French. And of a certain age.

Daniel Kasman: "After viewing a restored print of [Jean-Pierre] Melville's opaque ode to Résistance frustrations and tragedies, Army of Shadows (1969, finally getting its first release ever in the US), I come up with the same reaction I had to the director's 1970 film Le Cercle Rouge. Namely, that Melville cannot, or perhaps does not want to, tell a story." For Filmmaker's Matthew Ross, it's the film of the year so far. Related: Dan Persons talks with cinematographer Pierre Lhomme for the IFC.

Duncan Shepherd in the San Diego Reader on Classe Tous Risques: "If the film ultimately amounts to no more than a master's thesis, the mastery is no misnomer, no mere hyperbole. [Claude] Sautet would thereafter demonstrate it time and again."

MS Smith on Elevator to the Gallows: "Jean Seberg's walk down the Champs Elysees in Godard's Breathless, Jean-Pierre Léaud's close-up at the close of Truffaut's The 400 Blows, Anna Karina's weeping while watching Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc in Godard's My Life to Live are all unforgettable, to be sure; but they're still not quite as enigmatic as [Jeanne] Moreau passing through the night."

Peter Nellhaus onother Louis Malle: "The first hour of Viva Maria is fairly entertaining. Bardot is totally gorgeous and Moreau looks the best she ever has on film. With the talent involved, one would expect a better film." Related: Glenn Abel in the Hollywood Reporter on Criterion's Malle box set.

"A pain in the arse would be one way of describing the films of Jacques Rivette," writes Christopher Bray in the New Statesman, where, of course, he goes on to argue: no pain, no gain.

Matt Clayfield offers first impressions of three films by Jean-Pierre Gorin.

Posted by dwhudson at May 5, 2006 6:37 AM