Gregoire is retiring after many years with the same bank, and his collegues surprise him with the gift of a beautiful call girl, Barbara. Thinking she is a conquest, he impersonates the bank president, leading to a comedy of mistaken identities.
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Tag Archives: french
Il Segreto del Bosco Vecchio / The Secret of the Old Woods (1993) Ermanno Olmi, Paolo Villaggio, Giulio Brogi, Pietro Berton, Family, Fantasy
It tells the story of a general who is about to cut down an old forest for the sake of financial gain, but discovers that the forest is inhabited by invisible spirits.
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Rendez-vous (1985) André Téchiné, Lambert Wilson, Juliette Binoche, Wadeck Stanczak, Drama, Romance
A woman and three men. Nina, who’s come to Paris to act and sleeps with any man at hand, meets Paulot, a young estate agent; he’s smitten. She also meets Paulot’s flatmate Quentin, a compulsive who stalks her. To Paulot’s jealous dismay, she’s willing to sleep with Quentin, and wants Paulot’s friendship. After a desperate act by Quentin, Nina and Paulot share a flat, but she still won’t take him as a lover; instead, her energy goes into a production of “Romeo and Juliet” directed by a detached, intense man who becomes her father figure. Quentin’s ghost taunts her, Paulot wants to end all contact, and the director plans to return to London. The art of the theater may be her only refuge.
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Dressage (1986) Pierre B. Reinhard, Véronique Catanzaro, Patrick Guillemin, Marc Henry, Comedy, Erotic
At a decadent 1930’s party, two very sexy and utterly shameless young women, Nathalie (Veronique Catansaro) and Eiliane (Cornelia Wilms) make a bet with a rich and handsome young Baron to corrupt two innocent teenagers in order to ruin their families’ reputations. The prize on offer is marriage to the wealthy Baron.
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L’avventuriero / The Rover (1967) Terence Young, Anthony Quinn, Rosanna Schiaffino, Rita Hayworth, War, Drama
A former counterrevolutionary pirate befriends a mentally ill young woman and this in turn leads to tragedy when she falls in love with a French naval officer.
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L’arrière pays / Hinterland (1998) Mathilde Moné, Henri Gardey, Jacques Nolot, Drama
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
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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White Slave / Schiave bianche – Violenza in Amazzonia (1985) Mario Gariazzo, Elvire Audray, Will Gonzales, Dick Campbell, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Erotic
A young woman seeks vengeance and finds love when her parents are killed in the Amazon and she is taken prisoner by an indigenous tribe of headhunters.
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Let Joy Reign Supreme / Que la fête commence… (1975) Bertrand Tavernier, Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Drama, History, War
France, 1719. Louis 14th died four years ago, Philippe d’Orleans is the regent. He is a liberal and a libertine. His right-hand man, Dubois, an atheistic and cupid priest, as libertine as Philippe, tries to take advantage of a little rebellion lead by a Breton squire (Pontallec) and of the famine to become archbishop… Description of the life of the court in this period of transition where the French Revolution smoulders.
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The Silent World / Le monde du silence (1956) Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Louis Malle, Frédéric Dumas, Albert Falco, Documentary
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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