Francis Girod

Towards the end of the 1920s, Emma Eckhert has become one of the most talked about women in France. Not only is she stunningly beautiful and a staunch supporter of moral campaigns, she is also a hugely successful banker. Having made a fortune speculating on the stock exchange, she intends to share her wealth with her investors, offering them a far higher rate of interest than her competitors. Needless to say, the traditional bankers regard her as a dangerous threat and conspire to bring about her downfall…Read More »

On 9 January 1836, Pierre Lacenaire goes to the guillotine, a murderer and a thief. He gives Allard, a police inspector, his life story, written while awaiting execution. He also asks Allard to care for Hermine, a lass to whom he has been guardian for more than ten years. In flashbacks, from the prison as Lacenaire writes, from Allard’s study as he and Hermine read, and from other readers’ memory after the book is published, we see Lacenaire’s childhood as he stands up to bullies, including priests, his youthful thieving, his first murder, his brief army career, his seduction of a princess, and his affair with Avril, a young man who dies beside him.Read More »

This 2003 documentary by Francis Girod revisits the town of Sardent, the location for LE BEAU SERGE as well as the site of director Claude Chabrol’s introduction to cinema as a young man. It features interviews with Chabrol and actors Jean-Claude Brialy and Bernadette Lafont.Read More »

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The marriage of the famous writer Alan and his young wife Lola is in a crisis. On a vacation in Haiti Lola wants to decide if their relationship still has a future. But since Alan doesn’t succeed with his new book and gets deeper and deeper into alcoholism, she soon starts an affair. While deeply drunk, Alan kills a black who wanted to rob him…[imdb]Read More »

Marseilles, 1919. Georges Sarret is a distinguished and respected lawyer, recently honoured for his services in the First World War. He takes as his lover Philomène Schmidt, a young German woman, who has just lost her job and home. To enable Philomène to remain in France, Georges finds her a husband – who dies conveniently of natural causes a month after the wedding. Georges repeats the trick with Philomène’s sister, Catherine – marrying her off to an old man who dies suddenly so that the scheming trio can profit from his life insurance. When an accomplice in the scheme, Marcel Chambon, threatens to blackmail them, Georges and his two lovers have no option but to kill him and his mistress…Read More »