Deux hommes dans la ville features the third – and arguably the most effective
– pairing of two of French cinema’s most iconic of icons... [More...]
This is a hard-edged detective-thriller, in the style of a latterday western, which shows
director Yves Boisset at his best. He is well served by an excellent cast... [More...]
Although it is hardly groundbreaking material, La Boum
is one of those inconsequential French romantic comedies which you cannot help
falling for. The film was an enormous commercial success when it was released
in 1980... [More...]
Exemplary performances from Michel Blanc and Bernard Giraudeau transform a routine comedy
into a delightful comic romp, under the skilful direction of Patrice Leconte... [More...]
With its all-star cast and impressive production values (including lavish sets and close
attention to period detail), Papy fait de la résistance resembles that earlier
great French war-time comic classic... [More...]
After directing a string of popular comedies, such as
Les Bronzés (1978), Patrice Leconte
was eager to tackle another kind of film and gladly accepted an offer from producer Christian
Fechner to direct a traditional... [More...]
Despite its impressive star-studded cast, La Reine blanche fails to live up to
its expectations and is essentially a rather lacklustre sentimental drama... [More...]
In one of her better films, Diane Kurys paints a vivid and rather
moving portrait of mid-life crisis – as experienced by the generation
that... [More...]
This sombre work provided ample opportunity for director Nicole Garcia to explore the
psychology of men, one of her main motivations for making the film... [More...]
Whilst not quite in the league of earlier, more substantial historical films (a genre
in which French cinema seems always to have excelled), Ridicule is nonetheless
an impressive and entertaining film... [More...]
Whilst somewhat heavy on sentiment and dialogue, this wartime romantic drama from Jean-Loup
Hubert has a great deal going for it. The deeply melancholic photography evokes
not just the mood of the period in which the... [More...]
Freely adapted from an obscure play by the famed German director R.W. Fassbinder (written
when he was just 19), Gouttes d’eau sur pierres brûlantes makes a deeply
pessimistic yet profoundly incisive study... [More...]
Claude Miller “does Chekhov” in this aesthetically rich but emotionally sparse
reflection on life and filmmaking. Although the film effectively captures the mood
and themes of Chekhov’s play “The... [More...]
With Les Marins perdus, director Claire Devers continues her exploration of the dark existentialist
themes which are evoked by grim contemporary situations... [More...]
An enjoyable Rocky-style film for anyone interested in martial arts films. For the
rest of us, Chok-Dee has
little to offer. The characterisation is superficial... [More...]
