Tag Archives: France

Les misérables (1995) Claude Lelouch, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Boujenah, Alessandra Martines, Drama, History

Les miserables (1995)
Henri Fortin is poor and iliterate former boxer. Ziman is rich Jewish lawyer from Paris. During WWII they meet when Fortin agrees to drive Ziman’s family to Switzerland. Intrigued by Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Miserables”, Fortin asks the Zimans to read that book to him during the travel. Before the end of movie every main character would see his character in situations similar to those in Hugo’s novel.
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Un soir, un train / One Night… a Train (1968) André Delvaux, Yves Montand, Anouk Aimée, Adriana Bogdan, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

Un soir, un train (1968)
Mathias is a Belgian linguist, living with French theatre producer Anne. After a quarrel about moral questions, they take a train to attend a congress. While Mathias sleeps, Anne disappears. The train stops in the middle of the country and Mathias gets off the train with an older man, Hernhutter, and a young one, Val. The train moves off without them being able to catch it up. They will find a village, but cannot get any help because they do not understand a word of what the inhabitants say…
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Masques / Masks (1987) Claude Chabrol, Philippe Noiret, Robin Renucci, Bernadette Lafont, Comedy, Crime

Masques (1987)
Roland Wolf wants to write a book about a TV game-show host, the hail-fellow-well-met Christian Legagneur, who invites Wolf to his country estate, promising several days of lengthy interviews. But Legagneur’s laughter and easy intimacy are empty of content for a book, and he’s constantly dashing off, promising Wolf more time later. Wolf seems to have his own mask: he’s brought a gun with him, and he’s curious about a woman who was a recent guest at the estate. There’s also Legagneur’s godchild, Catherine, recovering from mental illness, and hovered over by Legagneur and his secretary. As Wolf digs through desks, he discovers a murderous plot.
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Les galettes de Pont-Aven / Cookies (1975) Joël Séria, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Claude Piéplu, Jeanne Goupil

Les galettes de Pont-Aven (1975)
Henri Serin, a sales rep in umbrellas who lives in Saumur, is bored with his life. Married to an unloving, uptight wife, who, unlike him, has no interest in sex, he is also rejected by his children. Thus, he spends most of his time travelling from town to town, flirting with women and meeting all kinds of people in the hotels, restaurants, shops and places he visits.
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Les abysses / The depths (1963) Nikos Papatakis, Francine Bergé, Colette Bergé, Pascale de Boysson

Les abysses aka The depths (1963)
Two young servants, two sisters hysterical unites a very tender friendship, have not been paid for three years ruined by their bosses. Required to stay there because of the money they are owed, they multiply in the house the misdeeds of all kinds. “Sir” is low, which led his family to the rout. It supports everything provided we never forced to see the truth. “Madame,” she any cash, because it is bounded and interested. She also can not become aware of reality. “Mademoiselle” finally married, but recently separated from her husband.
She tries to be compassionate, understanding, generous. It is, however, just as much, and probably more than others, allergic to this eternal truth that continues to flee. It is, moreover, unconsciously jealous of the affection of the two sisters. In this closed universe bursts terrible tragedy. The husband of “Mademoiselle” returns. He brings with him of purchasers in the house for sale. Given this perspective, the sisters have taken a real amok crisis. While the men were busy signing the papers, they massacred their two bosses.
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Magique Emmanuelle / Emmanuelle’s Magic (1993) Francis Leroi, Marcela Walerstein, George Lazenby, Sylvia Kristel, Drama, Romance, Erotic

Emmanuelle’s Magic (1993)
Young Emmanuelle and her friend Coco visit a friend whose sculptor husband is infatuated with one of his plaster creations. Emmanuelle uses her magic to get him interested again, jump starting their love life. Later, Emmanuelle, Coco and Coco’s sister, Paula, travel to a wedding in Africa. They miss their plane to Salima and have to travel by boat, where they all vie for the attention of a male passenger. After Paula misses her chance with him, she travels via rowboat to an African tribal village where her desires are fulfilled.
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L’insurgée / Restless (2009) Laurent Perreau, Michel Piccoli, Pauline Etienne, Éric Caravaca, Drama

L'insurgee AKA Restless (2009)
Maurice (Michel Piccoli) is a composer, and a longtime member of the resistance. By chance, he shares a house with his teenager granddaughter. Claire, at 17, is eager to experience all sorts of things and the sooner the better, and rebels against anyone who wants to stop him. Between the swimming and the first encounters with the boys, she spends her life, hosted by his grandfather after being orphaned. But this interaction is difficult: both avoid themselves in their large house, escaping through the windows if necessary, living in mutual incomprehension. Yet, they have something in common: both are insurgents in their own way.
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Belle (1973) André Delvaux, Jean-Luc Bideau, Danièle Delorme, Adriana Bogdan, Drama

Belle (1973)
The line between fantasy and reality is once more blurred in this Belgian/French drama about a professor of literature who develops an obsession with a beautiful woman he meets (or imagines meeting) in the woods. He has an affair with this woman, but before he can run off with her, his daughter, who is an object of his incestuous desire (as several daydream sequences make clear), kills the stranger. Perhaps, though, his daughter only kills his daydreams when she gets married.
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César et Rosalie / Cesar & Rosalie (1972) Claude Sautet, Yves Montand, Romy Schneider, Sami Frey, Drama, Romance

Cesar et Rosalie (1972)
Rosalie is amicably divorced, dividing her time between her mother’s house, with her siblings and small daughter, and César’s. He’s self made, a scrap iron king, outgoing, amiable, in love with her. Enter David, an artist and Rosalie’s flame before her marriage. In a quiet, brooding way, he seeks to reclaim Rosalie. César’s jealous outbursts and attempts at cunning backfire and send Rosalie into David’s arms. César keeps trying: he buys Rosalie’s childhood seaside vacation home as a gift, wins her back, then must ask David to join them so Rosalie will be happy. When Rosalie discovers César and David’s complicity, she again asserts her freedom, leaving the men alone together.
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Fort Saganne (1984) Alain Corneau, Gérard Depardieu, Philippe Noiret, Catherine Deneuve, Drama, History, War

Fort Saganne (1984)
French civilization in the desert. Saganne is of peasant stock, with courage and a forceful will. In 1911, he volunteers and is posted to the Sahara under the aristocratic Colonel Dubreuilh. He catches the eye of Madeline, the daughter of the regional administrator. In the desert, Saganne is a leader, with the respect of Arabs, including Amajan, an independent warrior. After resourceful campaigns, Saganne goes on a diplomatic mission to Paris, where he has an affair with a journalist. Back in Africa, he leads a gallant defense against Sultan Omar, is awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, and marries Madeline. Then the Great War puts at risk his success and happiness.
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