“It is Karina who embodied the freedom, fascination and the unpredictability that would define the French New Wave. It is Karina who made so many fall in love — with her and with cinema as an extraordinary, exultant medium.”
“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.”
“‘Sauvage’ emerges in the context of ‘BPM (Beats Per Minute)’ as a darker, grittier cousin. Both tell physically intimate stories, but where ‘BPM (Beats Per Minute)’ brims with romance, anger and sheer joy, ‘Sauvage’ has a harder edge and leaves more of a bitter taste.”
Marshall Shaffer on Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2019
Marshall Shaffer’s Selections for Rendez-Vous with French Cinema (March 8-18, 2018)
“Within the shell of its high-concept premise, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s ‘The Wages of Fear’ develops into a harrowing depiction of humanity in crisis; economic, political and cultural crisis.”
“Communication — or the lack thereof — is key to ‘Black Moon.’”
“Like ‘Visages, villages’ and ‘Claire’s Camera,’ ‘The Workshop’ continues a Cannes 2017 trend for the unmatched power of creation and artistic expression, and this film reaches to darker depths than those tales.”
“Canet’s performance seems to come from a place of real insecurity, and the resulting film plays out like an externalized catharsis.”
“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.”
