After seven years in prison, Rudy Vandekerckhove has set himself two clear objectives: get back to work as a washing machine repairman, and – more importantly – become reconciled with the family he had left behind. But despite the help and support of Denise, a retired hairdresser, and his friend Rachid, his plans fail. Just when a reunion eventually comes within sight, the past gets the upper hand again, and Rudy has to take the toughest decision of his life. Continue reading
Director Raphaël Jacoulot’s dark and atmospheric mystery, set in an isolated high-Pyrenees hotel, has all the desired elements – precise and intelligent direction, excellent casting and a great plotline in the Chabrol-Simenon tradition.
The events, as they first unfold from an innocuous opening, quickly spiral downward for la famille Couvreur. One snowy evening, despotic hotel-owner Jacques Couvreur (Jean-Pierre Bacri) sends his incompetent son down into the valley to re-stock several cases of wine. The son collides with a pedestrian and for some reason the father decides to hide the truth and say nothing about the hit-and-run accident. A young trainee, Frédéric (Vincent Rottiers), just released from prison and re-starting his life, becomes implicated in this strange affair. Inspector Poncet (Sylvie Testud), in her endearing and off-putting Columbo-esque investigative style, strives to uncover the truth behind the discovery of the corpse. Continue reading
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Yvan and Elie are two loners who wander aimlessly through their lives. Yvan is a quick-tempered 40-year-old vintage car dealer while Elie is a young burglar and ex-junkie. One day Yvan catches Elie trying to rob him. Instead of beating him up, he becomes strangely attached to him and agrees to drive him home to his parents in his old Chevrolet. Yvan and Elie are both nostalgic about lost relationships, which is what leads them to undertake a bizarre journey through a region that is as spectacular as it is crazy. Both are trying to find the pieces of a puzzle that they want to put back together, but it might be too late.
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![38243lx2 Chantal Akerman La Captive [+Extras] (2000)](http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/8282/38243lx2.jpg "Chantal Akerman La Captive [+Extras] (2000)")
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Loosely based on the fifth volume of Proust’s monolithic À La recherche du temps perdu, La Captive is a dark study of obsessive love from Chantal Akerman, currently one of Belgian’s most highly rated film directors. The feel of the film is more a psychological thriller than a traditional romantic drama, with frequent references to Hitchcock’s Vertigo more than evident.
The most striking feature of the film is its austere cinematography. Most of the film is set at night or within darkened rooms (which no matter how large appear stiflingly claustrophobic), something which constantly emphasises the prisoner-gaoler relationship of the two young lovers. Add to that the restrained (yet effective) performances of the two lead actors and the result is a hauntingly existentialist work, a chilling black poem of a fairytale romance twisted and ultimately obliterated by perverse mental aberrations. Continue reading
This is the DOGMA film number 20.
An excellent film about dominating factors in theatre schools over innocent apprentice acting students. Their relations with teachers, directors, stress and competition in auditions, etc. A moving topic pseudo-document realistic film.
( from IMDB ) Continue reading
Review from IMDB:
The Title, Sadly, Says It All, 23 October 2006
10/10
Author: gradyharp from United States
‘La Femme de Gilles’ (‘Gilles’ Wife’) began as a novel by Madeleine Bourdouxhe and was transformed for the screen by Philippe Blasband, Marion Hänsel and Frédéric Fonteyne who also directs this stunning and controversial art piece. Certainly one of the most visually magnificent films of recent years (cinematographer Virginie Saint-Martin) ‘Gilles’ Wife’ succeeds on every level: the story is unique, the direction is liquid and languorous, and the cast is superlative. Continue reading
![postersd2 Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne Le Fils AKA The Son [+Extras] (2002)](http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3453/postersd2.jpg "Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne Le Fils AKA The Son [+Extras] (2002)")
Olivier is a good teacher of carpentry, but a touch gruff; even so, when he refuses to accept young Francis into his workshop, that doesn’t explain why he takes to following the boy, as if he were spying on him. Might it have something to do with his own dead son, as his estranged wife insists?
One strength of the Dardennes’ follow-up to Rosetta, winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or, is that, once again, they ask us to discover certain crucial facts for ourselves: by the time we’re faced with questions of ethical and spiritual import, we’ve done enough groundwork to assess the evidence properly. Wisely, the camera stays close to Olivier, with the result that, notwithstanding his subtle understatement and a relatively taciturn script, we’re privy to his every fleeting thought and nagging emotion. Never manipulative or sensationalist, the film is none the less deeply moving. – Time Out Continue reading
![pixel Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne Le Fils AKA The Son [+Extras] (2002)](http://www.linkwithin.com/pixel.png "Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne Le Fils AKA The Son [+Extras] (2002)"){kind=tracking}