Allow me to introduce myself.....

Hi there! I guess a good place to start with this thing would be to introduce myself and try and outline exactly what I think I'll be doing here.

I'm Lee, I'm a 19 year old Film student from Scotland, and I'm currently beginning my third year of my degree. Over the last two years, I've become obsessed with the cinema of France, particularly that of the Nouvelle Vague, but also Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Perhaps in homage to the latter, I shall present the following list:

Things I like:

The films of François Truffaut

The film criticism of Cahiers du Cinema during the 50's.

People who think Truffaut, despite not being as immediately "groundbreaking" as Godard, is still the better film maker.

The films of Jean-Luc Godard (though not as much as Truffaut).

Paris, in particular, parts of Paris which feature in Nouvelle Vague films!)

Frank Zappa (including his films).

FC Barcelona.

Things I don't like:

People who think Godard is better than Truffaut!

People who don't like Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain purely because it achieved commercial success. 

Living in small-town Scotland and not big-city Paris!

Real Madrid

People who say the French are rude when in actual fact, they are only responding to the rudeness of the person in the first place.

So I guess that kind of sums me up to an extent. Here's a couple more key facts:

I don't speak French, I actually speak decent Spanish, but when it comes to French, I can rhyme off 100 names of French films in French, but I have absolutely 0% awareness of the grammar. Nothing. Zilch. I'd like this to change, as I feel I spend too much time reading the subtitles for most of my favorite films and, in the process, miss some essential stuff which is happening on screen. I'll update you on the progress of my quest for French knowledge.

So what am I going to do with this blog then, I hear you ask?  

I intend to write on anything French-cinema related, for example, if I watch a film by Truffaut, Chabrol , anybody, then I'll post a summary of my feelings towards the film here. Don't think of it as a review, because I think reviews are absolutely useless. Instead I'll only write positive stuff which I think sums up the spirit of the film and would draw potential viewers towards it. Oh and, here's a point, I also intend to write about films which are set in France, but not necessarily made by French film makers per-se, as I think there's a couple of films that fall into this category which certainly embody the spirit of France.

I'll also write about interesting articles produced by French film makers who were at one point critics, or indeed books on French film makers in general. I'll also write about one man who never got round to making a film in his life (though he was working on one prior to his death), Andre Bazin. I find his writing to be fascinating, and absolutely essential to understanding my love for French cinema.

Finally, my first blog entry-proper will fall into an altogether different category, I intend to write about my recent trip to Paris, where I visited several iconic locations from French cinema, as well as visiting the grave of my hero, Mr Truffaut himself. I'll also tell the epic tale of how I thought I'd found Andre Bazin's grave, but didn't, and probably would have if I spoke French.

Anyway, if you're at this point, thanks for putting up with my rambling. I'd like to pretend it's my writing "style" but really it's just laziness. I'll try and condense as much as possible in the future!