French cinema
Michel Hazanavicius: 'Losing himself is how he found himself'Friday, 11 May 2018
French director Michel Hazanavicius made a name for himself with his OSS 117 spy spoofs, Nest of Spies (2006) and Lost in Rio (2009), set in the Fifties and Sixties respectively and starring Jean Dujardin as a somewhat idiotic... Read more... |
Revenge - a blood-soaked joyThursday, 10 May 2018
Deep in an unnamed desert, a violent and psychedelic retribution is sought. The aptly named Revenge is a brutally rewarding experience, bringing classic horror and exploitation tropes kicking and screaming into the 21st century. It is the debut... Read more... |
Juliette Binoche: ‘Repetition feels like near death’Thursday, 19 April 2018
It’s about time Juliette Binoche and Claire Denis teamed up: the legendary French actress, Gallic film royalty known by her countrymen and women as La Binoche, with one of the country’s most unique directors, both talented and formidable women who... Read more... |
Custody review - unflinching and masterfulTuesday, 10 April 2018
Divorce proceedings turn sour in this devastating debut from writer/director Xavier Legrand. Using the full palette of human behaviour, Custody expertly balances high tension and grounded realism to create a timely and lingering film.We start at a... Read more... |
I Got Life! review - fresh French comic realismSaturday, 24 March 2018
I Got Life!, originally released in France as Aurore, is a lovely, funny low-budget comedy that should definitely appeal to female movie-goers with a fondness for quirky, feisty women d’un certain age. It’s the kind of film that one would probably... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Henri-Georges Clouzot - Le Corbeau / Quai des Orfèvres / La PrisonnièreFriday, 16 March 2018
Henri-Georges Clouzot is one of the giants of French cinema history, such a versatile master of entertainment that his qualities as an auteur and art-house director are sometimes forgotten. This new collection of his restored films includes some of... Read more... |
My Golden Days review - a mesmerising tale of heartbreakWednesday, 14 March 2018
Arnaud Despelchin’s My Golden Days is a strange beast; it is both a sequel and prequel to the gloriously titled 1996 film My Sex Life…or How I Got into an Argument. Yet it tells its own story in the life of Paul Dédalus (Mathieu... Read more... |
Makala review - capturing human spirit on filmSaturday, 03 February 2018
We follow Kabwita Kasongo on his morning routine, lingering over the shoulder as he treks through the village. A pastel sunrise greets vast landscapes, the morning breeze visible for miles around. He heads to a tree at the edge of a mountain, and... Read more... |
A Woman's Life review - simple but affectingFriday, 12 January 2018
A Woman’s Life first premiered at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival, alongside the likes of La La Land, Arrival and Jackie. Though it’s taken longer to get to our shores than its contemporaries, the film feels fresh and relevant. This... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Melville - The Essential CollectionTuesday, 26 December 2017
A new box-set to relish, six French cinema classics by a cult director, along with a wealth of fascinating extras on a seventh DVD. The French film-maker Jean-Pierre Melville belongs to a class of his own: a precursor of the New Wave, an influence... Read more... |
DVD: A Journey Through French CinemaTuesday, 12 December 2017
Bertrand Tavernier’s trip through French cinema is shot through with the love of someone who has grown up with cinema and knows how to communicate his passion in a way that is totally engaging. The three hours-plus that he delivers make you want to... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: Montparnasse 19Friday, 24 November 2017
The myth of Modigliani, the archetypal tortured artist, was set in train while he was still alive and remains potent almost a century after his death. Every so often a few game academics try to put things straight, and now Tate Modern’s exhibition... Read more... |
