Rural France, the 1890s. Always in motion, Augustin wanders three times. First, as a youth, while a boarder near Bourges, he’s lost in the woods and finds a chateau where an engagement party’s in progress: there he falls eternally in love with Yvonne and she with him. Back at school, he hears she is in Paris, so he follows in a vain search and meets a woman, jilted by her lover. In the countryside a few year’s later, Augustin’s friend François finds Yvonne and brings Augustin to her. They marry, but the next day, Augustin leaves to fulfill a youthful promise he made to Yvonne’s brother. François comforts the pregnant Yvonne as they await Augustin’s return.
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Tag Archives: France
Diaboliquement vôtre / Diabolically Yours (1967) Julien Duvivier, Alain Delon, Senta Berger, Peter Mosbacher, Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a near fatal car crash and three weeks in a coma, a man awakens to a new life, attempting to search for his true identity after suffering amnesia. The more he remembers, the more dangerous it gets.
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La bûche / Season’s Beatings (1999) Danièle Thompson, Sabine Azéma, Emmanuelle Béart, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Comedy, Drama
Christmas, family, and infidelity. Yvette’s husband has died, and her grown daughters join her at the grave: Sonia, wealthy, bourgeois, and generous; Louba, living with their dad Stanislas, singing at a Russian restaurant, penniless, the mistress for the past 12 years of a man who will never leave his wife; Milla, the youngest, acerbic, lonesome. Christmas was when they learned their parents were divorcing 25 years ago. Over the next few days, yuletide depression, Louba’s pregnancy, Sonia’s crumbling marriage, Stanislas’s overtures to Yvette, and Milla’s attraction to the man who’s her father’s rent-free lodger lead each one to re-examine self, family, and hopes. Is renewal possible?
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The End of Violence (1997) Wim Wenders, Traci Lind, Rosalind Chao, Bill Pullman, Drama, Thriller
Mike Max is a Hollywood producer who became powerful and rich thanks to brutal and bloody action films. His ignored wife Paige is close to leaving him. Suddenly Mike is kidnapped by two bandits, but escapes and hides out with his Mexican gardener’s family for a while. At the same time, surveillance expert Ray Bering is looking for what happens in the city, but it is not clear what he wants. The police investigation for Max’s disappearance is led by detective Doc Block, who falls in love with actress Cat who is playing in ongoing Max’s production.
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The Spy I Love / Coplan prend des risques (1964) Maurice Labro, Dominique Paturel, Virna Lisi, Jacques Balutin, Action, Drama
This is a low-to-the-ground espionage story shot in the style before James Bond made the splash heard ’round the world in Dr. No, even though it was made two years later. The simple story, about a stolen nuclear rocket propellant called the SR 712, is told in a nuts-and-bolts manner and the low key hero will barely register on those brought up on the larger than life Bond.
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Le juge Fayard dit Le Shériff / Judge Fayard Called the Sheriff (1977) Yves Boisset, Patrick Dewaere, Aurore Clément, Philippe Léotard, Crime, Drama
The young judge Fayard is not afraid of anybody as he does his work honestly.
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L’épine dans le coeur / The Thorn in the Heart (2009) Michel Gondry, Suzette Gondry, Jean-Yves Gondry, Documentary
Michel Gondry chronicles the life of Gondry family matriarch, his aunt Suzette Gondry, and her relationship with her son, Jean-Yves.
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Un papillon sur l’épaule / Butterfly on the Shoulder (1978) Jacques Deray, Lino Ventura, Claudine Auger, Paul Crauchet, Drama, Thriller
Mystery film about a man who finds there is another world to the one we know.
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Nuit d’été en ville / Summer Night in Town (1990) Michel Deville, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Marie Trintignant, Romance, Erotic
Unable to sleep in the sweltering heat, a young couple bares their bodies –- and their souls –- to each other over one life-changing night. They didn’t know each other when the night began. It got hot, they stayed in. Now they know each other better than most.
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Nathalie Granger (1971) Marguerite Duras, Lucia Bosé, Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Depardieu, Drama
This art film has no conventional dialog between the main characters. This tells a strangely compelling story of two women in a suburban home who are listening to radio news broadcasts about a missing child in their area.
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