Voyage à travers le cinéma français

I have always loved the French cinema, literature, and culture; my great grandfather was French; I am fluent and French was one of my subjects at universty; and I have steadily collected French films, totalling more than 100.

So when I saw this DVD on sale, I pounced. Alas, while I do not regret buying it, I have found it lacking, especially compared to Martin Scorcese's earlier effort relating to US and Italian cinema, which was far more enlightening, situating each film in its time and context.

VOYAGE A TRAVERS LE CINEMA FRANÇAIS is a mélée of Tavernier's own recollections, and relations with directors and actors, and you see interesting snippets, but ultimately it is Tavernier's own fun.

To me, the single most memorable piece of information in this compilation was Tavernier explaining that the defect in his right eye was caused by tuberculosis at a young age. I find it hard to forgive that he dismissed a masterpiece like Jean-Pierre Melville's LE CERCLE ROUGE but praised a dud like UN SINGE EN HIVER.

Unless you have actually watched the films that appear in this compilation, you are bound to feel frustrated.

It's hard not to smile at the giddiness in Bertrand Tavernier's voice as he recounts the French films that inspired him in his youth and fascinated him in his later years. "My Journey Through French Cinema" is a French-language film documenting Tavernier's love for the rich French history of film, reaching back as early as Jacques Becker and extending as close to the present as Jean Renoir and Lino Ventura. Tavernier's passion carries much of the film, as does a very well-edited and well-selected series of clips from the films in question. But ultimately, the film's own nature undermines it.

This is by no means the most excitingly framed documentary ever made. It features only Tavernier as an interview subject, with famous French directors and actors popping up intermittently in historical footage.

Tavernier wonderfully narrates the odyssey through his youth, and the amount of personal history he brings to it is charming, but there isn't enough effort put into the presentation outside of the film clips. It's fun to see Jean Claude Belmondo in "Léon Morin, Priest" and Alain Delon in "Le Samourai," but when we cut back to the same stale office setting with Tavernier for a few brief, fleeting seconds before being thrust back into a three-hour film history lecture, the film only nurses its disconnect between subject and audience.

Consider "David Lynch: The Art Life" or "Listen to Me, Marlon," two documentaries of immense power that draw all of their flair, excitement, intrigue and depth from how they choose to approach their subjects. Here, Tavernier structures his film as a lecture. There, those documentaries are art. The final product of Tavernier's work is a passionate study of French cinema, but one that cannot hold appeal for those unfamiliar with "Le Grande Illusion," "Army of Shadows" or "Breathless."

Tavernier does a tour de force as he introduces us to all aspects of French cinema. He focuses on directors, of course, but also the music and composers, cinematography, the entire milieux. From Becker to Melville and back. I have been given a boost as to what I can study and explore.

I thought that I had seen a lot of French films, but now after having gone on this journey with Bernard Tavernier, I realize that I have missed many more! This documentary should be required viewing for film students and basically anyone who appreciates world cinema and/or French culture and language.

Incredibly interesting, informative and strangely intimate. Merci beaucoup, Bernard, mon ami!

Sure looks and sounds like Tavernier took this trip with Tarantino as his constant companion, huh? In other words we spend way too much time in the crime/noir room of the Gallic movie mansion. I mean, I don't mind that certain of my favorite directors, like Malle and Truffaut, are given extremely short shrift. That's bound to happen whenever your personal list is put alongside someone else's. But not to balance Jean Gabin with, say, Simone Signoret or Danielle Darrieux or Jeanne Moreau but rather pairing him in the actor category with Eddie Friggin Constantine is to let one's love of one particular genre, to mention nothing of one's sexism, overwhelm one's good sense. And did you notice the lack of humor or whimsy in Tavernier's selections? Not a comedy or a musical to be seen anywhere in this guy's dark field of vision. Again, Tati and Demy are not my favorite French film makers but shouldn't they at least be mentioned somewhere along this particular excursion?

We now come to the "however" part of my review or: Why I Give It A 7 'Stead of a 6? First off, I learned a lot. Got a new appreciation of film makers like Becker and Sautet as well as a crash course in the superiority of French movie music scoring of the 1930s/40s versus that of Hollywood. Second, I enjoyed Tavernier's ability to admire a director without undue hagiography as in his affectionate but clear eyed portrait of Melville, in my opinion the best part of the documentary. And finally there is no denying that Tavernier is a most engaging guide, by turns relaxed, intense, self deprecating and always generous and warm in his assessments. Give it a B minus.