
Jacques Demy followed up The Umbrellas of Cherbourg with another musical about missed connections and second chances, this one a more effervescent confection. Twins Delphine and Solange, a dance instructor and a music teacher (played by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac), long for big-city life; when a fair comes through their quiet port town, so does the possibility of escape. With its jazzy Michel Legrand score, pastel paradise of costumes, and divine supporting cast (George Chakiris, Grover Dale, Danielle Darrieux, Michel Piccoli, and Gene Kelly), The Young Girls of Rochefort is a tribute to Hollywood optimism from sixties French cinema’s preeminent dreamer.
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Tag Archives: french
Lisa (2001) Pierre Grimblat, Jeanne Moreau, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Drama, Romance, War

Sam, cinéaste débutant, veut réaliser un film sur Sylvain Marceau, réalisateur disparu mystérieusement sous l’Occupation. Il retrouve par miracle Lisa Maurin, le grand amour de Sylvain, qui vit toujours et attend son retour. Lisa va partager avec Sam l’histoire initiatique de son incroyable aventure de jeunesse et de cet amour fou…
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Le Voyou / The Crook (1970) Claude Lelouch, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Danièle Delorme, Charles Gérard, Crime, Thriller

When Simon (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is released from prison, he emerges with a bold kidnapping scheme. He enlists the help of an old cohort and his former lover, Martine (Christine Lelouch), to kidnap a young boy. The child’s father is an employee at a bank, and the three criminals blackmail the financial institution, demanding $1 million in ransom. Out of fear, the bank pays the sum, but the kidnappers may have bitten off more than they can chew.
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Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours / My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days (1989) Andrzej Zulawski, Sophie Marceau, Jacques Dutronc, Valérie Lagrange, Drama, Romance, Erotic

Lucas has invented a new computer language but at the same time he has been informed about his strange terminal illness during which he has been gradually losing his memory. Shortly after that he meets Blanche who acts as a medium in a bizarre traveling show. Dying Lucas follows her to the sea resort where they spend together several days and nights.
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Trois vies et une seule mort / Three Lives and Only One Death (1996) Raoul Ruiz, Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Galiena, Marisa Paredes, Comedy, Crime

Take a walk into the weird world of filmmaker Raul Ruiz as he takes us to Paris for a twisted ride. A man which shares four names and four personalities (which is the real one?) is the link between four different, yet similar, stories involving love, lust, crime, and time.
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Amici Miei / Mes Chers Amis (1975) Mario Monicelli, Ugo Tognazzi, Gastone Moschin, Philippe Noiret, Comedy, Drama

Like in many other Monicelli movies, the main theme of Amici miei is friendship, seen from a rather bitter point of view. It tells the story of four middle-aged friends in Florence who organize together idle pranks (called zingarate, “gypsy shenanigans”) in a continuous attempt to prolong childhood during their adult life…
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Les démons / The Demons (2015) Philippe Lesage, Édouard Tremblay-Grenier, Pier-Luc Funk, Vassili Schneider, Drama

A young boy begins to experience the adult world as he enters adolescence.
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Le roi des Champs-Élysées (1934) Max Nosseck, Buster Keaton, Madeleine Guitty, Paulette Dubost, Comedy

Buster Garnier is having a very bad day, even by his standards. First of all he manages to lose his job distributing flyers for a car company when he accidentally hands out packets of real notes instead of the false money-off vouchers; then he blunders into a stage performance at the theatre where his mother is prompt, and gets thrown out there too. Methodically, he drapes a black band across his own portrait, writes a last note to his mother, bids farewell to his pets one by one, switches on the gas tap, and composes himself calmly on the floor to await oblivion. But Life hasn’t had its last laugh at his expense just yet… Meanwhile, across town, a scarred and ruthless gangster is preparing to break out of jail. Unknown to either man, the two of them are almost exactly alike; and when Buster finds himself on stage in the role of a jail-bird, fact and fiction are about to get extremely confused!
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Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) Robert Bresson, Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, François Lafarge, Drama

The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson’s Mouchette.
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La folie Almayer / Almayer’s Folly (2011) Chantal Akerman, Stanislas Merhar, Marc Barbé, Aurora Marion, Drama

A tale of an occidental merchant, Kaspar Almayer, whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter, Nina, collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice.
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