synopsis – AMG:
In this satiric comedy-drama from France, Paul (Mathieu Amalric) is an assistant professor of philosophy disenchanted with teaching and distracted enough that he can’t (or won’t) finish the dissertation that would allow him to become a full professor. Esther (Emmanuelle Devos) has been his girlfriend for nearly a decade; while he’s no longer happy with the relationship, he has trouble working up the courage to break it off. He’s smitten with Sylvia (Marianne Denicourt), the lover of his best friend Nathan (Emmanuel Salinger); Paul and Sylvia had a brief fling two years ago, and he can’t get her out of his mind. However, once Paul gives Esther her walking papers, he starts chasing after Valerie (Jeanne Balibar), while also keeping his eye on Patricia (Chiara Mastroianni), the girlfriend of his cousin (and roommate) Bob (Thibault de Montalembert). It’s hard to imagine Paul having much time to think about anything else amidst all this romantic tumult, but when Rabier (Michel Vuillermoz), a former friend, gets a top spot in Paul’s department, it leads to an ongoing argument that both adds to and reflects the turmoil of his romantic life. Amalric’s performance earned him a 1997 Cיsar Award as Most Promising Young Actor. — Mark DemingRead More »
1960s
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Arnaud Desplechin – Comment je me suis disputé… (ma vie sexuelle) aka My Sex Life… or How I Got Into an Argument (1996)
1991-2000Arnaud DesplechinDramaFrance -
Tony Richardson – Mademoiselle (1966)
Drama1961-1970FranceTony Richardson

In 1951, French writer Jean Genet presented a screenplay called “Les Rêves Interdits/L’Autre Versant du Rêve” to actress Anouk Aimée as a wedding gift. He then proceeded to sell the rights three times without telling her. Eventually the script was reworked by Marguerite Duras and filmed by British director Tony Richardson as Mademoiselle, with Jeanne Moreau in the title role.Read More »
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Zbynek Brynych & Jerzy Skolimowski & Peter Solan – Dialóg 20-40-60 (1968)
1961-1970ArthouseDramaJerzy SkolimowskiPeter SolanSlovakiaZbynek BrynychSYNOPSIS:
This film is an experiment. One dialogue, three filmmakers, three stories. Jerzy Skolimowski (Polish), Peter Solan (Slovak), and Zbynek Brynych (Czech) created their variations of the same conversation. Focusing on couples in their twenties, forties, and sixties, these three inventive sketches illustrate the emotional interaction between a man and a woman.Read More » -
Andy Warhol – The Velvet Underground and Nico (1966)
1961-1970Andy WarholExperimentalUSA
This Andy Warhol art film was first released in 1966. It is his chronicle of the Velvet Underground jamming while blonde German model Nico sits on a stool. Unlike other Warhol art films, the camera becomes an active participant in the film as it zooms in, pans, and moves chaotically around the performers Lou Reed, John Cale and other Undergrounders. The film is not really edited and includes a scene where the police burst in to stop the noise. Warhol himself also appears brieflyRead More »
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Eric Rohmer – Une étudiante d’aujourd’hui aka A Modern Coed (1966)
1961-1970DocumentaryEric RohmerFranceShort Film -
Radley Metzger – Camille 2000 (1969)
USA1961-1970EroticaRadley MetzgerRomance

“Camille 2000, with its cast of wealthy, weary sophisticates, clear plastic blow-up beds, outlandish metal dresses, refined S&M orgies, and Euro-psychedelic music, is often cited as the quintessential Metzger film. In fact, all that’s missing in the world of the doomed romantic Marguerite Gautier (Daniele Gaubert) is a gilded go-go cage. Fans of the 1935 Garbo version may be startled to see that Metzger’s update, underneath the wild period decor, is recognizably the same story, though Gaubert’s existential exhaustion may be less evident to an audience mesmerized by the parade of Italian haute couture and decor.” – Gary Morris, Bright Lights Film JournalRead More »
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Yuli Raizman – A Esli Eto Lyubov? AKA But What If This Is Love? (1961)
Drama1961-1970USSRYuli RaizmanDescription:The film is about friendship and incipient love between ten-form schoolchildren Ksenia and Boris. Rude and hypocritical interference of the people around, who saw platitide and even lechery in their feelings, spoilt their relationship, inflicted heavy spiritual trauma, destroyed their feeling, which could have grown into real big love.Read More »
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Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi – Estambul 65 AKA That Man in Istanbul (1965)
1961-1970ActionAdventureAntonio Isasi-IsasmendiSpainQuote:
A handsome hero with a shady past and a knack for adventure (Horst Buchholz), a beautiful heroine assisting him (Sylva Koscina), evil masterminds and agents, kidnapped scientists, an exotic setting (Istanbul), fights & chases, etc: the stage is set for a 60’s Bond-inspired spy adventure. This one begins pretty well, but loses its spark when Koscina (one of the most underrated spy girls of the decade – see also “Deadlier Than The Male”) disappears for long sections. Klaus Kinski also elevates the few scenes he is in (and has the best line in the film: “I am considered a good shot by those I have killed”!), but, like Koscina, he is underused. Buchholz is pretty good, both in the tongue-in-cheek and in the more violent moments, but the film is too long at 119 minutes, and about halfway through I began to lose the plot. At least it’s better produced than many of these Bondian imitations, though the current VHS prints, fullscreen and worn-out, don’t exactly do the production justice.Read More » -
Andy Warhol – Blow Job (1963)
1961-1970Andy WarholExperimentalQueer Cinema(s)Short FilmUSAReview by Tom Vick (Allmovie.com)
Probably the most notorious of Andy Warhol’s films, Blow Job has been called, jokingly, the longest reaction shot in the history of cinema. In it, an anonymous young man’s face is seen in close-up while he receives fellatio from an unseen partner. The serene voyeurism that runs through Warhols ’60s films reaches a kind of apotheosis in Blow Job. Sexuality, which is a distinct subtext in a number of his films, becomes the subject of this one but, in a typically Warholian joke on pornography, all the “action” occurs off-screen.Read More »





