Tag Archives: France

L’arrière pays / Hinterland (1998) Mathilde Moné, Henri Gardey, Jacques Nolot, Drama

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After ten years away, Jacques Pruez, an unmarried, 50-year-old, modestly successful actor, returns to his home village to comfort his dying mother. His father Yvan, a family barber who’s counting on his “successful” son to support him in his old age, refuses to believe that his wife is sick and insists that her doctors are killing her. She dies, and Jacques finds out that Yvan is not his real father. Besieged by memories of his childhood, the village and the past, Jacques wanders the streets at night, reliving the moments that set him apart from the rest…
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The Twist / Folies bourgeoises (1976) Claude Chabrol, Bruce Dern, Stéphane Audran, Sydne Rome, Comedy

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French New Wave director Claude Chabrol steps away from his usual style of mysteries and psychological dramas for the sex comedy Folies Bourgeoises, based on the novel Le Malheur Fou by Lucie Faure. Bruce Dern is the American writer William Brandels and Stephane Audran is his French socialite wife, Claire Brandels. The story follows the confusion of the infidelities of the wealthy upper class.
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The Silent World / Le monde du silence (1956) Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Louis Malle, Frédéric Dumas, Albert Falco, Documentary

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Witness the birth of a new kind of documentary, as legendary diver, conservationist and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau takes you deep beneath the waves to explore a wealth of life that was previously hidden from view. As much of the technology for shooting film underwater was developed by Cousteau’s team, this was the first time such amazing sights could be captured on film. The result, a Technicolor 1950s masterpiece, succeeds both in revealing an untouched world of beauty, life and drama, as well as evoking a sense of adventure, freedom and boundless possibility. Set on board and below the good ship Calypso during an exploratory expedition, this feature-length documentary was co-directed by Cousteau and Louis Malle, whose first film this was (Cousteau selected Malle for this assignment immediately upon the latter’s graduation from film school). Highlights include a shark attack on the carcass of a whale, and the discovery of a wrecked, sunken vessel. A window into the world beneath the sea as well as the colourful and nostalgic world of the 1950s, The Silent World was the start of an entire movement, and is now available on DVD as a vital part of any collection. This classic film is one of few to have won both the Academy Award (Best Documentary Feature) as well as the Palme D’Or in 1956.
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One Silver Dollar / Un dollaro bucato (1965) Giorgio Ferroni, Giuliano Gemma, Ida Galli, Pierre Cressoy, Action, Romance, Western

Un dollaro bucato (1965)
Giuliano Gemma plays a confederate soldier who returns from the war to fight one at home. Unbeknownst to him, his brother has become the infamous gunfighter “Black Jack” to defeat the local bullies. Gemma agrees to ambush and kill Black Jack, only to discover too late who the outlaw really is. With vengeance in his heart he turns on his employers, who then shoot him.
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Kameradschaft / Comradeship (1931) Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers, Ernst Busch, Drama

Kameradschaft (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1931)
An old German mine was split in two after the end of WWI because of where the new border was located. In the French part a fire breaks out; the German miners send a rescue group in, helping their French comrades. Three old German miners, who were not treated friendly at a French inn the night before, start their own private rescue through an old tunnel that separated the two mines. Will the official rescue party realize there are others left behind in time to save them?
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