#dir. by Anne Fontaine

[gagesfall]

Gemma: Will you come to London with me? Hervé: To London and to the end of the world. (Gemma Bovery, dir. by Anne Fontaine, 2014)

[bisexual-movies]

bi movie of the day: adore (2013) dir. anne fontaine starring naomi watts, robin wright & xavier samuel

[thedeathofgaea]

Nathalie..., 2003 dir. Anne Fontaine

[thewomanofrevelation]

Smoke and Mirrors., Adore/dir. Anne Fontaine/2013.

[mtonino]

Coco Avant Chanel (2009) dir. Anne Fontaine

Coco Avant Chanel (2009)

[cantcatchmeee]

Gemma Bovery, 2014, dir. Anne Fontaine

[nitrateglow]

Favorite film discoveries of 2021

After 2021, I just feel tired. However, I did watch some great movies!

THE TRAIN (DIR. JOHN FRANKENHEIMER, 1964)

What is more important: centuries of priceless artwork or the lives of human beings? That’s the thematic question of The Train, an underrated WWII thriller in which French Resistance members are tasked with retrieving stolen art from the Nazis without damaging any of it, even if that means being killed in the process. The moral dilemma at the heart of the film is compelling in and of itself, but the movie also works as a suspenseful drama bolstered by great acting and stunning black-and-white photography.

ISN’T LIFE WONDERFUL (DIR. DW GRIFFITH, 1924)

DW Griffith’s 1920s work tends to leave me cold, so I was stunned by how much I loved Isn’t Life Wonderful. A realistic and touching movie set in post-WWI Germany, this film was unpopular during its initial release due to its drab setting and bittersweet conclusion, but it holds up well now. It’s much less melodramatic than you would expect from Griffith and the oft-reviled Carol Dempster gives a stellar lead performance as a young woman trying to keep her family fed despite dire conditions.

THE INNOCENTS (DIR. ANNE FONTAINE, 2016)

Centered around the trials of a French Red Cross doctor and the impregnated Polish nuns who come to her for help in the wake of wartime rape, The Innocents was quite the surprise. I was floored by how powerful it was and expect it to be considered a classic in the years to come. Beautifully shot and acted, this film is both harrowing and uplifting, a sensitive portrayal of faith and compassion in the face of unspeakable violence.

THE STORY OF THE FOX (DIR. WLADYSLAW STAREWICZ, 1930)

Despite the proclamations of the Disney corporation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was not the first feature-length animated movie. Among the several animated features preceding it, The Story of the Fox is a magnificent work, the crowning achievement of stop-motion specialist Wladyslaw Starewicz. If you're expecting a kiddie movie because it's about talking animals, then you're in for a surprise, because the humor is pitch black and often adult in nature. (Criterion, you need more animation in your line-up-- here’s the perfect candidate!)

THE FOUR SEASONS (DIR. ALAN ALDA, 1981)

Some people claim this movie is too negative and "needling," but I thought it was a touching and funny portrayal of friendship and marriage. The characters felt authentic to life, not at all Hollywoodized recreations of ordinary people. All of the actors are amazing, but my favorites were Rita Moreno and Jack Weston-- those two were hilarious. Weston's rant about his "bones decaying" is one of the funniest cinematic rants I have ever seen.

THE PARTY (DIR. BLAKE EDWARDS, 1968)

This movie is like a 1960s take on classic silent comedy technique. There’s little dialogue and much of the comedy comes from physical and visual gags. Director Blake Edwards often evoked silent comedy sensibilities in his work, even in non-slapsticky offerings like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but in The Party his affection for that style reaches its apotheosis.

BEWARE MY LOVELY (DIR. HARRY HORNER, 1952)

A lot of people see Beware My Lovely as a downgrade from On Dangerous Ground, the more famous on-screen pairing of hard boiled icons Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan, but I enjoyed Beware My Lovely more. It's a thriller set in the aftermath of WWI about a widow trapped in her own home by a mentally disturbed handyman. It's not quite a masterpiece, but it is compelling with its slow build-up of tension and the quietly chilling finale.

3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR (DIR. SYDNEY POLLACK, 1975)

This is a great 70s thriller: very stylish and cerebral. It’s my favorite of the “paranoia thrillers” that were so popular during that decade, mainly because the tension remains so palpable throughout and the acting is top-notch, even if the romantic subplot is super--- weird, to say the least. However, the movie on the whole is suspenseful and chilling, with an ending that will haunt you long after the credits are done rolling.

KLAUS (DIR. SERGIO PABLOS AND CARLOS MARTINEZ LOPEZ, 2019)

Klaus walks a fine line between goofy comedy and genuine emotion. The animation style alone intrigued me, but the story is just beautiful, a wonderful fable about finding meaning in life through connecting with other people. I expected something cute-- I did not expect to cry five times.

MOUSEHUNT (DIR. GORE VERBINSKI, 1997)

Imagine the Wet Bandits trapped in a Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by Terry Gilliam-- that’s Mousehunt. I confess I have a dislike for many of the 90s movies that tried to copy Home Alone’s success as a sadistic slapstick comedy-- they’re often too big and too cartoony. This movie is cartoony, sure, but I think what I like is how oddly mean it gets. This is a true dark comedy and while it is not mean-spirited, its characters can be hilariously savage, far more than you’d expect in what is supposed to be a family movie.

RED SUN (DIR. TERENCE YOUNG, 1971)

While a touch overlong, this east meets west genre mash-up is unpretentious fun. Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson have better chemistry than I expected they would and the action scenes are delightful.

THE GOLDEN CHANCE (DIR. CECIL B. DEMILLE, 1915)

If you’ve never seen Cecil B. DeMille’s silent films, you’re missing out because his mid-1910s output is phenomenal. The Golden Chance is not often listed with the best of these, and while it may not be as revolutionary as The Cheat or The Whispering Chorus, it is still a fine film, a modern dress fairy tale with strikingly modern performances from Cleo Ridgely and Wallace Reid.

ZAZA (DIR. ALLAN DWAN, 1923)

Gloria Swanson was often accused of being a clothes-horse rather than an actress. I could name a number of movies that challenge that assumption and Zaza is one of them. The film itself does nothing groundbreaking: it's a rom-com with melodramatic trappings, but the cast does wonders with the material. Swanson is a hoot as the haughty actress who finds love with a respectable diplomat, but for me it was Lucille La Verne (now best known as the voice of the Wicked Queen in Disney's Snow White) as Swanson's alcoholic, parrot-toting friend who stole the show.

FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (DIR. TERENCE FISHER, 1974)

I admit I was dreading watching this movie for a while. It gets painted as a dismal, out-of-touch conclusion to the Hammer Frankenstein series, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Cushing’s “Helen Hayes” wig aside, this is one of his best cracks at the Frankenstein character, particularly in regards to how he views people. He’s a cold man, but not sadistic.He does have enough integrity to balk at outright abuses, but he’s okay with certain criminal activities as long as they are done in the pursuit of science. The ending scene is genuinely brilliant too, blurring the line between Frankenstein and his patients.

A FISH CALLED WANDA (DIR. CHARLES CRITCHON AND JOHN CLEESE, 1988)

Oh my God. I heard about this one for years but had no idea how amazing it would end up being. I don’t normally go for farce, but this is farce done right-- farce done sublimely.

TOKYO GORE POLICE (DIR. YOSHIHIRO NISHIMURA, 2008)

I don’t even know what to say about this masterpiece of the cinema.

NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY (DIR. JACK SMIGHT, 1968)

No Way to Treat a Lady is the weirdest serial killer movie I have ever seen. There might be something weirder out there, sure... but does it combine a romantic comedy about a stressed out cop trying to woo Lee Remick alongside the murderous antics of a mother-fixated actor who loves costumes a bit too much? I don't think so.

3 BAD MEN (DIR. JOHN FORD, 1926)

I have never seen the later John Wayne remake, so I cannot compare that more famous film with the silent original, but I can say that I enjoyed this movie very much, even as someone who does not typically go for westerns. It’s a classic story about criminals with hearts of gold aiding a damsel in distress and battling corrupt lawmen. There’s a lot of comedy, which people tend to love or hate in Ford’s movies, but I thought it worked here.

TARTUFFE (DIR. FW MURNAU, 1924)

I had my doubts about this play being made into an effective silent film as the source is so dialogue-heavy (obviously). However, I was pleasantly surprised! The acting is wonderful and the expressionist aesthetics perfectly suit this satire on moral and religious hypocrisy. It’s not the most regarded Murnau movie but if you love his work, then you’ll definitely want to check it out.

THE DESPERATE HOURS (DIR. WILLIAM WYLER, 1955)

This early home invasion thriller benefits from the compelling interplay between Humphrey Bogart and Frederic March, and director William Wyler’s wonderful compositions. It’s essentially Leave It to Beaver meets The Petrified Forest. While the second act sags a little, the movie is on the whole riveting and offers Bogart his last criminal role.

What were your favorite movie discoveries in 2021?

[verypersonalscreencaps]

MY FAVOURITE FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS IN FILM › 17 / ∞

MATHILDE & MARIA   🧡 "Faith is 24 hours of doubt, and one minute of hope."

LES INNOCENTES (2016, dir. Anne Fontaine)

[romancegifs]

XAVIER SAMUEL in Adore (2013) dir. Anne Fontaine

[moodscreencaps]

the innocents (2016) dir. anne fontaine

[blackthornwinter]

Stills from Gemma Bovery, 2014, dir. Anne Fontaine

[shit-before-the-shovel]

Robin Wright in Adore (2013) dir. Anne Fontaine

Robin Wright:

Me:

[peter-weir]

I can't think of any directors 🙈 but can you talk about your favourite films by female directors?

sorry it took me a while to get to this one! It’s terrible but the ratio of male to female directed films i’ve seen in my time is really skewed - I definitely wanna see more female-directed movies in the future! 

but of the ones I’ve seen, some of my faves are: the parent trap dir. nancy meyers (a fucking CLASSIC); bright star dir. jane campion (my NZ babe i love u jane also it’s about keats so this movie owns my ass); bend it like beckham dir. gurinder chadha (FORMATIVE); fish tank dir. andrea arnold; coco avant chanel dir. anne fontaine (also pretty formative for me in a lot of ways); clueless dir. amy heckerling (obviously); and booksmart dir. olivia wilde

ones that have been on my list for ages are the headless woman dir. lucrecia martel, wadjda dir. haifaa al-mansour, paris is burning dir. jennie livingston, and mustang dir. deniz gamze erguven :) if you have any recs lemme know! <3

[fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors]

Pure As Snow dir. Anne Fontaine (2019)

A modern re-telling of Snow White where a young woman (Lou de Laâge) is run off by her jealous step-mother (Isabelle Huppert) and is found by seven men who are all intrigued by her. 

[moviepocketblog]

Les Innocentes (2016) dir. Anne Fontaine

[gyllenhey]

Les Innocentes (2016) dir. Anne Fontaine