This episode is not to be missed for it deals with unfairly forgotten directors ;of course there are more of them but all Tavernier's choices are welcome,particularly Pierre Chenal,Henri Calef and Jacqueline Audry.
1)Jean Vallée is an obscure director whose most interesting work is widely unknown :it was the first time a French director had filmed in color(1936) and "La Terre Qui Meurt " ,dealing with a problem still relevant today (the farmer who finds it hard to earn his living with his work) and with pristine colors ,a movie that should definitely be released on DVD.
2)Two of my favorites, unfortunately Tavernier neglects both artists' masterpiece.Both were Jews.
Pierre Chenal : Tavernier begins with an eerie scene of his remake of "L'Homme De Nulle Part" :the hero enters a graveyard where the undertaker is digging his own grave.He highlights Chenal's directing skills in "L'Alibi".But he passes over in silence "Le Dernier Tournant" ,the first version of "the postman always rings twice" and his darkest work in the thirties "L'Affaire Lafarge". In his post war career ,he praised to the skies "Rafles Sur La Ville "which is for me a Film Noir ersatz ;on the other hand ,he only shows the poster of "La Foire Aux Chimères " which would deserve at least five minutes!BT,however ,points out that Chenal did make the first version of Richard Wright's "black boy" ("Sangre Negra),an estimable work filmed in Argentina.
Henri Calef: in a precedent episode , about "Jericho " I wrote that BT should devote a whole sequence to him and I got my wish here.Minor quibble: "Jericho" was not the first effort by Calef,for "l'Extravagante Mission" was anterior.But he does this great movie justice .A must for everyone interested in the past of the French cinema,particularly those who think that Louis Malle was the first to show the dark side of the French attitude during the occupation :here members of the city council reveals themselves cowards ,an informer (Brasseur)ready to kill his mother and father to save his skin.And I entirely take BT's point of view about the absence of hero (the long scene with the prisoners in the church).Both "La Maison Sous La Mer "-BT praises Viviane Romance 's performance whereas she's cast against type- and "Bagarres " are estimable works,but why did he forget "Eaux Troubles" which is considered his masterwork by many people?But I'll let you off,Monsieur Tavernier ,because you mention the unsung unknown "L'Heure De Vérité " ,filmed on location in Israel ,one of the most disturbing movies dealing with the concentration camps ...And you did include Daniel Gélin's admirable words of wisdom and forgiveness.
3)The women are coming ! After Alice Guy and Germaine Beaumont in the silent age , there was a big gap ,and female works were few and far between (Marie Epstein...).The world of cinema would stand in the way of female candidates.Today ,there are plenty of them on the French scene ,but at the time ,it took a lot of guts to make a name for yourself in this branch when you were born a woman.That's why,unlike BT , I favor Audry over Varda to whom the former paved a reliable way.
Jacqueline Audry : Since her very first effort, Audry took a rebellious feminist stand:her -sadly totally unknown - version of Comtesse De Ségur's famous book for children is given a special treatment ,turning the grown-up heroine into a rebel: BT shows Mademoiselle (Marguerite Moreno) telling Sophie a great happiness is ahead of her: she is to marry a good match (she never met) ,but Sophie's choice is to join cousin Paul turned revolutionary. BT tells us that her pictures were the most immodest ones of the time:who could disagree with him,when "Olivia" was released : a scene of a ball in a school for girls ,where the teachers kiss their students on the mouth (and later meet them in their rooms);perhaps Edwige Feuillère 's most daring part,this is a movie crying to be seen.Too bad BT chose "Minne " and neglected her remake of "La Garçonne" ,a portrayal of a playgirl of sorts ,complete with male strip tease and S/M slave market scene.
Agnès Varda ,highly praised here there and everywhere ,was certainly important,but essentially because Audry's work has remained unrecognized to this day .My feelings are mixed,as far as "La Pointe Courte " is concerned, but I embraced "Cleo De 5 A 7 " without a moment's hesitation.Although the real time structure was used well before her ("Je T'Attendrai " aka "Le Deserteur" ,1938), her heroine has remained endearing and the subject (fear of cancer) is still relevant today.
Nelly Kaplan's "La Fiancée Du Pirate" did deserve a honorable mention.
4)Gilles Grangier: Once again,BT refuted a received idea: before the N.V., movies were filmed on location ,and such was the case with Grangier.Personally I prefer ,by a long way ,"Le Désordre Et La Nuit' to "Le Sang A La Tête" ,but there's no accounting for taste.Director Alain Corneau intervenes to praise the former.
All these unrecognized(with the exception of famous Varda) directors are worthwhile :take Monsieur Tavernier's advice and give them a chance.
