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In the Cinéma Club of… Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson needs no introduction. The filmmaker – one of the most influential American auteurs – has invented so many memorable characters and stories, and has such a strong signature that he has created his own world through cinema: Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Raised in Texas, young Wes Anderson was already making silent films on his father’s Super 8 camera when he was eight years old, and while studying philosophy in university, worked part-time as a projectionist in a movie theater.

 

One of the great filmmakers and cinephiles shares with us five films he loves.

THE TENANT, Roman Polanski, 1976

I'm not sure which language it's best to watch this in. Adjani speaks French. Shelley Winters and Melvyn Douglas are American. Polanski is Polish, but I expect he can play the part in any tongue. One of my favorites, one of this master's best.

NIGHT TRAIN, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1959

Another Polish film. Part of a series of films newly restored with the participation of The Film Foundation/Scorsese. Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz who also made other great films: Mother Joan of the Angels and Pharaoh (a spectacular Egyptian story shot partly in Uzbekistan).

WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD, William A. Wellman, 1933

Three Pre-Code masterpieces by three great directors: William Wellman, Mervyn LeRoy and Clarence Brown. It took 30 years for movies to get this wild again.

THREE ON A MATCH, Mervyn LeRoy, 1932

SADIE MCKEE, Clarence Brown, 1934