France

  • Roland Joffé – Vatel (2000)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaFranceRoland Joffé

    In 1671, with war brewing with Holland, a penniless prince invites Louis XIV to three days of festivities at a chateau in Chantilly. The prince wants a commission as a general, so the extravagances are to impress the king. In charge of all is the steward, Vatel, a man of honor, talent, and low birth. The prince is craven in his longing for stature: no task is too menial or dishonorable for him to give Vatel. While Vatel tries to sustain dignity, he finds himself attracted to Anne de Montausier, the king’s newest mistress. In Vatel, she finds someone who’s authentic, living out his principles within
    the casual cruelties of court politics. Can the two of them escape unscathed?Read More »

  • Shûji Terayama – Les fruits de la passion AKA Fruits of Passion (1981)

    1981-1990ArthouseEroticaFranceShuji Terayama

    A girl loves an older man. He demands that she goes in a brothel, as evidence that she loves him.

    Shuji Terayama adapted his 1981 film, The Fruits of Passion, from the eponymous Pauline Reage’s sequel to her well regarded book, The Story of O. However, ‘adapted’ is used very loosely in this instance, as Terayama uses the opportunity to completely reshape the structure of the novel, and use only it’s themes and characters to create a story that is uniquely his. According to the credits, the text of the narration and O’s dialogue itself was taken directly from the short novel, but everything else is pure Terayama.Read More »

  • Luc Moullet – L’Empire de Médor (1986)

    1981-1990DocumentaryFranceLuc MoulletShort Film

    The director takes us to a cemetery for dogs.Read More »

  • Renaud Victor – Ce gamin, là (1976)

    1971-1980DocumentaryFranceRenaud Victor

    Documentary made by the autodidact film maker, Renaud Victor, with autistic children from Deligny’s network in Cevennes, south of France. The movie follows the everyday life in the Network and completes the important body of texts, documents and images that Deligny published to support his critique of language and his vision on autism.Read More »

  • Philippe Harel – Un adultère AKA Infidelity (2018)

    2011-2020DramaFrancePhilippe Harel

    The tale of duplicitous husband and father Julien, a real estate agent who falls in love with Alice, a young client – who, it turns out, works in Julien’s wife Marie’s tea shop.Read More »

  • Claude Autant-Lara – Le Bois des Amants AKA Between Love and Duty (1960)

    1951-1960Claude Autant-LaraDramaFrance

    Synopsis
    Brittany, Christmas 1943. Herta von Stauffen, a German soldier, makes an attempt to join her husband, Colonel von Stauffen, whom she has not seen since their wedding day. But Von Stauffen has orders to celebrate Christmas with his troops and so Herta is sent to the house of the widow Parisot, an old woman who regards Herta as an enemy because she is a German. That evening, a Frenchman lands by parachute in the nearby woods. His mission is to prepare for an attack by British soldiers. This man is Charles, the son of Madame Parisot, whose home offers a natural hiding place. Neglected by her husband, Herta begins to fall in love with Charles. Events take an explosive turn when Colonel Von Stauffen gives the order for the mysterious parachutist to be found…Read More »

  • Christian François – Sanguines (1988)

    1981-1990Christian FrançoisDramaFrance

    A new gardener arrives at the superb property of a French cultural attaché in Portugal. This frail young man does not have the head nor the figure for the job. And for good reason: Johann is a painter who, after a recent break-up, has fled to find the calm necessary for his work. This intrusion causes disturbances, admitted or not, in this small protected world.Read More »

  • Jean Rouch – Moro Naba (1958)

    Documentary1951-1960FranceJean Rouch

    Funeral rituals for the traditional leader Moro Naba of the Mossi at Ougadougou, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). Election ceremonies for his successor. Preparing the feast for the end of mourning. Ceremony in the palace, the people of Ougadougou, the warriors in traditional dress. Presentation of the new leader.Read More »

  • Jean Renoir – La fille de l’eau AKA The Whirlpool of Fate (1925)

    1921-1930FranceJean RenoirRomanceSilent

    An orphan (Catherine Hessling) escapes from her cruel uncle and finds refuge with a landowner’s son, but her happiness is short-lived.Read More »

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