Take inspiring ‘Journey’ with Tavernier

As a child in Nazi-occupied France, Bertrand Tavernier took refuge in the cinemas of Lyon. As a filmmaker in his own right, Tavernier has given us such great works as “Coup de torchon” (1981) and “’Round Midnight” (1986) — two of his films with Philippe Noiret — and “The Princess of Montpensier” (2010).

“My Journey Through French Cinema” is a trimmed down 201-minute film essay about Tavernier’s personal and, as he told me, “thoroughly subjective” experience of French films. In awed tones, Tavernier recalls seeing Jacques Becker’s crime film “Dernier atout” (1942), Jean Vigo’s romantic classic “L’Atalante” (1934) and Jean Renoir’s 40-minute “A Day in the Country” (1936) for the first time as a boy. He sings the praises of the great French leading man Jean Gabin, who captured the imaginations of a generation of French moviegoers, and the actor’s collaboration with Renoir for “La Grande Illusion” (1937).

Tavernier also narrates the film, covering three decades in French film history, and gives us a sense of the childlike awe and wonder we experience when first seeing films we remember all our lives, and in Tavernier’s case, films that would be the touchstones of his own artistic journey.

The MFA, home of the Boston French Film Festival, is the perfect place to join Tavernier on this marvelous “Journey.”

(“My Journey Through French Cinema” contains mature themes.)