November 30th through December 2nd
Florence Gould Hall (*)
55 East 59th Street New York, NY
Box office: (212) 355 6160
Fun selection of 9 movies with a mix of
thrillers (Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Kassovitz)
and family comedies with hilarious dialogues
or very emotional scenes.
Set around the First World War, the film follows 18-year-old Patricia, the oldest and favorite daughter of well-digger Pascal Amoretti (Daniel Auteuil), who is romanced by the handsome and wealthier young Jacques (Nicolas Duvauchelle), the son of prosperous shopkeepers. Their relationship blossoms quickly, only to end suddenly when Jacques is sent to the front leaving Patricia to deal with the consequences of their brief moment of passion.
Actor-turned-director Daniel Auteuil presents a star-studded remake of Marcel Pagnol’s 1940 film as his directorial debut.
Sneak Preview
The Well-Digger's Daughter
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
7 & 9:15pm
FIAF, Tinker Auditorium
Free for FIAF Members day-of / $2 advance tickets recommended
Daniel Auteuil, 2011 Color. 105 min.
With Daniel Auteuil, Kad Merad,
Sabine Azéma, Jean-Pierre Darroussin
In French with English subtitles
“A polished, finely acted tale of love and class in the south of France.” —thehollywoodreporter.com
For its 75th anniversary, one of the legends of the cinema, GRAND ILLUSION now looks and sounds better than ever thanks to all-new restoration! Film Forum will be showing the restoration in 35mm, with newly-revised subtitles by Lenny Borger capturing the wit of the Renoir-Charles Spaak screenplay like never before.
During the First World War, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German POW camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are sent to a seemingly impenetrable fortress which seems impossible to escape from.
at Film Forum until May 24
The Artist
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Running time 100 minutes, France, 2011.
With Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman...
Opening November 25 at Paris Theater.
A silent film shot entirely in black and white, the film follows dashing 1920s silent movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). At one of his movie premieres George meets Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a beautiful young actress with dreams of stardom. With the arrival of talkies, George’s career starts to fade, while Peppy’s star begins to rise.
Film Trailer
Show Times & Places
House of Pleasures
L'Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close)
Directed by Bertrand Bonello
Running time 122 minutes, France, 2011.
With Hafsia Herzi, Céline Sallette and Jasmine Trinca.
Opening November 25 at IFC Center.
In this lush, atmospheric look at the final days of an elegant, turn-of-the-century brothel, we go inside the cloistered walls of L’Apollonide to meet the Madam, her elite clientele, and some dozen “girls” — veterans and newcomers, romantics and cynics, schemers and innocents.
Film Trailer
Show Times & Places
The Conquest
La Conquête
Directed by Xavier Durringer
Running time 105 minutes, France, 2011.
With Denis Podalydès, Florence Pernel and Bernard Le Coq.
"The Conquest" chronicles Sarkozy’s rise to become President of France and the emotional and psychological stakes involving the conquest of power. On the day the diminutive Sarkozy conquered his ultimate ambition, his wife, who for twenty years had struggled to pull the man she loved from the shadow into the light, walked out on him for another man.
Film Trailer
Show Times & Places
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Sarah's Keys Based on the international best seller by Tatiana De Rosnay, SARAH'S KEY stars Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as Julia Jarmond, an American journalist married to a Frenchman, who is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up in 1942 Paris, when the French police went door-to-door arresting Jewish families. As Julia researches for her article, she stumbles upon a family secret which will links her to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. |
Gainsbourg : A Heroic Life
Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)
Directed by Joann Sfar
Running time 130 minutes, France, 2010.
With Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta.
The film is based on Sfar’s best-selling graphic novel and follows the singer, born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish parents, from his precocious childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, to his transition from painter to jazz musician to pop superstar, and through his relationships with the many women in his life including Brigitte Bardot, Juliette Greco, and Jane Birkin. Gainsbourg was as famous for his decadent life, fin-de-siecle aesthetic, and cynical wit as for his clever lyrics and musical genius, which went through several reinventions.
Show Times & Places
Film Trailer
Tomboy
Directed by Céline Sciamma
Running time 84 minutes, France, 2011.
With Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana and Jeanne Disson
A French family with two daughters, 10-year-old Laure and 6-year-old Jeanne, moves to a new neighborhood during the summer holidays. With her boy haircut and tomboy ways, Laure is immediately mistaken for a boy by the local kids and passes herself off as Michael. Filmmaker Céline Sciamma brings a light to this drama of childhood gender confusion.
Film Trailer
Show Times & Places
The Women on the 6th Floor *** "Very Pleasant movie"
Les Femmes du 6ème étage
Directed by Philippe Le Guay
Running time 104 minutes, France, 2010.
With Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Kimberlain, Natalia Verbeke and Carmen Maura
Opening October 7 at Paris Theatre.
Paris, 1960. Jean-Louis lives a bourgeois existence absorbed in his work, cohabitating with his neurotic socialite wife Suzanne. The couple’s world is turned upside-down when they hire a Spanish maid Maria through whom Jean-Louis is introduced to an alternative reality just a few floors up on the building’s sixth floor, the servants’ quarters. There, Jean-Louis befriends a group of sassy Spanish maids, who teach him there’s more to life than stocks and bonds, and whose influence on the house will ultimately transform everyone’s life.
Film Trailer
Show Times & Places
The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch ** "feel good super hero movie, disappointing for those who read the comic book"
Directed by Jérôme Salle
Running time 109 minutes, France/Belgium, 2008.
With Tomer Sisley, Kristin Scott Thomas, Gilbert Melki
Opening October 7.
Billionaire Nerio Winch is found dead, drowned. An obviously suspicious death as Nerio is the founder and majority shareholder of the powerful and sprawling W Group. Officially, Nerio had no family. But he had a secret he kept well-hidden: a son, Largo, adopted nearly thirty years before. The only problem is this young heir has just been thrown in prison deep in the Amazon. Nerio murdered. Largo in prison. What if these two events were part of a plot to take control of the Winch empire?
Film Trailer
Show Times & Places
My Afternoons with Marguerite ** "emotionally engaging and very funny"
La tête en friche
Directed by Jean Becker
Running time 82 minutes, France, 2010.
With Gérard Depardieu, Gisèle Casadesus, Maurane, Patrick Bouchitey.
It's the story of one of those improbable encounters that can change the course of one's life: the encounter, in a small public garden, between Germain, fifty and barely literate, and Margueritte, a little old lady passionate about reading. Forty years and 220 pounds separate them. One day, purely by chance, Germain sits down beside Margueritte. She'll go on to read aloud extracts from novels and thereby allow him to discover the magic of books, from which Germain imagined he was excluded for life.
Show Times & Places
Film Trailer
Mammuth
Directed by Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine
Running time 92 minutes, France, 2010.
With Gérard Depardieu, Yolande Moreau and Isabelle Adjani
At the age of 60, Serge Pilardosse (Depardieu) is retiring from his job at a slaughterhouse. But when he tries to claim his benefits, he discovers that several of his former employers "forgot" to declare his earnings. The only way he can get the full amount he's owed is to revisit his old workplaces and gather the missing affidavits. He mounts his vintage 1970s motorcycle and sets off on a strange journey through central France that will bring him into touch with old friends, family and even his lost first love (Adjani).
Gainsbourg : A Heroic Life ** "Passionate"
Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)
Directed by Joann Sfar
Running time 130 minutes, France, 2010.
With Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta.
The film is based on Sfar’s best-selling graphic novel and follows the singer, born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish parents, from his precocious childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, to his transition from painter to jazz musician to pop superstar, and through his relationships with the many women in his life including Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta), Juliette Greco (Anna Mouglalis), and Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon). Gainsbourg was as famous for his decadent life, fin-de-siecle aesthetic, and cynical wit as for his clever lyrics and musical genius, which went through several reinventions.
Show Times & Places
Film Trailer
Love Crime * "wants to but do not convince"
Crime d'Amour
Directed by Alain Corneau
Running time 104 minutes, France, 2010.
With Kristin Scott Thomas, Ludivine Sagnier and Patrick Mille.
Isabelle (Sagnier) is the young ingénue assistant, while Christine (Scott Thomas) is the older woman, a senior executive in a multinational company doing deals around the world. At first they are friendly. Christine, the able executive, is happy to pass the grunt work along to the up-and-coming Isabelle as she learns the ropes. But when Christine starts to take credit for Isabelle's ideas, and a fellow worker bee begins to fuel Isabelle's growing doubts about Christine's duplicitous "all-for-one" attitude, the ground is prepared for all out war.
Show Times & Places
Film Trailer
Mozart's Sister *** "Beautiful music, beautiful backgrounds, like a piece of chocolate"
Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart
Directed by René Féret.
Running time: 120 minutes, France, 2010.
With Marie Féret, David Moreau, Marc Barbe, Clovis Fouin.
A speculative account of Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart (Marie Feret), five years older than Wolfgang (David Moreau) and a musical prodigy in her own right. Originally the featured performer, she has given way to Wolfgang as the main attraction, as their strict but loving father Leopold (Marc Barbe) tours his talented offspring in front of the royal courts of pre-French revolution Europe. Approaching marriageable age and now forbidden to play the violin or compose, Nannerl chafes at the limitations imposed on her gender. But a friendship with the son and daughter of Louis XV offers an alternative.
Show Times & Places
Film Trailer
The Hedgehog - Le Herisson
Directed by Mona Achache.
Running time: 100 minutes, France/ Italy, 2009.
With Josiane Balasko, Garance Le Guillermic, Togo Igawa.
Inspired by the beloved New York Times bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, THE HEDGEHOG is the timely story of Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) a young girl bent on ending it all on her upcoming twelfth birthday. Using her father’s old camcorder to chronicle the hypocrisy she sees in adults, Paloma begins to learn about life from the grumpy building concierge, Renée Michel (FRENCH TWIST’s Josiane Balasko). When Paloma’s camera reveals the extensive secret library in Renée’s back room, and that the often gruff matron reads Tolstoy to her cat, Paloma begins to understand that there are allies to be found beneath the prickliest of exteriors. As the unlikely friendship deepens, Paloma’s own coming of age becomes a much less pessimistic prospect.
Mozart's Sister - Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart
Directed by René Féret.
Running time: 120 minutes, France, 2010.
With Marie Féret, David Moreau, Marc Barbe, Clovis Fouin.
A speculative account of Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart (Marie Feret), five years older than Wolfgang (David Moreau) and a musical prodigy in her own right. Originally the featured performer, she has given way to Wolfgang as the main attraction, as their strict but loving father Leopold (Marc Barbe) tours his talented offspring in front of the royal courts of pre-French revolution Europe. Approaching marriageable age and now forbidden to play the violin or compose, Nannerl chafes at the limitations imposed on her gender. But a friendship with the son and daughter of Louis XV offers an alternative.
Beautiful music !
Posted by Intelligent Travel July 19, 2011 
Some may say New York City lacks the necessary Francophile accoutrements to be considered Parisian. Instead of rues there are avenues, geometric high rises dominate the skyline, and there’s the constant hustle and bustle paired with the hum of subway trains rumbling below.
Since Marie Delecourt—author of the blog Paris in New York—moved to the U.S. in 2000 she has missed many things about France: the redolence of fermenting grapes in Épernay where she grew up next to the Moët & Chandon champagne factory; the romantic curves of Parisian architecture; and the ubiquity of alleyway cafés and corner bakeries. “It was difficult to adjust to the fast pace and the harshness [of New York],” she said. “Immigration is not easy because you have to cut out a part of who you are to integrate in the new country.”
But as a cosmopolitan metropolis, New York City is so diverse that just about anyone from anywhere could rediscover the idiosyncrasies of home and construct their own cultural enclave around them. Delecourt used to take periodic trips to France and return to New York with suitcases full of her favorite products, but she has since explored every nook and cranny of Manhattan to find them here, documenting the pursuit on her blog.
Here are six ways to feel French in New York City, recommended by Delecourt, theNew York in French community, and the French Institute Alliance Française:
Megan Snedden is a California-born writer and adventurer who currently lives in New York City. Connect with her on twitter @megansnedden.
Samuel (Lellouche) is a happily married nurse working in a Paris hospital. When his very pregnant wife (Anaya) is kidnapped before his helpless eyes, everything falls apart. After being knocked unconscious, he comes to and his cell phone rings: he has three hours to get Sartet (Zem), a man under police surveillance, out of the hospital. Shot on location in wide lens, POINT BLANK is an exhilarating non-stop ride through Paris’ streets, subways, hospitals, warehouses, and police stations, as Samuel quickly finds himself pitted against rival gangsters and trigger-happy police in a deadly race to save the lives of his wife and unborn child.
Writer-director Fred Cavayé started out as a fashion photographer. His first feature, “Anything for Her," was nominated for a César (France's equivalent of the Academy Awards) for Best First Film, and remade in the US as "The Next Three Days," with a screenplay Cavayé co-wrote with director Paul Haggis.
POINT BLANK’s cast includes top French actors Gilles Lellouche (“Tell No One,” “Mesrine: Killer Instinct”), Roschdy Zem (“Outside the Law”, “Days of Glory”) and Gérard Lanvin, a veteran of over 60 films (“The Taste of Others”, “The Favorite Son,” “The Specialists”).
From the seaside villages of Brittany to the rocky hills of southern Provence, Films on the Green will take you on a cinematic tour of France this summer. In its fourth year, Films on the Green, co-organized by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the City of New York - Parks & Recreation is offering free outdoor screenings in New York City Parks.
Summer Vacation is the theme of the 2011 film line-up, visited through an array of styles and genres over the course of seven screenings and a special event. New this year: Films on the Green will extend its Manhattan reach to the west side at Riverside Park – Pier 1 and Columbia University; the NY premiere of the comedy Those Happy Days June 10; Films on the Green @COLUMBIA a special back to school screening Thursday, September 8, organized in partnership with The Maison Française of Columbia University.
“We are pleased to partner with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy to bring a series of free, outdoor French film screenings to New York City parks this summer,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “I encourage all New Yorkers to take advantage of this cinematic tour and experience the joie de vivre of viewing films en plein air amid the tranquility of nature in New York City’s parks.”
"In it's fourth year and ever expanding, we are delighted to announce that the Films on the Green Festival will offer more French films in more parks than ever before, extending its reach to New Yorkers from Harlem to the East Village," said Antonin Baudry, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy.
Fridays in June and July: screenings at dusk | Films on the Green @COLUMBIA screening at 7:30pm.
All events are free and open to the public.
June 3 | Central Park – Cedar Hill (79th St & 5th Ave) | The Swimming Pool - La Piscine by Jacques Deray
June 10 | Washington Square Park | Those Happy Days - Nos Jours Heureux by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano
June 17 | Washington Square Park | A Summer’s Tale - Conte d'été by Eric Rohmer
June 24 | Tompkins Square Park | Contempt - Le Mépris by Jean-Luc Godard
July 1 | Tompkins Square Park | Mr. Hulot’s Holiday - Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot by Jacques Tati
July 8 | Riverside Park – Pier 1 (at 70th St) | Towards Zero - L' Heure Zéro by Pascal Thomas
July 15 | Riverside Park – Pier 1(at 70th St) | My Father’s Glory - La Gloire de Mon Père by Yves Robert
Sept. 8 | Columbia University – Low Library Steps | Two Days in Paris - Deux Jours à Paris by Julie Delpy
Screening organized in partnership with The Maison Française of Columbia University (www.maisonfrancaise.org)
Enjoy the feelings and flavors of summer with a cinematic tour of France: Travel to Brittany for romance, comedy and mystery: A Summer’s Tale by acclaimed director Eric Rohmer; Jacques Tati's timeless French classic Mr. Hulot's Holiday; and the screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's Towards Zero, starring Laura Smet and Chiara Mastroianni. Explore the Mediterranean with two dramas: The Swimming Pool with charismatic duo Romy Schneider and Alain Delon and Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt starring the iconic Brigitte Bardot. Relax to the sounds of crickets in Provence with My Father's Glory then go camping with Those Happy Days, but don’t expect to rest with a bunch of mischievous kids and blundering camp counselors. Finally, say goodbye to summer at Columbia with a romantic comedy, Two Days in Paris starring Julie Delpy and Adam Goldberg.
Follow Films on the Green Festival on FACEBOOK and TWITTER!
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation would like to thank our official sponsors: BNP PARIBAS and TV5 MONDE and our supporters Open Skies, FIAF French Institute-Alliance Française, The New York Observer, Keep in News Press Agency and FACE.
François Ozon’s POTICHE, which will open tomorrow at The Paris (4 West 58 Street). Nominated for four Césars, and a bona fide critical and box office hit in France, POTICHE reunites French cinema legends Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu in Francois Ozon’s new comedy about a submissive, housebound ‘trophy housewife’ (or "potiche") who steps in to manage her wealthy husband's umbrella factory after the workers go on strike and take him hostage.
Do not miss also in April "Of Gods and Men", Des hommes et des Dieux
Starring Lambert Wilson and Michel Lonsdale
Xavier Beauvois’s film, a Grand Prix winner at Cannes last year, is a dramatic interpretation of actual events — some known, others guessed at — that could have been a foursquare tale of Christian martyrdom. Instead, it’s something stranger, deeper, and richer: an experience that takes us right up to the edge of human experience and peers into the unknown.
Eight French Christian monks live in harmony with their Muslim brothers in a monastery perched in the mountains of North Africa in the 1990s. When a crew of foreign workers is massacred by an Islamic fundamentalist group, fear sweeps though the region. The army offers them protection, but the monks refuse. Should they leave? Despite the growing menace in their midst, they slowly realize that they have no choice but to stay… come what may. This film is loosely based on the life of the Cistercian monks of Tibhirine in Algeria, from 1993 until their kidnapping in 1996.
NYICFF 2011 TICKETS NOW ON SALE
March 4-27, 2011 - Ages 3-18
A fabulous lineup of new features and short films from around the world, plus special events, filmmaker Q&As, workshops, opening and closing parties, audience voting, the NYICFF Awards Ceremony, and more. All events are expected to sell out. Full lineup and a downloadable brochure are now available.
BUY TICKETS
A CAT IN PARIS
France, Gagnol/Felicioli, 2010, 65 min
Recommended Ages: 6 to Adult (In English)
MIA AND THE MIGOO
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THE STORYTELLING SHOW
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If you are looking to spend a good time, I highly recommend Service Entrance which is playing next week at the Walter Read Theater at the Rendez-vous with French Cinema. This movie is a sparkling comedy resolutely optimistic.
In the 60s, Jean Louis Joubert (Fabrice Luchini), a stockbroker and strict father "stuck" leads a bleak existence in his Paris apartment and bored with his wife Suzanne, a province, "staged in Paris."
His wife decides to replace their old much retired by a young Spanish. He then discovered that the top floor of his building, several other great Spanish live in tiny rooms and uncomfortable. A new world opens to him. He smiles again, takes life with happiness. And that worries his wife.
Unlike the rigid codes of the bourgeoisie of the 60s, we take pleasure in watching the liveliness and joie de vivre of these women who know just a little. Fabrice Luchini excels in the role of the bourgeois stiff but not devoid of curiosity and humanity. As for Sandrine Kiberlain (the wife), she assumes the character to perfection of the bourgeois horrifying. A movie full of sensitivity and freshness.
Do not miss the annual Rendez-Vous With French Cinema from March 3-13. The 16th edition will showcase some of the best contemporary French movies, selected by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Unifrance.
Filmmakers who will be in attendance at this year’s festival include - Catherine Breillat, Claude Lelouch, Benoît Jacquot, Eric Lartigau, René Féret, Martin Provost, François Ozon and Bertrand Tavernier. Among the actors/actresses attending are Catherine Deneuve, Judith Godrèche and Gaspard Ulliel.
Opening Night launches with François Ozon’s POTICHE, which will have its New York premiere on Thursday, March 3 at The Paris (4 West 58 Street). Nominated for four Césars, and a bona fide critical and box office hit in France, POTICHE reunites French cinema legends Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu in Francois Ozon’s new comedy about a submissive, housebound ‘trophy housewife’ (or "potiche") who steps in to manage her wealthy husband's umbrella factory after the workers go on strike and take him hostage.
Potiche with Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu
Other highlights at this year’s festival include: “A Conversation with Claude Lelouch” and a tribute to the late Alain Corneau. Lelouch, a winner of the Palme d’Or and Academy Award for A MAN AND A WOMAN (UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME), known for his lush visual style, will discuss his career and latest release, WHAT LOVE MAY BRING. FSLC Associate Director of Programming Scott Foundas will serve as moderator.
Service Entrance with Fabrice Luchini and Sandrine Kiberlain
The tribute to Alain Corneau will feature the screening of his final film, LOVE CRIME (CRIME D'AMOUR), a delicious thriller of rivalry, seduction and humiliation set against office politics starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier as mentor and ingénue that results in murder. Also screening as part of the tribute to Corneau will be the 1979 classic SÉRIE NOIRE. Based on Jim Thompson’s potboiler A Hell of a Woman, Corneau’s SÉRIE NOIRE is considered one of the most remarkable French crime dramas.
Get your tickets at www.rendezvouswithfrenchcinema.com or www.filmlinc.com
Mozart's Sister by Rene Feret
I saw Heartbreaker last night and eventhough I spent a good time, this funny romantic movie is a bit corny. I loved Vanessa Paradis's outfits.
Heartbreaker|L'Arnacoeur
Directed by Pascal Chaumeil, 105 minutes, France/Monaco, IFC Films, 2010. With Romain Duris, Vanessa Paradis, Julie Ferrier, Francois Damiens.
A smash hit in France, this action-packed romantic comedy centers onthe charming, funny, effortlessly cool Alex (Romain Duris of Paris, L’Auberge Espagnole and The Beat That My Heart Skipped), aprofessional Don Juan who breaks up couples for a living. His latest job: stop the posh Monte Carlo wedding of Juliette (Vanessa Paradis), only a week away. Soon caught up in a hilarious seduction “mission impossible,” Alex finds himself facing off againstruthless creditors, angry exes and even the beautiful, independentJuliette herself. "Combines the glamor of To Catch A Thief with the rickus of a Ben Stiller movie." - Variety
IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY10014, (212)924-7771.
Films On the Green presents six movies inspired by French musicals or adaptation of an Opera in the parks throughout NYC. Those free screenings are organized by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.
DATE LOCATION MOVIE June 11 8:30pm
(rain date June 12)Central Park – Cedar Hill
(79th St & 5th Ave)The Young Girls of Rochefort June 18 8:30pm Washington Square Park 8 Women June 25 8:30pm Washington Square Park Same Old Songs July 02 8:30pm Tompkins Square Park A Woman is a Woman July 09 8:30pm Tompkins Square Park Love Songs July 16 8:30pm Central Park – Cedar Hill
(79th St & 5th Ave)Tosca: the Movie
The Young Girls of Rochefort is a classic of French cinema starring Gene Kelly and George Chakiris (of West Side Story fame) opposite Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. The film’s score, by Michel Legrand, was nominated for an Oscar in 1969. A dark musical comedy, 8 Women boasts a first-rate cast of many of France’s finest female actresses, including Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, and Emmanuelle Béart. This over-the-top parody of murder mysteries was nominated for 12 Césars in 2003. Same Old Songsfeatures an interesting twist: the actors lip-synch to songs performed by the original artists, making for unusual juxtapositions (of a female character singing in a male voice, for instance). The movie won Best Film at the 1998 César Awards. One of Jean-Luc Godard’s first movies, and undoubtedly one of his most playful, A Woman is a Woman is a tender tribute to childishness and to American musicals—but with a distinct New Wave flair! Love Songs , about youths coping with the loss of a loved one, also parts ways with tradition: its use of the romantic and comedic elements of the musical contrasts with its serious storyline. To cap it all off in style, the series will end with Tosca: the Movie . Tosca is not an opera performance captured on film, but rather the opera adapted for film, starring celebrated opera singers Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. It is a must-see for both opera aficionados and novices.
Directed by Jacques Perrin & Jacques Cluzaud.100minutes.France/Switzerland/Spain/Monaco, Disneynature, 2009.
Disneynature, the studio that presented last year’s record-breaking film Earth, brings Oceans to the big screen on Earth Day, 2010. Featuring spectacular, never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies, Oceans offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea in this powerful yet enchanting motion picture. Two-time Academy Award nominee Jacques Perrin and César nominee Jacques Cluzaud dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind and cover nearly three quarters of the earth’s surface, exploring the playful splendor and the hard reality of the weird and wonderful creatures that live within.
Theatre premiere on Thursday, April 22nd!
For showtimes and tickets, click here.
A Prophet | Un Prophète
Directed by Jacques Audiard, 150 minutes, France/Italy, Sony Pictures Classics, 2009. With Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, this exhilarating crime epic from director Jacques Audiard follows an illiterate French-Arab prison inmate’s six-year odyssey from new kid on the cell block to underworld kingpin. Along the way, Malik (remarkable newcomer Tahar Rahim) learns how to read not just books but people, too, as the protégé of a brutal Corsican gang leader (the electrifying Niels Arestrup), until the pupil threatens to overtake the master, playing every one of Paris’ rival gangland factions to his own advantage.
ImaginaAsian, 239 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022, (212) 371-6682 | Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Broadway Between 62nd and 63rd, New York, NY 10023, (212) 757-2280 | Angelika Film Center, 18 W. Houston Street, New York, NY 10012, (800) 326-3264 | Brooklyn Heights Cinema, 70 Henry Street, Brooklyn, NY 11207, (718) 596-7070 | Cedar Lane Cinemas, 503 Cedar Lane, Teaneck, NJ 07666, (201) 836-3334
Link
The Secret of Kells | Brendan et le Secret de Kells
Directed by Tomm Moore, 75 minutes, Ireland/France/Belgium, Gkids, 2009.
The new animated masterpiece from the producers of Kirikou and the Sorceress and The Triplets of Belleville, The Secret of Kells film blends fantasy and mythology to create a richly detailed and striking visual landscape, folding traditionally Celtic influences into a riot of color and detail that dazzle the eyes. Hailed by international critics as one of the most beautiful films of the year and winner of the audience award at the prestigious Annecy Animation Festival,
MONDAY, April 19
ALBERT CAMUS: UN COMBAT CONTRE L'ABSURDE7pm
ALBERT CAMUS
DVD, 44 min.; a film by Jean Daniel and Joël Calmettes,
Narration by Michel Bouquet and Jean-Louis Trintignant; copyright 2009 (but possibly made earlier)
In French (no subtitles).
8.45pm
Albert Camus was a French Algerian author, philosopher and journalist, known for The Plague, The Stranger or The Fall. His views contributed to the rise of the movement of Philosophy known as Absurdism
at La Maison Francaise
16 Washington Mews (corner University Place)
212-988-8750
Not only Charlotte just launched her new album IRM last week here in New York, but she will be the hero of the month at the French Institute Alliance Francaise where some of her most famous movies will be shown every Tuesdays night in February.
L'Effrontée
February 16 at 4pm
Directed by Claude Miller, 1985. Color. 96 min.
With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Clothilde Baudon, Bernadette Laffont, Jean-Claude Brialy
Note: No English subtitles
Winner of the Prix Louis-Delluc, L'Effrontée earned Gainsbourg the "Most Promising Actress" César for this, her first starring role. As a teenager in rural France, Charlotte (Gainsbourg) is frustrated and bored with home life. But a young pianist upends her world with talk of opportunity elsewhere, far from her family.
Charlotte for Ever
February 16 at 12:30 & 7:30pm
Directed by Serge Gainsbourg, 1986. Color. 94 min.
With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Serge Gainsbourg, Roland Bertin, Roland Dubillard
Note: This film contains R-rated material
A rare, not-to-be-missed screening of this notorious and misunderstood film. Serge Gainsbourg wrote, directed, and starred in this dark and fascinating tale of a screenwriter grieving over his wife's unexpected death. Suicidal, he turns for affection to the only remaining link to his wife-his daughter.
Kung-fu master!
February 23 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
Agnès Varda, 1988. Color. 80 min.
With Jane Birkin, Mathieu Demy, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lou Doillon
Mary-Jane (Birkin), a divorced mother of two, grows close to a teenage boy she met at her daughter's party. Through conversations, vacations, and video games, the pair's relationship evolves in a way that confuses their families and even themselves. Varda's empathetic direction anchors this delicate, but often powerful story.
Read "A Gainsbourg Moves Beyond her Legacy" " by Jody Rosen in the New York Times
Dec 4-6 2009 - Florence Gould Hall
On Friday, December 4, at 7:30 pm, the festival will open with the US Premiere screening of Demain des l'Aube
with Q & A with actor Vincent Perez and director Denis Dercourt.
The screening will be followed by a Gourmet Gala Buffet featuring Les Maîtres cuisiniers de France , HI.Wines and Champagne Moët & Chandon in presence of our guests : Vincent Perez, Denis Dercourt, Vincent Elbaz, Pascal Elbé
On Sunday, I recommend to take your kids to see "Le Petit Nicolas" (inspired by the book from Goscinny)
Next Saturday at the Festival, Anthony Lane film critic at the New Yorker will screen and discuss Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1947 film “Quai des Orfèvres” in the series of “overlooked masterpieces.”
In “5001 Nights at the Movies,” Pauline Kael, well-known movie critic, raved:
"A stunningly well-made entertainment, this detective film by Henri-Georges Clouzot features the master actor Louis Jouvet in the role of a police inspector. His world is contrasted with that of the music hall, represented by the full-blown, hypersexual Suzy Delair. When this voluptuous slut sings “Avec Son Tra-la-la,” she may make you wonder if the higher things in life are worth the trouble. With Bernard Blier as Delair’s worshipful-masochist husband, Charles Dullin in the role of a lecherous hunchback, and, as a lesbian photographer, Simone Renant, at the time said to be the most beautiful actress in Paris. The film took the top prize at Venice, but in this country it never got the audience it deserved."
Saturday, October 17th at 1.30pm
Then Richard Brody, movie editor, will host a screening and discussion of the 1987 film King Lear, starring Peter Sellars as a descendant of William Shakespeare who attempts to restore his plays in a post-apocalyptic world : "Godard’s 1987 adaptation of “King Lear” may well be his greatest film; it is, at least, the one that condenses the greatest number of his ideas, styles, and obsessions...The extravagant, tragicomic setup yields extraordinary results. For Godard, Shakespeare’s play offers a chance at nothing less than a cosmogony, the reinvention of the world by means of art. Beethoven, Jean Cocteau, Virginia Woolf, Joan of Arc, and a host of other luminaries, as well as the majestic Swiss landscape, with its luminous mountains, sky, and lake, are on hand to support Godard’s overwhelming aesthetic vision."
Saturday, at 5pm
Directors Guild Theatre
110 West 57th Street.
Book tickets> now playing in Theatre :
Coco Before Chanel
The extraordinary journey of Gabrielle Chanel before becoming the legendary couturier who encouraged women of the Belle Epoque to break out of their corsets and slip into something more free and styly.
Audrey Tautou plays the orphan Coco, named after a French ditty she performs in nightclubs. Arrogant and nakedly ambitious, Gabrielle seems destined for prostitution but her destiny changes when she becomes the kept woman of Etienne balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde) a rich gentleman farmer.
Shot in Paris and Normandy>
> playing at the French Institute Alliance Francaise FIAF:
Colonel Chabert
A superior costume drama anchored by luscious cinematography and Gerard Depardieu’s arresting performance as the titular Colonel. Long thought dead, Chabert roams through France, ultimately discovering that his wife (Fanny Ardant) has remarried a wealthy Count and wants nothing to do with him. Fabrice Luchini delights as the lawyer who takes on Chabert’s case.
Tuesday, October 13th at 12.30 and 7.30pm
Moliere
Virtually nothing is known of the months spent between the end of Molière’s prison sentence in 1645 and when he began touring with his troupe. Tirard offers an inspired vision of this time, with the wealthy Monsieur Jourdain (Luchini) bailing out the writer in exchange for lessons in performance and courtship.
> Selection of French movies on Sundance Channel this week :
Diary of a Chambermaid / Le Journal d'une Femme de Chambre
Late in his long career, the great Spanish filmmaker and surrealist Luis Bunuel made six features in France that remain among his finest work. The first was this updated adaptation of Octave Mirbeau's celebrated novel examining the foibles and hypocrisy of the landed gentry as seen through the eyes of a newly installed chambermaid (Jeanne Moreau).
Saturday, October 10th at 12am, Wednesday, October 14th at 6pm, Thursday, October 15th at 6.15am and 1.15pm
Trivial
French cinema icon Sophie Marceau (Braveheart) co-wrote, directed and stars in this suspense noir about Jacques Renard (Christophe Lambert), a police veteran whose career and future have been precarious since his wife's death. A tip from a mysterious femme fatale sends Renard on a visit to Deauville's Hotel Riviera, where he learns the owner (Robert Hossein) has disappeared. The enigma expands as family secrets, a disfigured corpse and the hotelier's wheelchair-confined wife (Marie-Christine Barrault) contribute to the evolving mystery.
Thursday, October 15th at 10pm, Friday, October 16th at 12.15pm
Queen Margot
Patrice Chereau and Daniele Thompson adapt Alexandre Dumas's epic historical novel about Marguerite (Isabelle Adjani), who enters into an arranged marriage with Henri of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil) at the behest of her mother Catherine of Medici (Virna Lisi), to end the religious wars between the Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots.
Friday, October 16th at 1.40am
Among others, I would recommend:
. Theatrical event :
If you are nostalgic of Paris, don't miss the opening of the last movie from Cedric Klaplisch, "Paris", a kaleidoscopic letter to the City of Lights and its inhabitants, on Friday at the IFC Center.
The thirty-four minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed in the Ménilmontant neighborhood of Paris, France. The Academy Award–winning THE RED BALLOON has enchanted movie lovers for generations
What does it mean to be Jewish? Three generations of the Rashevski family grapple with the question, after the death of Rose, the secular matriarch who believed that the tango would make all troubles disappear. Charming and endearing, the characters confront issues of relationships, family, religion, love, romance, and interfaith marriage
Following the success of Cinéma sur l’Herbe / Films on the Green in June, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation are proud to present a new series of French films for the month of July (July 11-25).
Friday, July 11|Tompkins square Park
Ma vie en l'air l Love is in the Air (2005), by Remi Bezancon.
Friday, July 17|Tompkins square Park
Travaux, on sait quand ca commence...|Works (2005), by Brigitte Rouan.
Friday, July 24|Tompkins square Park
Le genou de Claire| Claire's knee (1970), by Eric Rohmer.
Two brothers (Charles Berling and Jeremie Renier) and a sister (Juliette Binoche) witness the gradual disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession (the legendary Edith Scob of Eyes without a Face).
Like every year, the film society of Lincoln Center presents some of the most interesting new French movies. This year, the aesthetic and stylistic spread
of the program is perhaps more impressive than ever, anchored by two of
the most active and creative octogenarians anywhere, Agnès Varda and
Claude Chabrol. Impressive debuts by Samuel Collardey and Pierre
Schoeller mingle with the shadow of master criminal Jacques Mesrine,
long an enigmatic figure in French cinema and now brilliantly revived
in a definitive, two-part epic by Jean-François Richet.
Finally, the 14th edition of Rendez-Vous marks
The Film Society’s return to Alice Tully Hall, home of the New York
Film Festival, with the Opening Night premiere of Christophe
Barratier’s Paris 36 — a wonderful way to start
sampling the choice cinematic vintage on offer at the Walter Reade
Theater and IFC Center through March 15
France, Jacques-Remy Girard, 2008, 92mn
Recommended ages: 7 to Adult (subtitled)
By Laurent Cantet. France. 2008. 128 mins. With François Bégaudeau. Awards : Winner of the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or - Opening Night Selection: 2008 New York Film Festival - France's official submission for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Based on his published autobiography, and starring all non-actors, in THE CLASS François Begaudeau and his fellow teachers prepare for a new school year at a high school in inner-city Paris. Armed with the best intentions, they brace themselves to not let discouragement stop them from trying to give the best education to their students.
Cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom, a microcosm of contemporary France. As amusing and inspiring as the teenaged students can be, their difficult behavior can still jeopardize any teacher's enthusiasm for the low-paying job. François insists on an atmosphere on respect and diligence. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics are put to test when his students begin to challenge his methods...
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Broadway Between 62nd and 63rd New York, NY 10023 (212) 757-2280/ The Angelika Film Center 18 West Houston St New York, NY 10012 . 212-995-2000
Gervaise Tuesday, January 13 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm René Clément, 1956. B&W. 116 min. Adapted from Zola and reminiscent of Greek tragedy,Gervaise chronicles the pain and heartbreak endured over one woman’s lifetime. Gervaise struggles to remain resolute through the trials that savage her and her family. A dazzling recreation of 1860s France and a testament to persistence in the face of unrelenting suffering. Love Story Douce Claude Autant-Lara, 1943. B&W. 104 min. Douce dreams of marrying her father’s steward, yet the steward pines for her tutor. This is only the first of many harsh truths that Douce struggles to accept in this poignant film, equal parts gripping melodrama and wry satire. What follows is a truly moving depiction of courtship and class. Chiffon’s Marriage Le Mariage de Chiffon Claude Autant-Lara, 1942. B&W. 103 min. Chiffon’s Marriage stands as Claude Autant-Lara’s first great film and a gorgeous companion piece to Douce. Young Chiffon is caught between the man she is arranged to marry and the man she truly loves. Sumptuous costumes and period detail drape this timeless tale in visual splendor. ----- In French with English subtitles unless otherwise noted Florence Gould Hall Tinker Auditorium (Gervaise, Jan 13 at 12:30 & 4pm) Ticket Price Buy Tickets Fax the order form (pdf) Visit the box office
Tinker Auditorium (12:30 & 4pm)
Florence Gould Hall (7:30pm)
With Maria Schell, François Périer, Jany Holt
In French with English subtitles
Tuesday, January 20 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
With Roger Pigaut, Odette Joyeux, Madeleine Robinson
In French with English subtitles
Tuesday, January 27 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
With Odette Joyeux, André Luguet, Jacques Dumesnil
In French with English subtitles
55 East 59th Street
55 East 59th Street
FIAF Members Free* ($2 advance tickets)
Non-Members $10
Students w/ ID $7
*Free tickets are distributed on the day of the event.
Present your membership card at the box office.
Ticketmaster.com
Call 212 307 4100
By Jean Cocteau. 1946, 93 minutes, 35mm. In French with English subtitles. With Jean Marais and Josette Day.
“[P]erhaps the most sensuously elegant of all filmed fairy tales. As a child escapes from everyday family life to the magic of a storybook, so, in the film, Beauty’s farm, with its Vermeer simplicity, fades in intensity as we are caught up in the Gustave Dor? extravagance of the Beast’s enchanted landscape. …Jean Marais is a magnificent beast.” –Pauline Kael
Friday Jan 9 at 7:00 & 9:00 PM - Anthology Film Archives. - 32 2nd Ave 32 2nd Ave (2nd Avenue and 2nd Street)
A movie by Martin Provost, with Yolande Moreauin French with English subtitleIn 1913, German art collector Wilhelm Uhde, who was the first person to buy Picasso’s work and to discover the work of Rousseau, rents an apartment in Senlis to write and rest, away from his city life in Paris. He hires a housecleaning woman, Seraphine, who is 48. Later, he discovers a little painting on wood in the house of some neighbors. He is very surprised to learn that Seraphine made it. It is the beginning of an unexpected and moving relationship between the avant-garde art collector and the visionary housecleaning lady.
Auditorium du Lycée Français de New York - 505 East 75th Street. New York
212-439-3820
A beautiful movie for kids 6+. Set in the Middle Ages, Azur and Asmar is the story of two boys raised as brothers. Blonde, blue-eyed, white skinned Azur and black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned Asmar are lovingly cared for by Asmar's gentle mother, who tells them magical stories of her faraway homeland and of beautiful, imprisoned Fairy Djinn waiting to be set free. Time passes, and one day Azur's father, the master of the house, provokes a brutal separation. Azur is sent away to study, while Asmar and his mother are driven out, homeless and penniless. Years later, as a young adult, Azur remains haunted by memories of the sunny land of his nanny, and sets sail south across the high seas to find the country of his dreams and to free the Fairy Djinn. Arriving as an immigrant in a strange land, Azur is rejected by everyone he meets on account of his "unlucky" blue eyes, until finally he resolves never to open those eyes again. The once-beautiful child clad in gold is reduced to a blind beggar. Yet, blind though he is, little by little and step by step, he discovers a beautiful and mysterious country. Meanwhile, back in her homeland, Azur's nanny has become a wealthy merchant and Asmar has grown into a dashing horseman. Reunited but now as adversaries, the two brothers set off on a dangerous quest to find and free the Fairy of the Djinns. October 17-23 at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Tickets and information are available at www.gkids.tv or by calling 212-349-0330.
SECRET / UN SECRET
Directed by Claude Miller. With Cecile De France, Patrick Bruel, Ludivine Sagnier, Julie Depardieu. Adapted from Philippe Grimbert's bestselling novel, A SECRET (UN SECRET) is a story of passion and guilt in troubled times, which unfolds as a young teenager uncovers the truth about his parents' past. He finds out that before the war, his father Maxime (Patrick Bruel of The Comedy of Power, O Jerusalem) was married to Hannah (Ludivine Sagnier of 8 Women, Swimming Pool, A Girl Cut in Two, Love Songs) when he fell madly in love with his mother Tania (Cecile de France of The Russian Dolls, Avenue Montaigne). As a young Jewish couple living in Nazi-occupied France, Maxime and Tania had to make difficult choices to survive the war and the Holocaust. IFC Center 323 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY10014 Cinema Arts Centre 423 Park Ave Huntington, NY 11743
WINNER - Best Supporting Actress (Julie Depardieu) 2008 Cesar Awards
2008 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Official Selection
http://www.moviefone.com/search/a%20secret
www.CinemaArtsCentre.org
An IFC Films Release: http://www.ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=997
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A GIRL CUT IN TWO / LA FILLE COUPEE EN DEUX Directed by Claude Chabrol. NR, France, 2008, 115 minutes. Starring Ludivine Sagnier, Benoît Magimel, François Berléand, Mathilda May. The French master of suspense Claude Chabrol returns with the razor-sharp, darkly seductive, A GIRL CUT IN TWO. Gabrielle Deneige (Ludivine Sagnier of SWIMMING POOL) is an independent, ambitious TV weather girl torn between her love of a distinguished author several decades her senior (Francois Berleand), and the attentions of a headstrong, potentially unstable young suitor (Benoit Magimel). An unspoken past between the two men heightens tensions, and though she's initially certain of her love for one them, the see-saw demands and whims of both men keep confusing - and darkening - matters. Before long she's encountering emotional and societal forces well beyond her control, inexorably leading to a shocking clash of violence and passion. Inspired by the sensational Gilded Age murder of Madison Square Garden architect Stanford White, A GIRL CUT IN TWO is trademark Chabrol: fiendishly entertaining and impossible to shake. Cinema Village 22 East 12th Street New York, NY 10003http://www.moviefone.com/movie/a-girl-cut-in-two-la-fille-coupee-en/31475/main An IFC Films Release: http://www.ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=756 ------------------- TELL NO ONE / NE LE DIS A PERSONNE Directed by Guillaume Canet. starring François Cluzet, Kristin Scott Thomas, Marie-Josée Croze, André Dussollier, Nathalie Baye, Jean Rochefort Based on Harlan Coben’s international best selling thriller about pediatrician Alexandre Beck who still grieves the murder of his beloved wife Margot Beck eight years earlier. When two bodies are found near the scene of the crime, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes a suspect again. The mystery deepens when Alex receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video clip that seems to suggest Margot is somehow still alive and a message to "Tell No One." "The kind of conspiracy-minded mystery almost no one seems capable of creating anymore. "- Stephen Holden, New York Times "A prime example of a first-rate, genre-jumping movie" - James Van Maanen, Greencine "A top-drawer thriller"- Andy Klein, LA City Beat Landmark Sunshine Cinema 143 East Houston Street, New York, NY10002 A Strand Releasing movie : www.strandreleasing.com
Awards:
2007 César Awards - including Best Director, Best Actor 2007 Lumiere Awards - Best Film
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Broadway Between 62nd and 63rd New York, NY 10023
http://www.moviefone.com/search/TELL%20NO%20ONE
Tell No One
Directed by Guillaume Canet. starring François Cluzet, Kristin Scott Thomas, Marie-Josée Croze, André Dussollier, Nathalie Baye, Jean Rochefort, Marina Hands
Awards:
2007 César Awards - including Best Director, Best Actor
2007 Lumiere Awards - Best Film
Based on Harlan Coben’s international best selling thriller about pediatrician Alexandre Beck who still grieves the murder of his beloved wife Margot Beck eight years earlier. When two bodies are found near the scene of the crime, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes a suspect again. The mystery deepens when Alex receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video clip that seems to suggest Margot is somehow still alive and a message to "Tell No One."
"The kind of conspiracy-minded mystery almost no one seems capable of creating anymore. "- Stephen Holden, New York Times
"Tell everyone about Tell No One." - Kenneth Turan, LA Times
"A prime example of a first-rate, genre-jumping movie" - James Van Maanen, Greencine
"A top-drawer thriller"- Andy Klein, LA City Beat
"An intricate, intelligent, and very watchable thriller" - Andrew Pulver, The Guardian
"If you like your thrillers delivered in Hitchcockian style, this is the film for you. "- Melbourne Times
City Cinemas Cinema 1, 2, and 3 1001 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10022
Landmark's Sunshine Cinema 143 East Houston Street New York, NY 10002
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/tell-no-one-ne-le-dis-a-personne/29272/main?selectedShowDate=20080704&changeLocation=&locationQuery=&mileValue=
A Music Box Films release: http://www.musicboxfilms.com/tellnoone/
LA FRANCE by Serge Bozon 2007, 102 minutes, 35mm. In French with English subtitles. Starring Sylvie Testud and Pascale Greggory. Special thanks to Adam Sekuler (Northwest Film Forum) and Paul Richer (Pyramide International). One of the most genuinely peculiar movies to emerge in many a moon, LA FRANCE is a bizarre but beautiful brew, equal parts gender-bending drama, war-film, romantic odyssey, and anachronistic folk-musical. Determined to find her husband, who has vanished into the storm of WWI, Camille (Testud) disguises herself as a man and sets off into the countryside, where she soon falls in with a band of wandering soldiers (equipped with more than the usual instruments of war) who are burdened with a secret of their own. Eschewing realism for an allegorical, fable-like tone, LA FRANCE is note-perfect, a soulful, mysterious, and poetic voyage through a landscape that is both war-torn and enchanted. Like the songs that punctuate the narrative, LA FRANCE is melancholy, strange and lovely. “Audacious in concept but superbly controlled in execution, what might easily have seemed a gender-bending stunt instead registers as a highly sensitive, inspired approach to the subject of men – and one woman – confronting the dehumanizing effects of war.” –Scott Foundas, VARIETY “[A] WWI troop movie with the soul of a troubled nation and the heart (and tune!) of a Beach Boys album…. Bozon’s film channels the hooks and melodies of ’60s sunshine pop while evoking the frontline grit of Fuller and the formal austerity of Bresson – a work of startling originality and charm.” –Chi-hui Yang, SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Friday Jul 11 6:45 PM & 9:00 PM, Saturday Jul 12 4:30 PM, 6:45 PM, 9:00 PM, Sunday Jul 13 4:30 PM, 6:45 PM, 9:00 PM, Monday Jul 14 6:45 PM & 9:00 PM, Tuesday Jul 15 6:45 PM & 9:00 PM, Wednesday Jul 16 6:45 PM & 9:00 PM, Thursday Jul 17 6:45 PM & 9:00 PM Anthology Film Archives 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/schedule/
In June, The New York Historical Society will be showing French Films in the Society's auditorium, beginning at 6pm Friday evenings. Screening are free.
Let them Eat Cake Fridays coincide with the Society's Exhibit French Founding Father: Lafayette's Return to Washington, running through August 10th.
Few French actors can boast an international career as enduring as that of Charles Boyer. This series features nine films and includes two French productions : Le Bonheur and The Earrings of Madame de...
Le Bonheur
Marcel L’Herbier, France, 1934; 98m
A prominent member of the French 1920s avant-garde, Marcel L’Herbier co-founded La Cinémathèque Francaise in 1936. Many of his films were made for Gaumont, beginning with Rose-France in 1918 and L’Homme du large in 1920, with a 21-year-old Charles Boyer making his screen debut. The duo teamed up again fourteen years later for the political romance drama Le Bonheur, based on a play by prolific 1930s playwright Henri Bernstein. Boyer stars as a fervent anarchist who vows to kill anyone who represents the establishment. As a result, he ends up shooting and wounding a music hall singer (Gaby Morlay) during a performance. Despite this mishap, the two become romantically involved. During his attempted murder trial he refuses Morlay’s testimony, preferring to be a martyr to his cause. In this offbeat romance, events work out in an unexpected fashion. Co-starring Michel Simon. Special thanks to the French Cultural Services.
Fri May 23: 8:15pm; Sun May 25: 5:30pm
The Earrings of Madame de...
Max Ophüls, France/Italy, 1953; 105m
As the earrings of Madame de… take a treacherous route from one owner to the next, an entire world of the French aristocracy during the Belle Epoque is revealed––particularly the world shared by Madame de… (the gorgeous and glamorous Danielle Darrieux), her rigid and proper husband (Charles Boyer), and her soft, charming lover (Vittorio de Sica). Easily one of the greatest films ever made, The Earrings of Madame de... has the trappings of romantic cinema at its most superficial, but Ophüls’s fluid camera takes us beyond the film’s glittering surfaces (“only superficially superficial,” as Boyer put it) to the raw, aching feelings surging beneath. “His camera could pass through walls,” said Stanley Kubrick, speaking of his acknowledged master. Ophüls’s film is one of the true exemplars of this description, expressing a poetic style with a visual sensitivity that borders on the supernatural. With sumptuous décor, superb cinematography, and an outstanding performance by Boyer as the wronged husband. Based on the novel by Louise de Vilmorin
Mon May 26: 3:50pm
A new thriller from director Claude Lelouch, with Fanny Ardant and Audrey Dana.
In the still of the night, three lives are about to cross: an abandoned woman, a stranger awaiting his chance, and a best-selling author. Deceptively layered and intriguingly misleading, this thriller follows these three strangers as they uncover their respective secrets and betrayals. Academy-Award winning director Claude Lelouch originally wrote and directed the film under a nom de plume, further adding to the movie’s mystique. Presented at Cannes in 2007, Roman de gare stars the celebrated Fanny Ardant (La femme de la côté, Ridicule) and Dominique Pinon (Amélie, Delicatessen).
In French with English subtitles.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Broadway Between 62nd and 63rd New York, NY 10023
11:20am | 1:20pm | 3:35pm | 5:50pm | 8:05pm | 10:15pm
Angelika Film Center 18 W. Houston Street New York, NY 10012
12:15pm | 2:45pm | 5:05pm | 7:40pm | 10:00pm | 12:15am
By Hou Hsiao-hsien. With Juliette Binoche, Simon Iteanu, Song Fang. 2007. 113 minutes. In French with English subtitles
Inspired by Albert Lamorisse’s classic 1956 short THE RED BALLOON, the film begins with a mysterious balloon affectionately following 7-year-old Simon (Simon Iteanu) around Paris. A precocious, wide-eyed boy, Simon lives in a shared split-level flat with his mother Suzanne (Juliette Binoche), a puppeteer and voice performer. Completely absorbed by her new show, single-mother Suzanne hires Song (Song Fan), a Taiwanese film student, to help care for Simon. They come to form a unique extended family, thoroughly interdependent yet all lost in separate thoughts and dreams.
The fluid, unparalleled elegance of Hou’s camerawork finds grace in the simplest of details, and gently discovers a Paris previously unseen. Playing a flawed but disarmingly honest woman struggling to find her footing, Binoche is utterly hypnotic, and has never been better.
“A quiet, unassuming and flawless tribute to Paris, to the spirit of childhood and to the ability of art to compensate for some of the painful imperfections of life.” –A.O. Scott, New York Times
IFC Center 323 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10014
11:35am | 12:50pm | 3:00pm | 5:25pm | 6:00pm | 7:50pm | 10:10pm | 12:25am
Paris Theatre 4 West 58th Street New York, NY 10019
11:45am | 2:10pm | 4:50pm | 7:30pm | 9:55pm
La Vie en Rose
Directed by Olivier Dahan with Marion Cotillard and Jean-Paul Rouve.
The passionate but tumultuous life of famous French singer Edith Piaf
Lady Chatterley
Directed by Pascale Ferran with Marina Hands and Hippolyte Girardot
Winner of five major prizes, including Best Film and Best Actress at the 2007 César Awards, France's equivalent of the Oscars®, this very sensitive, poetic and sensual film is based on the second of three versions of D.H. Lawrence's tale about an innocent yet subversive passion between Lady Chatterley and her gamekeeper. Beautiful movie... cf. post on Paris In New York, June 14th, 2007
Moliere
Directed by Laurent Tirard with Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini and Elsa Morante
22-year-old, Moliere is not yet the recognized writer of Tartuffe or Misanthrope. His Illustrious Theatre Troupe founded the previous year, is bankrupt. Hounded by creditors, Molière is thrown into jail, released, and then swiftly imprisoned again. When the jailors finally let him go, he disappears. The combined efforts of historians have unearthed no trace of him before his reappearance, several months later, when his troupe begins touring the provinces - a tour that will last for thirteen years, and culminate in Molière's triumphant return to Paris in 1658.
Blame it on Fidel
Directed by Julie Gavras with Nina Kervel-Bey and Julie Depardieu
Caught up in the political revolution sweeping France in the early 1970s, Fernando (Stefano Accorsi) and Marie (Julie Depardieu) reject the comforts of their bourgeois life and dedicate themselves full time to radical activism. This comes as a shock to their precocious nine year-old daughter, Anna (Nina Kervel), who struggles to understand her parents’ newfound ideals.
Paris je T'aime
A series of eighteen short vignettes about Parisian living by 21 directors like Gus Van Sant and Cohen Brothers and actors like Steve Buscemi, Nick Nolte, Fanny Ardant, Juliette Binoche, Gerard Depardieu or Natalie Portman...
Made by a team of contributors as cosmopolitan as the city itself, this portrait of the city is as diverse as its creators' backgrounds and nationalities. With each director telling the story of an unusual encounter in one of the city's neighborhoods, the vignettes go beyond the 'postcard' view of Paris to portray aspects of the city rarely seen on the big screen.
My Best Friend
Directed by Patrice Leconte with Daniel Auteuil and Dany Boon
Catherine refuses to believe that her business partner, the unlikeable François, has a best friend, so she challenges him to set up an introduction. Scrambling to find someone willing to pose as his best pal, François enlists the services of a charming taxi driver to play the part.
4
( La poine Courte, Cleo de 5 a 7, le Bonheur, Vagabond)
Directed by Agnes Varda
Agnès Varda used the skills she honed early in her career as a photographer to create some of the most nuanced, thought-provoking films of the past fifty years. She is widely believed to have presaged the French new wave with her first film, La Pointe Courte, long before creating one of the movement s benchmarks, Cléo from 5 to 7. Later, with Le bonheur and Vagabond, Varda further shook up art-house audiences, challenging bourgeois codes with her inscrutable characters and effortlessly beautiful compositions and editing. Now working largely as a documentarian, Varda remains one of the essential cinematic poets of our time and a true visionary.
Pierrot le Fou
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina
Dissatisfied in marriage and life, Ferdinand takes to the road with the babysitter, his ex-lover Marianne Renoir, and leaves the bourgeoisie behind. Yet this is no normal road trip: genius auteur Jean-Luc Godard is a stylish mash-up of consumerist satire, politics, and comic-book aesthetics, as well as a violent, zigzag tale of, as Godard called them, the last romantic couple.
To order, www.amazon.com
Very good week-end for Marion Cotillard ! For her portrayal of Édith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose,” she won the César for best actress on Friday night at the French equivalent of the Academy Awards, and the Best Actress Oscar last night in Los Angeles.
Last month, Marion Cotillard was also honored as best actress by the British Academy Film Awards. She also won a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy or musical.
An amazing performance of Edith Piaf's life...a constant battle to sing, survive, live and love,... from the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York’s most famous concert halls.
At France's Cesars on Friday, the Cesar for best actor went to Mathieu Amalric for his portrayal of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body, in Julian Schnabel's “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”
"La Graine et le Mulet" ("The Secret of the Grain"), a witty social drama about North African immigrant families working in a southern French port town, won the best film award.
Franco-Tunisian filmmaker Abdelattif Kechiche won the Cesar for best director and original screenplay for the surprise hit, while Hafsia Herzi, 21, took the best upcoming actress award for her leading role in the film.
La Vie en Rose : Dvd on www.amazon.com, and on Time Warner Cable, Movie on Demand, channel 1000
"the Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Broadway Between 62ndand 63rdNew York, NY 10023
11:05am | 3:30pm | 5:50pm | 8:10pm | 10:25pm
Angelika Film Center 18 W. Houston Street New York, NY 10012
12:15pm | 2:45pm | 5:15pm | 7:45pm | 10:15pm | 12:35am
City Cinemas Cinema 1, 2, and 3 1001 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10022
12:00pm | 4:45pm | 7:15pm
Don't miss the new Jacques Rivette, based on Honore de Balzac's novel "Ne Touchez pas a la Hache". The story takes place during the Restoration, a period when the dominant values are hypocrisy, social niceties and the importance of appearances. Antoinette de Navarreins, a Parisian coquette and wife of Duke de Langeais, is a product of the epoch. At a ball, she meets the General Armand de Montriveau. Right from their first encounter, they fall hopelessly in love with each other. Convinced that the duchess is playing games, Montriveau decides to ignore his beloved and to take revenge.
A Film by Jacques Rivette. With Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier, Anne Cantineau
France, 2007, 139 minutes. In French with English subtitles
Showtimes for Wed Feb 20 - Tue Feb 26: 10:40am, 1:20pm, 4:05, 6:55, 9:45pm
IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas at West 3rd Street
Trailer
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
Broadway Between 62nd and 63rd
New York, NY 10023 Map
11:20am | 1:40pm | 4:10pm | 6:45pm
Also available on Time Warner Cable, Movie on Demand, channel 1000
"A nearly impeccable work of art - beautiful, true, profound." - Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
Three movies competing tonight at the Césars 2008, the french film awards, are also nominated at the Oscars: "La Vie en Rose" by Olivier Dahan or the 
life of French singer Edith Piaf (cf. post of June 12th, 07), "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (7 nominations) by Julian Schnabel (cf. post on January 18th, 08), "Persepolis" (6 nominations) by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud,
Where to see the movies :
La Vie en Rose : Dvd on www.amazon.com, and on Time Warner Cable, Movie on Demand, channel 1000
"the Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Broadway Between 62ndand 63rdNew York, NY 10023
11:05am | 3:30pm | 5:50pm | 8:10pm | 10:25pm
Angelika Film Center 18 W. Houston Street New York, NY 10012
12:15pm | 2:45pm | 5:15pm | 7:45pm | 10:15pm | 12:35am
City Cinemas Cinema 1, 2, and 3 1001 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10022
12:00pm | 4:45pm | 7:15pm
Persepolis
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Broadway Between 62ndand 63rdNew York, NY 10023
1:10pm | 3:05pm | 5:20pm | 7:40pm | 9:45pm
Angelika Film Center 18 West Houston St. (@ Mercer St.)
11:00am | 1:15pm | 3:30pm | 5:45pm | 8:00pm | 10:15pm | 12:15am
AMC Theatres Empire 25 234 West 42nd StreetNew York, NY 10036
10:40am | 1:05pm | 3:30pm | 5:50pm | 8:15pm | 10:40pm | 12:50am
Trailer
Don't miss at the IFC Center “The Films of Louis Malle” which spotlights the work of one of France’s most celebrated filmmakers.
Screenings take place Fridays through Sundays at 11:00AM, with added shows on holiday Mondays through March 30.
www.ifccenter.com
"It may be hard to see this remarkable director's work whole, but it's worth the effort, and worth even the melancholy of realizing there's no one quite like him making movies now. He was something then." -
Terrence Rafferty, The New York Times
FEB 8-10: LACOMBE, LUCIEN (1974)
A young boy is shunned by the Resistance, and forced to join the Gestapo, in Malle's autobiographical account of his experience in France during the occupation. Featuring a score by Django Reinhardt.
FEB 15-18: ATLANTIC CITY (1980)
Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon star in Malle's acclaimed May-December crime picture, set against the backdrop of seedy Jersey.
FEB 22-24: HUMAIN TROP HUMAIN (1974) with Vive Le Tour (1962)
A companion piece, of sorts, to PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE, this evocative documentary explores the mechanization of a Citroen auto plant. With Vive Le Tour, Malle's short look at the Tour de France.
FEB 29-MAR 2: MURMUR OF THE HEART (1971)
In Malle's gentle (and controversial) comedy, a precocious 15 year-old in Dijon comes of age with a helping hand from his mother.
MAR 14-16: MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (1981)
It's all talk in Malle's renowned conversation piece, depicting an evening's worth of playful and philosophical banter between the playwright Wallace Shawn and director Andre Gregory.
MAR 21-23: CALCUTTA (1969)
Edited down from footage from his six-hour opus Phantom India, Malle's travelogue vivdly captures the sights and sounds of one of India's largest cities.
MAR 28-30: MAY FOOLS (1990)
After the death of their matriarch, a family fights, reconciles, and flees when the protests of '68 threaten to disrupt their insulted lifestyle.
One of Louis Malle's most famous film was AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (1987), a poignant friendship blossoms between two boys -- one Catholic, one Jewish -- at a French boarding school during WWII. You can find the DVD on www.amazon.com
"Le Scaphandre et le Papillon"
Jean-Dominique Bauby was a key player in Parisian social and cultural circles before suffering a massive stroke at the age of 43, which robbed him of all muscle control save his left eyelid. Blinking one letter at a time, the Elle Editor composed a book describing life in a vegetative state that became an international best-seller. This is the basis of Julian Schnabel’s enthralling new film, with the marvelous Mathieu Amalric as Bauby.
Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a powerful meditation on the nature of visual perception, as well as a celebration of the emergence of personal artistic expression.
Directed by Julian Schnabel France, 2007, 112 mins
With Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner,Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny
Best Director, Technical Grand Prize - 2007 Cannes Film Festival
"It is wonderful: a rhapsodic adaptation of a memoir, a visual marvel that wraps its subject in screen romanticism without romanticizing his affliction." by Michael Phillips at the Chicago Tribune.
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. (@ Mercer St.)
12:30 AM 12:15 PM 1:15 PM 2:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:15 PM 6:15 PM 7:45 PM 8:45 PM
10:15 PM
Lincoln Plaza Cinema Broadway
Between 62nd and 63rd
12:00pm | 2:30pm | 4:00pm | 5:05pm | 6:35pm | 7:35pm | 10:05pm
Bam Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Avenue Brooklyn
1:30pm | 4:00pm | 6:45pm | 9:30pm
City Cinemas Cinema 1, 2, and 3
1001 3rd Avenue New York
12:00pm | 2:30pm | 5:00pm | 7:30pm | 10:00pm
A film by Pascale Ferran
With Starring: Marina Hands, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Hippolyte Girardot, Helene Alexandridis, Hélène Fillières
Constance Reid was 23 years old when she married Cambridge graduate, lieutenant, and mine owner Clifford Chatterley in 1917. After a short-lived honeymoon, Clifford was drafted to fight on the Flanders battlefront, from which he returned badly wounded and fated to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
The film begins in the year 1921, after the young couple moves to Wragby, one of the Chatterley family properties. Constance feels lonely and isolated in a rural environment that bores her. And one day, in the spring she met the taciturn game-keeper Oliver Parkin, a man whose life and background is so diametrically opposed to her own, who awakens in Lady Chatterley a desire she has never felt before.
The movie is the story of this encounter, of a difficult taming of two people coming from two different world, of a soft waking-up to the sensuality for her, and a long return to life for him. Lady Chatterley tells the story of a passion that is both innocent and subversive - one that transcends, without ever ignoring, class and social conventions.
This passion matures in the middle of a radiant Nature, beautifully shot. Each blade of grass, each tree is alive and contributes to the pleasure of Constance, interpreted by a very moving and generous Marina Hands.
This movie will not leave you indifferent...Poetic, Sensual, Beautiful !!!
Release on June 22nd at Lincoln Plaza, Cinema Village and Bam Rose Cinemas
Winner of Five César Awards, the French equivalent of the Academy Awards
. Best French Film: Pascale Ferran – Lady Chatterley
. Best Actress: Marina Hands
. Best Literary Adaptation: Pascale Ferran, Roger Bohbot, Pierre Trividic
. Best Cinematography: Julien Hirsch
. Best Costume Design: Marie-Claude Altot
