Stéphane Audran

  • Claude Chabrol – Les noces rouges AKA Wedding in Blood (1973)

    1971-1980Claude ChabrolFranceThriller

    Lucienne Delamare and Pierre Maury are having an affair. Lucienne’s husband Paul is the mayor, and a French deputy. Pierre’s wife Clotilde has been weak and sickly for years. Lucienne’s husband holds no excitement for her, and he is always away in Paris on business. Pierre is now the vice-mayor, thanks to Paul. Lucienne and Pierre have a secret meeting spot by a lake along a country lane. Pierre’s wife dies suddenly, by suicide the town gossips believe. Pierre confesses otherwise to Lucienne. Paul proposes a shady land deal which will “benefit the town”, and wants Pierre’s political support and collusion. Then Paul discovers proof of his wife’s affair…Read More »

  • Georges Lautner – Mort d’un pourri AKA Death of a Corrupt Man (1977)

    1971-1980FranceGeorges LautnerPoliticsThriller

    Synopsis:
    One early morning deputy Philippe Dubaye wakes up his old friend Xavier Maréchal with disturbing news: he has just killed Serrano, a racketeer with extant political connections. Serrano kept proofs of Dubaye’s involvement in corrupt dealings and was poised to use them against the deputy. Xavier readily agrees to cover up for his old pal Philippe, but he soon runs into difficulties. Nobody believes Dubaye’s alibi. And everybody — influential personalities, powerful businessmen, dubious go-betweens and the police — wants to get hold of the documents that served to blackmail Dubaye; by all possible means.Read More »

  • Claude Chabrol – Violette Nozière (1978)

    1971-1980Claude ChabrolDramaFranceThriller

    In an interwar France struggling with profound social and political change, 18-year-old Violette Noziere rebels against the constraints of her claustrophobic, working-class (and possibly incestuous) family, with troubling consequences.Read More »

  • Claude Chabrol – Juste avant la nuit aka Just Before Nightfall (1971)

    Claude Chabrol1971-1980FranceThriller
    Juste avant la nuit (1971)
    Juste avant la nuit (1971)

    Charles Masson, an advertising executive, is having an affair with Laura, the wife of his best friend, the architect François Tellier. Charles strangles Laura when one of their S&M games goes too far. Dazed, Charles walks out of the borrowed apartment in Paris and soon bumps into François in a nearby bistro. They drive back together to Versailles, where they have beautiful neighboring houses designed by François. The owner of the apartment had seen Laura and Charles together two months earlier, but she does not tell the police on the advice of François. Even though the police do not seem to have any clues to the crime, Charles has a difficult time coping with the situation, and trying to live a normal life with his two children and loving wife Hélène.Read More »

  • Anne Fontaine – La fille de Monaco AKA The Girl from Monaco (2008)

    Anne Fontaine2001-2010ComedyDramaFrance
    La fille de Monaco (2008)
    La fille de Monaco (2008)

    Synopsis:
    Bertrand Beauvois, a well-known attorney, is in Monte Carlo to defend a businessman’s mother who murdered a gigolo with ties to gangsters. The businessman provides a bodyguard, Christophe, who is thorough and unsmiling. The middle-aged Beauvois is drawn to Audrey, in her 20s, free spirited, a local TV weather girl who once dated Christophe. Although Christophe warns Beauvois to stay away from Audrey, he’s hooked and spends every moment with her he’s not in court. What’s her angle: is she a plant who’ll ruin the case; is Beauvois her toy; is she digging for gold; or, is she genuine? Beauvois loves the wild sex but not her promiscuity. Has Christophe failed to protect him?Read More »

  • Claude Chabrol – Les bonnes femmes AKA The Good Time Girls (1960)

    1951-1960Claude ChabrolDramaFranceRomance

    Four Parisian women navigate the world of romance and daily life looking to fulfill their dreams but often find real-life to be inescapable.

    Ginette, Rita, Jacqueline and Jane try to find fulfillment and love in their lives. Rita has a fiancé whose family is obsessed with social distinction; Jane has a boy-friend in the army, but does not hesitate to enjoy herself with chance encounters; Ginette has a mysterious passion that keeps her away from her colleagues at nights. Jacqueline is lonely; but who is that mysterious bike-rider who is constantly following her?Read More »

  • Jean-Pierre Mocky – Les Saisons du Plaisir AKA The Seasons of Pleasure (1988)

    1981-1990ComedyFranceJean-Pierre Mocky

    Synopsis
    Charles (Charles Vanel) is a 100-year-old perfume magnate who decides to marry the equally ancient Emmanuelle (Denis Grey) in the French sex comedy. Company executives and family members scramble for position in the wake of the surprising announcement.Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun AKA La dame dans l’auto avec des lunettes et un fusil (1970)

    Anatole Litvak1961-1970FranceMysteryThriller

    Synopsis:
    In one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions, Danielle “Dany” Lang, a meek English secretary with an international advertising agency in Paris, drives to sun-kissed French Riviera to blow off steam, after seeing her boss, Michael Caldwell, and his wife, Anita, off at the airport. The plan was to drop them off and drive Michael’s car back to the house; however, as soon as Dany sets foot on the picturesque resort for the first time in her life, a series of chance encounters with perfect strangers, who claim that they recognise her, begin to mar her ideal weekend. Now, there’s a strange noise coming from the boot of the car. Is the lady in the car going mad?Read More »

  • Éric Rohmer – Présentation ou Charlotte et son steak AKA Presentation, or Charlotte and her Steak (1960)

    Eric Rohmer1951-1960FranceRomanceShort Film

    Présentation ou Charlotte et son steak (1960)

    Quote:
    Two young people, Walter and Charlotte, are walking through a small village in Switzerland a snowy winter day. Walter introduces Charlotte to Clara, hoping to make Charlotte jealous. After saying good-bye to Clara, Walter accompanies Charlotte into her house, although she doesn’t want him to. Charlotte is hungry and cooks a steak. She asks Walter if he wants a piece of it. He says no, but she gives him a small piece anyway. He wants a kiss, and she says no. She starts to compare herself with Clara, who Walter agrees is more beautiful. In spite of this, Walter says he likes Charlotte much more, but she thinks he is lying. She notices that he is cold and shivering. She hugs him, he kisses her, and she starts kissing him. After leaving the house he accompanies her to the train.Read More »

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