Quote:
Reluctantly, a sulky adolescent returns to her parents’ house for yet another boring summer vacation, dabbling in desire and the art of desirability, eventually mixing reality with vision, caged fantasies with the fierce female sexuality.

Quote:
The story centres on Alice Bonnard, a young girl attending Saint-Sulvien Girl’s College, and takes place during a summer in the turbulent sixties. Alice comes homes to spend her holidays with her parents in the Landes region. They run a sawmill where they employ a young man, Jim. Business isn’t going well, although Mr. and Mrs. Bonnard are too proud to admit it and Jim’s nonchalant attitude about his job doesn’t help things. Alice is attracted to Jim, but she’s too scared to let him know it, believing that as far as he’s concerned she doesn’t exist. Her tumescent sexuality begins to obsess her. She becomes fascinated with the excretions, juices and smells of her own body as well as with the slimy oozings and putrid detritus of the natural world. The film gives few clues to distinguish the girl’s fantasies from the events of her life. This is fitting, as the entire film revolves around the girl and her own perceptions. The heightened realism of the direction and cinematography produces a text that refuses either to accuse or to exploit.

A.Real.Young.Girl.1976.1080p.MUBI.WEB-DL.H264-Gloft.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 33 min
Size: 	3.43 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1800x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	5:3
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	4 932 kb/s
BPP: 	0.106
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AAC LC @ 320 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/6E6A05DA4D24CF9/A.Real.Young.Girl.1976.1080p.MUBI.WEB-DL.H264-Gloft.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian

The post Catherine Breillat – Une vraie jeune fille AKA A Real Young Girl (1976) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Follows Anne, a brilliant lawyer who lives with her husband Pierre and their daughters. Anne gradually engages in a passionate relationship with Theo, Pierre’s son from a previous marriage, putting her career and family life in danger.

Lete.dernier.AKA.Last.Summer.2023.576p.BluRay.x264-HANDJOB.mkv
General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 43 min
Size: 	2.32 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x552 
Aspect ratio:  	1.85:1
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 742 kb/s
BPP: 	0.202
Audio
#1:  	French 5.1ch AC-3 @ 448 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/B336650BBF786E3/Lete.dernier.AKA.Last.Summer.2023.576p.BluRay.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English, French

The post Catherine Breillat – L’été dernier AKA Last Summer (2023) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Reluctantly, a sulky adolescent returns to her parents’ house for yet another boring summer vacation, dabbling in desire and the art of desirability, eventually mixing reality with vision, caged fantasies with the fierce female sexuality.

Quote:
The story centres on Alice Bonnard, a young girl attending Saint-Sulvien Girl’s College, and takes place during a summer in the turbulent sixties. Alice comes homes to spend her holidays with her parents in the Landes region. They run a sawmill where they employ a young man, Jim. Business isn’t going well, although Mr. and Mrs. Bonnard are too proud to admit it and Jim’s nonchalant attitude about his job doesn’t help things. Alice is attracted to Jim, but she’s too scared to let him know it, believing that as far as he’s concerned she doesn’t exist. Her tumescent sexuality begins to obsess her. She becomes fascinated with the excretions, juices and smells of her own body as well as with the slimy oozings and putrid detritus of the natural world. The film gives few clues to distinguish the girl’s fantasies from the events of her life. This is fitting, as the entire film revolves around the girl and her own perceptions. The heightened realism of the direction and cinematography produces a text that refuses either to accuse or to exploit.

A.Real.Young.Girl.1976.576p.BluRay.x264-PTP.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 33 min
Size: 	2.06 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	958x576 
Aspect ratio:  	5:3
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.227
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AAC LC @ 139 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/AA6666BE455D5FD/A.Real.Young.Girl.1976.576p.BluRay.x264-PTP.mkv

https://ddownload.com/nk5a0wf6c6g8/A.Real.Young.Girl.1976.576p.BluRay.x264-PTP.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English,French

The post Catherine Breillat – Une vraie jeune fille AKA A Real Young Girl (1976) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Although deeply in love with her boyfriend – and indeed sleeping in the same bed with him – a schoolteacher cannot handle the almost complete lack of intimacy he will allow. Increasingly frustrated, she gradually finds her sexual appetites leading her into ever more risky situations…

Senses of Cinema wrote:

“But it was with the release of Romance in 1999 that Breillat would face censorship internationally, when the film was either banned altogether in some countries, or given an X rating. It was a situation Breillat spoke out about when she declared that, “censorship was a male preoccupation, and that the X certificate was linked to the X chromosome.” Breillat’s statement was echoed in the French poster for the film, which features a naked woman with her hand between her legs. A large red X is printed across the image, thus revealing the source of the trouble: a woman in touch with her own sense of sexual pleasure.

Romance, and the world-wide discourse about pornography that erupted in the wake of its release, best typifies the challenge and the interest of her work. Romance is about a woman, Marie, whose boyfriend refuses to have sex with her. Her frustration leads her to a series of affairs in an effort to not only find pleasure, but seemingly to arrive at some better understanding of her own desire. The film is sexually explicit, and features, as do many of Breillat’s films, acts of unsimulated sex, hence the many accusations leveled against Breillat that she is a pornographer. Indeed, Breillat willfully courted such accusations by casting Rocco Siffredi, a famous Italian porn star, as one of Marie’s lovers. Moreover, Marie’s sexual encounters are marked by a sense of sadomasochism. Indeed, after having her baby she winds up with a man who is also the principal of the school where she teaches, having blown up her apartment and her boyfriend (who is also, presumably, the father of her child) on the way to the hospital.

Romance was banned in Australia upon its release in January 2000. In his review of the Office of Film and Literature’s (OFLC) report on the film, Adrian Martin describes the reason for the ban. And in so doing, Martin arrives at precisely the thing that makes Breillat’s films so difficult, and so interesting. Martin surveys the censors’ objection to the scene where Marie is solicited by a man in the hallway of her building. In this scene, a man offers Marie twenty-dollars to perform cunnilingus on her, to which she assents without saying a word. Of course, more occurs, as Marie is turned over (or turns over) as her perpetrator then enters her from behind. As he continues, Marie seems to sob, and when he leaves, she shouts that she is not ashamed. Martin notes that in describing the scene, the writer of the OFLC report says that “he orders Marie to turn over,” and that she tries to “scuffle away.” Martin replies, “…I did not see Marie try to ‘scuffle away’ during the scene, or be forced to turn over.” Martin’s point is that this writer’s language reveals his own moral response to an image, as opposed to what is actually present in the image: “One of the most interesting things about Romance is the way in which it inscribes in its own material ambiguous designation of obscenity.” In other words, neither Breillat nor Caroline Ducey (Marie) give us any concrete signs of her own response to what is happening. We cannot walk away confident of Marie’s outrage, only our own, at best. Indeed, the whole scene begins with a voice-over where Marie proclaims that it is, in fact, her fantasy to be taken this way. Yet, the act itself is inscribed into the realist space of the plot, thus blurring the line between fantasy and reality that is signaled by Marie’s voice-over.

As such, when we watch this act on screen, and many others like it, we are left only with what we think of what we see. Moreover, we project our own values back on to the screen, as Martin further notes when he cites a review of the film that describes the scene between Marie and Rocco Siffredi as a “humiliating affair.” Of course, there is, to my eyes, no signs of humiliation in that scene. If anything, it is a frank and very physical depiction of a sexual encounter. Siffredi asks Marie if he can have anal sex with her, an act that stands as the possible source of said humiliation. However, this possibility is complicated by the fact that she very calmly consents, on the condition that he first continue to make love to her. Moreover, the scene begins with Marie telling Siffredi, while holding a soiled condom, how men like to keep things hidden – how easily they are disgusted. The only sign of shame in the sequence comes when she admits to Siffredi, in the middle of sex, that she only sleeps with men that she doesn’t like. If there is shame here, it is the viewer’s.

2.45GB | 1 h 38 min | 960×576 | mkv

https://nitroflare.com/view/32120801D842C72/Romance.1999.part1.rar
https://nitroflare.com/view/A9885F6F49312C6/Romance.1999.part2.rar
https://nitroflare.com/view/674770A1A0DADE4/Romance.1999.part3.rar

Language:French
Subtitles:English srt

The post Catherine Breillat – Romance (1999) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
This French anthology is a tribute to A Propos de Nice (1930), a classic documentary that took a poetic and sometimes satirical look at life in the French Riviera town. This version blends fact and fiction to chronicle life in modern-day Nice and is comprised of seven vignettes, each directed by an internationally renowned filmmaker. Only one of the episodes, “Reperages,” from Iranian directors Abbas Kiarostami and Parviz Kimiavi, stays close to the style of the original film by Jean Vigo as it chronicles the experiences of a filmmaker who came to Nice to do research on Vigo for his upcoming documentary. A different episode eavesdrops upon a man and two women discussing sociopolitical concerns as they lie indolently on the beach. In another, a photojournalist cruises the city’s lively Promenade des Anglais. In a silent vignette, “Nice, Very Nice,” a young killer is seen gliding through a crowd of carnival goers on the way to perform a hit. The other three cover subjects ranging from the history of Nice, to a political rally, to a portrait of the city as a popular spot for different kinds of rendezvous. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

1.18GB | 1:38:51 | 660×430 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/38A13E9F7EF32EA/A_propos_de_Nice,_la_suite_(1995).avi
https://nitro.download/view/32BB605815DDD76/A_propos_de_Nice,_la_suite_(1995).srt

Language:French
Subtitles:English

The post Various – À propos de Nice, la suite (1995) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Synopsis:
Catherine Breillat’s adaptation of An Old Mistress stars Fu’ad Ait Aatou as Ryno de Marigny, and Asia Argento as Vellini, two lovers in 19th century Paris. The two have been passionately involved for nearly a decade, but de Marigny attempts to end their relationship now that he is engaged to Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida), a respectable young woman. As the bride-to-be’s grandmother forces de Marigny to confront his past as a notorious womanizer, the film flashes back to reveal the intense decade the lovers shared. Although de Marigny appears to want to shut Vellini out forever, her passions may be far too much for him to deny.

Review:
Catherine Breillat is not known for crowd-pleasing. She has marked out her career by pushing the sexuality envelope, and in films such as Anatomy Of Hell, Romance and Fat Girl, she has frequently been accused by more conservative critics of putting pornography before a story. It is to be hoped that her notoriety in this department won’t put audiences off going to see what is surely her most mainstream movie to date. Although it deals with her favourite subjects of gender issues and female sexuality – and contains a fair amount of the steamy stuff – The Last Mistress is a lavish costume drama, chiefly about romance.

Ryno de Marigny (Fu’ad Ait Aattou in a fantastic debut) is rakish aristocrat. After sowing his wild oats around Paris he finally falls for blonde, beautiful and young Hermangarde (Breillat regular Roxane Mesquida).
Copy picture

Before Ryno can get hitched, he is quizzed extensively by Hermangarde’s gran (Claude Sarraute, a well-known writer in France, spellbinding in her first really serious stab at acting at the age of 80). Over the course of a night he ‘woos’ her by recounting his on/off 10-year relationship with wild Spanish aristocrat Vellini (Asia Argento) – but is he really prepared to give up his lover to be with Hermangarde forever?

Despite the initial premise and period being reminiscent of Dangerous Liaisons, the issues of fidelity and adultery are handled in an altogether less cynical fashion. Although there is strategy at work as well as romance, these are not conniving, Machiavellian types, bent on courtly games. Rather they are much closer to the star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare, with heart ruling head.

The indicators of decadence are all here, from opulent sets to gluttonous feasting. The costumes are lavish but never get in the way of the characters, who are all fully fleshed out and given added verve from the excellent cast. Argento was born to play the “goddess of capriciousness” Vellini, whose tongue is as sharp as the blade she uses to pin up her hair, and who isn’t scared to wield it in frustration. Her passion and hints at masculinity – violent tendencies, self-assurity, cigar smoking – are perfectly balanced by that of Fu’ad Ait Aattou as the androgynous Ryno – with the good looks of a Jean Paul Gautier model, he is feminine without being effeminate, sensitive without being soppy. Although Hermangarde, rather inevitably, pales in comparison to the larger than life Vellini, this adds to the drama of the ‘love triangle’.

The supporting cast, too, are uniformly excellent, particularly veterans Michael Lonsdale and Yolande Moreau as rumour-mongers Le Vicomte de Prony and La Comtesse d’Artelles.

The writing and direction are also impressive. Breillat adapted the screenplay from the novel by Jules-Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly and has deliberately opted for ‘old’ French cadences and language. This has been excellently translated into English and the subtitles retain a poetic quality. Quirky directorial touches – such as Vellini’s blowing of smoke rings, or a dimming of sound at key moments – put the audience into the head of the protagonist and help us connect us fully with the characters.

The idea of love being close to violence and madness is never far away – from Vellini lapping at Ryno’s blood, to clever juxtaposition of images, including the slaughter of a chicken. But the love-making itself is never seen as a violent act. It is, in fact, suitably erotic and engaging. Although the latter part of the film sees the passion ebb away slightly, as one too many plot points is introduced, this is still a most welcome departure for Breillat. In the press notes she says it was time for “new pastures” after Anatomy Of Hell. The grass is certainly greener here, let’s hope she stays.

— Amber Wilkinson (EyeForFilm.co.uk)

http://nitroflare.com/view/622D876967E982D/Une.vieille.maitresse.AKA.The.Last.Mistress.2007.DVDRip.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English(muxed)

The post Catherine Breillat – Une vieille maîtresse AKA The Last Mistress (2007) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Perhaps in stark reaction to the soft porn delusions of Hamilton’s work, Breillat decided to approach the subject of a young adolescent’s sexual education with a clarity and honesty rarely found in art in general, let alone film. Getting audiences to confront and deconstruct the cultural baggage they bring to sex remains at the centre of her more recent films Romance (1999), À ma soeur! (2001), Sex is Comedy (2002) and Anatomy of Hell (2004), but 36 Fillette, to this viewer, strikes the perfect balance between polemic, critique and compelling psychological study.

The film’s title refers to a little girl’s dress size and the little girl in question is 14-year-old Lili, played with chilling conviction by Delphine Zentout.

Appearing to be bored beyond her years, Lili, thanks to a leather jacket and short skirt, appears to resemble the kind of nymphette Serge Gainsbourg built an entire career around. Accompanying her parents and older brother, JP, on a summer vacation in Biarritz, Lili seems to determined to punctuate her teenage ennui by getting into trouble. The trouble comes in the form of Maurice (Etienne Chicot), a middle-aged man who gives Lili and her brother a ride when they are denied entrance to a disco. Maurice is a different kind of adolescent – a middle-aged man whose chic clothes and sports car barely disguise the fact that he is a member of the “Class of 1968” gone to seed. The relationship between Lili and Maurice is developed through a series of dialogues where each character plays a part, badly. Lili tries to be the sexy coquette, while Maurice plays the world-weary teacher in the ways of love.

Both characters are deluded. Lili is simply far too young and inexperienced to know that Maurice is a walking definition of sexual bad faith, while Maurice seems to have confused narcissism with self-knowledge a long time ago. This meta-romantic duet is punctuated by fights and misunderstandings. The most memorable of these is a sequence where Lili encounters Jean-Pierre Léaud playing a classical musician at a bar. Léaud’s presence not only signifies the Nouvelle Vague, but also the fact that it was a cinema of big male egos (even the most self-critical, Godard, had a weakness for casting and manipulating young women) projecting their own confused ideas about women onto the world.

36 Fillette culminates with a hotel room seduction or “ravishment” (to use the phrase memorably delivered by Harvey Keitel in Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing [1980]). Lili is not destroyed by the coldness of the experience, but it is arguable that her world has shrunk a little in the process. Maurice seems likely to go on punctuating his despair with similar encounters. What lingers in the memory after viewing 36 Fillette is not only how sex is linked to a seemingly infinite series of romantic illusions, generated equally by men and women to varying degrees, but also how the struggle to “get sex” is ultimately a struggle against time. For Lili, there is still world enough and time for more (and hopefully better) sex. For Maurice, sex is probably a way to step outside time.

Breillat made few films between 36 Fillette and Romance, her next art-house breakthrough, but it is clear her view of human relations has grown even bleaker. 36 Fillette is a bleak film, but it is also limned with sufficient sadness and dry humour to make its bitter pill worth swallowing.

http://www.nitroflare.com/view/6D7EB070325EF38/Catherine_Breillat_-_%281988%29_36_Fillette.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English

The post Catherine Breillat – 36 fillette (1988) first appeared on Cinema of the World.