The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (La Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie)- 1972 - Directed by Luis Bunuel - 1 Hour 29 Minutes

 

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (La Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie)- 1972 - Directed by Luis Bunuel 

Available on Amazon Prime Video 

Buñuel’s 1929 short film Un Chien Andalou, which he co-wrote with Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, is perhaps his most famous work, notorious for its grotesque close-up shot of an eyeball. But The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, which was released in 1972 and won an Academy award for best foreign language film, is his most financially successful and among his most acclaimed. The film is less a story  than a scattered series of incidents involving a handful of hungry socialites including François (Paul Frankeur), Simone (Delphine Seyrig) and Rafael Acosta (Fernando Rey), an ambassador from a South American nation

Their dinner plans never come to fruition for a variety of reasons, spanning simple misunderstandings to out-of-this-world surprises. After arriving at the house of Alice and Henri Sénéchal (Stéphane Audran and Jean-Pierre Cassel) on the wrong day, a decision is made to relocate to a nearby inn. The group sit down and contemplate what to order – discussing the hare pâté and whether to drink red wine or martinis. But after hearing the sound of weeping coming from the next room where the proprietor is lying dead on a bed, they lose their appetite and call off dinner

Another attempt at a meal is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a group of army men – led by a joint-smoking Colonel, because why not – who consume all the food. Later still (this one’s my favourite) they’re seated at a table, everything finally looking like it’s coming together, two roast chickens brought out on a tray. But they discover … the chickens are made of plastic! Then a red curtain rises and it’s revealed that the diners are situated on a stage in front of a large audience. They are, it seems, for some reason or maybe no reason at all, now performers in a theatre production.

Attempting to rationalise what exactly is going on incorrectly assumes a degree of logic and a pathway to clear meaning. Buñuel’s most famous films have a curious relation to realism, often sustaining the moment-by-moment rhythms we associate with reality, then ditching rational or anticipated outcomes, or simply refusing to explain something essential.

Contempt (French: Le Mépris) is a 1963 French New Wave drama film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based - starring Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, Fritz Lang, and Giorgia Moll.

 Contempt (French: Le Mépris) is a 1963 French New Wave drama film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based - starring Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, Fritz Lang, and Giorgia Moll.

Available on YouTube with Spanish and English Captions

The film stars Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, Giorgia Moll, and Fritz Lang as himself. It tells the story of the disintegrating marriage of a screenwriter, Paul Javal (Piccoli), and his wife, Camille (Bardot), as they work on a film adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. The film's title refers to the contempt that Paul feels for himself, for his wife, and for the film industry.

Le Mépris was a critical and commercial success, and is considered one of Godard's greatest films. It has been praised for its lush cinematography, its complex characters, and its exploration of the themes of love, marriage, and art.

Here are some of the reasons why Le Mépris is considered a classic film:

• It is a visually stunning film. Godard's use of color, light, and shadow is masterful, and the film is full of memorable images.

• It is a complex and thought-provoking film. The film explores a variety of themes, including love, marriage, art, and the nature of reality.

• It is a well-acted film. The performances of Bardot, Piccoli, and Palance are all excellent.

• It is a historically important film. Le Mépris is one of the most important films of the French New Wave movement.

La Grande Illusion - A 1937 Film (The Geand Illusion) - directed by Jean Renoir - run time an hour and 54 minutes

 

The Grand Illusion is considered one of the greatest movies ever made.

"It's not a movie about a prison escape, nor is it jingoistic in its politics; it's a meditation on the collapse of the old order of European civilization. Perhaps that was always a sentimental upper-class illusion, the notion that gentlemen on both sides of the lines subscribed to the same code of behavior. Whatever it was, it died in the trenches of World War I." from Roger Ebert.

You may watch it on Internetarchives.org 

https://archive.org/details/1937lagrandeillusion

The movie is set in a German prison during World War One. The prisoners are a diverse mix of prisoners.  It was released just as another war was on the way.

With Grand Illusion, Renoir provides a multilayered perspective on class, war, nationalism, and prejudice. For example, the film’s treatment of Rosenthal—an affluent Jewish banker who generously shares his food with his fellow inmates— has been interpreted as an effort by Renoir to combat anti-Semitism during the rise of Nazi Germany. De Boeldieu’s sacrifice for his working-class comrades, furthermore, symbolically mirrors the changing social order of Europe. In addition, Rosenthal points out the ultimate “grand illusion”: that the current war will end all wars. The performances by Jean Gabin and Erich von Stroheim are exceptional, although the latter, having spent years away from his native Austria, reportedly struggled to speak German. Grand Illusion was the first non-English-language film to be nominated for an Academy Award as best picture. However, the work was so despised by the Nazis that they confiscated and destroyed prints of the film during their World War II occupation of France.

I highly reccomend the presentation below from the M I T film school.

"Renoir was born in Paris in 1894, the son of the famous Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He began his career as an actor in the early 1920s, and his first film as a director was La Fille de l'eau (1924). Renoir's early films were mostly silent, and they often featured his wife, Catherine Hessling, in the lead role.

Renoir's first sound film was La Chienne (1931), a dark comedy about a man who is driven to crime by his mistress. The film was a critical and commercial success, and it established Renoir as one of the leading directors of the French cinema. 

Renoir's most famous films were made during the 1930s, including La Grande Illusion (1937), The Rules of the Game (1939), and The Woman on the Beach (1943). These films are all considered masterpieces of world cinema, and they explore themes of war, class, and love.

Renoir left France for the United States in 1941, and he made several films there, including The Southerner (1945) and The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946). He returned to France in 1949, and he continued to make films until his death in 1979." - Bard

Mel Ulm