Out of the Past 2017 / Voyage à travers le cinéma français / France 2016
In French cinema, the proverbial trees that block the forest from view bear the name the Nouvelle vague. This film, an original distillation from the inexhaustible arsenal of images and forms that hides the forest (i.e. classic French film), was created by a director who always differed from his colleagues in the extent to which he immersed himself in the history of the art form – Bertrand Tavernier.
In French cinema, the proverbial trees that block the forest from view bear the name the Nouvelle vague. This film, an original distillation from the inexhaustible arsenal of images and forms that hides the forest (i.e. classic French cinema), was created by a director who always differed from his colleagues in the extent to which he immersed himself in the history of this art form. From this perspective, Bertrand Tavernier is only matched today by his friend Martin Scorsese – with both employing a similar approach to pay their passion forward. Audiences can therefore be certain that in three uncommonly dense festival hours they will not be subjected to a rehashing of picked-over material, but will instead be treated to discoveries, surprises, and unexpected connections. “Le patron” is not the only one to create history (although with the creator of The Rules of the Game there is always something new to discover!): there is also Edmond T. Gréville, whose name and images many viewers will likely be encountering here for the first time (to name but one example of many). Open your eyes wide, mesdames et messieurs!
Milan Klepikov
190 min / Color, DCP
Director Bertrand Tavernier
/ Screenplay Bertrand Tavernier
/ Dir. of Photography Jérôme Almeras, Simon Beaufils, Julien Pamart, Camille Clement, Garance Garnier
/ Music Bruno Coulais
/ Editor Guy Lecorne
/ Art Director François Goderniaux
/ Producer Frédéric Bourboulon
/ Production Little Bear
/ Coproduction Gaumont, Pathé Production
/ Sales Gaumont
Bertrand Tavernier (b. 1941, Lyon) is a presciently sarcastic social analyst yet, as a filmmaker, he is an advocate of tradition – an association that could not fail (soon after the waning of the New Wave) to raise suspicion among some French critics of revisionism, at least the stylistic kind. Nevertheless, with those viewers and critics able to appreciate his feeling for psychological precision and his ability to get the most from his actors, Tavernier’s prestige rose with each new film: The Clockmaker (1973), The Judge and the Assassin (1975), Death Watch (1979), Coup de torchon (1981), A Sunday in the Country (1984), The Bait (1994). The young creator first applied his experience as a film journalist and historian to great effect in the extensive co-authored work 30 Years of American Cinema (1970), later reissued and updated; it brought him renown as one of the most erudite living experts in the history of American motion pictures.
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