All right, film gurus, I've decided it's time for me to delve into these two catalogs, but wanted a few suggestions on where I might start. Of Godard's I've seen parts of Weekend and Alphaville, both of which looked to be right up my alley.
I'm completely new to Truffaut, so I figured The 400 Blows would be as good a place as any to set off on.
But I suppose my main concern is that both these guys have so many films that I don't want to miss out on any of the smaller, "in-between" films that aren't necessarily viewed as hands-down classics. Anyway, I'm sure some of you have some strange favorites and I'd love to hear about them.

~DC~

For Godard, I'm a fan of Band of Outsiders and Breathless. Now, those certainly aren't "small" or "hidden", but if you haven't seen them, why not start with the cream?

I'm weird because I enjoy Truffaut much more. You can watch any of his, but I'll mention two Hitchcockian flicks, The Bride Wore Black and Confidentially Yours, as well as The Wild Child, Day For Night and Two English Girls. That doesn't mean I don't recommend the others. I do!

I don't have a lot of time, but you can research these or ask specific questions, and after this hectic weekend of my daughter's birthday, I'll try to get back to you. Besides, I'm sure others will be commenting soon.

Welcome to the site, and post away!

Thanks for the suggestions, Mark. I'm gonna take your list to my local video store tonight and see what I can dig up.

I love Truffaut and don't like Godard.

What is odd about Truffaut is that his first three films are all rightly considered classics and are considered his three best. Those would be his autobiographical 400 BLOWS, SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER and JULES & JIM, with the new wave icon Jeanne Moreau at her peak.

As far as the pompous and pretentious Godard goes, anything after 1970 is pretty much useless. After a very productive decade of the 1960s he stopped making feature films with conventional narratives and moved into avant-garde videos. The stuff is unwatchable, but I give you that second hand because I've only heard about it. I haven't seen any of it. At some point he started making feature films again, but most have been pretentious bores and I haven't bothered to see any.

I agree that BREATHLESS and BAND OF OUTSIDERS are probably his two best films. In fact, as an homage, Quentin Tarantino's production company is named after the latter film. WEEKEND is another one you may want to check out. It is considered a classic, but I viewed it a couple of times and haven't been able to warm up to it.

quote:

Originally posted by Cantos:
Of Godard's I've seen parts of Weekend and Alphaville, both of which looked to be right up my alley.
I'm completely new to Truffaut, so I figured The 400 Blows would be as good a place as any to set off on.
~DC~

Looks like I might be the only one to prefer Godard over Truffaut. Alphaville. I don't know what it is about that film, but it does it for me. Something about how it's supposed to be all sci-fi, but everybody's really just pretending. There are no fancy props to show how advanced everything is. Just pretending. Like the execution scene in the swimming pool.

As for Truffaut, I'm kinda lukewarm. I mean yeah, he's the man. I liked Stolen Kisses quite a bit.

I'm quite sure it's cooler to like Godard more than Truffaut, but I like Truffaut's humanity. I find Godard too damn cold. However, unlike Chris, I keep watching his films to see what I may be missing.

Hey! I'm glad to see you posting in the Movies Forum! Why didn't you start sooner?