‘Courrier sud’ dramatizes the exploits of a French commercial airline, making the treacherous run from Paris to Africa and back. Pilot Jacques tries to rekindle a romance with old flame Genevieve, now married to a prominent foreign ambassador…

Courrier.sud.1937.DVDRip.x264.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1h 27mn
Size: 	1.35 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	702x568 ~> 757x568
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 000 Kbps
BPP: 	0.201
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 Kbps (Stereo)

https://nitro.download/view/4C84EFF46D7CAEC/Courrier.sud.1937.DVDRip.x264.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/1427354F948E48E/Courrier.sud.1937.DVDRip.x264.srt

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English, French SDH

The post Pierre Billon – Courrier sud AKA Southern Carrier (1937) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

The daughter of a Japanese nobleman sells herself as a geisha in order to save her family from poverty and dishonour when her father dies leaving debts. She meets and falls in love with a Russian naval officer, but their romance is threatened by the love of a jealous servant, and by the espionage mission that the officer has been assigned to.

Yoshiwara.1937.DVDRIP.x264.AC3.KJNU.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 30 min
Size: 	1.44 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	696x566 ~> 754x566
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.212
Audio
#1:  	French 1.0ch AC-3 @ 256 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/43BF8DEDAF77AB6/Yoshiwara.1937.DVDRIP.x264.AC3.KJNU.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English

The post Max Ophüls – Yoshiwara (1937) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

IMDB:
The history of the Entente Cordiale in the big and small picture, from 1898, when a French officer occupied the village of Fashoda, Sudan to 8 April 1904, when a series or agreements marking the rapprochement between England and France were signed. To this turnaround in public opinion corresponds a parallel evolution in the intimate feelings of two families, one English and the other French which will result in the French heir marrying the English daughter.
—Guy Bellinger

0.99GB | 1h 50m | 432×350 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/915F4CF8FACA7C9/ententecordiale.avi
or
https://fikper.com/23eZaWxJvJ/ententecordiale.avi

Language(s):French
Subtitles:None

The post Marcel L’Herbier – Entente cordiale (1939) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Yoshiwara (1937)

Quote:
The film is set in Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer and a rickshaw man.

Quote:
The period of exile between Max Ophuls’ departure from Germany after the rise of Hitler and his flight to America after the fall of France remains the most neglected portion of his career. Of the nine films he directed, mainly in France, during those seven years, only one (La Signora di Tutti [1934]) is at all well known; one (On a Vole un Homme [1933]) is lost; and opportunities to see the remainder are largely confined to the occasional touring retrospective. The neglect of Yoshiwara (1937) is therefore not unique. It is neither the most perfect of Ophuls’ prewar French films (a title which would probably be claimed by the rather academic brilliance of Sans Lendemain [1939]) nor the most complex (I would choose Werther [1938], a masterly perversion of Goethe’s novel which substantially improves on the self-indulgent romanticism of its literary source). But it is certainly the most underrated, not least by Ophuls himself, who dismissed it in interviews’; while most of those critics who have not ignored it have despised it.

Typically the French line has been kinder than the Anglo-American: Lorenzo Codelli’s account in Positif is the only really enthusiastic (albeit brief) recent discussion of the film that I have come across. Claude Beylie quotes several favourable extracts from the French reviewers of 1937; while acknowledging that “today’s” audiences (today being 1963) find it dated, he extends qualified praise to Ophuls’ efforts to imbue a “grotesque” scenario with “a kind of half-decorative, half-sentimental poetry”. Richard Roud, on the other hand, finds it “grotesque” without qualification, while Susan White, in her book-length study of the director’s work, relegates it to a footnote, condemns it for “pasteboard Japonism”, and describes it as “a dime-store Mizoguchi”.

Yoshiwara certainly looks more like a Mizoguchi than almost any other European film I could name, and its premise–a woman descends into prostitution for the sake of a male friend or relative–is identical to that of The Downfall of Osen (1934). If Ophuls in 1937 could hardly have been familiar with an oeuvre which was to remain almost unknown in the West until the fifties, the recurrence in Yoshiwara of common Japanese plot motifs suggests at least a reasonable acquaintance with certain fundamental assumptions of Japanese culture. As for “pasteboard Japonism”, art directors Leon and Andre Barsacq were both distinguished professionals whose careers between them encompassed such richly atmospheric and meticulously detailed films as L’Argent (1928, Marcel L’Herbier), La Marseillaise (1938, Jean Renoir) and Les Enfants du Paradis (1945, Marcel Carne). If their sets for Yoshiwara look a little fake, then it may be wisest to ascribe that to budgetary considerations. On the other hand, it may have been a deliberate stylistic choice, in which case one may, as Lorenzo Codelli does, admire the Sternbergian qualities of “an Orient made of cardboard and mysterious shadows.” Certainly to dismiss it for lack of realism is beside the point, and while I think that Ophuls’ Japan is a rather more complex and plausible society than most Western representations of the Orient, I am no more concerned with its historical verisimilitude than I would be with that of his Vienna, Anno 1900, in an account of La Ronde (1950).

2.71GB | 1h 31m | 1920×1080 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/0F565F9379C7511/Baks.1974.VHSRip.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/AD17BF0EB55AE6D/Yoshiwara.1937.1080p.Web-DL.KG.srt

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English

The post Max Ophüls – Yoshiwara (1937) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Synopsis
The composer Roland Samblaca returns to his home town Carcassonne in the South of France with his family. Whilst visiting an ancient castle, he meets and is enchanted by a young woman, Sylvie, who lives in the castle with her adoptive guardian, Monsieur Toulzac. A retired schoolmaster, Toulzac now occupies his time with his research into the ancient cult of a Christian sect of the Middle Ages who glorified death over life. Syvlie believes that she is cursed, having seen her first two lovers die in tragic circumstances. When Toulzac discovers a secret cathedral beneath the castle, Syvlie is compelled to go there. Roland follows, oblivious to the danger that awaits…

Fiancee.Of.Darkness.1945.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

General
Container:	Matroska
Runtime:	1h 32mn
Size:	2.27 GiB
DXVA:	Compatible
Minimum settings:	Met
Video
Codec:	x264
Resolution:	790x576
Aspect ratio:	1.372
Frame rate:	24.000 fps
Bit rate:	3 307 kb/s
Audio
French 2.0ch AAC LC @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/A60C64F64BE35C9/Fiancee.Of.Darkness.1945.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English

The post Serge de Poligny – La Fiancée des ténèbres AKA Fiancée of Darkness (1945) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Synopsis:
Pierre (Pierre Richard-Willm), a young lawyer, has enormous debts due to his mistress Florence (Marie Bell), and her whims of luxury life. Pierre has gone too far and put the family firm in jeopardy. They ask him to expatriate. To avoid scandal, Pierre joins the Foreign Legion. In Morocco, near the desert, Pierre goes with his comrades of the Legion to a bar-restaurant-brothel, owned by a shady character, Mr. Clement (Charles Vanel). Clement lives more or less with Ms.Blanche (Françoise Rosay) who is a fortune teller with cards, as a hobby. But Clement is also after his girls now and then. Pierre is still obsessed with Florence but he meets Irma (Marie Bell), one of Clement’s girls, who is the double of Florence except for hair color. Irma has had an accident and has lost part of her memory at a certain point of her recent past, and Pierre slowly persuades himself she is Florence, but cannot remember it. Advised by Ms.Blanche, Irma finally accepts to act as if she was Florence because she is falling in love with Pierre. Near the end of his contract with the Legion, Pierre receives news from France. He has inherited a fortune. He asks Irma to come to France with him, and they make plans. But Clement tries to rape Irma and Pierre has to kill him.

Review:
It’s rare to find a film that is thought provoking without being challenging and comfortable without being banal. Le Grand Jeu is both; a delightful story of emotional cascades that considers the way we relate to other people. Jaques Fedyer directs Pierre Richard-Willm as a disgraced Parisian playboy who joins the French Foreign Legion to flee public shame. He leaves behind flightily socialite Florence (Marie Bell), who makes empty promises about following the destitute Pierre.

This prologue is the mould that shapes the rest of the film, turning Pierre into a misanthrope who wiles away his enforced 5-year service pining for his lost love. He cuts a morose figure among cavorting Legionnaires in a small Moroccan town. It’s here we get our first glimpse of Richard-Willm’s masterstroke – creating a likeable character whose major plot points are objectionable. In the quieter sections of the film, Pierre’s weedy moping inspires sympathy, but it’s not long before you’re reminded of his flaws: his enforced exile is thanks to amoral embezzling, he is a drunk who habitually runs from his problems, and he consistently mistreats the women in his life. Georges Pitoëff’s upbeat Legionnaire doesn’t arrive with the same depth as the rest of the cast, but he is an excellent example of how unlikely it is that the simpatico Pierre will repay tokens of friendship. Richard-Willm takes the solid screenplay and creates a stimulating anti-hero that never compromises the easy flow of the narrative.

Despite being consistently excellent, Willm frequently cowers in the radiant light of Marie Bell. She plays two characters, the seductive Florence and a bar entertainer turned prostitute with an uncanny resemblance to his former belle. The second character, Irma, is dubbed by Claude Marcy, a device that works surprisingly well. Already addled by loneliness, the arrival of Irma deeply shocks Pierre. He becomes increasingly confused about whether or not this mysterious girl is the woman he loved or a coincidental doppelgänger. Irma begins as a shy and naive creature, who hints at memory loss and suspiciously clings to Pierre. The confused soldier initially declines her fumbling advances, but cannot resist the phantom of Florence. Marie Bell’s switch from confidence to innocence is extremely convincing. Within the first few minutes of Irma’s appearance, her whole demeanour marks her as a different character, rather than just an alternative voice. More studied and impressive is Irma’s slow progression from youthful doubt to a more settled character, buoyed by the love and attention of Pierre. The relationship between the two leads is comfortable, giving them a solid platform from which to fully express themselves. Bell’s ability to convey complex emotions with a simple twitching facial expression adds a giddy spark to many of her scenes.

Of the supporting cast, Françoise Rosay is given the most screen-time as the owner of the hotel in which Pierre and Irma live. She is a very steady hand at the wheel and provides a dependably solid avenue for the two main characters to express themselves. Unfortunately, her use of tarot cards to predict Pierre’s future adds an unwelcome slice of pseudo-mysticism into what is otherwise a very believable narrative. There is, at least, a decent pay-off that makes it mostly worthwhile. Any element of the unreal stands out thanks to the natural feel of the story. ‘Natural’ is very much the byword for Le Grand Jeu and the key reason why it so easy to engage with. The actors and the screenplay collude to create interesting people, who aren’t exaggerated single aspects of a personality or ready-made clichés. We can easily relate to their human behaviour and emotions, without feeling like we’ve seen it all before. The story, too, mines familiar themes of love, loneliness, and fear, but within a narrative that is all its own. Even in the 76 years since its original release, the story of La Grand Jeu has not been excessively repeated. It is, however, a notable influence on Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), which also used the conceit of two identical women.

It may well be that the picture’s age masks the quality of the filmmaking. Actors burn as bright in any era, but the filmmakers of the early 1930’s had a lot less technology and precedent than their modern-day descendants. Jacques Fedyer attempts nothing flashy or spectacular by today’s standards, but he doesn’t miss a beat. His well constructed angles are the perfect canvas on which the actors paint Le Grand Jeu’s engaging narrative.

— Joseph Ewens (Cine Outsider).

https://nitro.download/view/C5F4789BDA8866D/Le_grand_jeu_(1934).DVDrip.ac3.fre.sub.eng.x264-bub.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English (muxed)

The post Jacques Feyder – Le grand jeu AKA The Great Game AKA The Full Deck (1934) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

The Duchess of Langeais, as beautiful as she is brilliant, is a woman who likes to seduce but who does not give in. Until the day when she falls in love with General de Montriveau, a cabal goes up against her.

Wicked.Duchess.1941.1080p.NF.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.x264-TEPES.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 35 min
Size: 	5.03 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1440x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	7 435 kb/s
BPP: 	0.199
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch E-AC-3 @ 128 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/8341C2480DAB0F7/Wicked.Duchess.1941.1080p.NF.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.x264-TEPES.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:French, English, Finnish, Portuguese

The post Jacques de Baroncelli – La Duchesse de Langeais AKA Wicked Duchess (1942) first appeared on Cinema of the World.