Au revoir, Claude Chabrol.
This is a pipe.
The influential French filmmaker died on Sunday (9/12) and we were sad to see one of the brighter lights of the New Wave go dark. He lived a long life – 80 years – and he leaves us with his beautiful images.
If Jean-Luc Godard appeals to critics because of his extreme interest in politics and film theory, if François Truffaut appeals to the popular audience because of his humanism and sentimentality, it is Claude Chabrol—film critic, filmmaker, philosopher—whose work consistently offers the opportunity for the most balanced appeal. His partisans find especially notable the subtle tone of Chabrol’s cinema: his films are apparently cold and objective portraits of profoundly psychological situations; and yet that coldness never approaches the kind of fashionable cynicism, say, of a Stanley Kubrick, but suggests, rather, something closer to the viewpoint of a god who, with compassion but without sentiment, observes the follies of his creations.
Chabrol’s work can perhaps best be seen as a cross between the unassuming and popular genre film and the pretentious and elitist art film: Chabrol’s films tend to be thrillers with an incredibly self-conscious, self-assured style—that is, pretentious melodrama, aware of its importance. For some, however, the hybrid character of Chabrol’s work is itself a problem: indeed, just as elitist critics sometimes find Chabrol’s subject matter beneath them, so too do popular audiences sometimes find Chabrol’s style and incredibly slow pace alienating.
—Charles Derry, Film Reference.com
In his honor we present Les Biches (1968). When an architect becomes involved with two, beautiful bi-sexual women, at tragedy ensues. This film is hosted by our YouTube Channel.
Enjoy and leave a comment!
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Joe Nolan <3
Cheers mate, do you happen to have a facebook i can follow up? really interested.bye
www.facebook.com/joenolannashville
I assumed I was the only person who sleep at night. I suppose I’m not alone with my insomnia.