On Compiling A Film Canon. March 2017 Update.

A belated update to the Hope Lies Canon features a pair of films from one filmmaker.

Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper opens in the UK in a couple of weeks time, and it’s an absolute masterpiece. I’m of the mind that the French director is amongst the most exciting of all contemporary filmmakers, but even by his lofty standards Personal Shopper is something special. It features a career-best turn from Kristen Stewart too. Expect a more thorough piece on the film soon.

Also inducted in to the canon this month is Assayas’ breakthrough feature, 1996’s Irma Vep. As pure a celebration of cinephilia as was produced in the 1990s, Irma Vep ought to stand in the grand ouevre of such fare alongside the likes of Pulp Fiction and Boogie Nights, with Assayas one of the great cineastes of the period.

On another contemporary tip (has there ever been as modern a month for the Hope Lies Canon?) is Maren Ade’s miraculous Toni Erdmann. You can read more about how enamoured I was by that majestic piece of work here.

More information on the Hope Lies film canon can be found at our ongoing and regularly updated Letterboxd list.