Quote:
Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy doesn’t defy you to understand it, and yet it feels almost inappropriate, tasteless even, to do so—as if you were eavesdropping on a private conversation. This resplendently heady yet nimble essay film is effervescently structured around a man and woman’s thoughts about art, life, landscape, and love. The man, James Miller (William Shimell), is an author, in Tuscany to tout his new book, Certified Copy; his female companion and guide, “She” (Juliette Bionche), a fan, maybe even his wife, sells art both real and forged from an underground storefront that suggests a portal into Italy’s ancient past. Their flair for self-reflection matches the film’s own: From coyness to resentment, the voluptuously see-sawing tenor of their conversations becomes a commentary on the entwined relationship between art and life—how a painting or movie, like a kiss or a touch, can either woo us or repulse us depending on the perspective.Read More »
Jean-Claude Carrière
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Abbas Kiarostami – Copie conforme AKA Certified Copy (2010)
Abbas Kiarostami2001-2010DramaFrance -
Christian de Chalonge – L’alliance aka The Wedding Ring (1970)
1961-1970Christian de ChalongeDramaFranceMysteryQuote:
A veterinary surgeon and a mysterious woman enter into an arranged marriage and find themselves pitted against each other and against the menagerie of animals and insects he brings into their bourgeois home. As the apartment fills with animals and insects, strange goings on and suspicions between the couple increase.Read More » -
Jean-Claude Carrière – La Pince à ongles AKA The Nail Clippers (1969)
1961-1970ArthouseFranceJean-Claude CarrièreShort FilmQuote:
Quite simply one of the neatest short films ever made. Directed by Jean-Claude Carriere, with assistance on script from Milos Forman, it’s a quite Bunuelian surreal tale, a portrait of a horrible relationship cut short by the sudden intrusion of the uncanny. I don’t want to say more! But OK: it’s a really great HOTEL MOVIE.The presence of Michel Lonsdale ought to be enough to sell you on this one, but above and beyond his mere physical appearance on screen, there’s the fact that this is THE ROLE HE WAS BORN TO PLAY.Read More »
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Odile Étaix – Pierre Etaix, un destin animé (2011)
2011-2020DocumentaryFranceOdile ÉtaixTV -
Emmanuel Blanchard – La collection AKA The collection (2018)
2011-2020DramaEmmanuel BlanchardFranceShort FilmParis, 1942. In the middle of the Occupation, Victor Gence, an unscrupulous merchant, buys, at vastly low prices, artworks belonging to Jewish collectors. Informed by a concierge, he manages to enter the apartment of Mr. Klein who apparently has a fabulous collection.
Adapted from The Invisible Collection by Stefan Zweig.Read More »
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Pierre Étaix & Jean-Claude Carrière – Rupture (1961)
France1961-1970ComedyJean-Claude CarrièrePierre ÉtaixShort FilmWhen picking up his mail, a man is excited to see a letter from his sweetheart. His excitement turns to sorrow when he gets home to his flat and sees that it is a Dear John letter. But that sorrow turns to anger as he figures that he will send her a Dear Jane letter in return. However, writing that letter isn’t as easy as he hopes as he encounters one problem after another, from a broken fountain pen, to a temperamental ink well, to stuck stamps, to a broken desk.Read More »
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Pierre Étaix & Jean-Claude Carrière – Heureux Anniversaire AKA Happy Anniversary (1962)
France1961-1970ComedyJean-Claude CarrièrePierre ÉtaixShort FilmSynopsis
A young woman sets the table for her wedding anniversary celebration. Her husband is stuck in Paris traffic. The few remaining errands he has to make only delay him more and more.Une jeune femme prépare la table pour fêter son anniversaire de mariage. Le mari se trouve coincé dans les encombrements parisiens. Les quelques arrêts pour les derniers achats ne font que le retarder davantage.
Read More »