French

Synopsis (EN) : Laurent comes to visit his father not far from Bethune. But his father, who lives a hermit’s life deep in the woods, has only one thing on his mind: to do away with his six children in order to relieve them of the miseries of life. Welcomed at the Caboche farm where his brother Frederic works (Frederic advises him not to try to see their father), Laurent is delighted to see hardy 81 year old Alfred again. The gods are not far off, and, despite all, the pleasures of existence too.Read More »

A notorious secret society known as Spermula plans to return from the future and conquer Earth by neutering the male population.Read More »

The censured novel Conversazione in Sicilia, by Elio Vittorini, published in four episodes in 1918/1939, is the basis for this account of a man returning to Sicily for a visit to his mother. This is a journey of initiation, “a voyage in fourth dimension through his infancy”, he says. Not only to re-live words, people, places, sounds, sensation, and odor of his seven years, but mainly to understand himself. He re-encounters his mother whom he has not seen for 15 years, ever since she left for the North of Italy. Through her, he attempts to glean answers to questions and facts that still trouble his memories, such as the image of his dead father. In this return, he also comes face to face with reality, corruption, and treachery, that differ from his memories as a child with a mother, lost between abstract fury and an awareness of his incapacity to comprehend the human condition.Read More »

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This long-lost masterpiece of gay erotic cinema centers on a handsome young stud who rides his motorcycle through myriad of sexual encounters, from a soccer game’s locker room to a dreamy and unsettling orgy where the film reaches its melancholic peak. Newly scanned in 2K from the original camera negative and directed with absolute grace by the mysterious Dietrich de Velsa (aka Francis Savel / Frantz Salieri): this former painter was also the owner and artistic director of one of the first transvestites’ cabaret of Paris, La Grande Eugène. Years later, he collaborated with Joseph Losey on Mr. Klein and Don Giovanni. EQUATION TO AN UNKNOWN is his only film and stands without a doubt as a masterpiece and the best French gay adult film ever made.Read More »

In a youth correctional facility, 17-year-old Joe is preparing for his return to society, uncertain of what life on the other side will look like. His complex feelings about his imminent freedom are further complicated by the arrival of William, his new neighbour in the cell next door. As the two grow closer through lessons on camera obscura and rap workshops, Joe’s desire to explore the outside world gives way to a new desire. This striking feature debut captures the growing passion between the two young men and the ways in which it could ultimately lead to their downfall.Read More »

An abandoned seaside resort. The shooting for a fantasy film about the end of an era wraps up. Two women, both members of the film crew, one an actress, the other a director, Apocalypse and Joy, are on the verge of concluding their love affair.Read More »

Emmanuelle is a 1974 French drama film directed by Just Jaeckin. It is the first installment in a series of French softcore pornography films based on the novel Emmanuelle. The film stars Sylvia Kristel in the title role about a woman who takes a trip to Bangkok to enhance her sexual experience. The film was former photographer Just Jaeckin’s debut feature film and was shot on location in Thailand and in France between 1973 and 1974.Read More »

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In Paris outskirts Blanche, a young clerk, befriends Lea, a girl livelier than she is. Lea is going steady with Fabien who is a friend to Alexandre who is going steady with Adrienne but is however loved by Blanche. Somehow a way has to be found to get out of this emotional chaos!Read More »

If one were to gather the hundreds of books written about Ludwig van Beethoven, sift through each with a fine-tooth comb, and extract every simple mistake, wild speculation, and outright falsehood, the result would still be nowhere near as fabulous and artificial as this 1936 biopic, which rewrites the composer’s life story into a throbbingly melodramatic tale of genius ignored and love unrequited. Director Abel Gance, best known for his expansive silent classic Napoleon, wasn’t interested in the truth of Beethoven’s life, but instead the romantic ideal of a great man tormented by history; Gance’s Beethoven is merely a variation of the filmmaker’s beloved Bonaparte, triumphant yet scorned by his inferiors in the artistic realm rather than the political. (Needless to say, among the film’s many omissions is Beethoven’s bitter rededication of the “Eroica” Symphony.)Read More »