French

  • Jacqueline Audry – Gigi (1949)

    France1941-1950ComedyJacqueline AudryRomance

    Quote:
    Daniele Delorme is a turn-of-the-century teenage courtesan-in-training in the French romantic comedy Gigi (1948). Instructed by her beloved grandmother Yvonne de Bray (Mamita) and glamorous courtesan aunt Gaby Morlay (Alicia) in the art of using her feminine wiles, 16-year-old Gigi learns how to select a man’s cigar, determine the value of the various jewels she will be given by her rich lovers, chew her meat while continuing to carry on a conversation and other priceless tidbits in the feminine arsenal of seduction.Read More »

  • Jean-Claude Biette – Le champignon des Carpathes (1990) (DVD)

    Arthouse1981-1990FranceJean-Claude BietteSci-Fi

    No information on this in english….

    Une jeune fille doit interpréter le role d’Ophelie du “Hamlet” de Shakespeare dans le théâtre d’un metteur en scène américain quelque peu oublie. Quelque temps auparavant elle est sauvée in extremis lors de l’accident d’une centrale nucléaire. Mais Ophelie est malade. Robert son frère veut la soigner avec un drôle de champignon découvert par Marie au moment de l’accident. Pour Jean-Paul Civeyrac, étudiants de la Femis, “le vrai sujet du film est la possibilité compromise d’inventer une histoire, de faire un projet d’existence alors que le monde peut se détruire”.Read More »

  • Henri Decoin – Bonnes à tuer AKA One Step to Eternity (1954)

    Drama1951-1960Film NoirFranceHenri Decoin

    Synopsis:
    ‘François Roques, a power-and-money-mad editor of a Paris newspaper (who justifies his actions by calling attention to his poverty-stricken childhood), invites four women to a housewarming at his penthouse apartment. He plans on one of them to meet death by means of a loose railing on the balcony. The invitees are: Constance, François’ first wife, whose love and integrity also stood in the way of his schemes; Véra Volpone, his second wife, from whom he is seeking a divorce, and who, with the aid of her lover, is blackmailing François; Maggy, his mistress who aids him in his illegal transactions; and Cécile, his fiancée, who is pregnant by another man. The women arrive, tension overwhelms them and the host, three of the women depart…and Francois is alone with his intended victim.’
    – Les AdamsRead More »

  • Albert Lamorisse – Le Ballon rouge AKA The Red Balloon (1956) (HD)

    1951-1960Albert LamorisseClassicsFantasyFrance

    Quote:
    Most of French director Albert Lamorisse’s films celebrate the miracle of flight, but few were as landmark as his 1956 short subject The Red Balloon. The story, told with a minimum of dialogue, concerns a little boy (played by the director’s son Pascal) who comes across a helium-filled balloon. As he plays with his new acquisition, the boy discovers that the balloon seemingly has a mind of its own. The little red orb follows its new “master” all through the streets of Paris, then dogs the boy’s trail into the schoolroom, which drives the teacher to comic distraction. Towards the end, it seems as though boy and balloon will be parted forever….but director Lamorisse has a delightful surprise in store for us. In an unusual move, The Red Balloon in its American TV premiere was introduced by Ronald Reagan as an episode of the CBS anthology G.E. Theater on April 2, 1961.Read More »

  • François Bel, Gérard Vienne, Michel Fano – Le territoire des autres AKA The Territory of Others [+extras] (1970)

    Documentary1961-1970ExperimentalFranceFrançois BelGérard VienneMichel Fano

    Orson Welles:
    The Territory of others is a treasure that must be cherished by future generations of film lovers as well as by those of today’s generation. All who see this movie will be touched and will find the presence of magic.

    Daniel Deshays:
    If we had to defend the idea that creativity takes precedence over the cinematographic genre, it would suffice to show / listen to this animal film. It was built as we no longer know how to do it: sound and image together. The editor Jacqueline Lecomte plays with the composer Michel Fano who invents here his own language in a sound and musical hybridity. One of the first environmental films. A poetic universe that Orson Welles described as “treasure to cherish by generations of future moviegoers”.Read More »

  • Alain Robbe-Grillet – L’immortelle (1963)

    1961-1970Alain Robbe-GrilletDramaEroticaFrance

    Synopsis:
    A sad man meets a beautiful, secretive woman who may or may not be involved in some conspiracy ring dealing in kidnapped women used as prostitutes. After several days of their sadly passionate relationship she disappears. The sad man is unable to locate her as all the local Turkish people pretend not to remember any such woman. He suddenly finds her again (she finds him?) and before she can explain her disappearance she is killed in a car crash while he is in the passenger seat. He replays the accident over and over in his mind trying to remember how she died if he caused the accident himself by grabbing the wheel.Read More »

  • Bernard Émond – La donation AKA The Legacy (2009)

    2001-2010ArthouseBernard ÉmondCanadaDrama

    Doctor Rainville, an old country doctor who has a deep attachment to his patients, is about to retire and is looking for a successor. Jeanne Dion, an emergency doctor from Montréal, agrees to come to Normétal to replace him for a few weeks, without considering staying any longer than necessary in the remote Quebéc village. Normétal is a town in decline whose only large employer, a mine, closed three decades ago. Life is hard there, and a doctor’s relationship with his patients is much closer than Jeanne is used to after her experience in a large hospital’s emergency ward. When the old doctor dies, Jeanne must decide whether to stay and accept a responsibility that comes with much more commitment than she had planned on.Read More »

  • Sylvie Verheyde – Combats de femme AKA Amour de Femme (2001)

    2001-2010DramaFranceQueer Cinema(s)RomanceSylvie Verheyde

    “Amour de Femme” is one of those rare movies that are moody, subtle, and yet powerful all at the same time. A French film with English subtitles, “Amour de Femme” tells the story of Jeanne, a 35-year-old masseuse living in Paris, who has spent her entire life making other people feel better. Attending a party with David, her husband of seven years, Jeanne instantly connects with Marie, a dancer performing at the party. They spend the evening conversing about their love of dance, something Jeanne used to do, but has given up as her life took a different turn. Vowing to begin dancing again, Jeanne decides to take one of Marie’s classes, and rediscovers not only the passion that’s been missing from her life, but that she has feelings for this mesmerizing woman.Read More »

  • Jean Rouch – La chasse au lion à l’arc AKA The Lion Hunters (1966)

    1961-1970DocumentaryFranceJean Rouch

    Documentation of the lion hunt performed by the gow hunters of the Songhay people, shot on the border between Niger and Mali over a period of seven years.

    Icarus Films Synopsis:

    Shot on the border between Niger and Mali over a period of seven years, THE LION HUNTERS is Jean Rouch’s documentation of the lion hunt performed by the gow hunters of the Songhay people.

    Opening on the Niger River, the film travels north to “the bush that is farther than far “: the desert region populated by the Fulani cattle herders, who have requested the help of the gow in eliminating a lion, nicknamed “The American” for his cruel cunning, who has been killing their cows.Read More »

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