Grand Illusions: French Cinema Classics, 1928–1960

A common canard of film history is that the French New Wave of the late 1950s swept aside the French cinema that had come before it, replacing a staid “tradition of quality” with a new, breathless energy. But even for Truffaut, Godard, and their Cahiers du cinéma brethren, the history of film in France, from the passionate poetry of Jean Vigo to the magisterial ironies of Max Ophuls, was an essential source of inspiration. This major series, presented in conjunction with New York’s Film Forum, surveys… Show more that history from the end of the silent era to the beginning of the sixties. Spanning four months and dozens of films—including both beloved classics and rarities, many in imported 35mm prints—Grand Illusions builds on our long tradition of exploring this most influential and enduring of national cinemas.

Juliet Clark

Oct. 9: The Italian Straw Hat
Oct. 13: Under the Roofs of Paris & Les grandes manoeuvres
Oct. 16: Le million
Oct. 19: À nous la liberté
Oct. 26: Remorques & Lumière d’été
Oct. 28: Le ciel est à vous
Nov. 3: L’étrange Monsieur Victor
Nov. 4: La bête humaine
Nov. 9: Children of Paradise
Nov. 10: Grand Illusion & The Story of a Cheat
Nov. 11: Toni
Nov. 17: The Rules of the Game
Nov. 23: Marius & Fanny
Nov. 24: César & Beauty and the Beast
Nov. 25: Douce & Such a Pretty Little Beach
Nov. 27: Orpheus
Dec. 2: L’Atalante
Dec. 6: Crime and Punishment
Dec. 7: Port of Shadows
Dec. 9: Eyes Without a Face & Carnival in Flanders

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