Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980)

An examination of sexual relationships, in which three protagonists interact in different combinations.

From memory: Godard's 'return' to mainstream cinema, if you dare call it that, reveals a new, sovereign handling of image, sound, music and editing; the result is a complex, irritating, but likewise fascinating work of art.

Halliwell*: "Godard's return to more commercial cinema is intermittently interesting, but lacks the challenge and playfulness of his best work."

Maltin**1/2: "Self-conscious account...Godard's "comeback" film was widely overrated, and certainly can't compare with his best work of the past."

At Eternity's Gate (2018)

A look at the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.

Intense. captivating and thorough analysis  of the artist's personality and art; Willem Dafoe's extraordinary performance makes it even more convincing.

Birth (2004)

A young boy attempts to convince a woman that he is her dead husband reborn.

Unusual drama insinuating or rather imagining the possibility of reincarnation skillfully holds its protagonists - and the audience - in a suspended, disquieting state of doubt and belief. 

Maltin***: "Eerie, riveting drama is remarkably effective in building and sustaining a mood of unease - and uncertainty."

Un Amour de Swann (1984)

When the elegant and educated bachelor Charles Swann falls in love with a courtesan, his friends in the most powerful and fashionable circles of Paris in the 1890's warn him against marriage.

Well produced with top credentials in all departments, the result is a unloving, coldly calculated adaptation of Proust's story; alone Hans Werner Henze's excellent score gives an impression of what this movie could have been.

Halliwell**: "Reasonably successful attempt to film part of an unfilmable book. Comparisons with Letter From an Unknown Woman are inevitable."

Maltin**1/2: "Lavish but lifeless telescoping of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past with Irons surprisingly stiff...Redeemed somewhat by the latter [Ornella Muti] and Delon (as a homosexual baron), a sexy under-the-covers scene, and Sven Nykvist photography. "

A gathering

A gathering in Los Angeles, 1972: (from left to right standing) Robert Mulligan, William Wyler, George Cukor, Robert Wise, Jean-Claude Carrière, Serge Silberman;
(seated) Billy Wilder, George Stevens, Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock, Rouben Mamoulian.