The mesmerizing, utterly unclassifiable science films of Jean Painlevé (1902-89) must be seen to be believed: delightful, surrealist-influenced dream works that are also serious science. The French filmmaker-scientist-inventor had a decades-spanning career in which he created hundreds of short films on subjects ranging from astronomy to pigeons to, most famously, such marine-life marvels as the sea horse and the sea urchin. This definitive three-disc Criterion collection brings together the best of these, and includes more than two hours of interviews with the filmmaker, drawn from the eight-part French television series Jean Painlevé Through His Films, directed by Denis Derrien and Hélène Hazera. Also included is The Sounds of Science, an original score by Yo La Tengo to Jean Painlevé’s films, plus an interview with the band.Read More »
France
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Jean Painlevé – Science is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé (2009) (DVD)
2001-2010DocumentaryFranceJean PainlevéShort FilmThe Birth of Cinema -
Julien Duvivier – Au bonheur des dames (1930)
1921-1930DramaFranceJulien DuvivierSilentDenise, an orphaned girl, moves to Paris where she hopes to find work at her uncle’s store. But the glamorous department store ‘Aux Bonheur des Dames’ across the street crunches all the little businesses around. She finds a position there.Read More »
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Patrick Bouchitey – Lune froide AKA Cold Moon (1991)
Drama1991-2000ComedyFrancePatrick BouchiteySYNOPSIS from amg and IMDb
Simon and Dede are best friends: two aimless drunks who spend their days getting sloshed and any other available time getting laid. Simon is living on unemployment benefits in a trailer parked near his sister’s apartment. Dede works at a fish-packing plant on the night shift. Neither man is sensitive, young, or good looking. However, their sang-froid (literally, “cold blood,” referring to a quality of imperturbability) stands them in good stead as they go about their seedy lives, picking up one woman and having sex with her on the beach, or when Simon calmly has sex with a prostitute in front of the woman’s brother. Read More » -
Jean-Pierre Desagnat – Les Etrangers AKA The Strangers (1969)
1961-1970CrimeFranceJean-Pierre DesagnatThrillerChamoun and May lives in no-mans land after running from the mafia. One day Kaine, a diamond robber show up. He’s on the run from Sheriff Blade. Now they are hunted by the mafia and the law.Read More »
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Ali Mahdavi – Forbidden love (2012)
2011-2020Ali MahdaviDramaFranceShort FilmThrough the ambiguous relationship between Madeleine de Beaupré (Dita von Teese), an actress struggling since her child’s death, and Melki (Djanis Bouzyani), her young drug dealer, that becomes incestuous.Read More »
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Safy Nebbou – L’autre Dumas AKA Dumas (2010)
2001-2010DramaFranceSafy NebbouSynopsis
Alexandre Dumas is a widely admired writer. During 13 years he and his collaborator Auguste Maquet wrote together many successeful novels as D’Artagnan, Queen Margot or even The Count of Monte Cristo. When Maquet meets the young and pretty Charlotte, he wants to make an impression and lies to her presenting himself as Dumas. After a confrontation, the two friends dispute the authorship of their books. Which mind was truly behind their stories? Dumas or Maquet’s? Meanwhile, the Revolution of 1848 is slowly rising…Read More » -
Valérie Donzelli – Marguerite et Julien AKA Marguerite & Julien (2015)
2011-2020DramaFranceRomanceValérie DonzelliQuote:
Julien and Marguerite de Ravalet, son and daughter of the Lord of Tourlaville, have loved each other since childhood. But as they grow up, their affection veers toward voracious passion. Scandalized by their affair, society hounds them until, unable to resist their feelings, they flee. A contemporary fairytale about desire, passion, hope, love and death.Read More » -
Patrice Chéreau – La Reine Margot AKA Queen Margot [169 min.] (1994)
Patrice Chéreau1991-2000DramaEpicFranceSynopsis:
Young Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.Read More » -
Florent-Emilio Siri – Cloclo (2012)
2011-2020DramaFlorent-Emilio SiriFranceA biopic of French pop star Claude Francois, most famous for co-writing the song ‘My Way’. Tracing his life from his childhood in Egypt through his success in France to his untimely death in Paris in 1978.Read More »