Yves Montand

  • Claude Berri – Jean de Florette (1986)

    Claude Berri1981-1990ComedyDramaFrance

    Quote:
    A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.Read More »

  • Claude Berri – Manon des sources AKA Manon of the Spring (1986)

    1981-1990Claude BerriDramaFranceRomance

    Following the events of Jean de Florette, Manon, the daughter of Jean, is living in the countryside of Provence near Les Romarins, the farm that her father once owned. She has taken up residence with an elderly Piedmontese squatter couple who teach her to live off the land, tending to a herd of goats and hunting for birds and rabbits. Ugolin Soubeyran, also called Galinette (only by his uncle César), has begun a successful business growing carnations at Les Romarins with his uncle, César Soubeyran—also known as Papet—thanks to the water provided by the spring there.Read More »

  • Jean-Jacques Beineix – IP5: L’île aux pachydermes AKA IP5: The Island of Pachyderms (1992)

    Jean-Jacques Beineix1991-2000DramaFrance

    Quote:
    Yves Montand gave his final – some say fatal – performance in Jean-Jacques Beineix’s IP5, dying shortly after the shoot. A weird, almost spectral presence, his character seems headed for the grave, if he hasn’t just come from there. He first appears in the back seat of a car, giving us, and the pair of young drifters who stole the vehicle, a ghost-like shock.Read More »

  • Costa-Gavras – Clair de femme AKA Womanlight (1979)

    Costa-Gavras1971-1980DramaFrance

    Quote:
    With his wife dying a slow and undignified natural death, Michel prepares to leave France and catch a plane to Caracas. At the airport, he has second thoughts. Whilst walking the streets of Paris, he runs into Lydia, a middle-aged woman whose husband is brain damaged after a car accident in which her daughter died. Michel and Lydia find mutual support in each other’s company, but are they destined for one another…?Read More »

  • Alain Corneau – Le choix des armes AKA Choice of Arms (1981)

    1981-1990Alain CorneauCrimeDramaFrance

    Synopsis:
    Two men break out of prison; a rival gang ambushes them. One is mortally wounded and tells the other, Mickey, to take him to the estate of a retired robber, Noel, who lives in comfort with his lovely and beloved wife, Nicole. The man dies, and Mickey, a menacing hothead, demands money of Noel. A few days later, Mickey returns to the estate, shoots up a dinner party and threatens them again. Noel sends Nicole to an hotel and goes to his old gang to help him hunt down the dangerous Mickey. Mickey has other problems, too, including heartache for a daughter he hardly knows. Young, eager cops tail Nicole, and all are on a complicated collision course.Read More »

  • Claude Sautet – César et Rosalie AKA César and Rosalie (1972)

    1971-1980Claude SautetDramaFrance

    Quote:
    Claude Sautet’s romantic drama Cesar et Rosalie (Cesar and Rosalie) stars Romy Schneider as Rosalie, a beautiful young woman involved with successful businessman Cesar (Yves Montand). One day, Rosalie’s former flame David (Sami Frey) appears and attempts to win her back. Cesar reacts with a jealous intensity never before seen by Rosalie, and because of that, she returns to David. She remains conflicted regarding her choice of partner, but eventually, one of the men does something which resolves the situation. Cesar et Rosalie contains one of the first screen appearances of French actress Isabelle Huppert.Read More »

  • Claude Autant-Lara – Marguerite de la nuit AKA Marguerite of the Night (1955)

    1951-1960Claude Autant-LaraDramaFantasyFrance

    Quote:
    Truffaut and Godard gave a bad name to the “quality” French cinema that preceded them. This film was one of their pet examples of what they saw as staid, boring, unadventurous cinéma de papa. Without an axe to grind, it is actually a breathtakingly bold modernization of the Faust legend, ravishing to look at with its highly stylized sets (Trauner on LSD) and containing multi-layered undercurrents, including a message on the unthinking destructiveness of youth which seems almost like a prescient reply to its New Wave critics.Read More »

  • Claude Sautet – Garçon ! AKA Waiter ! (1983)

    1981-1990Claude SautetComedyDramaFrance

    Synopsis:
    A middle-aged waiter has long harbored dreams of becoming a singer, and is also anxious to prove he’s as virile as he was when he started pushing plates. He gets a chance to rev up his sexual energy and his musical skills when an old flame reenters his life after 17 years.Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – Les portes de la nuit AKA Gates of the Night (1946)

    1941-1950ClassicsDramaFranceMarcel Carné

    Synopsis:
    ‘In February 1945, Jean Diego is tasked with breaking the news to the wife of a friend of his, Pierre, that her husband has been executed by the Nazis. It turns out that he is mistaken – his friend is still very much alive. After a happy reunion, Jean goes on his way and has a bizarre encounter with a weird old tramp on the Paris metro.The bedraggled stranger claims he can foresee the future and prophecies that Diego is about to encounter the most beautiful girl in the world.Read More »

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