Frédéric Maire

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Partie de campagne

Even unfinished, this film is for me the absolute quintessence of Renoir's cinema, a dark tale about love (and abuse!), still so strong and modern.

The Searchers

The perfect western; and the unforgettable last shot… 

PALOMBELLA ROSSA

The funniest comedy about politics (at least in Italian), film, journalism and, of course, water polo. For me Moretti is really one of the best Italian directors ever.

Sauve qui peut (la vie)

The film that marked Godard's return to features after a long period of doing videos. Shot and produced in Switzerland, this is a film about (man)power, money, desire, violence, love… I saw this film every day for a week when it was released. Full of drama and emotion. And I had the feeling that Godard was re-inventing filmmaking, using video effects, jump cuts, music and so on.

Roma

Something between an omnibus and a (fake) documentary about his favourite city, Fellini's Roma is for me a fantastic essay which mixes Italian history, his own biography, the city and its relationship with cinema. For me this is the most essential of Fellini's films, bringing together most of his ideas (so far). A great poem.

La Nuit américaine

If you don't like La nuit américaine (Day for Night), you don't like cinema. This fiction film shows what it is to make films – in a romantic fashion, of course, but is the one that drew me to work in this field.

Die Ehe der Maria Braun

One of the best Fassbinder films, and for me the most moving and strong. A woman's destiny through the war and after, which shows in a very profound way what the dramas of the war were for Germans (especially women), and how dramatic is the new Germany that is coming, built upon the ashes of the Nazism.

Tokyo Story

Most of Ozu's movies are masterpieces. But this one is so simple, so profoundly sad… In a way, as in Fassbinder's Maria Braun, it is also the story of a dying past (after the war) and how the youngsters build a new life which obliterates the past. Ozu's long (and low) shots are amazing and his actors are incredible.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Murnau is an absolute genius of images and his first American picture is probably the most beautiful and moving silent film and the most moving love drama ever made.

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

If I have to choose a single film to take to a desert island, it would be this one: it's the most joyful and colourful film I've ever seen. In French I would write "un chassé-croisé en-chanté". Somehow dark, bizarre, full of suspense, this fantastic musical comedy is at the same time a tribute to the golden era of musicals by Busby Berkeley, Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donen, and a very smart nouvelle vague vision of society. And in the end, most of Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand's songs are unforgettable.

Further remarks

Well, so many other films left…