Gift SubscriptionsClaude Duneton
- 2007
Separated from her biological father for more than a decade, a teenage girl living with her mother in Paris sets out to reconnect with her wayward dad in director Mia Hansen-Løve's sincere family drama. Years ago, Victor and Annette spent an idyllic spring in Venice with their beloved daughter, Pamela. Though Victor would frequently neglect his work in favor of frolicking with Pamela outdoors, visiting Annette's parents, and hanging out in the park with local drug dealers during those picturesque days, lovelorn Annette remained convinced that her husband would become more responsible when her family returned to Paris. Old habits die hard, though, and soon after returning home, Victor and Annette have a monumental blowout. In the aftermath, Victor moves in with a junkie he has fallen in love with and Annette disappears into the city with Pamela. Flash-forward 11 years later, and 17-year-old Pamela is still living in Paris with her mother. When an inquiry into father's whereabouts reveals that Victor is living nearby, curious Pamela decides to check in on her long-lost dad. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Blain, Marie-Christine Friedrich, (more)
- 1993
- R
The first chapter in Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy, Blue stars Juliette Binoche as Julie, the lone survivor of an automobile crash that killed her husband, a famed composer, and their only child. Despondent, Julie attempts suicide, but she cannot bring herself to take her own life. Instead, she sets about starting over, purging all remnants of her former existence in an attempt to sever her ties to the past. A piece in the trio of films loosely inspired by the colors of the French flag and their corresponding symbolic qualities, the basic focus of Blue is liberty. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, Benoit Regent, (more)
- 1987
- R
In this 1987 film, director Bertrand Tavernier depicts French life in the Middle Ages as dreary, unromantic, and brutal. The story begins when a warrior leaves home to fight in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) between France and England. Before his departure, he gives his young son, François, a sword to safeguard his mother and her virtue. One day, after the boy opens a bedroom door to find his mother willingly submitting to a man, he uses the sword to kill the man and becomes traumatized with guilt and enmity toward his mother. Years later, François (Bernard Pierre Donnadieu) must go off to war as a chevalier, or knight. While he is away, his daughter, the gentle and loving Béatrice (Julie Delpy), sees to the needs of her little brother and her feckless mother. Although the castle in which they live is a sepulcher of shadows and stone, Béatrice maintains her spirits as she looks forward to the day when her father's voice will once again echo in the corridors. After four years of war in which he was held captive for a time by the English, he returns to the castle, a hardened warrior who has renounced God. Inside his twisted mind, he still carries the memory of that terrible day long ago, the day he discovered his mother was an adulteress. Giving the demons within him free rein, he begins to abuse everyone around him: He insults, bullies, and pillages the local village. He even forces his son Nils Tavernier to wear women's clothes and become the prey in a hunt. As he descends deeper into depravity, it is innocent Béatrice who suffers the most. Whether he has completely destroyed her, or whether she will rise up and destroy him, becomes the central focus of the film as it moves toward its conclusion. The dialogue is in French with English subtitles. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Julie Delpy, (more)
The Double Life of Véronique is the story of two young women who are -- in some mysterious and irresolvable way -- the same woman leading two different yet interconnected lives. Those familiar with Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's later "Three Colors" trilogy of Blue, White, and Red will recognize his fascination with accidental happenings and chance encounters, as well as Irène Jacob (from Red) whose performance as both Veronika and Veronique won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival award for best actress. Veronika and Véronique are born on the same day in 1966, one in Poland, the other in France. They grow up separately, unaware of each other's existence, but with the vague and rarely expressed feeling that they are "not alone." The story begins in Poland, where Veronika (like Véronique) is a talented vocalist and music student who wins a prestigious singing competition and is given the chance to perform with a local symphony. On the night of the concert, while singing a duet onstage, Veronika loses consciousness and dies. Véronique is emotionally wounded by the loss of her double and decides to end her singing career. The film charts the effect of Veronika's death on Véronique and on her dispassionate and unsatisfying relationships with men, especially her father. She is led to puppeteer and children's book author Alexandre Fabbri (Philippe Volter), whose puppet shows and stories are dramatic variants on her own mysterious problem. While looking through photographs of Véronique's trip to Poland, Fabbri discovers a picture of Veronika walking through a student demonstration in Kracow. He shows the picture to Véronique, who intuits the significance of Veronika's perfect likeness to herself. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irène Jacob, Wladyslaw Kowalski, (more)
- 1983
Jean-Pierre Sentier and Daniel Laloux joined forces to write, direct, and act in this zany comedy about two men who were sent to an island by the Ministry of Toil to make Camembert cheese boxes. Unfortunately, the men's papers fell behind a filing cabinet and it is many years before the government realizes they exist. Meanwhile, the men have forged new identities and a good life for themselves as they loyally keep up their production. When the government decides to send a team of experts to handle the situation, the two men prepare to eject these unwanted arrivals at any cost. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Sentier, Pierre Baillot, (more)
- 1983
In this charming, semi-autobiographical look at his politicized past, director Gerard Mordillat focuses on the ironic, the wistful, and the sometimes ludicrous events that spin off from the Communist/anarchist upbringing of his main character, Maurice Decques (François Cluzet). Maurice's tendency to swing over to the bourgeosie in his adult career as a caterer to social gatherings of varying stature is also reflected in the woman he marries - a Czech whose family chose Paris over Moscow "because the USSR has concentration camps" as she told her shocked Communist father-in-law. When Maurice is caught in the 1968 student demonstrations in Paris, the officer who hauls him off is soon recognized as an old childhood buddy, and instead of heading to jail, the policeman/friend takes Maurice home. As the police van drives out of view, the two buddies are seen as young kids, sitting on the hood of a car and dreaming about the future. These flashbacks to his childhood occur throughout the film, with Maurice sometimes walking into and out of the scenes, as though there were no gap in time at all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Cluzet, Robin Renucci, (more)
