Category Archives: movies

film noir pre-Nouvelle Vague (Film: Bob le Flambeur – Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)

Posted on March 9, 2020 by admin

Crime dramas and gangster stories became one of the most successful genres of American cinema during World War II and in the years that followed. In France, American movies had been banned during the German occupation, which only accentuated the … Continue reading →

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emigration and family melodrama (Film: The Farewell – Lulu Wang, 2019)

Posted on March 7, 2020 by admin

I’m not a big fan of melodramas, but there are themes for which the genre of melodrama is very appropriate. In ‘The Farewell‘, written and directed by Lulu Wang we find some of them. It is the director’s second feature … Continue reading →

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the philosopher and the generals (film: While at War / Mientras dure la guerra – Alejandro Amenábar, 2019)

Posted on March 6, 2020 by admin

The Spanish Civil War was one of the first intensely publicized armed conflicts, and it inspired numerous fictional and fictional stories, some of them written and published even during the events, between 1936 and 1939. ‘While at War‘ (the title … Continue reading →

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roots of evil (Film: Coup de Grâce – Volker Schlöndorff, 1976)

Posted on March 5, 2020 by admin

‘Coup de Grâce‘ by the German director Volker Schlöndorff owes its title in French to the fact that it adapts for the screen the novel with the same name of the French writer Marguerite Yourcenar. The German title is ‘Der … Continue reading →

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bad people in love (Film: La Balance – Bob Swaim, 1982)

Posted on March 3, 2020 by admin

‘La Balance‘, released on screen in 1982, directed by Bob Swaim, an American with a long love affair with the French cinema, is a very modern movie. What is the secret? The story takes place on the streets of Paris, … Continue reading →

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blowing up the border between fiction and reality (Film: Circle of Deceit / Die Fälschung – Volker Schlöndorff, 1981

Posted on March 1, 2020 by admin

Good war movies are all anti-war movies. ‘Circle of Deceit‘ (the original German title is ‘Die Fälschung‘) released on screen in 1981 confirms this. The film occupies a special place in the creation of the German director Volker Schlöndorff. It … Continue reading →

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generation wars (Film: Choice of Arms/ Le choix des armes – Alain Corneau, 1981)

Posted on February 29, 2020 by admin

‘Choice of Arms‘ (the French title is ‘Le choix des armes‘) made in 1981 is a very typical film for the genre of film noir in the French cinema of the 70s and 80s. The master of the genre was … Continue reading →

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Guy Ritchie hits it right (Film: The Gentlemen – Guy Ritchie, 2019)

Posted on February 28, 2020 by admin

All the films directed by Guy Ritchie over the last decade that I have seen have been disappointments to me, so I was very close to skip seeing ‘The Gentlemen‘ in theaters, leaving it, maybe, for a later viewing. What … Continue reading →

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sunset of the kingdom (Film: Les adieux à la reine / Farewell, My Queen – Benoît Jacquot, 2012)

Posted on February 26, 2020 by admin

‘Farewell, My Queen‘ (the original title in French is ‘Les adieux à la reine‘) made in 2012 by Benoît Jacquot is the story of the end of a world seen from a personal perspective. It is also a beautiful and … Continue reading →

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the small wheels of history (Film: The Legend of Rita / Die Stille nach dem Schuß – Volker Schlöndorff, 2000)

Posted on February 22, 2020 by admin

The second half of last year meant for many, especially for those of us who lived in the half of Europe which fell under the control of the communist dictatorships imposed by the former Soviet Union, the 30th anniversary of … Continue reading →

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