SCFZ

Polling the films of director Alain Resnais

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Resnais films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: greg x, rischka, dt, silga, kanafani, brian d, greennui, ofrene, mesnalty, john ryan, roscoe, evelyn, thoxans, bure, oscarwerner, arkheia, caracortada, karl, umbugbene, st gloede, augusto

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

Mon Oncle d'Amerique
Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime
Last Year at Marienbad
Hiroshima mon Amour

seen eight

seen 12

unordered list

Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
Love Unto Death (Alain Resnais, 1984)
"Toute la memoire du monde" (Alain Resnais, 1956)

seen 25

stavisky
je t’aime, je t’aime
last year at marienbad
mon oncle d’amerique
providence

Seen seven

Muriel
Melo
Last Year at Marienbad

Seen 22:

1. Last Year at Marienbad
2. La vie est un roman (aka Life Is a Bed or Roses)
3. Toute la mémoire du monde
4. Wild Grass
5. Je t'aime, je t'aime

Every time I watch Hiroshima mon amour I think "This time I'll love it." Maybe the next viewing will convince me.

01. Muriel (1963)
02. Love Unto Death (1984)
03. Wild Grass (2009)

Resnais seen: 7

Seen 10.

Hiroshima mon Amour
Mon Oncle d'Amerique
Muriel

seen 9

muriel
providence
last year at marienbad
night and fog

Seen 24

Mélo
Muriel, or the Time of Return
All the World’s Memory
Private Fears in Public Places
Last Year at Marienbad

wba - you can pick our next director if you want!

Seen 7

1- Last year at Marienbad
2- Providence
3- Hiroshima mon amour

Seen 5.

1. Toute la mémoire du monde

Seen 13:

1. Last Year at Marienbad
2. Muriel
3. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
4. Providence
5. Hiroshima mon amour

Seen 4.

1. Stavisky
2. Hiroshima Mon Amour

wild grass
melo
stavisky
love unto death
you ain't seen nothin' yet

hiroshima mon amour
private fears in public places

*seen five (not a big fan of last year at marienbad tbh. i mean, i can appreciate it, but i just can't bring myself to like it. all feels cold and dead to me)
**seen like the first thirty minutes of melo years ago, and i was entranced, but then never got to finish it, and have been left waiting and wanting ever since

Seen 13.
1. Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
2. Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
3. Night and Fog (1955)
4. Mon oncle d'Amerique (1980)
5. Providence (1977)

flip wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2019 12:04 pm wba - you can pick our next director if you want!

I choose Käutner. If that doesn't work, then Raoul Walsh would be my second choice.

walsh will definitely work, but let's check on kautner - i know he has quite a few fans here, but i don't know if that means people have seen 8+ of his films. so if anyone has seen 8+ kautner, please post here!

Love Käutner but yeah, I've only seen 5.

i've seen 7 kautner

Seen 20. Love him.

1. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
2. Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime
3. Mon Oncle d'Amerique
4. All the World's Memory
5. Melo

Seen 10. He's the (literal) best. I have regular fantasies about re-watching his films and discovering new ones we didn't know existed yet.

1. Hiroshima Mon Amour
2. Last Year at Marienbad
3. Mon Oncle D'Amerique
4. Je t'aime je t'aime
5. Life of Riley

watched 11. Director who admire more than like..

1. Smoking / No Smoking

Last Year at Marienbad
Hiroshima Mon Amour
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
Love Unto Death

wild grass
melo
muriel
you ain't seen nothin' yet
mon oncle d'amérique

Seen 7 (5 features) from Resnais
1 Night and Fog
2. Last Year at Marienbad

It appears I've not seen anything from Kautner. I don't use Letterboxd or IMDb, and there's no list on I Check Movies, so, there's really no easy way for me to find out.

kautner doesn't seem to have enough views for a good poll, so i'm going with the fallback option, raoul walsh!

predictable top two at least, i have a feeling if the poll had been restricted to resnais completists, things might look different, or at least there were several later resnais films that got a lot of support. and it's because there was one unranked four-film ballot that some films got half-votes:

results

1. Last Year at Marienbad (1961) -- 38.5 pts
2. Hiroshima mon Amour (1959) -- 23.5 pts
3. Muriel (1963) -- 22 pts
4. Mon Oncle d'Amerique (1980) -- 17 pts
5. Melo (1986) -- 16 pts
6. Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime (1968) -- 14 pts
7. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (2012) -- 13 pts
7. Wild Grass (2009) -- 13 pts
9. Toute la Memoire du Monde (1956) -- 11.5 pts
10. Stavisky (1974) -- 10 pts
11. Providence (1977) -- 9 pts
12. Love Unto Death (1984) -- 7.5 pts
13. Night and Fog (1955) -- 6 pts
14. Smoking / No Smoking (1993) -- 5 pts
15. La Vie est un Roman (1983) -- 4 pts
16. Private Fears in Public Places (2006) -- 3 pts
17. Life of Riley (2014) -- 1 pt

yeah except for melo this is a sad top five