
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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Tag Archives: France
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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La loi du marché / The Measure of a Man (2015) Stéphane Brizé, Vincent Lindon, Karine de Mirbeck, Matthieu Schaller, Drama

At the age of 51 and after 20 months on unemployment, Thierry starts a new job that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma. How much is he willing to accept to keep his job?
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Abril Despedaçado / Behind the Sun (2001) Walter Salles, José Dumont, Rodrigo Santoro, Rita Assemany, Drama

The Brazilian badlands, April 1910. Tonho is ordered by his father to avenge the death of his older brother. The young man knows that if he commits this crime, his life will be divided in two: the 20 years he has already lived and the few days he has left to live, before the other family avenges their son’s death. He is torn between fulfilling his ancestral duty and rebelling against it, urged by his younger brother Pacu. That’s when a tiny traveling circus passes through the vast badlands where Tonho’s family lives.
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Filantropica / Philanthropy (2002) Nae Caranfil, Mircea Diaconu, Gheorghe Dinica, Mara Nicolescu, Comedy, Drama

Ovidiu, a high-school teacher looking for an extra buck, finds an unexpected way to earn easy money.
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Helen of Troy (1956) Robert Wise, Stanley Baker, Rossana Podestà, Brigitte Bardot, Adventure, Drama, History

Prince Paris of Troy, shipwrecked on a mission to the king of Sparta, meets and falls for Queen Helen before he knows who she is. Rudely received by the royal Greeks, he must flee…but fate and their mutual passions lead him to take Helen along. This gives the Greeks just the excuse they need for much-desired war.
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L’ennui (1998) Cédric Kahn, Charles Berling, Sophie Guillemin, Arielle Dombasle, Romance, Drama

A philosophy teacher restless with the need to do something with his life meets a young woman suspected of driving an artist to his death. He finds the very simple Cecilia irritating but develops a sexual rapport with her. Obsessed with the need to own and tormented by her inability to respond to him, he becomes increasingly violent in a quest he can’t name – a quest that slowly begins to undermine his certainties.
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