Avenging the Destruction of True Love: François Truffaut’s ‘The Bride Wore Black’
“In ‘The Bride Wore Black,’ cruel fate rips true love away from the innocent, suggesting that Truffaut believed pure happiness is only found in fairy tales.”
Threatened Individualism: On François Truffaut’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’
“Throughout both the foreground and background of ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ Truffaut emphasizes the characters’ self-absorption via a hyper-sexual form of narcissism in a society lacking real love.”
The Seductive, Puzzling Films of Nelly Kaplan
“With their uncomfortable blend of sexual politics, dark comedy, quirky star power and social and moral critique, it’s no wonder moviegoers didn’t know what to make of Kaplan’s satirical stories when they were first released.”
The Kids Aren’t Alright: A Preview of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2019
Marshall Shaffer on Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2019
Vague Visages Writers’ Room: Favorite New Wave Films
In the Vague Visages Writers’ Room on Slack, freelancers were asked to comment about their favorite new wave films from any international movement.
Film Theory Vérité: Introduction – On Lewis Hyde’s ‘The Gift’
“Even when it sparks anger, fear, silence or screams, the response is a gift, and what we do with that gift is integral to the future of criticism and filmmaking in general.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Louis Malle’s ‘Black Moon’
“Communication — or the lack thereof — is key to ‘Black Moon.’”
In the Shadow of Women: On the Farrelly Brothers’ ‘There’s Something About Mary’
“What begins as a seemingly lightweight romantic comedy gradually expands into a surprisingly sophisticated exploration of romantic obsession and self-delusion.”
Political and Social Conventions in Jacques Demy’s ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’
“Fifty-three years after initial release, ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ continues to be a formally and contextually innovative French New Wave production; a film that has influenced contemporary directors such as Barry Jenkins, Damien Chazelle and Joachim Trier.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: François Truffaut’s ‘Shoot the Piano Player’
“Truffaut and Coutard punctuate ‘Shoot the Piano Player’ with a vibrant rendering of its wintry Parisian setting, where the city is an ever-present visual marker…”
Coffee and Cinephilia: A Conversation with J. Hoberman
Alejandra Rosenberg Interviews J. Hoberman
Vaguebande: Changing Horizons
“It reminds me of Ingmar Bergman films and the inspirational depression that I love.”
Capitolo 20: Mani in Alto / Marco Bellocchio’s ‘Fists in the Pocket’
A Series on Italian Cinema by Q.V. Hough
Recap: Girls ‘Love Stories’ and ‘I Love You Baby’
“Season 5 of HBO’s ‘Girls’ is now done, and so it is time to bestow upon it ‘one of the all-time best seasons of TV’ accolades.”
Review: Kent Jones’ ‘Hitchcock/Truffaut’
“Although it contains very little new material, Hitchcock/Truffaut will undoubtedly find a home within the film education community and could become an important tool in introducing Hitchcock’s immense body of work to hoards of “uninitiated” cinema devotees.”
The Moreau Files: ‘The Bride Wore Black’
“‘The Bride Wore Black’ has a rather deft sense of humor that raises it above many of the other brightly-lit neo-noirs of the 1960s.”
The Moreau Files: ‘Jules and Jim’
“In the male dominated world of the French New Wave, Catherine in François Truffaut’s ‘Jules and Jim’ stands out as a mysterious and particularly beguiling female presence.”