Tag Archives: french

Queen and Country (2014) John Boorman, Callum Turner, Caleb Landry Jones, Pat Shortt, Drama

queen-country-2014
Year 1952. Bill Rowan is 18, dreaming his life away at the family’s riverside home, waiting to be called up for two years conscription in the Army. He swims each morning and yearns for a pretty girl who cycles past at that time on the tow path across the river. This idyll is shattered by the harsh realities of boot camp. He meets Percy, an amoral prankster, and together they plot the downfall of Sergeant Yeomans, their rigid tormentor. Percy and Bill are rivals and antagonists, but gradually forge a deep friendship. After basic training many conscripts are shipped out to fight the Chinese in the Korean War, but Bill and Percy are assigned to the claustrophobia of a closed, prison-like training camp where they act as instructors.
Read More »

Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut / A Man Escaped (1956) Robert Bresson, François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Drama, Thriller, War

a-man-escaped-1956
A Man Escaped opens with the indelible image of a pair of restless hands belonging to a French resistance officer named Lieutenant Fontaine (Francois Leterrier). His face is inscrutable and impassive, concealing his calculated attempt to flee from the escorted prison transport vehicle. He reaches for the door handle, retreats, then reaches again. At a momentary distraction of a crossing railcar, he seizes the opportunity, but is immediately recaptured, and is severely beaten by the German guards for the attempt. Imprisoned and condemned to die, Fontaine finds the courage and determination to escape his certain fate.
Read More »

Pickpocket (1959) Robert Bresson, Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Crime, Drama

pickpocket-1959
Michel takes up picking pockets as a hobby, and is arrested almost immediately, giving him the chance to reflect on the morality of crime. After his release, though, his mother dies, and he rejects the support of friends Jeanne and Jacques in favour of returning to pickpocketing (after taking lessons from an expert), because he realises that it’s the only way he can express himself…
Read More »

Leur dernière nuit (1953) Georges Lacombe, Jean Gabin, Madeleine Robinson, Michel Barbey, Drama

leur-derniere-nuit-1953
Pierre Ruffin (Gabin), directeur d’une bibliothèque publique à Paris, une journée de l’homme estimée, la nuit devient le chef d’une bande de criminels. Cependant, pour Madeleine Marsan (Robinson), Pierre est l’homme qui l’a aidée quand elle était en difficulté, l’homme qui a découvert le véritable amour dans le milieu de l’adversité et de la tragédie …
Read More »

Préparez vos mouchoirs / Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978) Bertrand Blier, Gérard Depardieu, Carole Laure, Patrick Dewaere, Comedy, Drama, Romance

get-out-your-handkerchiefs-1978
Solange is depressed: she’s stopped smiling, she eats little, she says less. She has fainting fits. Her husband Raoul seeks to save her by enlisting Stephane, a stranger, to be her lover. Although he listens to Mozart and has every Pocket Book arranged in alphabetical order, Stephane fails to cheer Solange. She knits. She does housework. Everyone, including their neighbor a vegetable vendor, agrees that she needs a child, yet she fails to get pregnant by either lover. The three take a job running a kids’ summer camp where they meet Christian, the precocious 13-year-old son of the local factory manager. It is Christian who restores Solange to laughter.
Read More »

L’arme à gauche / The Dictator’s Guns (1965) Claude Sautet, Lino Ventura, Sylva Koscina, Leo Gordon, Crime, Drama

the-dictators-guns-1965
Jacques Cournot, a freelance skipper, is hired by Mr Hendrix in Santo Domingo, first of all to advise him regarding the acquisition of a sailing boat. After a thorough inspection of a prospective vessel, the “Dragoon”, Cournot reports his positive appraisal to Mr Hendrix and initiates the negotiations with Mrs Osborne, the owner of the craft. Barely a couple of days later, Cournot finds himself in a bind as the police questions him about the exact kind of cruise he was supposed to organize for his principal. For the “Dragoon” is gone; Mr Hendrix has disappeared; Mrs Osborne is not aware of any deal; and the corpses of mysterious individuals, victims of a violent death, are found on the beaches of Santo Domingo.
Read More »

Death of a Salesman / Mort d’un Commis Voyageur (1985) Volker Schlöndorff, Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Drama

death-of-a-salesman
Willy Loman, a salesman based in New York City, returns home from a trip to Yonkers where his sons, Biff and Happy, and his wife, Linda, greet him. Biff, who had been working on a farm in Texas, talks to Happy about working outside, and how this house brings back bad memories, and boxes him in. Willy goes outside and flashes back to Biff’s childhood: Biff is the star quarterback of his high school football team, and the Lomans’ neighbor, Bernard, advises him to study math, but Biff and Happy ignore him and carry on playing football. Later on in the flashback, Willy goes inside, where Linda talks to him about their budget. Willy is reminded of an encounter he had with The Woman, during which he gave her some red silk stockings, with lettering along the sides that said “scarlet’s dream”, and when he returns from the flashback, he sees Linda mending some stockings and snatches them away in guilt. Later, he and Charley engage in a card game (casino), during which Willy is reminded of his brother Ben. Ben begins a dialogue with him, and Willy contemplates why he
can’t become successful.
Read More »

Terre battue / 40-Love (2014) Stéphane Demoustier, Olivier Gourmet, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Charles Mérienne, Drama

terre-battue-2014
Determined to no longer work for anyone else, Jérôme tries to set up his own company, no matter the cost and despite his wife’s reluctance. Ugo, their 11-year-old son, plays tennis and wants to become a champion. To do so, he must get into the French national tennis training school at Roland Garros.
Like his father, Ugo is ready to do anything to achieve his aims. Together, Ugo and Jérôme come to learn that you can’t bend the rules in order to succeed.
Read More »

Histoire d’O / The Story of O (1975) [UNCUT 105min] Just Jaeckin, Corinne Cléry, Udo Kier, Anthony Steel, Erotic, Drama

histoire-do-1975
A story about an unorthodox relationship The Story of O is still a controversial film many have found to be scandalous, unbearably graphic. Its explicit narrative, as well as unconventional depiction of human desire, is certainly amongst the boldest in mainstream cinema. Not surprisingly, moralistic watchdogs have dismissed it time and time again as pornography.
Read More »

Tarzoon La Honte de la Jungle (1975) Picha, Boris Szulzinger, Bernard Dhéran, Georges Aminel, Arlette Thomas, Adventure, Animation, Comedy

tarzoon-la-honte-de-la-jungle-1975
Dans sa caravane perchée dans les arbres, Tarzoon (Shame) coule des jours heureux en compagnie de June sa femme, et Flicka, son singe. Un brave garçon dont il n’y a rien à dire. Mais, non loin de là, vit la reine Bazonga, protégée dans son royaume souterrain par une armée de créatures phalliques, les Zombits. Prête à conquérir le monde, elle n’a qu’un souci : sa calvitie. Seule une greffe pourrait la sauver et, justement June a les cheveux qu’il lui faudrait…
Read More »

Marguerite et Julien / Marguerite & Julien (2015) Valérie Donzelli, Anaïs Demoustier, Jérémie Elkaïm, Frédéric Pierrot, Drama, Romance

marguerite-julien-2015
Julien and Marguerite de Ravalet, son and daughter of the Lord of Tourlaville, have loved each other since childhood. But as they grow up, their affection veers toward voracious passion. Scandalized by their affair, society hounds them until, unable to resist their feelings, they flee. A contemporary fairytale about desire, passion, hope, love and death.
Read More »