La première nuit. 1958. France. Directed by Georges Franju. Screenplay by Franju, Rémo Forlani. DCP. No dialogue. 23 min.
George Franju, a cofounder of the Cinémathèque française, uses visual and aural conceits rather than dialogue to transform a child’s journey on the Paris subway into a beautiful, magical, and even disturbing fantasy. Courtesy Tamasa Distribution
Judex. 1963. France. Directed by Georges Franju. Screenplay by Jacques Champreux, Francis Lacassin. With Channing Pollock, Francine Bergé, Edith Scob. In French; English subtitles. 98 min.
Taking its title and dramatic structure from a famous 1916 movie serial directed by Louis Feuillade, Judex celebrates one of the original film genres—fantasy—by paying homage to its silent-era inventors, particularly George Méliès and the Expressionists of the 1920s. As such, the film itself embodies the then-burgeoning idea of cinephilia, particularly in the use of silent-cinema techniques and conceits in various forms of modernist expression. Courtesy Villa Albertine - Institut Français and Janus Films