Earlier in the year I mentioned that I was going to revisit Kurosawa’s films this year, as well as read quite a bit on his life and career. This is still the plan, but it hasn’t really happened at this point. I started his autobiography, and then got stalled and haven’t picked it up in a few weeks. I will get back to it. Another thing I said I was going to do was revisit much of the French New Wave, which did happen, and I saw some really excellent films. I still want to watch a bit more Truffaut, but so far I have really enjoyed spending some extra time with French cinema. Watching Godard’s New Wave stuff got me on a bit of a Godard kick, and I’ve watched 14 of his films in the past two months.
I have to say that Godard’s early stuff has fared much better with me than his more recent stuff. Starting with Breathless in 1959 and ending with Pierrot Le Fou in 1969, the man directed some stunning films. By the time the 80’s hit, Godard seemed to be focusing so much on the art that he left his dialogue and storytelling powers behind. The films were still well crafted, but just not as much of a joy to watch. Overall, the man is clearly a great filmmaker. If you’re interested I recommend Alphaville, A Woman is a Woman, and Band of Outsiders. Breathless is also an important one to watch simply because it helped create an entire film movement that took France by storm for nearly a decade.
Add 6 more films to my list for the year:
Breathless (rewatch)
Notre Musique
Kundun
The King of Comedy
Major League (for like the 20th time)
Brooklyn’s Finest
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