What better way to close out the season than a series of films by Jacques Rozier, the “chronicler of summer”?* Presented by the American Cinematheque, this retrospective of 4K restorations includes all five features by the filmmaker whose 1957 short, Blue Jeans, helped launch the French New Wave. His feature debut, ADIEU PHILIPPINE (1962), which premiered at the movement’s apex, inspired François Truffaut to write: “[It conveys] something of genius in the balance between the insignificance of the events filmed and the density of reality that confers sufficient importance on them to fascinate us.” Jean-Luc Godard noted that it was “quite simply the best French film of recent years,” and Cahiers du cinéma featured a still on its cover. The story of a would-be triangle between a cameraman’s assistant and two actresses, the film captured the new attitudes and themes reflecting the youthquake of the times.
However, nearly a decade—and the revolutions of 1968—would pass before Rozier made a second feature, NEAR OROUET (1971), a seemingly breezy account of a seaside vacation that once again demonstrated the director’s unique take on subjectivity and cinematic temporality. Over the next thirty years, he would release only three more films (he also worked extensively in television) and eventually came to admit that he “may not be so close to the New Wave.” Nevertheless, following the deaths of Agnès Varda (1928–2019) and Jean-Luc Godard (1930–2022), Rozier (1926–2023) was the last surviving member of French cinema’s most legendary club.
All JACQUES ROZIER — AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE screenings will take place at the Los Feliz 3. See info and links below for details.
JACQUES ROZIER — AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE
ADIEU PHILIPPINE
Saturday, August 31, at 1 pm
americancinematheque.com/adieu-philippine
NEAR OROUET
Tuesday, September 3, at 7 pm
americancinematheque.com/near-orouet
THE CASTAWAYS OF TURTLE ISLAND
Saturday, September 7, at 4 pm
americancinematheque.com/the-castaways-of-turtle-island
MAINE-OCÉAN EXPRESS
Sunday, September 8, at 7 pm
americancinematheque.com/maine-ocean-express
FIFI MARTINGALE
Wednesday, September 11, at 7 pm
americancinematheque.com/fifi-martingale
Los Feliz 3
1822 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles
americancinematheque.com/jacques-rozier-an-american-cinematheque-retrospective
*The Film at Lincoln Center iteration of the retrospective was titled Jacques Rozier: Chronicler of Summer.
Jacques Rozier, from top: Jean-Claude Aimini and Yveline Céry in Adieu Philippine (1962); scene from Du côte d’orouët / Near Orouet (1971); Françoise Guégan, Danièle Croisy, and Caroline Cartier in Near Orouet ; scene from Les naufragés de l’île de la Tortue / The Castaways of Turtle Island (1976); Lydia Feld (left) and Rosa Maria Gomes in Maine-Océan / Maine-Océan Express (1986); and scene from Fifi Martingale (2001).
Images courtesy and © Janus Films and mk2.
