French film: A few great ones

It was interesting to see as many as, oh, 50 people show up at the Magic Lantern Wednesday night to see Leonard Oakland introduce one of his favorite films, Francois Truffaut’s 1962 exploration of romance, “Jules et JIm.”

It’s always great to hear Oakland talk about cinema, particularly when that cinema is French. I’ve never been especially moved by “Jules et Jim” (I prefer Truffaut’s first feature film, “400 Blows”). But Oakland’s knowledge and passion could get me interested in, say, hedge fund derivatives.

And his post-screening talk got me to thinking. Though I often pretend otherwise, I do love French film. The best of French film, that is (if I even begin to consider the worst, I start to burp up my morning croissant).

Here, then, are 10 of my favorite French films, presented in no special order:

“Les enfants du Paradis” (1945, dir. by Marcel Carné): Shot while World War II was still raging, it’s a wonder that Carné’s film got made at all. That it is such a masterpiece is even more of a miracle. Set in 1828, it involves a set of characters, especially the theater mime Baptiste and the actress/kept woman Garance, whose love — while perhaps enduring — is complicated by connivers, their own weaknesses and the whim of fate itself. As a friend of mine once said, “This is great art.”

“Jean de Florette”/”Manon of the Spring” (1986, dir. by Claude Berri): Taken together, and that’s how they have to be seen, these two films amount to a nearly four-hour-long adaptation of Marcel Pagnol’s novel. All the great passions are here, from greed and ambition to love and betrayal, imbued by the talents of Gerard Depardieu, Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Béart.

“La belle et la bȇte” (1946, dir. by Jean Cocteau): Cocteau, who also directed the 1950 film “Orphée,” has given us a couple of fantasy films, based on myth, that are as atmospheric as anything ever made. Shot in black and white, and utilizing effects that were at the time groundbreaking, both films are virtual visual treasures.

“La vie en rose” (2007, dir by Olivier Dahan): Marion Cotillard won a Best Actress Oscar for portraying French songbird Edith Piaf. Told in a way that is both realistic and expressionistic, Dahan’s film becomes more than a mere biopic. And that, largely, is due to Cotillard’s terrific lip-sync performance.

“Trois Couleurs: Bleu” (1993, dir. by Krzysztof Kieslowski): The late Polish filmmaker Kieslowski directed a trio of film that took their names from the French tricolor flag (blue, white, red). Taken together, they show a view of contemporary French life. My favorite, though, is the first, “Bleu,” in which Juliette Binoche plays a woman recovering from the kind of loss that would bring anyone to his knees.

“Cyrano de Bergerac” (1990, dir. by Jean-Paul Rappeneau): I never connected with Edmond Rostand’s play, which has been told so many times and in so many different ways (Steve Martin in “Roxanne”?) that it’s hard to keep count. But there’s always something about Gerard Depardieu worth watching, and here he provides the emotion that turns his portrayal of Cyrano into actual art.

“La Haine” (1995, dir. by Mathieu Kassovitz): Back in 1995, many of us were ignorant of the effects that immigration was having on France, particularly on Paris. Since then, many films have depicted the violence that has caused the French as many problems as it has anywhere else. The story here involves a street kid hospitalized after being beaten, a French’s cop’s lost pistol and another street kid who vows revenge.

“Irréversible” (2002, dir. by Gasper Noé): Told more or less in reverse, this nasty story of a woman’s brutal rape and its violent aftermath is like nothing else you’ve seen. And Noé’s conceit begins with a horrible murder and ends with the soft glow of a woman in love. The film is savage and subversive all at once, which means that if nothing else it’s bound to get audiences talking.

“Queen Margot” (1994, dir. by Patrice Chéreau): Not many of us know much about French history. And it would help to know that on the night of Aug. 24, 1572, raging Catholics mobs murdered Protestants in what would become knows as the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Estimates of Protestant deaths range from 2,000 to as many as 30,000. More than a historical drama, though, “Queen Margot” is a romance — though my favorite character is Henri de Navarre (late King Henry IV), played by the always great Daniel Auteuil.

“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” (1972, dir. by Luis Bunuel): I was at a screening of this Bunuel film in Los Angeles, and the Spanish master attended. Bunuel, who spent many years as an exile working in Mexico and France, was then 72 and had already enjoyed a long and fruitful career. But his talent was still there, evidenced by this nasty indictment of middle-class preoccupations — in this case the ongoing attempts of six people to have dinner. Not sure how well the film holds up, and it’s hardly my favorite Bunuel film (I prefer “Los Olvidados,” 1950), but it felt just right for the political era in which it was released.

Cherchez la femme, cordon bleu et cul-de-sac!

Below: The trailer for “Children of Paradise.