Tag Archives: French cinema

a drama with music (film: Mélo – Alain Resnais, 1986)

Melodrama has not always had a negative or ironic connotation. In fact, in the 19th century this theatrical genre was closer to what the etymology of the word indicates, that is, a drama (usually set in a family environment) with … Continue reading

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crime and passion (film: Les innocents aux mains sales – Claude Chabrol, 1975)

They say that to assess the skills of a director, it is good to see not only his best films, but also those that for one reason or another failed with the public or in the eyes of critics. ‘Les … Continue reading

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extreme forms of the struggle of the classes (film: La cérémonie – Claude Chabrol, 1995)

Claude Chabrol‘s ‘La cérémonie‘, adapted from a novel by Ruth Rendell, ends about where Stanley Kubrick’s and Anthony Burgess’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’ begins. The ceremony in the title is a shocking act of violence, and I won’t say more to … Continue reading

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the indiscrete wickedness of the bourgeoisie (film: La rupture – Claude Chabrol, 1970)

Some of the most scathing cinematic critiques of the bourgeoisie and the social order it dominated were created in the years after the student uprisings of 1968. They did not always take the form of explicitly political films, and one … Continue reading

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adventures in Africa (film: L’africain – Philippe de Broca, 1983)

‘L’africain‘ is a film that had all the premises of a great success. It was released in 1983 as a kind of French cinema industry’s response to the trend of action films set in exotic locations generated by the enormous … Continue reading

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an obsessive thriller with Isabelle Adjani at her best (film: Mortelle rendonnée – Claude Miller, 1983)

Alfred Hitchcock died in 1980, but not completely. In fact, his influence is so strong that to this day, 45 years after his departure, not only are his films watched and re-watched, analyzed and enjoyed, but they also represent benchmarks … Continue reading

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a love story on the stormy ocean (film: Remorques – Jean Grémillon, 1941)

There are films whose production could be a good subject for a film script. One of these cases seems to me to be ‘Remorques‘ (the English distribution title was ‘Stormy Waters‘). The director of this film was Jean Grémillon, a … Continue reading

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wait for second half when it really gets crazy (film: Les tribulations d’un Chinois en Chine – Philippe de Broca, 1965)

‘Les tribulations d’un chinois en Chine‘ (the English title is ‘Up to His Ears’) was made by director Philippe de Broca in 1965, a year after his international blockbuster success with ‘L’homme de Rio’. It is obvious that the film … Continue reading

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tales from the jungle of the auctions (film: Le tableau volé – Pascal Bonitzer, 2024)

Art-related movies fascinate me. Biographies of artists, the fate of famous paintings, spectacular heists of art objects or dramas from the world of artists or collectors have generated successful and good quality films. ‘Le tabeau volé‘ (English distribution title is … Continue reading

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another tango (film: Being Maria – Jessica Palud, 2024)

I looked for (and managed to) see , at the first opportunity ‘Being Maria‘, the film that Jessica Palud directed and co-wrote about the biography of Maria Schneider and how her role in ‘Last Tango in Paris’ influenced her life … Continue reading

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