LFF 2016 PREVIEW: JOURNEY THROUGH FRENCH CINEMA

'An ingenious mix of the personal and the historical'

Joan Dupont, Film Comment

'A shining example of what appears to be a growing genre: the documentary examination and celebration of the art of narrative cinema'

Kent Jones, Film Comment

'Essential viewing for cinephiles and Francophiles alike'

Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

Clocking in at 3 hours and 15 minutes, the second-longest of my 2016 LFF films (on the whole, an uncommonly brief bunch), Bertrand Tavernier presents Journey Through French Cinema. It's sure to be a real treat, watching a master of the medium reflect on the culture which inspired him, to which he himself has contributed enormously, and which has proven such a vast influence on my own appreciation of the medium. And critics seem to agree that the film is a treat indeed, having praised the film since its premiere at Cannes this year. I look forward to spending a few hours with Tavernier and French film, and also to the planned second part of this proposed double feature of docs from the great director.

LFF 2016 PREVIEW: THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV

'This is Serra's best film'

Kent Jones, Film Comment

'Albert Serra's amazing The Death of Louis XIV is that rare film which is beloved both by the most hardcore cinephiles, and the general public'

Nina Menkes, Filmmaker

'Much as certain novels can be described as page-turners, this film is incontestably a frame-turner'

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Film Comment

Any good film fan would do well to schedule some Albert Serra into their festival programmes, should they get the chance. The Catalan director's first film since 2013's Locarno Golden Leopard winner Story of My Death, The Death of Louis XIV has attracted arguably the best reviews of his career to date, a career that's seeing Serra's star rise with each new feature. Premiering at Cannes in May, and embarking on a hefty and award-winning festival run through the summer and autumn, it'll arrive at LFF next month, where it naturally ranked highly indeed on my list of must-see titles. Easily one of my most-anticipated films of the year.

LFF 2016 PREVIEW: TONI ERDMANN

A narrative feature that's as potent as one could hope to find in contemporary cinema

Jordan Cronk, Reverse Shot

A work of great beauty, great feeling and great cinema

Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Toni Erdmann is filled with grand comic inventions, and it encompasses so many strands of experience that it eats the material of several decades of movies for breakfast

Kent Jones, Film Comment

No film set the Croisette alight this May quite like Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann. Building upon the acclaim for her first two features, the 2-hour 42-minute German comedy was the toast of Cannes, drawing in unanimous praise from critics, and even recording the highest score in the history of Screen International's Critics Poll. It won the FIPRESCI prize at the festival, before progressing to the FIPRESCI Grand Prix for 2015-16. It marks a must-see for all cinephiles offered the chance, which, for me, will first arrive at the London Film Festival in October. Release dates, indicating Oscar hopes, are on their way: Christmas Day stateside and the 3rd of February in the UK.

REVIEW - HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT (KENT JONES)

When an old text, set for adaptation to the screen, has maintained its relevance, its vitality, its healthy stock of inspiration over the years since its creation, the temptation is often to produce a dry, straightforward adaptation. Not so with Hitchcock/Truffaut, a film already suffused with the history of cinema, and intent upon dwelling on that past only as tribute, and as its own source of inspiration for the future. A discussion between two of the all-time great filmmakers was enough for Francois Truffaut's book, and enough for today's filmmakers, who appear here in impressive number to proffer their interpretations of it. Their contributions are enough for director Kent Jones, when added to the material from the book, thereby securing the theory established by Truffaut and his brethren that Alfred Hitchcock's mastery was unrivalled, his influence undying. Hitchcock/Truffaut the film is thus immensely engrossing, expounding upon the technique of the former director in a level of detail that the book could never hope to achieve (and with yet further analysis, courtesy of informed voices like Olivier Assayas, David Fincher and Kurosawa Kiyoshi), and too upon the technique of the latter. Jones appreciates both the essentiality of his source text and the inadequacy of it through a dry, straightforward adaptation - in commenting upon both its contents and its creation, he creates his own text for tomorrow's crop of cinephiles. Not only enlightening, Hitchcock/Truffaut is also most entertaining, as editor Rachel Reichman selects the choicest cuts from Hitchcock's back catalogue, shaping a new work out of old ones, both for analytical and pleasurable purposes. This year, Hitchcock/Truffaut turns 50; here's to 50 years from now, and the ever-enduring legacy of true genius.