French

  • Luc Moullet – Genèse d’un repas AKA Origins of a Meal (1979)

    Luc Moullet1971-1980DocumentaryFrance

    Quote:
    With this documentary on the plots and sub-plots of the universe of food, Moullet moves away from comedy to become a pioneer of today’s trend to analyze the forms of globalization by looking at a small cultural field. In his survey going from our everyday menu to the exploitation of Third World workers, the genesis in the title provides the basis for this political essay: by following the history of a meal’s ingredients, an intelligent map of the workings of the global world is charted.Read More »

  • Jean-Claude Brisseau – L’ange noir AKA The Black Angel (1994)

    Jean-Claude Brisseau1991-2000CrimeDramaFrance

    In this stylish French drama fits well into the film noir genre. A visitor comes to the home of Stephane, the wife of an important magistrate. She, claiming attempted rape, calmly shoots him. The visitor is the legendary gangster Wadek Aslanian who was beloved as a latter day Robin Hood. Stephane’s husband hires a lawyer, Paul, to defend her. Paul learns many disturbing things about Stephane’s sordid past when he starts receiving anonymous letters describing her exploits which included prostitution, performing in porno-movies, and most interestingly having a liaison with Aslanian. The judge is ignorant of his wife’s past. Despite her dark and mysterious past, Paul cannot help but fall in love with Stephane.Read More »

  • Benoît Jacquot – L’assassin musicien AKA The Musician Killer (1975)

    Benoît Jacquot1971-1980ArthouseDramaFrance

    After the conductor of the orchestra he has been playing in commits suicide, a young clarinettist is left with a quite valuable violin.Read More »

  • Régis Wargnier – La femme de ma vie AKA The Woman of My Life (1986)

    Régis Wargnier1981-1990DramaFranceRomance

    Simon, a famous violinist, sinks into alcoholism. He finds support from his lover, who is also the manager of the orchestra in which he plays. But is she really helping him or is she exploiting his dependence on her? A man who has been through the same experience as Simon, offers to help him…Read More »

  • Jean Douchet, Jean Rouch, Jean-Daniel Pollet, Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol – Paris vu par… AKA Six in Paris (1965)

    Various1961-1970ArthouseFranceShort Film

    Synopsis: Six vignettes set in different sections of Paris, by six directors. St. Germain des Pres (Douchet), Gare du Nord (Rouch), Rue St. Denis (Pollet), and Montparnasse et Levallois (Godard) are stories of love, flirtation and prostitution; Place d’Etoile (Rohmer) concerns a haberdasher and his umbrella; and La Muette (Chabrol), a bourgeois family and earplugs.Read More »

  • Anne Claire Poirier – La quarantaine (1982)

    Anne Claire Poirier1981-1990CanadaDrama

    Quote:
    La quarantaine (Beyond Forty) is a psychological drama by Anne Claire Poirier, veteran and pioneer of feminine and feminist cinema in Canada. As a director and producer, she broke the silence of women, reversed taboos and paved the way for women’s films in Quebec and Canada. “If I feel this way, it’s because others have to live the same thing as me.” This leitmotiv leads Anne Claire Poirier to make a feminine cinema that is both personal and plural.Read More »

  • Jacques Rivette – L’amour fou (1969)

    1961-1970ArthouseDramaFranceJacques Rivette

    Sébastien (Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Weekend) is staging an adaptation of Racine’s tragedy, Andromaque while a film crew captures their rehearsals on handheld 16mm. The production’s star and Sebastian’s wife, Claire (Bulle Ogier, Out 1), cannot take the pressure and removes herself. Life imitates art, creating a tragedy for the couple when Sébastien recasts the role with his ex. L’amour fou is a hypnotic study of tempestuous love, told with director Jacques Rivette’s signature reflexivity and containing striking examinations of performance, art, theatre and life. A classic of the French New Wave and one of Rivette’s most radical works, L’amour fou was unavailable for years, with the original elements tragically burned in a fire. Now meticulously restored, Radiance Films is proud to present this masterpiece from a new 4K restoration.Read More »

  • André Cayatte – Il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu AKA Where There’s Smoke (1973)

    André Cayatte1971-1980DramaFranceThriller
    Il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu (1973)
    Il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu (1973)

    Synopsis
    Once again, Boussard is expected to win the coming mayoral elections with a handsome majority. One man who isn’t pleased by this prospect is Dr Peyrac, who is so disgusted by Boussard and his shady activities that he decides to run against him. For once, Boussard is anxious and sees the impeccable Dr Peyrac as a serious challenger, so he asks his secretary, Morlaix, to come to his aid. The latter discovers that Peyrac’s wife, Sylvie, is on friendly terms with Olga Leroy, a woman who is reputed to organise wild orgies for the well off. This is just the information Boussard needs to destroy his rival…Read More »

  • Jean Girault – Faites sauter la banque! AKA Let’s Rob the Bank (1964)

    Jean Girault1961-1970ComedyCrimeFrance
    Faites sauter la banque! (1964)
    Faites sauter la banque! (1964)

    Synopsis
    A modest shopkeeper, Victor Garnier, hands over his hard-earned savings to the director of the bank opposite his shop, to invest in shares in an oil company. A big mistake. When the shares become worthless, Garnier is determined to have his revenge and get back his money. With the help of his family, he plans to dig a tunnel from the cellar beneath his shop into the bank vault. Needless to say, nothing goes quite as planned…Read More »

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