Claude Chabrol night

I have to admit that my knowledge of foreign film is a lot less than my knowledge of Hollywood movies, even though I think most of the folks who read here may wish to point out that my knowledge of Hollywood film doesn't seem particularly vast.

But nights like tonight are one of the things TCM is very good for. Tonight, they're putting the spotlight on French director Claude Chabrol with a night of his movies. I think I've seen some of Story of Women, on at midnight, but that's about it; I know next to nothing about any of the other films. So tonight might be a chance for me to catch up on a bit of film knowledge I've heretofore missed. That is, if there's enough space on my DVR which is almost full, or if I can stay up long enough to catch any of the movies, since I work the early shift and get up at 4:30 or earlier every morning.

In the past, it's been thanks to TCM that I've been able to acquaint myself with several of the French films of Louis Malle, or the centenary salute to Akira Kurosawa which enabled me to catch things not as well known as Rashomon or The Seven Samurai. There's also been the Pierre Étaix night, and chances to see the works of Luís Buñuel. Now, I have to say that I haven't necessarily liked all the foreign films I've gotten to see thanks to TCM; just wait until the next time they show The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie for evidence of this.

But before TCM was around, if you didn't live in a big city or perhaps near a college that had enough foreign-language departments to show foreign films, good like trying to find them. I think I've mentioned that it was thanks to the PBS station showing movies late on a Saturday night that I got to see things like Ikiru or The Seventh Seal for the first time, but the range of foreign films shown to mass American audiences is pretty narrow.