France

Seaside takes place in a small coastal town on the Bay of Somme. The year-round inhabitants find ways to make their lives work; Paul, a lifeguard in the summer, works at the grocery all winter. His mother, Rose (Ogier) likes to play the slots just about anytime; his girlfriend Marie works in the local factory – the town’s biggest business – but watching the summertime vacationers each year just makes her increasingly curious about what else might be out there. From these and several other stories, aided by close, revealing observations, we see a community perched between transition and stasis. (IMDb)

Awards:
Cannes Film Festival – Golden Camera – 2002Read More »

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ALEXANDRE ALEXEÏEFF DVD
Animation works

DVD PAL, 30 films
English French booklet 20 pages
Total running time 137 min. Price 30 Euros.
Languages : English – French
Complements : Picture gallery, photos, portraits, engraving, tools.

This dvd contains 30 films, (27 by Alexeïeff), gathering for the first time the nearly complete cinematographic works, of this exceptional inventor and artist who brought Animated film to the highest levels of artistic demand in the 30’s. On the pinboard, this extraordinary imaging device, built with Claire Parker, five films have been made, all of which being on the dvd, including the mythical “Night on Bald Mountain” (1933) on Mussorgsky’s music, “The Nose” based on Gogol’s short story, “Pictures at an Exhibition” and “Three moods”. One will also be able to see 20 animated objects advertising films made from the 30’s to the 60’s for the most famous brands, as well as unreleased Totalised Animation tests, and the Norman McLaren documentary “The Pinboard”, in which Alexeïeff and Parker reveal its working principles. As a complement a picture gallery of portraits, sketches, engravings, recreates the atmosphere of this unique artistic epic.Read More »

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Mazeppa tells the story of a painter (Gericault) who is brought into the sensuous and strange world of a traveling “circus” — not like Ringling Bros., but more of a demonstration of horse training and acrobatic feats on horseback. The story is of Gericault’s immersion in the sensual pleasures of the circus — gorgeous horses, gorgeous music by Ukrainian singers, gorgeous women — and his transformation by that experience. The main strength of the movie is in the lush visuals, particularly in the portrayal of the sensuality of the horses’ bodies and movement. There isn’t a lot of dialogue, which allows the viewer to concentrate on everything else, but also leads to some confusion about what is happening and why. It was my sense that this was partly intentional, paralleling Gericault’s experience. The film has the visual richness of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, but is not as disturbing (though there are some disturbing scenes at beginning and end). I loved this movie but gave it only a seven out of 10 because even after having seen it three or four times, I can’t really say what it’s about — I love the music and the imagery so much I’m willing to overlook that, but it’s hard to get anyone else to watch the movie with me.Read More »

Synopsis:
During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wenders asks a number of film directors from around the world to get, each one at a time, into a hotel room, turn on the camera and sound recorder, and, in solitude, answer a simple question: “What is the future of cinema?”.Read More »

On the movie :
(Wikipedia !)

Numéro Deux, by Jean-Luc Godard and Anne-Marie Miéville, is a 1975 experimental film about a young family in a social housing complex in France. The film’s distinct style involves presenting two images on screen simultaneously, leading to multiple interpretations of the story and to comments on the film-making and editing process.

The film is divided into two parts. For the first third of the movie, Godard discusses what it takes to make a film (money) and describes how he got the money. In the second part, the remaining two thirds, each character in the story discusses their quotidian experiences through dialogue which is primarily poetic, and secondarily political.Read More »

Jean-Charles Fitoussi’s second short movie (rather experimental), before he goes on making his masterpieces.

Short in seven days, in Rome, with two friends, a 16mm camera and no scenario.

A cinematic essay about time — an ode to life, however tragic it may be.
Essai cinématographique sur le temps — et ode à l’existence, pour tragique qu’elle soit.Read More »

Plot:

Pierre, a young man of privilege, whose anonymously-published novel is a hit and who’s about to marry his blond cousin, Lucie, abandons all when a dark-haired vagrant tells him her secret late one night in the woods: that she is Isabelle, his sister, abandoned by their father. Pierre breaks off with Lucie and his doting mother, heading for Paris with Isabelle, intent on knowing the dark side of human nature. He begins a novel, sending chapters under a pseudonym to his publisher; his relationship with Isabelle moves beyond the fraternal; and, in winter, the frail Lucie comes to live with them. Family jealousies mount, and Pierre may have discovered despair instead of the truth.Read More »

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A stylish, 70’s-period crime thriller inspired by true events, The Connection tells the story of real-life Marseilles magistrate Pierre Michel (Academy Award, Winner Jean Dujardin, The Artist, The Wolf of Wall Street) and his relentless crusade to dismantle the most notorious drug smuggling operation in history: the French Connection.

In his crosshairs is charismatic and wealthy kingpin, Gatean “Tany” Zampa (Gilles Lellouche, Point Blank, Mesrine: Killer Instinct), who runs the largest underground heroin trade into the States. Though the fearless and tenacious Michel, aided by a task force of elite cops, will stop at nothing––including boldly orchestrated drug raids, devastating arrests, and exacting interrogations––to ensure the crime ring’s demise, Zampa’s “La French” always seems one step ahead.Read More »

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A man and a woman meet by accident on a Sunday evening at their childrens’ boarding school. Slowly they reveal themselves to each other, finding that each is a widow/widower. Each is slow to reveal anything personal so that each revelation is hidden by a misperception. They become friends, then close friends, and then she reveals that she can’t have a lover because, for her, her husband’s memory is still too strong. Much of the film is told wordlessly in action, or through hearing one of their thoughts as they go about their day.Read More »