Frédéric Maire

Head of Cinémathèque Suisse
Switzerland

Voted for

FilmYearDirector
Partie de campagne1936Jean Renoir
The Searchers1956John Ford
PALOMBELLA ROSSA1989Nanni Moretti
Sauve qui peut (la vie)1979Jean-Luc Godard
Roma1972Federico Fellini
La Nuit américaine1973François Truffaut
Die Ehe der Maria Braun1978Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Tokyo Story1953Yasujirō Ozu
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans1927F.W. Murnau
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort1967Jacques Demy

Comments

Partie de campagne

1936 France

Even unfinished, this film is for me the absolute quintessence of Renoir's cinema, a dark tale about love (and abuse!), still so strong and modern.

The Searchers

1956 USA

The perfect western; and the unforgettable last shot… 

PALOMBELLA ROSSA

1989 Italy, France

The funniest comedy about politics (at least in Italian), film, journalism and, of course, water polo. For me Moretti is really one of the best Italian directors ever.

Sauve qui peut (la vie)

1979 France, Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland, Austria

The film that marked Godard's return to features after a long period of doing videos. Shot and produced in Switzerland, this is a film about (man)power, money, desire, violence, love… I saw this film every day for a week when it was released. Full of drama and emotion. And I had the feeling that Godard was re-inventing filmmaking, using video effects, jump cuts, music and so on.

Roma

1972 Italy, France

Something between an omnibus and a (fake) documentary about his favourite city, Fellini's Roma is for me a fantastic essay which mixes Italian history, his own biography, the city and its relationship with cinema. For me this is the most essential of Fellini's films, bringing together most of his ideas (so far). A great poem.

La Nuit américaine

1973 France, Italy

If you don't like La nuit américaine (Day for Night), you don't like cinema. This fiction film shows what it is to make films – in a romantic fashion, of course, but is the one that drew me to work in this field.

Die Ehe der Maria Braun

1978 Federal Republic of Germany

One of the best Fassbinder films, and for me the most moving and strong. A woman's destiny through the war and after, which shows in a very profound way what the dramas of the war were for Germans (especially women), and how dramatic is the new Germany that is coming, built upon the ashes of the Nazism.

Tokyo Story

1953 Japan

Most of Ozu's movies are masterpieces. But this one is so simple, so profoundly sad… In a way, as in Fassbinder's Maria Braun, it is also the story of a dying past (after the war) and how the youngsters build a new life which obliterates the past. Ozu's long (and low) shots are amazing and his actors are incredible.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

1927 USA

Murnau is an absolute genius of images and his first American picture is probably the most beautiful and moving silent film and the most moving love drama ever made.

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

1967 France

If I have to choose a single film to take to a desert island, it would be this one: it's the most joyful and colourful film I've ever seen. In French I would write "un chassé-croisé en-chanté". Somehow dark, bizarre, full of suspense, this fantastic musical comedy is at the same time a tribute to the golden era of musicals by Busby Berkeley, Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donen, and a very smart nouvelle vague vision of society. And in the end, most of Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand's songs are unforgettable.

Further remarks

Well, so many other films left…