Positif 50 Years

by Ciment, Michel; Kardish, Laurence

• ISBN13: 9780870706882
• ISBN10: 0870706888
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-01
• Publisher: Distributed Art Pub Inc

Summary

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary and the 500th issue of the French film journal Positif--voila! What could satisfy the cinephile more than an anthology, in English, of the very best Positifarticles from the last five decades? A preeminent film magazine since its inception, the monthly Positifhas always been at the forefront of critical thought, discerning trends in cinema as they are happening. With over 40 articles covering some of the most notable films of the past 50 years, this compendium reveals how the magazine accomplished that very feat throughout its existence. Read Bernard ChardAre on Luis Bunuel's Los Olvidados, Paul-Louis Thirard on Maurice Burnan, Robert Benayoun on Frederico Fellini, and other critics on flicks from The African Queenand Hiroshima mon Amourto Reservoir Dogsand Fanny and Alexander. With an introduction by Michel Ciment, the editor of the magazine, and articles by distinguished critics and practitioners, this compilation pays tribute to both the importance of films and the lasting value of Positif.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	6	(3)
Laurence Kardish
For Your Pleasure: A Brief Overview of Fifty Years of Positif	9	(6)
Michel Ciment
1950s
Why We Are Going to Fight	15	(2)
Bernard Chardere
The African Queen (John Huston)	17	(6)
Jacques Demeure
Michel Subiela
Robert Hamer's Kind Hearts and Coronets	23	(4)
Bernard Chardere
The Early Films of Maurice Burnan	27	(4)
Paul Louis Thirard
The Advent of Robert Aldrich	31	(12)
Roger Tailleur
Kanal (They Loved Life) (Andrzej Wajda)	43	(6)
Ado Kyrou
1960s
Hiroshima, mon amour (Alain Resnais)	49	(10)
Bernard Pingaud
Time without Pity (Joseph Losey)	59	(4)
Bernard Tavernier
Horror Pictures	63	(10)
Jean-Paul Torok
Cleo: From Here to Eternity (Agnes Varda)	73	(10)
Roger Tailleur
Jerry Lewis: Man of the Year	83	(10)
Robert Benayoun
The Periphery of Dreams: Luis Bunuel's Belle de Jour	93	(8)
Louis Seguin
Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski)	101	(6)
Michel Perez
1970s
The Sorrow and the Pity (Marcel Ophuls)	107	(4)
Paul Louis Thirard
Federico Fellini after The Clowns	111	(6)
Frederic Vitoux
Verismo and Crime News: The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle)	117	(6)
Michel Perez
Circular Misadventures: Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange	123	(6)
Jean-Loup Bourget
The Mattei Affair (Francesco Rosi)	129	(6)
Michel Ciment
Little Red Clown: Sleuth by Joseph L. Mankiewicz	135	(8)
Alain Garsautl
The Suburbs . . . Did You Say the Suburbs... Vincent, Francois, Paul, and the Others (Claude Sautet)	143	(6)
Michel Sineux
California Split (Robert Altman)	149	(6)
Michael Henry
From Xanadu to Ibiza (and back): F for Fake (Orson Welles)	155	(6)
Gerard Legrand
Let Joy Reign Supreme (Bertrand Tavernier)	161	(6)
Jacques Demeure
The Passion of St. Martin Scorsese	167	(8)
Michael Henry
The Spiral of the Absolute: In the Realm of the Senses (Nagisa Oshima)	175	(2)
Robert Benayoun
The Vampire's Kiss (about Rainer Werner Fassbinder)	177	(8)
Jacques Segond
American Detour: On the Trail of Wim Wenders	185	(10)
Petr Kral
Terrence Malick's Garden: Days of Heaven	195	(8)
Michel Ciment
1980s
The Sword and the Barren Land: Excalibur (John Boorman)	203	(2)
Jean-Philippe Domecq
Third Dive Into the Ocean: Andrei Tarkovsky's The Stalker	205	(12)
Emmanuel Carrere
A Calmer Ingmar: Fanny and Alexander	217	(6)
Jean-Pierre Jeancolas
Hermes and Delilah: Peter Greenaway's Drowning by Numbers	223	(4)
Alain Masson
Window on China: City of Sadness (Hou Hsaio-hsien)	227	(4)
Yann Tobin
Two or Three Things about Van Gogh (Maurice Pialat)	231	(2)
Olivier Kohn
A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)	233	(4)
Thomas Bourguignon
The Piano (Jane Campion)	237	(6)
Thomas Bourguignon
Immersed in Passion: Three Colors: Blue, White, Red (Krzysztof Kieslowski)	243	(4)
Vincent Amiel
Ed Wood: Unshielded Innocence (Tim Burton)	247	(6)
Jean-Pierre Coursodon
Retake: The Films of Abbas Kiarostami	253	(6)
Stephane Goudet
The Paradox of Melodrama: Secrets and Lies (Mike Leigh)	259	(4)
Noel Herpe
Blood on the Snow: Fargo (Joel and Ethan Coen)	263	(4)
Alain Masson
Lost Highway: Dick Laurent is dead! (David Lynch)	267	(2)
Philippe Rouyer
Time as Image: Tales of Four Seasons (Eric Rohmer)	269	(6)
Noel Herpe
Reflections on Time Regained (Raul Ruiz)	275	(12)
Guy Scarpetta
Trustees of The Museum of Modern Art	287