Adaptation of the comic play by Macchiavelli about a man’s attempt to bed a woman unable to have a child by pretending to be a doctor.
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Tag Archives: France
Tendres cousines (1980) David Hamilton, Thierry Tevini, Anja Schüte, Valérie Dumas, Drama, Romance, Erotic
Summer 1939 in the Provence, France: the 14 years old Julien has a crush on his cousin Julia, who lives together with his family in their small hotel. Unfortunately she ignores him, because she’s several years older. Then the hotel guest Charles enters the competition, a slimy twenty-something who lusts for the girl, despite the fact that he’s engaged.
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Sweet Movie (1974) Dusan Makavejev, Carole Laure, Pierre Clémenti, Anna Prucnal, Comedy, Drama, Mystery
The intercut story of two women: a nearly-mute beauty queen who descends into withdrawal and madness, and another who captains a ship laden with candy and sugar, luring men and boys aboard for sex, death, and revolutionary talk. The beauty queen passes from a wealthy husband whose honeymoon delight is to urinate on her, to a muscular keeper who punches her, stows her in a suitcase, and ships her to Paris, to a lip-synching rock idol with whom she has a love spasm, to an Austrian commune complete with a banquet of vomit, urine, feces, chopped dildos, and wet nurses. By then she’s in a fetal position, until everyone’s rescued by reminders that “it’s just a movie.”
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Le bonheur / Happiness (1935) Marcel L’Herbier, Gaby Morlay, Charles Boyer, Paulette Dubost, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Released in English-speaking countries as Happiness, Le Bonheur was based on a play by Henry Bernstein. Charles Boyer stars as a fervent anarchist who vows to kill anyone who represents “the establishment.” As a result, he ends up shooting idolized music-hall singer Gaby Morlay in full view of her audience. After this unpromising start, Boyer and Morlay get to know each other, eventually falling in love. At his attempted-murder trial, Morlay offers to testify on Boyer’s behalf – but he refuses, determined to become a martyr to his cause. Things work out in a most unexpected fashion in this offbeat romance, released in the U.S. in 1935 to capitalize on Boyer’s burgeoning American popularity.
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Des Filles en Noir (2010) Jean-Paul Civeyrac, Elise Lhomeau, Léa Tissier, Elise Caron, Drama
Noémie and Priscilla, two teenagers from a modest background, nurture the same violence, the same revolt. They seriously worry their families, who feel that these girls are capable of anything.
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The Cement Garden (1993) Andrew Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Andrew Robertson, Alice Coulthard, Drama
After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially self-sufficient and will be able to avoid being taken into care by the authorities. Unfortunately she also dies and Julie and Jack (the older, teenage children) decide to hide her body in the basement so that they can have free reign of their household. Soon Tom has taken to dressing as a girl whilst Sue has become increasingly reticent, confiding only to her diary, meanwhile Jack and Julie sense an attraction developing for each other. However Julie’s new beau, Derek, threatens to unearth the many dark secrets within this family as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Jack.
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The Destructors / The Marseille Contract (1974) Robert Parrish, Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, James Mason
When a US intelligence agent is unable to bring a ruthless drug baron to justice, he resorts to hiring a contract killer. But the man he is put in contact with turns out to be an old friend.
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Femmes de Paris (1953) Jean Boyer, Michel Simon, Brigitte Auber, Henri Génès, Comedy, Drama
Le professeur Charles Buisson, Astronome et prix Nobel, vient de découvrir une nova. Il en informe par téléphone les autres observatoires. Alors qu’il croit que l’un d’eux le rappelle, il se retrouve à l’appareil avec une jeune femme menaçant de se suicider au cabaret Le Ruban Bleu, si son amoureux ne l’a pas rejoint à minuit. Intrigué, le professeur décide d’aller empêcher la malheureuse de passer à l’acte. Une de ses étudiantes, qui gagne sa vie comme doublure dans un numéro de couteaux, l’aide dans son enquête, tandis que le directeur de l’établissement et un policier le soupçonnent d’être un farceur ou même, de vendre de la drogue. Ce sera pour le savant l’occasion de découvrir un univers de music-hall qu’il ignorait jusqu’alors : « Je croyais connaître la carte du ciel par cœur mais il est une planète qui m’était totalement inconnue : la terre. J’y reviendrai ! »
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Le doux amour des hommes (2002) Jean-Paul Civeyrac, Renaud Bécard, Claire Pérot, Marie-Joséphine Crenn, Drama
It’s a story about Raoul, a young man living at the beginning of the 21st century, who is part of the most fragile, unnecessary and appealing fragment of society. He goes from woman to woman, looking for love that seems unobtainable. But then he meets Jeanne, destined for freedom and tragedy…
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L’étrange Madame X / Strange Madame X (1951) Jean Grémillon, Michèle Morgan, Henri Vidal, Arlette Thomas, Drama
Can a person really lead a double life? It looks as though Irène can. On the one hand, she is the wife of Jacques Voisin-Larive, a big name in the publishing world. On the other hand she pretends to be a simple chambermaid when she is with Etienne, a handsome young cabinetmaker. But what will happen when Irène gets pregnant?
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