Wed just as war breaks out, Jeanne hardly gets to know her military husband, Louis, before the debacle of 1940. While waiting for his return from a POW camp, Jeanne journeys through countless affairs with Louis’ comrades- in-arms. Hopiing to forget these wartime betrayls, Louis takes his wife and the infant twins he didn’t father to Berlin, where she falls for Matthais, a sensitive German industrialist. When the Indochinese war sends Louis to Vietnam, Matthais follows Jeanne back to France. A subsequent move to Damascus where Louis is posted as military attache, fails to break their bond.
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Tag Archives: french
Le silence de la mer (1949) Jean-Pierre Melville, Howard Vernon, Nicole Stéphane, Jean-Marie Robain, Drama, Romance, War
1941 in a small town in Nazi occupied France. Against the will of its elderly male and his adult niece residents, the Nazis commandeer a house for one of their officers, Lt. Werner von Ebrennac, to live in for as long as he is in the area on Nazi business. As a figurative and literal silent protest against the Nazis and the officer, the uncle and niece do whatever is required of them while the officer is in their house, however they do not acknowledge his presence, living largely in silence whenever he is around. The officer treats the housing situation with care, like he is a guest. Although not a nightly occurrence, the officer begins an evening routine with his reluctant hosts: in his civilian clothes, he knocks on the door of the room in which they have convened for the evening, walking in shortly thereafter knowing that no acknowledgment will be made for him to enter, he visits with them for no more than five minutes before he bids them a good evening as he exits.
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Cet obscur objet du désir / That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) Luis Buñuel, Fernando Rey, Carole Bouquet, Ángela Molina, Comedy, Drama
Just after boarding a train, much to the surprise of his fellow passengers, a man pours a bucket of water over a young girl on the platform. Over the next few hours he explains (and we see in flashback) how he became obsessed by her (so much so that he failed to notice that she was played by two different actresses, representing different sides of her personality), and how she tantalised him, but would never allow him to satisfy his desire for her…
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Le solitaire / The Loner (1987) Jacques Deray, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre Malo, Michel Beaune, Action, Crime, Drama
Stan (Belmondo) and Simon, two linked to the world of crime individuals decide to emigrate to the Caribbean to start a new life. But their plans fall apart when, in the course of a fight, a dangerous criminal named Simon Schneider kills and flees. Stan takes over Christian, the son of his friend, and vows to avenge his death.
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Allemagne 90 neuf zéro / Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1991) Jean-Luc Godard, Eddie Constantine, Hanns Zischler, Claudia Michelsen, Drama
Characterized by deconstructivism and philosophical references and by briefly exposing the good, bad, and ugly periods of the country’s history, this post-modern film portrays the abstract need for guidance of Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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Un homme qui me plaît / Love Is a Funny Thing (1969) Claude Lelouch, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Annie Girardot, Maria Pia Conte, Comedy, Drama
Filming in the USA, Henri and Françoise meet and fall in love with each other.
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Vendredi soir / Friday Night (2002) Claire Denis, Valérie Lemercier, Vincent Lindon, Hélène de Saint-Père, Drama, Romance
Having packed up her possessions to move in with her lover, Laure is more unsettled than she appears. Needing to get out and have a change of scenery, she jumps in her car to go to have dinner with friends–only to become stuck in a terrible traffic jam. Laure completely forgot about the mass transit strike that has thrown the city into chaos. But Laure feels good in her car, the only place she has for herself right now. As she takes in the sights and sounds around her–the blare of horns and arguments, the shimmer of lights and camaraderie–Laure notices a calm and self-assured stranger, Jean, approach her car. Soon thereafter, she opens her car door door to the man who–that night–will change her life.
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Un homme et une femme, 20 ans déjà / A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (1986) Claude Lelouch, Anouk Aimée, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Richard Berry, Drama, Romance
Jean-Louis and Anne have had their fling and separated. Now 20 years have passed. He is still dating various women. She is now a big time director whose most recent film was a very expensive bomb. She comes up with the idea of making a romance based upon her fling with Jean-Louis. She contacts him to gain his permission. Jean-Louis is still in racing and goes away for a desert rally while she begins filming. She finds the mood of their romance difficult to recapture in her film.
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Le Journal intime d’une nymphomane / Diary of a Nymphomaniac (1973) Jesús Franco, Howard Vernon, Doris Thomas, Anne Libert, Thriller, Exploitation, Drama, Erotic
Linda Vargas picks up Ortiz in a bar where she works in a lesbian show with Maria Toledano. She seduces him, phones the police and kills herself. Ortiz is held on suspicion of her murder. Ortiz’s wife, Rosa, visits a friend of Linda’s, the Countess Anna de Monterey who tells her how Linda went into a spiral of sex and drugs after being assaulted by Ortiz as a young girl at a fair-ground. Linda became the Countess’s lover, then had a disastrous love affair with Alberto, the Countess’ boyfriend. Rosa also meets Maria, who holds Linda’s diary, where she relates how a fake Doctor turned her away from drugs and into a nymphomaniac.
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La Controverse de Valladolid / The Controversy of Valladolid (1992) Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean Carmet, Drama
Spain conquered the seas, found a new world and different realities than the one known in Europe. But a question needed to be answered with what they found in those new territories: do the Indians have souls? The Church, bound to protect and convert the natives and the conquerors who treated them like slaves and thought they were only merchandising, expose their arguments and reasonings at what would be known as the Vallidolid controversy. Between them, there’s a cardinal hearing both parts and trying to get reasonable answers from this critical question.
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