Weird editing

Haven't seen Quai des Orfèvres, and would like to see La Prisonnière. Chabrol can be obtuse, maybe, but it doesn't bother me really. In general I tend to perceive his films as simple on the outside, complex underneath the surface, a bit like Hitchcock really (a cliché comparison, I know, and in many ways only superficially appropriate). On the other hand, I find Clouzot's pessimism (from what I've seen) a tad tiresome, heavy-handed, too one-sided and Chabrol's films in general more subtle, sharp, warm and perceptive ... Perverse? Yes, definitely, but deliciously so! Chabrol is one of the few directors who can actually make me laugh out loud, and more often than sometimes. Chabrol and Bunuel are the funniest directors for me.

My favourite films by Chabrol are probably Le Boucher and La Cérémonie, but I also love Au Coeur Du Mensonge, Rien Ne Va Plus, Merci Pour Le Chocolat, Bellamy, La Fleur Du Mal, Une Affaire De Femmes, Violette Nozière, Betty, L'Enfer, ... I obviously have a soft spot for late period Chabrol, even though I only started to like his films through the older, more reverred ones (La Femme Infidèle, Que La Bete Meure, Juste Avant La Nuit, etc.) I still like those a lot, but I keep coming back to the later ones. I find them extremely entertaining, and still, every time I revisit one of them, they've become richer, despite them being so economical. Still haven't seen Le Beau Serge, nor Les Bonnes Femmes (apparently a half-forgotten masterpiece.)

Les Biches and La Rupture are no personal favourites of mine, even though I liked them, but I've only seen them once, and tend to like Chabrols films more when rewatching. Une Partie De Plaisir is very, very bleak and harrowing, and too long, but I very much liked it nevertheless. I can definitely understand people hating it, though. Often cited as very weak efforts, I still liked Nada a lot, and adored Au Coeur Du Mensonge, which actually made me cry.

"My film snobbery means I distain people that have 'correct' or generic choices as favourites. Any film fan is going to have a mix of classic and idiosyncratic choices." Let's see:

Other directors I love are Bunuel, Hitchcock, Polanski, Zvyagintsev, Denis, Martel, Melville, Bresson, Rohmer, Ozon, Lynch, Weerasethakul, Dardennes, ... Only recently discovering Altman and Godard, and starting to love 'em. Some random favourite movies from other directors: La Jetée (film of films), The Conversation, Il Posto, The Shout, L'Eclisse, Day Of Wrath, Spirit Of The Beehive, Meshes Of The Afternoon, Street Of Crocodiles, Sherlock Jr, ... More recent favourites: Elena, L'Inconnu Du Lac, Under The Skin, A Most Violent Year, Two Lovers, Les Salauds, Neighbouring Sounds, ... Directors I feel I should maybe get to know better: Ozu, Resnais, Renoir, Ruiz, Jarman, Sirk, Ford, Cassavettes, Rossellini, Lang, Wilder, Fellini, Almodovar, Allen, Peckinpah, Ray, Lean, Ophuls, Powell, Davies, ... Directors whose films I tend to enjoy less than many other cinephiles seem to: Kubrick, Nolan, Loach, Leigh, Tarantino, Mendes, Fincher, Scorsese, Del Toro, Spielberg, Eastwood, Villeneuve, both Andersons, Malick, Kar-Wai, Jackson, ...

My apologies for rambling on. When I get started on cinema, people tend to look for cover ...