Claire Denis, won't you please come home?

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As my username should suggest, I am a Creature of Cinema. However, I'm usually at a loss for people into the freakish obscurities I love most. So I gotta ask: Does anybody here know and worship the magic of French director Claire Denis? And feel up to codifying that love into a post?

Funny you should mention it... I thought I despised Claire Denis because I had seen that laughable piece of swill called "Chocolat." Last night I saw "The Intruder" and I was amazed, the plot, the cinematography, the acting, the whole thing was just genius. I am on the hunt for more Denis films from my university library. My favorite directors (currently): Gaspar Noe (when the hell is "Enter the Void" going to be finished?), Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Miike, Patrice Leconte, Francois Ozon, Kubrick, Daniel Aronofsky.

The one to see is Beau travail, which everyone agrees is Denis' undisputed masterpiece- though it may seem slightly smaller in scope than The Intruder. But you thought Chocolat was a "laughable piece of swill?" I liked it fine- sure you don't mean that Juliette Binoche atrocity from Lasse Hallstrom?

And Kiyoshi Kurosawa is indeed fantastic. Charisma was one of the best films of the past ten years.

Yeah, sorry I just got the "real" Chocolate to watch tonight Excited to see it. By the way, have you seen Coup de Torchon by Tavernier? It is an amazing film, one of the best I've seen all year. Take a look at it.

Coup de Torchon didn't impress me THAT much- I think I was overhyped on it, 'cause there certainly are a lot of people who love that movie to death. But I don't count out Tavernier; A Sunday in the Country is a deeply lovely movie.

Yeah, I love Charisma, Cure and Seance too. I really do think Kurosawa and Noe are two of the greatest directors alive.
I enjoyed Chocolat. It was very, very good. I didn't like it or Beau Travail nearly as much as The Intruder though. I also watched The Quiet American, it was great to see a CIA operative in Vietnam get knifed in the end.