France

  • Robert Hossein – La nuit des espions AKA Night Encounter (1959)

    1951-1960DramaFranceMysteryRobert Hossein

    Synopsis:
    ‘In England during the Second World War, a German spy is pursued by the British secret service in a bid to prevent him from returning to France with a valuable microfilm. In a mountain chalet, two spies, one male, the other female, meet, neither knowing the identity of the other. Not knowing which side the other is on, they are powerfully drawn to one another…’
    – James TraversRead More »

  • Yann Le Masson – Kashima Paradise [+Extras] (1973)

    1971-1980DocumentaryFrancePoliticsYann Le Masson

    Kashima Paradise
    Coréalisé avec Bénie Deswarte, 1973, 16 mm, 106 min 26
    Entre Kashima et Tokyo, se construit vers 1970 l’aéroport de Narita : les paysans refusent de vendre leurs terres et affrontent les gardes mobiles envoyés pour les expulser

    Between Kashima and Tokyo, Narita airport is built around 1970: the rural people refuse to sell their land and confront the mobile guards sent to evict them.

    This 1973 French documentary explores the conflict between modern values and material comforts in Japan and the more traditional obligations (giri) and culture which are still the real backbone of the society. Among the topics touched on are the Osaka Expo, battles against pollution, and Japanese leftist movements. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Mikhaël Hers – Ce sentiment de l’été AKA This Summer Feeling (2015)

    Mikhaël Hers2011-2020DramaFrance

    Quote:
    A French young woman unexpectedly dies in Berlin, where she lives with her boyfriend. Her sudden passing ruins the lives of her famliy and partner. They struggle to find new meaning in Paris, Annecy and New York.Read More »

  • Jacques Baratier – La ville-bidon (1971)

    Jacques Baratier1971-1980DramaFrancePolitics

    Quote:
    La Ville bidon describes precisely the historical path, in the parisian suburbs of the seventies, from slum cities (“bidonvilles”) to silly/fake cities (“villes bidon”). The film switch es constantly from a very documentary approach to a fictional delirium in a critical way that is tending to show how crazy the documentary parts are themselves, this is to say the reality itself ! For example, those realistic moments invite us through the process of decision taking : we see the different point of view of the architect, the politic leader, the real estate developer, the sociologist, each of them is quite mad and typical of a particular time. But they also invite us in the slum cities and in the “transitory buildings” where several communities were difficultly living together (the children characters of this film could be the parents of those who are even more desperate and loose and rejected today in all the french big cities suburbs). Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – Les Assassins de l’Ordre AKA Law Breakers (1971)

    Marcel Carné1971-1980CrimeFrancePolitics

    Synopsis:
    Judge Level is investigating the death of a man named Saugeat, who died shortly after being arrested for a minor offence by two police inspectors one December morning. No one seems to want to offer any testimony, other than the prostitute Danièle Lebegue, who calls on Level as soon as she hears the news of Saugeat’s death. She tells the judge that she couldn’t come earlier because she was instructed by Chief Inspector Bertrand to leave Paris for a short while. It becomes apparent to Level that someone is trying to hide something from him…
    — James Travers.Read More »

  • Kamir Aïnouz – Cigare Au Miel AKA Honey Cigar (2020)

    2011-2020DramaFranceKamir Aïnouz

    Synopsis
    Paris, 1993. Selma, 17, grows up in a bourgeois and secular Berber family. After meeting Julien, the dashing young man she’s attracted to, she realizes for the first time how restrictive the rules of her patriarchal family are and how they prevent her from blossoming. As radical Islamism rages in Algeria, her family’s homeland, and her family collapses, Selma discovers the power of her own desire. She’s a fighter. Drawing strength from those closest to her, she begins her quest to become a free woman and follow her own path.Read More »

  • Joyce A. Nashawati – Blind Sun (2015)

    2011-2020FranceHorrorJoyce A. NashawatiMystery

    Greece. Sometime in the near future. A seaside resort struck by a heavy heat wave. Water is rare and violence is mounting. Ashraf, a solitary immigrant, is looking after a villa while its owners are away. On a dusty road crushed by the sun, he is stopped by a police officer for an identity check.Read More »

  • Paul Verhoeven – Benedetta (2021)

    Drama2021-2030FrancePaul Verhoeven

    Synopsis:
    Benedetta is a 2021 biographical drama film directed and co-written by Paul Verhoeven, starring Virginie Efira as Benedetta Carlini, a novice nun in the 17th century who joins an Italian convent and has a lesbian love affair with another nun.
    The film is loosely based on the 1986 non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown.
    The events of the movie occur during the 17th century. The main character is Benedetta Carlini, who is an Italian nun in the abbey of a convent in Tuscany. She was considered to be mystical and venerated by her religious entourage, and finally arrested and judged for sapphism.Read More »

  • Roman Polanski – Pirates (1986)

    1981-1990AdventureComedyFranceRoman Polanski

    The adventures of pirate Captain Red and his first mate Frog.

    Captain Red runs a hardy pirate ship with the able assistance of Frog, a dashing young French sailor. One day Capt. Red is captured and taken aboard a Spanish galleon, but thanks to his inventiveness, he raises the crew to mutiny, takes over the ship, and kidnaps the niece of the governor of Maracaibo. The question is, can he keep this pace up?Read More »

Back to top button