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Sheng Haoyang

If you want to get an overview and history of French films in a limited time, watching "My Journey into French Cinema" is not an ideal choice.

This documentary, shot and narrated by French director Bertrand Tavernier, does not intend to present a panoramic view of French films. The selection of materials is mainly black-and-white films before the 1960s, and more than half of the films may only be slightly seen by senior movie fans or professionals.

My Journey into French Cinema

For most ordinary movie fans, French films mean nothing more than some well-known terms or names of masters, such as Impressionism, Surrealism, New Wave, Left Bank School, Truffaut, Godard, Bresson, Alain Resnais...

"My Journey Through French Cinema" does not cover French films after the 1970s, and only briefly mentions the New Wave. Most of the 190 minutes are reserved for Jacques Becker, Jean Renoir and Claude Suder, who were Tavernier's private students, as well as Jean-Pierre Melville, the first director he knew. It can be said that personal interests and aesthetics replaced the comprehensiveness and completeness required for a film history documentary.

My Journey into French Cinema

Although it is called "My Journey Through French Cinema", the original French name of the film is "Voyage à travers le Cinéma Français". Tavernier only compares his experience of lingering in French films from the 1930s to the 1960s to a journey. The protagonist is still the movie itself, and the main "I" is hidden behind the scenes and is not overly conspicuous.

In the documentary, Tavernier criticizes his predecessors and comments on various films, and his attitude does not seem to be humble enough. However, no matter how insightful and sharp the comments are, they are just one person's opinion. If the audience feels that his evaluation of a certain movie is inappropriate, they can just ignore it.

As a documentary, "My Journey into French Cinema" covers a wide range of topics and is not restricted to specific themes and films, so it is a bit arbitrary.

Tavernier is a film critic by profession. In the film, he mainly talks about the director's unique perspective and style, such as the film's camera movement, script, soundtrack, etc., but he also occasionally turns to industry secrets and gossips. He talks about how Jean-Paul Gaultier entered the fashion design industry after watching Jacques Becker's "The Decoration" and he revisits this movie every year; he talked with Jean Gabin, the actor of "Grand Illusion", about Jean Renoir's personality and political inclinations, and he had some complaints about his anti-Semitism and decision to move to the United States, but he also admitted that he was an undoubted genius, no less famous than his father.

My Journey into French Cinema

"We are all children of national liberation and cinema." Godard, who was born before the war but spent his childhood in Switzerland, may not have felt much pain about his country's four-year fall. His revolutionary enthusiasm was not fully ignited until after the May Storm.

In the memories of Tavernier, who was born in 1941, the Second World War was only the celebratory atmosphere when Lyon was liberated and the legends told by his father. Tavernier's father provided shelter to the famous writer and political activist Louis Aragon for several months during World War II. Many years later, because of this fate, Tavernier invited Aragon to watch "Pierrot le Fou" when it was released, and Godard therefore received the latter's support.

My Journey into French Cinema

But the difficult life during the war also caused Tavernier to contract tuberculosis. At the age of three, he was sent to a sanatorium for recuperation. Movies were shown in the sanatorium every Sunday. The first time he was moved by a movie was when he saw a chase scene in Jacques Becker's "King of Cop Shops".

Tavernier has no prejudice against American films, but rather loves them. He calls Jacques Becker the "most American" director. He highly praises Becker's aesthetic taste, natural narrative rhythm, and eye-level shooting angles. He also said that despite learning from American films, Becker's works still have a distinct French flavor, such as suspicion of the plot and restrained but rich character emotions.

"Ace of Blood"

But in the eyes of Jean Gabin, who was active before the war, actions like Jean Renoir's acquisition of American citizenship were tantamount to the greatest betrayal and a disgrace to his father.

Europe before and after the war was already two completely different worlds, and Tavernier was not completely unaware of this. When he commented on Melville's films, he said that the police stations in his films always looked like American films. The wallpaper and scenery in "The Informer" were copied from Robert Wise's "The Punishment of the Convict".

Melville's world is far from the real world of France. There is no historical mark. He wants to be William Wheeler. However, his shots are longer and emptier than Wheeler's. There is almost no background music. The characters' waiting and silence are more prominent. In fact, he is more like Cartier-Bresson than Wheeler.

The last director to appear in the film is his good friend Claude Suter. Tavernier also pointed out that "The Little Things of Life" shows the turmoil brought about by the dramatic changes in France.

"life trivia"

"My Journey Through French Cinema" ends with the scene of the heroine played by Romy Schneider walking into the crowd. Both the golden age of French cinema and the glorious years of Europe are now a thing of the past, but everyone who appears in this documentary once loved movies so much, including Tavernier, and her excitement to share is beyond words.

My Journey into French Cinema

Any fan who truly loves movies will be able to feel strong emotions in the film, just like the three-year-old child in the open-air cafe in Lyon, seeing light and hope.