OFF: French SF Movies

[Alex S. Garcia]

Goran was saying :

>>As I can see, there is a lot of fuss about the French interpretation of
>>Godzilla. I didn't see the movie, and I don't intend to, because the
>reactions
>>remind me to another one recent French SF project - The Fifth Element -
>that I
>>hate so much. So - beware of French SF movies. ;-)

I'm French... and yet, I have to agree with this warning (although I beg to
differ about "The Fifth Element", which I found really good - and at least
it had A STORY ! which seems to be lacking from most American blockbusters
these days *sigh*)... French movies in general aren't all that good. But
when it comes to SF... Well, actually, it's fairly easy to sum up : French
SF movies practically don't exist. There are a few great fantasy pieces,
though, like "The city of lost children" (from Caro & Jeunet - Jeunet, who
later directed Alien Resurrection ;-). The same duo (Caro & Jeunet) also
did, before that, another great (and weird) movie, called "Delicatessen".
That's pretty much all I can think of right now... hmmm... Oh yeah, there's
also "Mr. Frost" with Jeff Goldblum. Yep, that's a French movie - directed
by Philip (really Philippe - he Americanized his name) Setbon... That one
was really chilling. I especially like the beginning, when all the bodies
are found in Goldblum's garden... that guy is really amazing in this movie...

And then Doug said :

>What about 'La Jetée' (transl. 'The Runway', because the crucial
>beginning/ending scene takes place at an airport)?  A fascinating
>time-travel movie (on which '12 Monkeys', which I didn't see, was sorta
>based) that isn't really a movie, but a series of photographs displayed
>sequentially (almost like a slide show on film).

I haven't seen "La Jetée", but "12 Monkeys" is definitely one of my favorite
SF movies. It was just absolutely stunning ! Awesome.

> I forget which famous 60s
>French director did it (Goddard or someone ... I should ask the babe
>described in Calvert's "Over My Head"),

Actually, if I remember correctly, the director of "La Jetée" was Chris
Marker (I'd have to check, but I don't have anything to do so here)... and
he's not really that famous (but he IS French - just thought I'd make that
clear, because some could wonder because of his name :-o). In fact, I think
that's pretty much the only film he ever did - and definitely the only
famous one. Which was a short, originally.



Alex S. Garcia.

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