French

  • Claude Chabrol – Une partie de plaisir AKA A Piece of Pleasure (1975)

    Claude Chabrol1971-1980DramaFrance

    Philippe advocates total sexual freedom and strongly encourages his partner Esther to do the same. But when the young woman decides to take him at his word, Philippe finds it intolerable. And that’s when all their problems begin…Read More »

  • Jacques Godbout – YUL 871 AKA Montreal Flight 871 (1966)

    1961-1970CanadaDramaJacques Godbout

    YUL is the closest thing to a French New Wave title simply by virtue of the casting of lead actor Charles Denner, a regular Truffaut mascot (The Bride Wore Black, The Man Who Loved Women) as well as a familiar face in films by Claude Lelouch and Costa-Gavras. The title refers to a flight number of a French engineer who arrives in Montreal only to find that the man he’s supposed to meet isn’t in his office. After a bus ride through the city he wanders the streets to kill time, crossing paths with a young girl, striking up a potential romance, and diving into Montreal culture ranging from bowling alleys to a “ye ye” performance in Arab drag to a quirky shooting gallery and even a moment of unexpected tragedy.Read More »

  • Gilles Bourdos – Inquiétudes AKA A Sight for Sore Eyes (2003)

    Gilles Bourdos2001-2010DramaFranceThriller
    Inquiétudes (2003)

    Young woman who lives under the gaze of her overprotective stepmother falls for a young man she meets. He is infatuated by her beauty, but is also a sociopath. She wants to leave her stepmother’s hold and he is ready to kill.Read More »

  • Alain Cavalier – L’insoumis (1964)

    Alain Cavalier1961-1970FranceThriller

    Synopsis :
    1961. Luxemburger Thomas Vlassenroot deserted the French Foreign Legion during the Algiers Putsch. His lieutenant, Fraser, initiated the desertion for the two of them, Fraser believing he could do more for the French working for an underground organization. However, Thomas readily admits that he no longer has any political motivations or affiliations, and thus is hiding out from the authorities in Algiers. Fraser offers him a proposition: help him kidnap Lyonais lawyer, Dominique Servet, who is in Algiers to defend two Algerian nationalists…Read More »

  • Dom Pedro – Tango Negro: The African Roots of Tango (2013)

    2011-2020DocumentaryDom PedroFrance

    Quote:
    Tango Negro: The African Roots of Tango by Angolan filmmaker Dom Pedro explores the expression of Tango’s Africanness and the contribution of African cultures in the creation of the tango. Tango was a reflection of the social life of the slaves that were taken to South America – including Argentina and Uruguay – mostly from central Africa, particularly from the former Kongo Kingdom. Director Dom Pedro reveals the depth of the footprints of the African music on the tango, through this rich movie combining musical performances and interviews from many tango fans and historians in Latin America and Europe, including the renowned Argentinean pianist Juan Carlos Caceres.Read More »

  • Eric Rohmer – Les nuits de la pleine lune AKA Full Moon in Paris (1984)

    Eric Rohmer1981-1990ArthouseDramaFrance

    Quote:
    Louise lives with Rémi in Marne-la-Vallée. He is an architect, she is an interior decorator. Their lives would be perfect if Rémi were less of a homebody, and if Louise were not such a night owl. Conscious of preserving her independence, Louise rents a pied-à-terre in Paris. Octave, her friend and confidant, is always ready to accompany her during her night prowls. One evening, beneath a full moon, and Octave’s jealous, loving gaze, she succumbs to the charms of a sensual dancer. As day breaks she realises, however, that she would much rather be with Rémi.Read More »

  • Patrick Bokanowski – La part du hasard (1984)

    Patrick Bokanowski1981-1990ArthouseDocumentaryFrance

    Patrick Bokanowski’s extraordinarily intimate portrait of Henri Dimier at work focuses as much attention on the personality of the materials as on the painter himself. Only fitting, as Dimier repeatedly insists that the artist’s vocation is to let the paper “be aware of itself” and takes obvious pleasure showing the proper way to sharpen a pencil. Dimier demonstrates several playful exercises to cultivate an all-important sense of spontaneity while he approaches teaching as another opportunity for improvisation. “If you lose your momentum you lose your freedom,” Dimier opines. And indeed Bokanowski’s portrait exemplifies the benefit of sustained attention. – Max GoldbergRead More »

  • Jean Beaudin – Le diable est parmi nous AKA The Possession of Virginia AKA Satan’s Sabbath (1972)

    1971-1980CanadaCultJean BeaudinThriller

    The story of a man, 2 women and an inescapable pact made with the Devil. Following a friend’s apparent suicide, Paul (Pilon) begins to believe that something strange is going on. Following a series of harrowing events, Paul finds himself at a Black Mass where the truth will finally be discovered.Read More »

  • Guy Gilles – L’amour à la mer aka Love at Sea (1965)

    Guy Gilles1961-1970ArthouseDramaFrance

    During her holiday in Brest, a young Parisian falls in love with a sailor. But autumn comes and the two lovers have to part. They write to each other. Will their love resist at a distance, each living his life, him in Brest with his friends, she in Paris who keeps waiting for him? An impossible love story and the cross-portrait of two cities, Paris and Brest, between the realism of the color images and the poetry infused by the sepia black and white images, lives to the rhythm of the nostalgia of the two lovers…Read More »

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