Synopsis:
‘Laurent is a poster designer who is about to begin rehearsals for his first stage play, a musical comedy. To celebrate this auspicious event, he holds a party at his apartment, to which his best friends are all invited. News that the lead actress in Laurent’s play has been run over by a bus laden with Dutch tourists puts a damper on the evening, but Laurent wastes no time looking for a replacement, not knowing that his girlfriend Valérie covets the part. As Valérie’s dreams of stardom are crushed she realises that her relationship with Laurent is over – or so she thinks. Either way, the evening will prove decisive for them both…’
– Films de France Read More »

Quote:
A history teacher mets a hippy girl in Paris, he drops his job and starts a relation with her. So they start live together (vivre ensemble). A some point they do a trip to NY. Then they come back… Well this is the first film of Anna Karina as writer and director. Some images of Paris and NY in 72 are nice as an old postcard. Read More »

Quote:
It was Rivette’s second feature, after the puzzling ‘Paris Nous Appartient,’ and eschewed the nouvelle vague in favour of something altogether more structured, indeed rigorously so. “This film is a work of imagination,” the opening caption informs us, “not a portrait of religious institutions, 18th century or other. It should be viewed from a double perspective; history and romance.” Read More »

During the Algerian War, Bruno Forestier lives in Geneva to escape the enlistment in France. Working for French intelligence, he is ordered to kill Palivoda, who is pro-FLN (National Liberation Front of Algeria), to prove he is not a double agent. Refusal and hesitation keep him from carrying out the assassination.

Meanwhile, he meets and falls in love with Véronica Dreyer, who helped the FLN. Bruno plans to leave with her for Brazil, but is captured and tortured by Algerian revolutionaries.

He escapes, and agrees to kill Palivoda for the French in exchange for passage to Brazil for himself and Veronica. However, the French discover Veronica’s ties to the FLN, and torture her to death. (Wikipedia) Read More »

Quote:
Italian immigrant tries to become a member of Swiss society but fails as a waiter and even as a chicken plucker. He then becomes involved with shady wealthy character and tries to hide his Italian identity. He refuses to give up no matter how awful his situation. Read More »

Interview in Copenhagen with Dreyer (speaking French). Also features Anna Karina, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Henrik Malberg, Lisbeth Movin, Jørgen Roos, and Bendt Rothe. First aired 8 April 1965 on ORTF (2?). Read More »

Sons and Lovers
At the Brattle through Saturday
By William A. Nitze, March 26, 1962
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Sons and Lovers does not lend itself easily to a movie script, but Jack Cardiff has transformed Lawrence’s novel into a superb film. The reader must follow a slow and agonizing series of conflicting passions presented in a style which is often deceptively complex. Through a skillful rearrangement of plot elements and dialogue Cardiff has condensed the novel into an hour and 45 minutes without sacrificing its subtlety and force.

The film opens halfway through the story: Paul Morel is in his early twenties. Within the first ten minutes one grasps all of the important relationships of the drama: the abandonment of Walter Morel by his wife and sons, who detest him because of his weakness and cruelty; Paul’s desperate attachment to his mother, and his frustrated love for Miriam. The film then concentrates on the final failure of Miriam to break through Mrs. Morel’s hold on her son, Paul’s unsuccessful affair with Clara Dawes and his final liberation through his mother’s death. Read More »