French

  • Pierre Boulez – Juxtapositions (1986)

    1981-1990DocumentaryFrancePerformancePierre Boulez

    LESSON BY PIERRE BOULEZ (A) + SUR INCISES (concert) (2000)
    Directed By Andy Sommer
    With warmth, modesty and infectious enthusiasm, Boulez explains the hidden architecture of his most recent work, Sur Incises, to a non-specialized young audience. On a number of occasions, Pierre Boulez has shown that he can come up with the right words and gestures to throw a light on complex musical scores. Here he demonstrates his teaching talents in talking about his work as a composer: after conducting the nine soloists of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, who follow him with visible pleasure through the mysteries of a spectacular score, he offers a witty exposition of the musical movements that make up its construction.Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – Les tricheurs AKA The Cheaters AKA Youthful Sinners (1958)

    1951-1960ClassicsDramaFranceMarcel Carné

    Synopsis:
    Middle class student Bob Letellier (Jacques Charrier) enters a new world when he meets Alain (Laurent Terzieff), a free-thinking rebel who, along with his group of young Parisians, has opted for a life of instant gratification instead of work and commitment. At a party, Bob meets a young woman, Mic (Pascale Petit), who appears to be just as carefree and cynical as Alain. Mic’s only dream is to own a luxury car, and with Bob’s help, she manages to find the money to but it. Mic’s friend Clo (Andrea Parisy) discovers she is pregnant and, not knowing who the father is, she asks Bob to marry her. When they next meet at a party, Bob and Mic deny that they have any feelings for one another – a declaration that soon leads to tragedy…Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – Le pays, d’où je viens AKA The country I come from (1956)

    France1951-1960ComedyFantasyMarcel Carné

    Synopsis
    One Christmas Eve, a carefree young man, Eric, arrives in a small provincial town. Here, he meets Julien, a bar pianist who is his exact double. Julien is in love with Marinette, a pretty waitress, but he is too shy to make any romantic overtures. Eric decides to give the course of true love a helping hand by pretending to be Julien. Meanwhile, Eric’s fabulously wealthy uncle has sent his minions out to bring him back home, so that he may celebrate Christmas in the bosom of his family.

    Julien, pianiste de bar est follement amoureux de la petite Marinette, serveuse dans le même local. Mais il ne parvient pas à déclarer sa flamme. Arrive, la veille de Noël, dans le petit village enneigé, Eric, le sosie du jeune musicien…Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – Jenny (1936)

    1931-1940DramaFranceMarcel Carné

    Jenny is the manager of a night club which harbours dubious activities. Her lover, Lucien, has been dragged into the gang against his will. A man called Benoit is resolved to put an end to the affair between Jenny and Lucien, and employs a hunch-backed accomplice nicknamed Dromadaire. Danielle, Jenny’s daughter, is deserted by her fiancé because of her mother’s life, and finds out the truth ; she confides in Lucien. The two fall in love and decide to go away together. Lucien tells Jenny he is going to break with her, and then is badly injured and taken to hospital after a fight with Benoit. Jenny goes to visit him, and Lucien explains that he is in love with a young lady, whose identity Jenny guesses.Read More »

  • Léa Pool – Emporte-moi AKA Set Me Free (1999)

    1991-2000CanadaDramaLéa Pool

    Quote:
    The most exuberant set piece in the acutely sensitive Set Me Freefinds two girls blithely spurning the puppy-dog attentions of the boys at a dance party to hold hands and exchange gazes. As in much of her autobiographical coming-of-age tale, director Léa Pool uses long, steady close-ups to limn the girls’ discovery of each other, coaxing tender, unaffected performances from her two young actresses. They stand on the precarious threshold of adolescence, when physical love has not yet divided into erotic and platonic categories.Read More »

  • Robin Davis – J’ai épousé une ombre aka I Married a Dead Man (1983)

    Robin Davis1981-1990DramaFranceThriller

    Heavily pregnant Helene (Nathalie Baye) is on a train, on the run from her abusive boyfriend (Richard Bohringer), when she meets the also-pregnant Patricia. When a train-crash kills Patricia and her intended husband, Helene is mistaken for her and adopted by her new in-laws. Helene assumes this new identity, trying to secure a future for her baby, and finds a charmed life on a Bordeaux vineyard. However, the specter of the past threatens her newfound happiness.Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – La Merveilleuse Visite AKA The Marvelous Visit (1974)

    1971-1980DramaFantasyFranceMarcel CarnéQueer Cinema(s)

    Synopsis
    Jean stars as an angel who has fallen from heaven and landed in a picturesque French village.
    Nursed back to health by the local priest and his helper, he returns the favor in a surprising fashion.

    Un matin, le recteur d’un petit village breton découvre le corps d’un jeune inconnu gisant nu sur la grève.
    Au presbytère où on l’a transporté, l’inconnu retrouve ses esprits et déclare
    qu’il est un ange tombé du ciel. Précisément la nuit de la Saint-Jean.Read More »

  • Maurice Lehmann & Claude Autant-Lara – Fric-Frac (1939)

    1931-1940Claude Autant-LaraComedyCrimeFranceMaurice Lehmann

    Synopsis:
    Marcel works as assistant to a jeweller whose bossy daughter Renée keeps hitting on him. When he meets lovely Loulou and her lazy friend Jo, he is fascinated by the girl and somehow attracted by their world : Loulou and Jo are crooks. As Marcel naively tries to bring some morality in their lives, the pair turn him into an unwilling accomplice in the robbery of his boss’s jewels.Read More »

  • Robert Hossein – Toi… le venin AKA Blonde in a White Car (1958)

    Robert Hossein1951-1960FranceMysteryThriller

    Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    Robert Hossein was writer, director and star of the suspense melodrama Toi le Venin. Picked up by a beautiful motorist, jobless hitchhiker Pierre (Hossein) is subsequently romanced by the girl. Immediately thereafter, however, she dumps him, attempting to run him over as a final insult. Memorizing her license number, Pierre pursues the enigmatic motorist. Arriving at her home, Pierre is met by two young ladies (Marina Vlady and Odelle Versois), either one of whom might be the woman he’s looking for. The rest of the film concerns Pierre’s efforts to figure out which of his two hostesses intends to do him further harm.Read More »

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