France

  • Jean Cocteau – Le sang d’un poete AKA The Blood of a Poet (1930)

    1921-1930ArthouseDramaFranceJean Cocteau

    Synopsis
    A young artist draws a face at a canvas on his easel. Suddenly the mouth on the drawing comes into life and starts talking. The artist tries to wipe it away with his hand, but when he looks into the hand he finds the living mouth on his palm. He tries to wipe it off on the mouth of an unfinished statue of a young woman. The statue comes into life and tells him that the only way out of the studio is through the looking glass. The artist jumps into the mirror and comes to the Hotel of Dramatic Lunacies. He peeps through the keyholes of a series of hotel rooms. In the last room he sees desperate meetings of hermaphrodites. One of them has a signboard saying “Mortal danger”. Read More »

  • Agnès Varda & Laura Obiols – Les plages d’Agnès AKA The Beaches of Agnes (2008)

    2001-2010Agnès VardaDocumentaryFranceLaura Obiols

    Synopsis:
    At nearly 80, Agnès Varda explores her memory – growing up in Belgium, living in Sète, Paris, and Noirmoutier, discovering photography, making a film, being part of the New Wave, raising children with Jacques Demy, losing him, and growing old. She explores her memory using photographs, film clips, home movies, contemporary interviews, and set pieces she designs to capture a feeling, a time, or a frame. Shining through each scene are her impish charm, inventiveness, and natural empathy. How do people grow old, how does loss stay with them, can they remain creative, and what do they remember? Memory, she says, is like a swarm of confused flies. She envisions hers for us.Read More »

  • Nadège Trebal – Douze mille AKA Twelve Thousand (2019)

    2011-2020ArthouseComedyFranceNadège Trebal

    In her first fiction feature Twelve Thousand [+], screening in the International Competition of the Locarno Film Festival, French director Nadège Trebal points her lens on two complex and irreverent characters who will stop at nothing to defend their freedom. Starring the director herself, alongside an intense Arieh Worthalter, the characters of Twelve Thousand seem to float above a world that’s intent on taming them.

    After losing his black-market job in a breaker’s yard and believing that his partner Maroussia could never love him like before, Frank ups and leaves in a bid to earn the same amount that Maroussia makes in a year: twelve thousand euros. No more, no less; the bare minimum required.Read More »

  • François Ozon – Été 85 AKA Summer of 85 (2020)

    2011-2020DramaFranceFrançois OzonQueer Cinema(s)

    Storyline
    What do you dream of when you’re 16 years old and in a seaside resort in Normandy in the 1980s? A best friend? A lifelong teen pact? Scooting off on adventures on a boat or a motorbike? Living life at breakneck speed? No. You dream of death. Because you can’t get a bigger kick than dying. And that’s why you save it till the very end. The summer holidays are just beginning, and this story recounts how Alexis grew into himself. -ImdbRead More »

  • Tonie Marshall – Vénus Beauté (institut) AKA Venus Beauty Institute (1999)

    1991-2000ComedyDramaFranceTonie Marshall

    In this visually stylish comedy, Angele is an attractive woman just edging into middle age who is looking for companionship without commitment. Her co-worker Samantha has more boyfriends than she knows what to do with, and Marie, the youngest of the group, is still learning the ropes of love.Read More »

  • Emmanuel Mouret – Les choses qu’on dit, les choses qu’on fait AKA Love Affair(S) (2020)

    Drama2011-2020Emmanuel MouretFrance

    Waiting for her boyfriend to join her on a country vacation, three months pregnant Daphne bonds with his cousin Maxime, and their shared intimacy brings them closer together into a full fledged love affair.Read More »

  • Jean-Claude Guiguet – Les passagers [+Extra] (1999)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaFranceJean-Claude Guiguet

    Synopsis:
    The thoughts and dreams of a group of people riding a subway in Paris provides the springboard for Jean-Claude Guiguet’s drama Les Passagers/The Passengers. As the train rolls along, various characters either talk among themselves or address the camera on a variety of subjects. A mathematician (Bruno Putzulu) speaks with one of his students (Stephane Rideau) about the statistical implications of the spread of AIDS. A nurse (Fabienne Babe) meets with a security guard she’s infatuated with (Philippe Garziano), while her friend enjoys a daydream about the joys of life as a rural housewife. A man rants about problems with sex and the virtues of masturbation, while another person debates the relative merits of the films Savage Nights and The Mother and The Whore. Les Passagers/The Passengers was screened as part of the “Un Certain Regard” series at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.

    ~ Mark Deming, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • François Reichenbach – Un coeur gros comme ça AKA The Winner (1961)

    Arthouse1961-1970DocumentaryFranceFrançois Reichenbach

    Quote:
    The adventures of a young Senegalese, Abdoulaye Faye, who comes to Paris to try his luck as a boxer. His dream of winning the championship and conquering women – especially Michèle Morgan – whom he worships, his his adaptation to Paris life, the cold and fog which astonish him, occupy his thoughts. He meets a Japanese woman in the Bois de Boulogne, consults a medium. And then comes the championship fight.

    Critique award, Venice Film festival, 1962.
    Cameo of Jean-Paul Belmondo, as a member of the audience during the fight of the young Abdoulaye Faye.
    Music by Michel Legrand and Georges Delerue.Read More »

  • Luc Moullet – Le prestige de la mort AKA Death’s Glamour (2006)

    2001-2010ComedyFranceLuc Moullet

    Whilst seeking out locations in the South of France for his next film, director Luc Moullet comes across a male corpse. He immediately decides to use this to his advantage. By swapping his passport with that of the dead man, Moullet hopes that the world will believe he is dead, thereby ensuring a renewed interest in his work. Unfortunately, the scheme backfires, since the dead man was someone rather important… (Blaq Out)Read More »

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