On The Other Side – The Director as Actor
The appearance of a filmmaker in front of the camera can be a mixed affair. For every Francois Truffaut in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind there is an M. Night Shyamalan in The Lady In The Water. To mark the reissuing of La Grande Illusion we thought we’d take a look at some of the … Read more
Truffaut at 80
Today marks what would have been the 80th birthday of François Truffaut, had the filmmaker not passed away in 1984. Truffaut’s influence, both on the cinema, and on Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second is genuinely immeasurable, with his article “A Certain Tendency Of The French Cinema” the benchmark text and call to arms for … Read more
Charlie Bubbles & A Cinema Of Rebellion
To mark the passing this week of screenwriter and author Shelagh Delaney this week, here’s a tribute to her finest work, the oft-forgotten classic of British Cinema, Charlie Bubbles. From the earliest days of the cinema Hollywood has looked towards Europe for talent, inspiration and business, and no better was it exemplified during the 1960′s … Read more
Within Context – Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket
Within Context is the second part of Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second’s mammoth look at Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket. Comparing Pickpocket to A Man Escaped Pickpocket is the final part of an unofficial trilogy of films that begins with Diary of a Country Priest and is completed with A Man Escaped. The protagonist in … Read more
Monday Blu(e)s and DVD
It’s a big week for home video, with the mainstream headed up by the release of the penultimate Harry Potter movie and the Zack Snyder animated owl flick. Meanwhile, the slightly more interesting end of the market features the epic battle of Godard Vs. Truffaut, the film that swept the Césars last month and the … Read more
Famous Last Words
With yesterday’s passing of Sidney Lumet it was hard not to be struck by how solid an ouevre the man left behind. While consistency might not have been his strong suit Lumet signed off with a film, for this viewer at least, as relevant as his debut and most cited work, 1957′s 12 Angry Men. … Read more
Not In The English Language #6 – Stolen Kisses
After focussing on Jean-Luc Godard with last week’s Not In The English Language our attention turns to his friend and contemporary Francois Truffaut, with Stolen Kisses, his 1968 sequel to The 400 Blows. The third film in his Antoine Doinel Cycle, Stolen Kisses is an under appreciated tour de force from one of France’s greatest … Read more
