Palme d’Or winner Justine Triet names her five favourite movies of all time
French cinema has long been elevated as the crème de la crème of the movie industry, with the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda and François Truffaut having innovated the art form back in the 1960s. In contemporary cinema, such artistic innovation has been continued by several ingenious talents, including Julia Ducournau, Céline Sciamma and Justine Triet.
Two of the aforementioned modern filmmakers have been so successful in their field that they have walked away with Palme d’Or awards at the Cannes Film Festival for their contributions, with Ducournau winning for 2021’s Titane and Triet earning acclaim for Anatomy of a Fall. With only a modest filmography to her name, Triet surprised the film world when she beat out the likes of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Wes Anderson and Jonathan Glazer for the top prize.
Having also helmed the feature films Age of Panic, In Bed with Victoria and Sibyl across the course of the previous decade, Trier has developed a strong legion of fans, and back in 2016, she revealed to them her favourite movies of all time during an interview with Le Cinéma Club.
First on Triet’s list is a film from the previously mentioned French master François Truffaut, opting for his 1983 film Confidentially Yours. Yet, despite being an iconic talent behind such classics as The 400 Blows and Shoot the Piano Player, on the whole, Triet isn’t so much of a fan of his, giving him and his film a backhanded compliment by saying that the 1983 movie is “the only film by Truffaut that I like. But this one I love”.
Elsewhere, Triet goes for another French flick, this time Sacha Guitry’s comedy Désiré from 1937. Unlike Truffaut, Triet is a significant fan of Guitry’s, stating: “You also have to watch My Father Was Right. I discovered all of his movies not so long ago”. Désiré explores the relationship between an actress and her household cook, maid, and chauffeur.
Next, Triet brings things a little closer to home, choosing the David Fincher crime drama Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Calling the film “the best film I’ve seen in theaters in the past two years,” as of 2016, Triet wasn’t the only one who liked Fincher’s drama, with the film being nominated for an Academy Award for ‘Best Leading Actress’.
A documentary takes the director’s fourth spot, opting for James Marsh’s extraordinary exploration of a man’s relationship with a chimpanzee, 2011’s Project Nim. Calling the film “An incredible film on the experience a man has made with a chimpanzee,” Trier showered praise on the Bafta nominee, which remains one of the best modern nature documentaries.
The final film to grace her list is the 1983 James L. Brooks movie Terms Of Endearment, starring Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito. A dramatic comedy that tells the story of an older woman looking for love, Trier states: “I love the movies of James L. Brooks because he risks showing cruel characters, capable of horrible things, while making them worthy of our sympathy”.
Justine Triet’s favourite movies:
- Confidentially Yours (François Truffaut, 1983)
- Désiré (Sacha Guitry, 1937)
- Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
- Project Nim (James Marsh, 2011)
- Terms Of Endearment (James L. Brooks, 1983)
