1. Tiger and dragon
By Ang Lee, 2000. Duration: 2 hours. Adults and older teens.
Summary : Formerly, in China, the possession of a magic sword made confront a master of the martial arts, a virtuous fighter, and a young noblewoman.
Our opinion : The story, taken from a Chinese novel, is pleasant to follow thanks to the varied adventures, and despite a historical-legendary background that is a little impenetrable but which leads to dreams. It’s a heroic feminine gesture, handled by Ang Lee with an artistry that puts her far above ordinary karate films. The battles take place in three dimensions, from the ground to the roofs of houses or from the roots to the tops of trees, in assaults that owe nothing to brawls and everything to dancing. It’s dizzying, funny, euphoric; without counting the beauty of the plans, where decorations, costumes and characters make admirable harmonies.
2. Monte Cristo
By Henri Fescourt, 1929. Duration: 3h43. Adults and teenagers.
Summary : Back in Marseilles after a long cruise, Edmond Dantès runs to join Mercedes. But he is denounced as a Bonapartist plotter and arrested on the evening of his engagement. Sent to the prison of the Château d’If, he discovers a strange companion in captivity, Father Faria, who reveals to him the location of a colossal treasure.
Our opinion : Of the hundred adaptations of Monte-Cristo existing to date, this one is one of the most beautiful. And one of the most precious, because this silent film from 1929 was reputedly lost since the 1930s, and it took a long search and restoration work to arrive at this result. With the elegant original music by Marc-Olivier Dupin and the restitution of the colored backgrounds as they were done at the time, it regains its splendor, that of a large spectacular production, magnificent in ambition and care for detail. The vision requires, of course, a little effort (three hours and twenty hours of projection in two sessions) but we are largely paid for it.
3. King Solomon’s Mines
By Andrew Marton, 1950. Duration: 1h43. For all.
Summary : 1897. Together with her brother, Elizabeth Curtis searches for her husband, a reckless explorer who disappeared in an unexplored region of Africa, where he hoped to find King Solomon’s fabulous diamonds. She hires the guide Allan Quatermain to lead her through these hostile lands…
Our opinion : We will never get tired of this very beautiful adventure film. The British Compton Bennett has achieved the double feat of offering a captivating plot and an astonishing documentary on African wildlife. Deborah Kerr – always dapper despite the thousand and one annoyances she undergoes – and Stewart Granger form a formidable duo.
4. Around the world in 80 days
By Michael Anderson, 1956. Duration: 2h55. For all.
Summary : One evening in 1872, the honorable Phileas Fogg left London in the company of his servant Passe-Partout: he bet with the members of his club that he would go around the world in eighty days…
Our opinion : Faithful to the spirit of Jules Verne’s adventure novel, this blockbuster, although inevitably a little outdated, offers a sumptuous spectacle, which claimed one hundred and forty studios, sixty-five thousand extras, eight thousand animals, and, last but not least, the participation of some forty stars, whom we have fun identifying as we go along. Clues ? Among them, you should recognize Marlene Dietrich, Peter Lorre, Martine Carol, Fernandel, Frank Sinatra or even Buster Keaton (as a train driver).
5. The Adventures of Robin Hood
By William Keighley, 1938. Duration: 1h42. For all.
Summary : While Prince John, helped by his right arm, the infamous Guy de Gisbourne, reigns over England, Robin de Loxley proclaims his loyalty to Richard the Lionheart, held prisoner in Austria. Robin, who is now called Robin Hood, has formed a band of outlaws with a few brave men…
Our opinion : Among the many versions that have been filmed, this one remains unequaled, combining a set of talents such as Hollywood has rarely known the like. Interpretation, staging, music, photography, Technicolor are here at the point of perfection of the great era of adventure film. As for Flynn, he knew how to give life to Ben Johnson’s hero so well that he made his predecessor, the nevertheless prestigious Douglas Fairbank, forgotten, and his name, in the legend of the 7th art, and remains forever inseparable from that of Robin Hood.
6. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
By John Huston, 1948. Duration: 2h06. Adults and teenagers.
Summary : Mexico, 1925. Two Americans, Dobbs and Curtin, work on a construction site whose chief leaves with the pay. The thief is caught and the two men get their money back. They team up with an old gold digger, Howard, to try their luck in the Sierra Madre. The surveys are exhausting, except for Howard who shows a surprising vitality. When Dobbs wants to give up, Howard announces that there are masses of gold under their feet.
Our opinion : Huston’s most famous film along with The Maltese Falcon. The reasons for this favor are obvious: realism, authenticity (notably by Mexican actors), the absence of Hollywood “glamor” and, for that matter, of any female heroine, could only attract interest. But more than that, there’s the subtle theatrical construction, dominated by the very Houstonian theme of failure, which adds a luscious flavor to the original story. Because we cannot speak of pessimism in the face of the derisory end of the film, but of good moral – even spiritual – health, since basically, there is nothing better to do than to laugh at the vagaries of life, and oneself. Whoever remembers that Huston is of Irish descent will come as no surprise.
7. The hussar on the roof
By Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1995. Duration: 2h16. Adults and older teens.
Summary : Aix-en-Provence, 1832. Angelo Pardi, a young Italian patriot, flees from killers hired by Austria. But in the Provence that he crosses, village after village, there is death everywhere. The cholera epidemic is raging and Angelo spends treasures of courage and abnegation to help the unfortunate. One day, he finds refuge with a young woman, Pauline, looking for her husband. He will help her make the perilous journey to Manosque. Young people will fall in love.
Our opinion : Giono’s abundant novel has become, under Rappeneau’s camera, a magnificent film, very worthy of its model despite the inevitable cuts. Keeping all that the text possessed of being naturally cinematographic, the film is a feast of images, exhilarating or distressing (cholera), which together form a hymn to chivalrous youth, strong in the amorous passion that leads it, but capable, out of nobility, to convert it into esteem and respect. Only the very end, contrary to the novel and of mediocre sentimentality, clashes in this splendid film.
8. The Great Escape
By John Sturges, 1963. Duration: 2h52. Adults and teenagers.
Summary : The Germans gathered in the Stalag “Luft North”, the Allied prisoners of war who had escaped again. From the first day, Major Ramsey gathers together a few men and meticulously prepares with them the escape of hundreds of their comrades. For days and days, the camp lives, in secret, at the time of the anxious but determined preparation for this “great escape”.
Our opinion : Spectacular and thrilling film, brilliantly performed and exalting the virtues of heroism, perseverance, dedication and camaraderie. Note, in a set normally visible to the youngest, some impressive scenes.
9. Bear
By Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1988. Duration: 1h34. For all.
Summary : Inspired by a story of hunters by James-Oliver Curwood, Jean-Jacques Annaud tells the unusual adventures of the life of a charming bear cub, orphaned in the mountains (his mother having perished in a fall of rocks), until he is adopted, not without difficulty, by a large male bear who becomes his protector. To this double adventure of motherhood and fatherhood lost and found, a second aspect is added: two hunters follow the tracks of the great bear to kill it.
Our opinion : A total success for this simple, funny and pathetic story. The bet to play the animals as actors is held in the majestic setting of a wild nature, sometimes welcoming, sometimes hostile. We soon forget the technical performance to follow the unfolding of events, to admire the human feelings attributed to animals. This show is a delight for young and old, but if the director has erased the violence, he has nevertheless left a few images likely to impress young children or the most sensitive.
10. Cyrano de Bergerac
By Augusto Genina, 1925. Duration: 1h53. Adults and teenagers.
Summary : Cyrano is the leader of the company of Cadets de Gascogne, poet, swordsman, musician and astronomer. But above all Cyrano has an unsightly nose and the pride of a Gascon, which prevent him from confessing his love to the beautiful Roxane – who is attracted to Christian, a recruit from the guards. Cyrano bows. To Roxane, he promises to protect the young soldier. To Christian, handsome but devoid of spirit, he whispers his words of love. But he gets caught up in the game, while Roxane, little by little, ends up loving Christian only for words that aren’t his…
Our opinion : If we consider that this film, for offering colorful stencil paintings, is no less mute (a shame for Cyrano!), and, even worse, that it truncates Rostand’s work to the point of slash in the tirade of the noses, we will pass on our way. Only Cyrano de Bergerac is first and foremost Cyrano. And, in this case, Pierre Magnier. His interpretation overshadows everything else.