accusing them of being "anti-american" (whatever that means) is misinformed at best.
posted by signal at 7:38 AM on February 25, 2005

You'd think they'd herald their own Michel Gondry for making the actual best movie of the last year.
But, no.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 7:58 AM on February 25, 2005

You'd think they'd herald their own Michel Gondry for making the actual best movie of the last year.

That must mean they hate France.
posted by mr.marx at 9:06 AM on February 25, 2005

I liked "The Village". I think most of the negative reaction to it has to do with its marketing. Judging by the reaction of all of the kiddies with their dates in the audience, they were expecting a screamfest. It is also a movie that depends greatly on your not knowing the premise - so it is one of those movies that is easily spoiled by spoilers - reducing its effect. I think it was one of those movies that makes good discussion afterwards, which I enjoy but we have to admit it isn't a selling point for a movie. When is the last time you heard a movie promoted with the phrase "thought provoking!"
posted by spock at 9:32 AM on February 25, 2005

It is interesting to look at the demographic data in the Viewer Vote section of IMDB. Here is a look at Sideways, for example. It is interesting to look at the rating overall as compared to the Over 45 age group (which, for example, probably makes up the lion's share of Academy voters).

Ranked by overall vote, the Best Picture nominees would be ranked:
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (8.6)
Million Dollar Baby (8.4)
Sideways (8.1)
Ray (7.9)
The Aviator (7.6)

Ranked by the 45 or over vote they would be ranked:
Million Dollar Baby (8.4)
Ray (8.2)
Sideways (8.0)
The Aviator (7.8)
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (7.3)

My point, as far as this thread is concerned, is that it should not surprise us that different demographics view films differently and that non-surprise should especially extend to other cultures/country's views of American films.
posted by spock at 9:53 AM on February 25, 2005

I gotta tell you though... it blows me away that Eternal Sunshine motivated 40,172 people to vote (at IMDB), which is nearly 3-1/2 TIMES the number of people who were motivated to vote for the 2nd place vote-getter (Aviator: 12,186 votes). That should tell you something. (Sorry for the multiple comments)
posted by spock at 9:57 AM on February 25, 2005

Alright, I'll take it for granted that all these people saying that the Village is a metaphor for American isolationism and the demonizing of an other to keep us in line comes from some source, and isn't wild speculation.

That said, that's the worst appraisal of American politics I've ever heard. America right now is doing anything BUT isolating itself, and that's the problem. Demonizing the other? sure. But isolated? not remotely.
posted by shmegegge at 12:11 PM on February 25, 2005

schmegegge
I agree 'isolated' is the wrong word within the context you mention. The context I was using was more along the lines of provencial [although not Provencial] - i.e. that the French may view us as narrow minded in our view of the world.

Anyway, I thought the choice of 'The Village' stranger than 'The Brown Bunny' [or even '13 Going on 30', which received an honorable mention by Cahiers] and wanted to get some MeFi comments about the subject.

Ultimately, it is indeed speculative until Cahiers tells us why. [Maybe in a current issue they have - I don't see the magazine much].
posted by Rashomon at 3:12 PM on February 25, 2005

> First of all, the french critics may like the version of Brown Bunny which
> was re-edited and then released worldwide after Cannes.

The version ot The Village they liked so much is the remix starring Jerry Lewis. With Jerry's Kids© as the kids.
posted by jfuller at 3:13 PM on February 25, 2005