French

  • André Barsacq – Le rideau rouge AKA Crimson Curtain (1952)

    Drama1951-1960André BarsacqCrimeFrance

    Quote:
    Playwright Jean Anouilh was the guiding force behind the unorthodox murder mystery. During a provincial theatre production of Macbeth, several tragedies occur. The actors attribute these calamities to the “curse” supposedly hanging over the Shakespeare play, but police inspector Jean Brochard doesn’t buy this…Read More »

  • Christian-Jaque – Adorables créatures (1952)

    1951-1960Christian-JaqueComedyFranceRomance

    Erotic diary of a young bridegroom who, just out of church, swears eternal love to his wife (A. Lualdi), naive, but not too much. Meanwhile, we go through his previous experiences: adulterous wife (D. Darrieux), luxury cocotte (Carol M.), widowed millionaire (E. Feuillère).
    Written by Charles Spaak and Jacques Companeez, it is a libel against women in form of hilarious, smiling and amiable comedy, but imbued with poisons. An episodic film cleverly disguised. The underlying cynicism melts in foam of champagne.
    (Morandini)Read More »

  • Luc Moullet – Ma première brasse (1981)

    1981-1990ArthouseComedyFranceLuc Moullet

    Luc Moullet, 44 years, director is learning to swimRead More »

  • Jérôme Boivin – Baxter (1989)

    France1981-1990ComedyHorrorJérôme Boivin

    Quote:
    A white Bull Terrier named Baxter is given to an elderly woman by her daughter. As time passes, the dog develops aggressive and murderous behavior in order to be adopted by another family.Read More »

  • Lucas Belvaux – Après la Vie AKA After Life [Trilogy No. 3] (2002)

    2001-2010DramaFranceLucas Belvaux

    In The Trilogy, three different but parallel stories unfold revealing the lives of a husband and wife, a policeman and his drug-addicted wife, and a prison escapee and his friends. The characters wander in and out of three films where we see them switch from leading men and women to supporting actors. The three films, all of different genres (the first is a thriller, the second a comedy and the third a melodrama), provide the same action from different angles and perspectives. Each film can be appreciated on its own, but together they form a cohesive whole allowing the viewer to gain a deeper understanding of the characters. Although it is reminiscent of Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Balzac’s novels, Lucas Belvaux’s project is unprecedented.Read More »

  • Lucas Belvaux – Un Couple Épatant AKA An Amazing Couple [Trilogy No. 2] (2002)

    2001-2010ComedyFranceLucas Belvaux

    In The Trilogy, three different but parallel stories unfold revealing the lives of a husband and wife, a policeman and his drug-addicted wife, and a prison escapee and his friends. The characters wander in and out of three films where we see them switch from leading men and women to supporting actors. The three films, all of different genres (the first is a thriller, the second a comedy and the third a melodrama), provide the same action from different angles and perspectives. Each film can be appreciated on its own, but together they form a cohesive whole allowing the viewer to gain a deeper understanding of the characters. Although it is reminiscent of Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Balzac’s novels, Lucas Belvaux’s project is unprecedented.Read More »

  • Lucas Belvaux – Cavale AKA On the Run [Trilogy No. 1] (2002)

    2001-2010FranceLucas BelvauxThriller

    In The Trilogy, three different but parallel stories unfold revealing the lives of a husband and wife, a policeman and his drug-addicted wife, and a prison escapee and his friends. The characters wander in and out of three films where we see them switch from leading men and women to supporting actors. The three films, all of different genres (the first is a thriller, the second a comedy and the third a melodrama), provide the same action from different angles and perspectives. Each film can be appreciated on its own, but together they form a cohesive whole allowing the viewer to gain a deeper understanding of the characters. Although it is reminiscent of Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Balzac’s novels, Lucas Belvaux’s project is unprecedented.Read More »

  • Maurice Gleize – Le récif de corail AKA Coral Reefs (1938)

    1931-1940AdventureDramaFranceMaurice Gleize

    Brisbane, Australia, late 1910s. A man on the run from a murder charge buys a place as a stowaway on a smuggler ship bound for Mexico, by way of a tiny coral reef atoll.

    Quote:
    Between 1923 and 1952 Maurice Gleize managed to direct twenty two films in France without distinguishing himself. This one, with a screenplay by top French scriptwriter Charles Spaak, had arguably the best cast he ever got to work with (on other occasions he directed Fenandel, Charles Vanel and Marie Bell) from co-stars Jean Gabin and Michele Morgan – hot on the heels of Quai des brumes that same year – to Saturnin Fabre, Gaston Modot and Julien Carrette but for all Gleize extracted from them it might as well have been John Lund and Maria Montez supported by Leo Gorcey and the Bowery Boys.Read More »

  • Raoul Ruiz – Nucingen Haus AKA Nucingen House (2008)

    2001-2010DramaFranceRaoul Ruiz

    Plot: The story takes place in the 1920s. William, a young aristocrat, has just won a property in Chili, near Santiago, in a poker game. He takes his wife Anne-Marie there so that she can rest. Right from the moment they arrive, they are welcomed by strange and intrusive characters bound together by an oppressive and poetical figure, the ghost of Léonor, who died accidentally. The house, with its suffocating presence, becomes the theater of an incredible substitution linked to the anxieties and desires of an unsatisfied man. (uniFrance)Read More »

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