While its often the world premieres that get the most buzz out of any major film festival, look to their restorations lineup (if they are smart enough to have one), and a treasure trove of classics sure to be better than most premieres await. Ahead of their official lineup being unveiled on July 23, the Venice Classics slate is here, featuring films by Michelangelo Antonioni, Fritz Lang, Frederick Wiseman, Howard Hawks, Nagisa Ōshima, Anthony Mann, Lina Wertmüller, and many more.
“The programme of Venice Classics includes the commemoration of several important anniversaries.” said Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera. “First and foremost, the centennial of the birth of Marcello Mastroianni, the most beloved and celebrated Italian actor in the world, whom we will see in The Night (La notte), one of Michelangelo Antonioni’s finest films. It has been fifty years since the death of Vittorio De Sica, who in The Gold of Naples...
“The programme of Venice Classics includes the commemoration of several important anniversaries.” said Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera. “First and foremost, the centennial of the birth of Marcello Mastroianni, the most beloved and celebrated Italian actor in the world, whom we will see in The Night (La notte), one of Michelangelo Antonioni’s finest films. It has been fifty years since the death of Vittorio De Sica, who in The Gold of Naples...
- 7/5/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Venice Classics will screen restorations of Michelangelo Antonioni’s The Night and Vittorio De Sica’s The Gold Of Naples as part of an 18-film programme at the 81st Venice Film Festival (August 28-Septemer 7).
The Night, a 1961 black-and-white drama depicted a day and night in the life of a disillusioned novelist and his alienated wife, will play in the 100th anniversary year of the birth of its lead actor Marcello Mastroianni.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
De Sica’s 1954 The Gold Of Naples is formed of six episodes inspired by Giovanni Marotta’s short stories, and plays...
The Night, a 1961 black-and-white drama depicted a day and night in the life of a disillusioned novelist and his alienated wife, will play in the 100th anniversary year of the birth of its lead actor Marcello Mastroianni.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
De Sica’s 1954 The Gold Of Naples is formed of six episodes inspired by Giovanni Marotta’s short stories, and plays...
- 7/5/2024
- ScreenDaily
Jane Fonda is calling out late French filmmaker René Clément over on-set sexual harassment.
The “Book Club: The Next Chapter” actress revealed to “Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen that Clément propositioned her while filming 1964 thriller “Joy House.” The film also starred Alain Delon and Lola Albright, featuring both American and French actors under Clément’s agreement with MGM. Natalie Wood was originally set to star before dropping out; Fonda replaced the “Rebel Without a Cause” actress.
Host Cohen asked Fonda to name “one man in Hollywood that tried to pick you up once that you turned down,” to which Fonda replied, “The French director René Clément.”
The Oscar winner continued, “Well, he wanted to go to bed with me because he said the character had to have an orgasm in the movie and he needed to see what my orgasms were like. He said it in French and...
The “Book Club: The Next Chapter” actress revealed to “Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen that Clément propositioned her while filming 1964 thriller “Joy House.” The film also starred Alain Delon and Lola Albright, featuring both American and French actors under Clément’s agreement with MGM. Natalie Wood was originally set to star before dropping out; Fonda replaced the “Rebel Without a Cause” actress.
Host Cohen asked Fonda to name “one man in Hollywood that tried to pick you up once that you turned down,” to which Fonda replied, “The French director René Clément.”
The Oscar winner continued, “Well, he wanted to go to bed with me because he said the character had to have an orgasm in the movie and he needed to see what my orgasms were like. He said it in French and...
- 5/16/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Edward Berger’s harrowing German-language war film “All Quiet on the Western Front” has been named the best film of 2022 by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), which presented its annual Ee British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday evening in London.
The film was a commanding winner at the Baftas, winning seven awards overall, including Best Director for Berger and Best Film Not in the English Language, as well as honors for its adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound and Volker Bertelmann’s score. Martin McDonagh’s black comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” each received four.
“All Quiet” was the first film not in English to win at BAFTA since “Roma” in 2019. Before that, no non-English film had won since “Jean de Florette” in 1987. In the early years of the award, films not in English won the top prize fairly regularly,...
The film was a commanding winner at the Baftas, winning seven awards overall, including Best Director for Berger and Best Film Not in the English Language, as well as honors for its adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound and Volker Bertelmann’s score. Martin McDonagh’s black comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” each received four.
“All Quiet” was the first film not in English to win at BAFTA since “Roma” in 2019. Before that, no non-English film had won since “Jean de Florette” in 1987. In the early years of the award, films not in English won the top prize fairly regularly,...
- 2/19/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The 76th BAFTAs take place on Sunday, February 19 at the Royal Festival Hall with Richard E. Grant hosting. Germany’s ‘”All Quiet on the Western Front” leads with 14 nominations, followed by 10 for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and nine for “Elvis.”
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts was founded in April 1947 as the British Film Academy by luminaries including David Lean, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Lean was named chairman of the awards that would “recognize those which had contributed outstanding creative work towards the advancement of British film.” Eleven years later, the British Film Academy merged with the Guild of Television Producers and Directors.
The first awards were handed out on May 29, 1949 at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square to honor films released in Britain in 1947-48. Best Picture went to William Wyler’s 1946 release “The Best Years of Our Lives,...
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts was founded in April 1947 as the British Film Academy by luminaries including David Lean, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Lean was named chairman of the awards that would “recognize those which had contributed outstanding creative work towards the advancement of British film.” Eleven years later, the British Film Academy merged with the Guild of Television Producers and Directors.
The first awards were handed out on May 29, 1949 at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square to honor films released in Britain in 1947-48. Best Picture went to William Wyler’s 1946 release “The Best Years of Our Lives,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
James Ponsoldt is expecting this question. Why did the guy who made films like “Smashed,” “The Spectacular Now,” and “The End of the Tour” — dark, knowing dramas about messed-up adults, typically with substance abuse problems and a host of neuroses — turn his attention to “Summering,” a film about four tween girls in the waning days of their favorite season?
He’s got the answer in hand: He’s a parent of three kids, his wife Megan works in the public-school system, and this is the stuff he wants to share with his family.
But the real answer? It’s still a James Ponsoldt film. It’s not as dark as its predecessors, but the filmmaker is still using his craft to ask some very deep questions. “Summering” is, after all, about a group of girls who discover a very dead body and must grapple with what to do next.
“Those...
He’s got the answer in hand: He’s a parent of three kids, his wife Megan works in the public-school system, and this is the stuff he wants to share with his family.
But the real answer? It’s still a James Ponsoldt film. It’s not as dark as its predecessors, but the filmmaker is still using his craft to ask some very deep questions. “Summering” is, after all, about a group of girls who discover a very dead body and must grapple with what to do next.
“Those...
- 8/12/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
France has been a supreme force in the Oscars’ international feature race for decades. This year, three acclaimed films from women directors — Céline Sciamma, Audrey Diwan and Julia Ducournau — are believed to be at the top of the list to represent the country for the upcoming 94th ceremony, set to take place on March 27. Though France is the most-nominated country in the history of the category, it hasn’t walked away with the prize in nearly 30 years. Can that change this year?
The French submission is decided annually by the National Cinema Center. The committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday to pre-select a shortlist of films, with the producers being “auditioned” by the committee on Oct. 12, before the final choice is made. Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” Ducournau’s “Titane” and Diwan’s “Happening” are believed to be the favorites for consideration. “Happening” was just acquired by IFC Films...
The French submission is decided annually by the National Cinema Center. The committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday to pre-select a shortlist of films, with the producers being “auditioned” by the committee on Oct. 12, before the final choice is made. Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” Ducournau’s “Titane” and Diwan’s “Happening” are believed to be the favorites for consideration. “Happening” was just acquired by IFC Films...
- 10/7/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Director René Clément brings an entertainingly eccentric David Goodis crime story to the screen in high style. A big score is being prepped by an odd gang, played by a terrific lineup of talent: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Lea Massari and the elusive Tisa Farrow. Only partly an action thriller, this one is weird but good — lovers of hardboiled crime stories can’t go wrong. Studiocanal has restored the original version, a full forty minutes longer than what was briefly shown here.
And Hope to Die
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 141 min. / Street Date February 25, 2020 / La course du lièvre à travers les champs / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Lea Massari, Tisa Farrow, Jean Gaven, André Lawrence, Nadine Nabokov, Jean Coutu, Daniel Breton, Emmanuelle Béart.
Cinematography: Edmond Richard
Film Editor: Roger Dwyre
Original Music: Francis Lai
Written by Sébastien Japrisot from...
And Hope to Die
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 141 min. / Street Date February 25, 2020 / La course du lièvre à travers les champs / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Lea Massari, Tisa Farrow, Jean Gaven, André Lawrence, Nadine Nabokov, Jean Coutu, Daniel Breton, Emmanuelle Béart.
Cinematography: Edmond Richard
Film Editor: Roger Dwyre
Original Music: Francis Lai
Written by Sébastien Japrisot from...
- 1/12/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Americans live on ketchup and milk. I’m a whiz at geography.”
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festivalruns July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchaseinformation can be found Here. Regrettably, streaming rights to most of the films Cinema St. Louis planned to feature at the 2020 Robert Classic French Film Festival were not available to them. But they are pleased that they’re able to offer a trio of works from the original lineup: Marguerite Duras’ rarely seen “India Song”; a new restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s “Olivia”; and René Clément’s “Rider on the Rain,” which is part of their year-long Golden Anniversaries programming that features films from 1970. All films are in French with English subtitles.
Tom Stockman, editor of...
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festivalruns July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchaseinformation can be found Here. Regrettably, streaming rights to most of the films Cinema St. Louis planned to feature at the 2020 Robert Classic French Film Festival were not available to them. But they are pleased that they’re able to offer a trio of works from the original lineup: Marguerite Duras’ rarely seen “India Song”; a new restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s “Olivia”; and René Clément’s “Rider on the Rain,” which is part of their year-long Golden Anniversaries programming that features films from 1970. All films are in French with English subtitles.
Tom Stockman, editor of...
- 7/15/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
” Je t’aime bien, mon enfant… plus que tu ne crois. I love you, my child… more than you believe. “
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival runs July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchase information can be found Here
The 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — presented by TV5MONDE, sponsored by the Jane M. & Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation, and produced by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s extraordinary cinematic legacy.
Because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the fest will be presented virtually this year. Csl is partnering with Eventive, which also handles our ticketing, to present the Virtual Festival. Filmswill be available to view on demand anytime from July 17-23. Access to...
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival runs July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchase information can be found Here
The 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — presented by TV5MONDE, sponsored by the Jane M. & Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation, and produced by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s extraordinary cinematic legacy.
Because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the fest will be presented virtually this year. Csl is partnering with Eventive, which also handles our ticketing, to present the Virtual Festival. Filmswill be available to view on demand anytime from July 17-23. Access to...
- 6/17/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Eclipse Films, Gospel teaming on doc Shane.
A feature documentary about Australian cricketing legend Shane Warne is being made by UK producers Eclipse Films (Finding Your Feet) and Gospel (Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story).
Dogwoof is representing global sales rights to the project, titled Shane, and is launching it to buyers here in Cannes.
Widely considered to be one of cricket’s greatest bowlers, spinner Warne took more than 1,000 wickets in his career, placing him behind onlu Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan in the all-time list. He also led a turbulent personal life, including a drug ban and a high-profile divorce.
A feature documentary about Australian cricketing legend Shane Warne is being made by UK producers Eclipse Films (Finding Your Feet) and Gospel (Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story).
Dogwoof is representing global sales rights to the project, titled Shane, and is launching it to buyers here in Cannes.
Widely considered to be one of cricket’s greatest bowlers, spinner Warne took more than 1,000 wickets in his career, placing him behind onlu Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan in the all-time list. He also led a turbulent personal life, including a drug ban and a high-profile divorce.
- 5/15/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Rock documentaries about the likes of Sinead O’Connor, The Happy Mondays and The Towers of London as well as films about boxer Frank Bruno and Murakami Haruki make up the line-up of the Sheffield Doc/Fest’s pitch scheme MeetMarket.
The event runs in the northern British city from 6-11 June with execs from broadcasters and platforms including Netflix, A+E, BBC, Channel 4 and ESPN set to attend. Films that have previously found funding at the MeetMarket include Searching for Sugarman and The Act of Killing.
Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist is producing Nothing Compares, a doc about controversial pop star Sinead O’Connor, that looks at her rise to worldwide fame, and how her iconoclastic personality resulted in exile from the mainstream. Focusing on her prophetic behaviour between 1987 and 1992, the film contemporaneously reflects on the legacy of this feminist trailblazer. It is directed by Kathryn Ferguson, who previously...
The event runs in the northern British city from 6-11 June with execs from broadcasters and platforms including Netflix, A+E, BBC, Channel 4 and ESPN set to attend. Films that have previously found funding at the MeetMarket include Searching for Sugarman and The Act of Killing.
Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist is producing Nothing Compares, a doc about controversial pop star Sinead O’Connor, that looks at her rise to worldwide fame, and how her iconoclastic personality resulted in exile from the mainstream. Focusing on her prophetic behaviour between 1987 and 1992, the film contemporaneously reflects on the legacy of this feminist trailblazer. It is directed by Kathryn Ferguson, who previously...
- 4/10/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Keith Enright and Mark Hurne return to the podcast and we get into a big Criterion news week. Keith had the scoop regarding the Starz Godzilla deal, and we talk about the Olympic trailer, the Barnes & Noble sale, and the newsletter clue. We also talk about Alex Cox’s Sid & Nancy and the latest curated content on FilmStruck.
Episode Notes
8:30 – New Releases, Criterion News
20:00 – Barnes & Noble Sale
23:45 – Keith’s Trip to Criterion
33:00 – Godzilla
43:00 – Sid & Nancy
55:45 – Short Takes (The Lure, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Jigoku, Forbidden Games, Les Visiteurs du Soir)
1:05:30 – FilmStruck
Episode Links Criterion Completion – Hour 9 Olympic Set Trailer Criterion Close-Up 19 – A Conversation with Alex Cox Ryan’s 6-year old prediction about Godzilla Episode Credits Aaron West: Twitter | Website | Letterboxd Keith Enright: Twitter | Website Mark Hurne: Twitter | Letterboxd Criterion Now: Facebook Group Criterion Cast: Facebook | Twitter
Music for the show is...
Episode Notes
8:30 – New Releases, Criterion News
20:00 – Barnes & Noble Sale
23:45 – Keith’s Trip to Criterion
33:00 – Godzilla
43:00 – Sid & Nancy
55:45 – Short Takes (The Lure, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Jigoku, Forbidden Games, Les Visiteurs du Soir)
1:05:30 – FilmStruck
Episode Links Criterion Completion – Hour 9 Olympic Set Trailer Criterion Close-Up 19 – A Conversation with Alex Cox Ryan’s 6-year old prediction about Godzilla Episode Credits Aaron West: Twitter | Website | Letterboxd Keith Enright: Twitter | Website Mark Hurne: Twitter | Letterboxd Criterion Now: Facebook Group Criterion Cast: Facebook | Twitter
Music for the show is...
- 11/8/2017
- by Aaron West
- CriterionCast
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” what is the best coming-of-age movie ever made?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Birth.Movies.Death.
While it may not fit the western paradigm of a traditional coming of age film (neither a high school setting nor teenage angst or confusion find themselves the focus), “Lion” holds the distinction of being a rare modern movie that gets to the root of key questions of dual identity, questions that will only become more prominent in the age of globalism. It’s the most extreme version of having your feet in two cultures; Saroo Brierley (Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel) finds himself...
This week’s question: In honor of Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” what is the best coming-of-age movie ever made?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Birth.Movies.Death.
While it may not fit the western paradigm of a traditional coming of age film (neither a high school setting nor teenage angst or confusion find themselves the focus), “Lion” holds the distinction of being a rare modern movie that gets to the root of key questions of dual identity, questions that will only become more prominent in the age of globalism. It’s the most extreme version of having your feet in two cultures; Saroo Brierley (Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel) finds himself...
- 11/6/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of “The Florida Project,” which has just started its platform release across the country, what is the greatest child performance in a film?
Jordan Hoffman (@JHoffman), The Guardian, Vanity Fair
I can agonize over this question or I can go at this Malcolm Gladwell “Blink”-style. My answer is Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon.” She’s just so funny and tough, which of course makes the performance all the more heartbreaking. She won the freaking Oscar at age 10 for this and I’d really love to give a more deep cut response, but why screw around? Paper Moon is a perfect film and she is the lynchpin.
This week’s question: In honor of “The Florida Project,” which has just started its platform release across the country, what is the greatest child performance in a film?
Jordan Hoffman (@JHoffman), The Guardian, Vanity Fair
I can agonize over this question or I can go at this Malcolm Gladwell “Blink”-style. My answer is Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon.” She’s just so funny and tough, which of course makes the performance all the more heartbreaking. She won the freaking Oscar at age 10 for this and I’d really love to give a more deep cut response, but why screw around? Paper Moon is a perfect film and she is the lynchpin.
- 10/9/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
So, it's pretty obvious why this film suddenly has currency. It's a fascinatingly different take on the historical events dealt with in Christopher Nolan's current war epic (and also in Leslie Norman's more low-key 50s production). While it's possible to imagine people liking all three films, it seems likely everyone will greatly prefer one or other of them.Henri Verneuil enjoyed a long collaboration with Jean-Paul Belmondo, his star here, some of which exploited the star's fearless enthusiasm for daredevil stunts. Though the actor runs about among huge explosions here, so does everybody else, so that doesn't seem so special, though he does perform a spectacular crash down a flight of stairs. But on the whole, the film's talk seems to be to strip away Belmondo's superhero charisma and make him just one of the guys, hundreds of thousands of them, stranded on a beach and prey to bombs,...
- 8/1/2017
- MUBI
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” what is the best war movie ever made?
Read More‘Dunkirk’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Monumental War Epic Is The Best Film He’s Ever Made Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker
Howard Hawks’ “The Dawn Patrol,” from 1930, shows soldiers and officers cracking up from the cruelty of their missions — and shows the ones who manage not to, singing and clowning with an exuberance that suggests the rictus of a death mask. There’s courage and heroism, virtue and honor — at a price that makes the words themselves seem foul. John Ford’s “The Lost Patrol,...
This week’s question: In honor of Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” what is the best war movie ever made?
Read More‘Dunkirk’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Monumental War Epic Is The Best Film He’s Ever Made Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker
Howard Hawks’ “The Dawn Patrol,” from 1930, shows soldiers and officers cracking up from the cruelty of their missions — and shows the ones who manage not to, singing and clowning with an exuberance that suggests the rictus of a death mask. There’s courage and heroism, virtue and honor — at a price that makes the words themselves seem foul. John Ford’s “The Lost Patrol,...
- 7/24/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
No longer out of reach, Marcel Pagnol’s stunning 3-feature saga of love and honor in a French seaport is one of the great movie experiences — and the most emotional workout this viewer has seen in years. The tradition of greatness in the French sound cinema began with gems like these, starring legendary actors that were sometimes billed only with their last names: Raimu, Charpin. Those two, Pierre Fresnay and Orane Demazis are simply unforgettable — it’s 6.5 hours of dramatic wonderment.
Marcel Pagnol’s The Marseille Trilogy
Marius * Fanny * César
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 881-884
1931 – 1936 / B&W / 1:19 flat full frame, 1:19 flat full frame, 1:37 flat full frame / 127 * 127 * 141 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 20, 2017 / 79.96
Starring: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin, Alida Rouffe, Paul Dullac, Robert Vattier, André Fouché.
Cinematography: Ted Pahle, Nicolas Toporkoff, Willy Faktorovitch
Original Music: ?, Vincent Scotto, Vincent Scotto
Written by Marcel Pagnol
Produced by Ted Pahle,...
Marcel Pagnol’s The Marseille Trilogy
Marius * Fanny * César
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 881-884
1931 – 1936 / B&W / 1:19 flat full frame, 1:19 flat full frame, 1:37 flat full frame / 127 * 127 * 141 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 20, 2017 / 79.96
Starring: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin, Alida Rouffe, Paul Dullac, Robert Vattier, André Fouché.
Cinematography: Ted Pahle, Nicolas Toporkoff, Willy Faktorovitch
Original Music: ?, Vincent Scotto, Vincent Scotto
Written by Marcel Pagnol
Produced by Ted Pahle,...
- 6/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Exclusive: Documentary centres on controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
The Film Sales Company president Andrew Herwitz has picked up worldwide sales right to Wilders ahead of its debut at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Stephen Robert Morse – who produced Netflix title Amanda Knox – and Nick Hampson directed Wilders and Morse co-wrote alongside executive producer Maria Springer.
The film centres on the right-wing politician Geert Wilders as he runs for Dutch prime minister and explores the life and work of a public figure known as the Dutch Donald Trump.
Wilders’ xenophobic stance against Muslim immigrants has led to death threats and forced him to live under constant protection for the past 12 years.
Herwitz reports early buyer interest in the English-language documentary heading into the first screening on June 12. The film screens a second time on June 13.
The Film Sales Company’s sales slate includes the European premiere of Forbidden Games and director jeff Malmberg’s Spettacolo, which Grasshopper...
The Film Sales Company president Andrew Herwitz has picked up worldwide sales right to Wilders ahead of its debut at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Stephen Robert Morse – who produced Netflix title Amanda Knox – and Nick Hampson directed Wilders and Morse co-wrote alongside executive producer Maria Springer.
The film centres on the right-wing politician Geert Wilders as he runs for Dutch prime minister and explores the life and work of a public figure known as the Dutch Donald Trump.
Wilders’ xenophobic stance against Muslim immigrants has led to death threats and forced him to live under constant protection for the past 12 years.
Herwitz reports early buyer interest in the English-language documentary heading into the first screening on June 12. The film screens a second time on June 13.
The Film Sales Company’s sales slate includes the European premiere of Forbidden Games and director jeff Malmberg’s Spettacolo, which Grasshopper...
- 6/7/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive:Both documentaries to receive world premieres in Canada.
Film Sales Company president Andrew Herwitz has added two films to his Hot Docs slate as the festival gets underway in Toronto.
Adam Drake and Jon Carey directed Forbidden Games, which centres on the life of Justin Fashanu, the talented and first openly gay British footballer who rose to fame in the 1980s.
Unlike his brother and fellow professional John, who learned how to navigate the media and thrived, Justin Fashanu’s life was marked by struggle and ended in tragedy.
This Cold Life by Darren Mann focuses on Longyearben, the northernmost town in the world, where inhabitants must rally together in the face of environmental changes.
Herwitz holds worldwide rights to both films.
As previously reported, the Film Sales Company will premiere 32 Pills at Hot Docs, as well as SXSW selection Spettacolo, which Herwitz just licensed to Grasshopper Film for the Us, and Berlinale...
Film Sales Company president Andrew Herwitz has added two films to his Hot Docs slate as the festival gets underway in Toronto.
Adam Drake and Jon Carey directed Forbidden Games, which centres on the life of Justin Fashanu, the talented and first openly gay British footballer who rose to fame in the 1980s.
Unlike his brother and fellow professional John, who learned how to navigate the media and thrived, Justin Fashanu’s life was marked by struggle and ended in tragedy.
This Cold Life by Darren Mann focuses on Longyearben, the northernmost town in the world, where inhabitants must rally together in the face of environmental changes.
Herwitz holds worldwide rights to both films.
As previously reported, the Film Sales Company will premiere 32 Pills at Hot Docs, as well as SXSW selection Spettacolo, which Herwitz just licensed to Grasshopper Film for the Us, and Berlinale...
- 4/27/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Giuseppe Tornatore’s ode to the Italian love of movies was a major hit here in 1990, despite being severely cut by Miramax. In 2002 the director reworked his long version into an almost three-hour sentimental epic that enlarges the film’s scope and deepens its sentiments.
Cinema Paradiso
Region B Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / Special Edition / 174, 155, 124 min. /
Nuovo cinema Paradiso / Street Date March 21, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Philippe Noiret, Antonella Attili, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin, Agnese Nano, Brigitte Fossey, Pupella Maggio, Leopoldo Trieste
Cinematography: Blasco Giurato
Production Designer: Andrea Crisanti
Film Editor: Mario Morra
Original Music: Ennio and Andrea Morricone
Produced by Mino Barbera, Franco Cristaldi, Giovanna Romagnoli
Written and Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
Your average foreign import movie, it seems, makes a brief splash around Oscar time and then disappears as if down a rabbit hole. A few years back I saw a fantastic Argentine movie called The Secret in Their Eyes.
Cinema Paradiso
Region B Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / Special Edition / 174, 155, 124 min. /
Nuovo cinema Paradiso / Street Date March 21, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Philippe Noiret, Antonella Attili, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin, Agnese Nano, Brigitte Fossey, Pupella Maggio, Leopoldo Trieste
Cinematography: Blasco Giurato
Production Designer: Andrea Crisanti
Film Editor: Mario Morra
Original Music: Ennio and Andrea Morricone
Produced by Mino Barbera, Franco Cristaldi, Giovanna Romagnoli
Written and Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
Your average foreign import movie, it seems, makes a brief splash around Oscar time and then disappears as if down a rabbit hole. A few years back I saw a fantastic Argentine movie called The Secret in Their Eyes.
- 3/14/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
‘Toni Erdmann’ (Courtesy: Tiff)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
It’s not too often that foreign-language films get recognized for anything at the Oscars beyond the best foreign-language film category — but it does happen. And, believe it or not, it happens more for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay than many other categories. A prime example of that is Toni Erdmann, Germany’s submission this year that is proving to be a cross-category threat, which could score a nomination — or a win — for its writing.
The story of Toni Erdmann — which has a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% — follows a father who is trying to reconnect with his adult daughter after the death of his dog. It sounds simple enough but, of course, the two couldn’t be more unalike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and where it won the Fipresci Prize. Since then, it...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
It’s not too often that foreign-language films get recognized for anything at the Oscars beyond the best foreign-language film category — but it does happen. And, believe it or not, it happens more for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay than many other categories. A prime example of that is Toni Erdmann, Germany’s submission this year that is proving to be a cross-category threat, which could score a nomination — or a win — for its writing.
The story of Toni Erdmann — which has a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% — follows a father who is trying to reconnect with his adult daughter after the death of his dog. It sounds simple enough but, of course, the two couldn’t be more unalike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and where it won the Fipresci Prize. Since then, it...
- 1/4/2017
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
This is definitely the time of year when film critic types (I’m sure you know who I mean) spend an inordinate amount of time leading up to awards season—and it all leads up to awards season, don’t it?—compiling lists and trying to convince anyone who will listen that it was a shitty year at the movies for anyone who liked something other than what they saw and liked. And ‘tis the season, or at least ‘thas (?) been in the recent past, for that most beloved of academic parlor games, bemoaning the death of cinema, which, if the sackcloth-and-ashes-clad among us are to be believed, is an increasingly detached and irrelevant art form in the process of being smothered under the wet, steaming blanket of American blockbuster-it is. And it’s going all malnourished from the siphoning off of all the talent back to TV, which, as everyone knows,...
- 1/9/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
It’s 1940, and the Nazi invasion of France is fully under way. A mother, father, a five-year-old girl and her tiny dog are among a throng of refugees fleeing Paris and jamming roads across the French countryside while German planes drop bombs and strafe their path with a relentless rain of machine gun fire. Soon the girl will be completely alone, her parents and that beloved dog all cut down in front of her eyes. But before she even has the chance to process what has happened (if she even can—on the most immediate level, she believes they’re only asleep), she’s given a ride by an older couple, one of whom cruelly flings the animal’s corpse, the only thing the girl has been able to save of her now-devastated familiar world, into a creek. The girl, Paulette (Brigitte Fossey), jumps off their wagon, retrieves the dog...
- 8/27/2015
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
So here we are, smack dab in the middle of the dog days of summer (and if you don’t get that little saying, try lying out on the sidewalk in 100-degree heat for 15 minutes or so, like Fido does, and see if a light bulb doesn’t go off). The dogs are often howling in movie theaters too—at times it seems as though August has replaced January in the hearts of moviegoers as the dumping ground for pictures not really worthy of our attention (or a serious investment in the marketing department). Movies like Pixels and Fantastic Four have their perverse fascination—just how bad can they possibly be? Both were greeted with reviews so scathing and unyielding in their acidity that studio heads can only pray nothing in October, November or December will be perceived as worse, and I have to admit a certain curiosity. But that...
- 8/13/2015
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Chicago – The 5th annual Chicago French Film Festival is six days of beret-wearing cinema, taking place July 31st-August 5th, 2015, at the historic Music Box Theatre in Chicago. The opening night film at 7pm is “Le Affaire SK1.”
“SK1” is French police jargon for “Serial Killer 1,” the codename given in the 1990s to a rapist and murderer who preyed on young women in eastern Paris. The culprit was not the country’s first serial killer, but he was the first to be caught via DNA analysis — even if cops had to overcome years of bureaucratic bungling and bad luck to finally get to him. The debonair Raphael Personnaz stars as an obsessive detective who finds his personal and professional lives upended by the case. “Le Affaire SK1” will be followed by “The King and the Mockingbird” at 9pm.
’Le Affaire SK1’ is the Opening Night Film at the Chicago French Film...
“SK1” is French police jargon for “Serial Killer 1,” the codename given in the 1990s to a rapist and murderer who preyed on young women in eastern Paris. The culprit was not the country’s first serial killer, but he was the first to be caught via DNA analysis — even if cops had to overcome years of bureaucratic bungling and bad luck to finally get to him. The debonair Raphael Personnaz stars as an obsessive detective who finds his personal and professional lives upended by the case. “Le Affaire SK1” will be followed by “The King and the Mockingbird” at 9pm.
’Le Affaire SK1’ is the Opening Night Film at the Chicago French Film...
- 7/31/2015
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In today's roundup of news and views: Revisiting Luc Moullet’s Une Aventure de Billy le Kid and René Clément’s Forbidden Games, interviews with Jonas Mekas and George Armitage, another new book on Orson Welles, ranking 52 films by Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou as a video game, Andy Warhol's Screen Tests in Time Square, a Bertrand Bonello retrospective, remembering René Féret, photographs by Wim Wenders and an outstanding cast for Xavier Dolan's next film: Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel, Nathalie Baye and Gaspard Ulliel. » - David Hudson...
- 4/29/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
In today's roundup of news and views: Revisiting Luc Moullet’s Une Aventure de Billy le Kid and René Clément’s Forbidden Games, interviews with Jonas Mekas and George Armitage, another new book on Orson Welles, ranking 52 films by Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou as a video game, Andy Warhol's Screen Tests in Time Square, a Bertrand Bonello retrospective, remembering René Féret, photographs by Wim Wenders and an outstanding cast for Xavier Dolan's next film: Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel, Nathalie Baye and Gaspard Ulliel. » - David Hudson...
- 4/29/2015
- Keyframe
Women presidents at the Academy: Cheryl Boone Isaacs is only the third one (photo: Angelina Jolie, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Brad Pitt) (See previous post: "Honorary Award Non-Winners: Too Late for Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich.") Wrapping up this four-part "Honorary Oscars Bypass Women" article, let it be noted that in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 85-year history there have been only two women presidents: two-time Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis (for two months in 1941, before the Dangerous and Jezebel star was forced to resign) and screenwriter Fay Kanin (1979-1983), whose best-known screen credit is the 1958 Doris Day-Clark Gable comedy Teacher's Pet. Additionally, following some top-level restructuring in April 2011, the Academy created the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, with the CEO post currently held by a woman, former Film Independent executive director and sometime actress Dawn Hudson. The COO post is held...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Guess what unforgettable movie about people wanting to forget is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary?
Have you ever thought about what your favorite shot from it is? Or which shot best represents the movie as a whole? Have you ever wondered how it can possibly be that the cinematographer Ellen Kuras has only done 4 narrative features in the ten years since?
You know where this is going right?!
Break out the bubbly because "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" returns on March 18th (We're moving it to Tuesdays at 9 Pm to give people the weekend to screen the movies and be ready!). If you're new to the blog or haven't yet experimented with actually participating, I guarantee a good time. Everyone who has participating religiously has said that they've gotten a ton out of it. Plus it proves the point 'the more the merrier' because the best episodes offer...
Have you ever thought about what your favorite shot from it is? Or which shot best represents the movie as a whole? Have you ever wondered how it can possibly be that the cinematographer Ellen Kuras has only done 4 narrative features in the ten years since?
You know where this is going right?!
Break out the bubbly because "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" returns on March 18th (We're moving it to Tuesdays at 9 Pm to give people the weekend to screen the movies and be ready!). If you're new to the blog or haven't yet experimented with actually participating, I guarantee a good time. Everyone who has participating religiously has said that they've gotten a ton out of it. Plus it proves the point 'the more the merrier' because the best episodes offer...
- 3/5/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
3 Notes. Oh don't click away you have time to read them. And yes I'll be live tweeting and a little light blogging tonight
01. Like The Film Experience on Facebook. Follow Nathaniel on Twitter, Pinterest? Why am I so needy? It's like this: Once Oscar night wraps up I experience something like a free fall; help me pull that parachute string.
02. We're here all year -- it's not just an Oscar site so don't abandon us if you're exhausted by Oscar shenanigans. There's only one more week of it, recapping this year's Oscars, filmbitching, and we'll close out the annual festivities with that Supporting Actress Smackdown we promised (yes, the one I flubbed that you've been impatient for). After that one eye returns to brand new movies and pinch of tv and the other to occasional trips back to favored oldies in A Year With Kate, Seasons of Bette, and Hit Me.
01. Like The Film Experience on Facebook. Follow Nathaniel on Twitter, Pinterest? Why am I so needy? It's like this: Once Oscar night wraps up I experience something like a free fall; help me pull that parachute string.
02. We're here all year -- it's not just an Oscar site so don't abandon us if you're exhausted by Oscar shenanigans. There's only one more week of it, recapping this year's Oscars, filmbitching, and we'll close out the annual festivities with that Supporting Actress Smackdown we promised (yes, the one I flubbed that you've been impatient for). After that one eye returns to brand new movies and pinch of tv and the other to occasional trips back to favored oldies in A Year With Kate, Seasons of Bette, and Hit Me.
- 3/2/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Edinburgh exhibitor Filmhouse is to tour a season of films about childhood across the UK, curated by documentary filmmaker Mark Cousins.
The season will comprise 17 films about childhood (see below for full list).
Most of the titles in the season are featured in Cousins’ documentary A Story of Children and Film, which premiered at Cannes last year.
The April-June tour will take in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol and Sheffield among other cities.
The season is managed by Filmhouse, which has also licensed VoD rights to a number of the titles.
The project is backed by the BFI’s Programming Development Fund. Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell, who also produced A Story of Children and Film, are producers.
The full list of titles screening in the Cinema of Childhood season are:
• “Willow and Wind” (Bid-o Baad). Iran, Japan, 1999. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 77 mins. A boy breaks a school window, and must mend...
The season will comprise 17 films about childhood (see below for full list).
Most of the titles in the season are featured in Cousins’ documentary A Story of Children and Film, which premiered at Cannes last year.
The April-June tour will take in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol and Sheffield among other cities.
The season is managed by Filmhouse, which has also licensed VoD rights to a number of the titles.
The project is backed by the BFI’s Programming Development Fund. Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell, who also produced A Story of Children and Film, are producers.
The full list of titles screening in the Cinema of Childhood season are:
• “Willow and Wind” (Bid-o Baad). Iran, Japan, 1999. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 77 mins. A boy breaks a school window, and must mend...
- 2/4/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
From "Forbidden Games" to "Cinema Paradiso," "Kolya" to "In a Better World," the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race has long been friendly to films driven by child protagonists -- the more winsome the kid, the better. Last year saw a harder-edged variation on the formula succeed, as Canada's child-soldier drama "War Witch" scored a nod. This year, however, voters are already spoilt for choice when its comes to determining this year's semi-annual child's-eye slot; I've already lost count of the number of times I've typed "coming of age" during this year's submission process. So far, we have Australia's popular "The...
- 9/12/2013
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
On May 24th, New York’s Film Forum will continue their ongoing resuscitation of the French Old Wave with a revival of a 1956 film that has been all but forgotten outside France: a film whose French title translates as The Crossing of Paris, which was originally released in the Us as Four Bags Full, but which is being re-released now with its more alliterative and far more charming UK subtitle A Pig Across Paris.
Set during the Occupation, this black-sausage comedy may not be quite as cute and animal-friendly as Clément Hurel’s brilliant poster suggests. A hilarious, nail-biting companion of sorts to Wages of Fear, which had been released three years earlier, A Pig Across Paris follows two men (Jean Gabin and comic star Bourvil) who must transport not nitroglycerine across South American mountains, but four black-market suitcases of pork across nighttime Paris, under the nose of the Nazis.
Set during the Occupation, this black-sausage comedy may not be quite as cute and animal-friendly as Clément Hurel’s brilliant poster suggests. A hilarious, nail-biting companion of sorts to Wages of Fear, which had been released three years earlier, A Pig Across Paris follows two men (Jean Gabin and comic star Bourvil) who must transport not nitroglycerine across South American mountains, but four black-market suitcases of pork across nighttime Paris, under the nose of the Nazis.
- 5/11/2013
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I realized after reading the collected articles on René Clément's Forbidden Games that Hit Me With Your Best Shot sometimes works best when you (i.e. the reader) have already seen the film in question. Which presents a problem for me as the host because I love to see pictures I'd never seen (like this one). So I've included the "best" shots, according to our wide-eyed blogging collective, after the jump so you can "see" the best shots after you've watched the movie. Which I urge you to do.
It's available on Instant Watch and it's only 85 minutes long. Well... 95+ because you have to account for the crying and the recovery and such.
After the jump, the film's best shots in linear order. Click on the picture and you'll be staring right at the corresponding article.
It's available on Instant Watch and it's only 85 minutes long. Well... 95+ because you have to account for the crying and the recovery and such.
After the jump, the film's best shots in linear order. Click on the picture and you'll be staring right at the corresponding article.
- 3/21/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
On the occasion of writer/director René Clément’s centennial I thought we’d take a look back at his award winning 1952 film Forbidden Games. This drama about children and grief during World War II won the Nyfcc foreign film prize, BAFTA’s best film honors and a special Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (before the category was permanently introduced). Though Clement made other important pictures (Purple Noon, The Walls of Malapaga, Is Paris Burning?) let's just say this one comes with a fair amount of prestige baggage.
it's hard to remember prayers when you're hungry
I had never seen the picture but given my long history covering Oscar’s foreign film prize, where World War II and stories about children are both privileged frequently whether or not they’re “special”, my expectations weren’t enormously high. But the film more than lives up to its lauded reputation.
it's hard to remember prayers when you're hungry
I had never seen the picture but given my long history covering Oscar’s foreign film prize, where World War II and stories about children are both privileged frequently whether or not they’re “special”, my expectations weren’t enormously high. But the film more than lives up to its lauded reputation.
- 3/20/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
With Bates Motel premiering tonight on A&E starring Vera Farmiga as the infamous Norma Bates, let's look back at your choices (and mine) for Psycho's Best Shots. Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece made for one of the most popular editions ever of Hit Me With Your Best Shot (this Wednesday's film is 1952's foreign Oscar winner Forbidden Games so don't miss out)... so let's revisit.
We all go a little mad sometimes. If you feel like escaping click on any of the images, presented in chronological form, play the shrieking violins in your head, and be transported to the article on that shot...
Please to note: I cheated a little since we lost some articles (why do people shut down their free blogs/tumblrs?) and put in all three of my favorite shots in this visual breakdown. 14 more shots after the jump...
We all go a little mad sometimes. If you feel like escaping click on any of the images, presented in chronological form, play the shrieking violins in your head, and be transported to the article on that shot...
Please to note: I cheated a little since we lost some articles (why do people shut down their free blogs/tumblrs?) and put in all three of my favorite shots in this visual breakdown. 14 more shots after the jump...
- 3/18/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Coming Next on “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” which we're pleased to see off to such a fine communal start with Barbarella and Oz. Join us. The more the merrier. All you need is any sort of webspace wherein to post your image (twitter, tumblr, blogger, etcetera) and eyeballs with which to choose a Best Shot from the chosen films.
Wed March 20th
Forbidden Games (1952). The director René Clement's centennial is this week so why not look back on this Best Foreign Film Oscar Winner which combines two of the Academy's favorite things in that category: Children and World War II (available on Netflix instant watch)
Wed March 27th
Jackie Brown (1997). That’ll be Quentin Tarantino week here at Tfe as we celebrate the filmmaker’s whole oeuvre for his 50th birthday
Wed April 3rd
I'm thinking a Short Film Special as time will be short. Details Tba but...
Wed March 20th
Forbidden Games (1952). The director René Clement's centennial is this week so why not look back on this Best Foreign Film Oscar Winner which combines two of the Academy's favorite things in that category: Children and World War II (available on Netflix instant watch)
Wed March 27th
Jackie Brown (1997). That’ll be Quentin Tarantino week here at Tfe as we celebrate the filmmaker’s whole oeuvre for his 50th birthday
Wed April 3rd
I'm thinking a Short Film Special as time will be short. Details Tba but...
- 3/14/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
La course du lièvre à travers les champs (The Race of the Hare Across the Fields a.k.a. ...and Hope to Die, 1972) is an interesting late entry in the career of French crime specialist René Clément, a kind of smorgasbord of his favorite stuff: hardboiled crime, knotty sexual triangles, a hero on the run, convoluted crime schemes, with a harkening back to childhood sins that suggests his classic Jeux interdits (Forbidden Games, 1952). This might suggest desperation to recapture past glories, but the film is also stuffed with experimentation and up-to-the-minute influences (a train station confrontation early on suggests Leone) which confirm the filmmaker as alert to new possibilities.
But the film could just as easily be approached through the sensibility of its writer, Sébastien Japrisot, a key figure in French cinema and crime cinema, or even through that of the author of the source novel, David Goodis.
But the film could just as easily be approached through the sensibility of its writer, Sébastien Japrisot, a key figure in French cinema and crime cinema, or even through that of the author of the source novel, David Goodis.
- 2/21/2013
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
Its wide range of contributors and influences make Lore something more than just another tale of post-Nazi Germany
Given its transnational provenance – its Anglo-German source novel adapted by a British-Bengali screenwriter, its Australian director and its bleak Nazi-era subject matter – I'm reluctant to dub Lore a straightforwardly German movie. This might seem counterintuitive given its story: a 14-year-old German daughter of prominent Nazis is left to trek northwards across a ruined Germany in the weeks after the Nazi collapse, her infant siblings and a displaced Jewish boy in tow, and her Nazi assumptions slowly unravelling.
That bald summary might induce one to categorise Lore in the long and honourable line of movies set against the death-seizures of Hitler's regime. That line stretched from Rossellini's Germany Year Zero, shot contemporaneously in 1947 in the actual smoking ruins, to 2008's Anonyma, in which sexual servitude is seen as one woman's only sane response...
Given its transnational provenance – its Anglo-German source novel adapted by a British-Bengali screenwriter, its Australian director and its bleak Nazi-era subject matter – I'm reluctant to dub Lore a straightforwardly German movie. This might seem counterintuitive given its story: a 14-year-old German daughter of prominent Nazis is left to trek northwards across a ruined Germany in the weeks after the Nazi collapse, her infant siblings and a displaced Jewish boy in tow, and her Nazi assumptions slowly unravelling.
That bald summary might induce one to categorise Lore in the long and honourable line of movies set against the death-seizures of Hitler's regime. That line stretched from Rossellini's Germany Year Zero, shot contemporaneously in 1947 in the actual smoking ruins, to 2008's Anonyma, in which sexual servitude is seen as one woman's only sane response...
- 2/18/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
(René Clément, 1952; StudioCanal, 12)
René Clément (1913-96) worked for years on documentaries before making his feature debut immediately after the second world war with La bataille du rail (1946), a celebration of the role of railway workers in the Resistance. It won the international jury prize at the first Cannes film festival, and his most famous movie, Forbidden Games (Les jeux interdits), also about the second world war, won an Oscar as best foreign language movie.
Set in 1940, this delicate, beautifully paced film centres on a middle-class five-year-old (Brigitte Fossey), orphaned by the Luftwaffe while fleeing from Paris, and her new friend, a young peasant lad (Georges Poujouly), who become obsessed with the rituals of burial as the war goes on around them. The film is both deeply moving and darkly comic, and the performances of Poujouly and the infinitely expressive Fossey (both of whom had acting careers as adults) are among...
René Clément (1913-96) worked for years on documentaries before making his feature debut immediately after the second world war with La bataille du rail (1946), a celebration of the role of railway workers in the Resistance. It won the international jury prize at the first Cannes film festival, and his most famous movie, Forbidden Games (Les jeux interdits), also about the second world war, won an Oscar as best foreign language movie.
Set in 1940, this delicate, beautifully paced film centres on a middle-class five-year-old (Brigitte Fossey), orphaned by the Luftwaffe while fleeing from Paris, and her new friend, a young peasant lad (Georges Poujouly), who become obsessed with the rituals of burial as the war goes on around them. The film is both deeply moving and darkly comic, and the performances of Poujouly and the infinitely expressive Fossey (both of whom had acting careers as adults) are among...
- 1/13/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★★☆ This year sees the centenary of the birth of not only one of French cinema's, but also the world's, most celebrated directors. Often referred to as the 'French Alfred Hitchcock', René Clément had a penchant for the macabre and mysterious, as reflected in four films newly released by francophile UK distributor StudioCanal. Starring Brigitte Fossey, Frank Langella, Oscar-winner Faye Dunaway and Mia Farrow's sister Tisa amongst others, Forbidden Games (1952), Gervaise (1956), The Deadly Trap (1971) and And Hope to Die (1972) perfectly reflect the otherworldliness and surreal atmosphere which pervaded much of Clément's work.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 1/8/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Rosario Garcia-Montero who has studied film in Lima, NYC and in San Antonio de los Baños garnered numerous awards and nominations for 'Las Malas Intenciones' (Bad Intentions), her first feature length film which premiered at Berlin back in February and was chosen by Peru as their official entry for Best Foreign Film to The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. In 'Las Malas Intenciones', a beautifully dark and amusing film, 9 year old Cayetana, played precociously by Fatima Buntinx, finds solace in martyred heroes from Peru's bloody past during the turbulent 80's when guerrilla attacks were an ever present threat. Rosario, in her own words, considers herself the “slowest blossoming new face of independent film”but with a debut as memorable enough for me to think it was truly one of the best films of 2012, she's right on time.
LatinoBuzz: It seems that some Latin American filmmakers are exorcising their countries demons through their work and art – would you say that was true when making 'Las Malas Intenciones'?
Rosario Garcia-Montero:When making the bad intentions. I definitely exorcised 5 or 6 demons, 30 smaller demons a few children phobias, but also I exorcised my country collective demons and some of the upper classes.
To give a small example, I even fixed some of Peru’s needs for some triumphs. I made Peru beat Brazil 6-0 in soccer! But I've also too exorcised demons and the collective trauma of certain social classes.
LatinoBuzz:Your lead character, Cayetana has all the markings of a classic coming of age character. If she had to form a circle of misfit friends made up of characters from other coming of age films, who would they be?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: 'Let The Right One In' –vampire girl. 'Spirit of the Beehive', Ana & her Frankenstein friend. The Romanian girl from the film 'The Fall'. The arrogant 'Rushmore' boy and the girl burning her dead animals in Rene Clement's 'Jeux Interdits'. And most of the characters in my short films like the Indian mortician from 'Are You Feeling Lonely?' All of these characters would keep Cayetana company, because what do they have in common? They all have in common this sense of not fitting in.
LatinoBuzz: 'Las Malas Intenciones' is your first feature film – what kind of feeling was it to have your whole country supporting you and pushing you to be only the 2nd foreign film nomination from Peru?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: In Peru we're always torn between sentiments, but nevertheless, these types of events are what unite and raise the esteem of a country. This kind of news generated great expectations in the entire population and mobilized and united different sectors who generally are very antagonistic towards each other.
LatinoBuzz: How was your experience in raising money for the film?
Rosario Garcia-Montero:It's an experience that begins and never ends. To make films in Peru was and is heroic.
LatinoBuzz: Where do you see Peruvian cinema in 5 years time? And what do you see your role in it?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: In the 90s some years maybe 1 or 2 films were made. That was our reality. After that a new generation began. Now I think we have more than 20 films a year, so that is real progress. I see myself in that next wave.
LatinoBuzz: The film has a great sequence in which Cayetana shows her admiration for Historical Peruvian figures such as Tupac Amaru, Jose Oyala & Miguel Grau. Who have been your own personal heroes in life?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: Cayetana has admiration for people who have left a mark on the collective Peruvian imagination. But personally, Cassavetes, Buñuel and my personal hero and to whom I dedicated this film is Maria Jimena Pinilla, my big sister.
LatinoBuzz: Who do you think Cayetana grows up to be?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: She might become an archeologist or digging graveyards. Or ghost hunter trying to communicate with the dead heroes. But there is always a chance that she becomes a filmmaker.
Once I asked my little actress Fatima Buntinx–during the shoot what she wanted to be when she grow up and she said: “I want to be a mother”
LatinoBuzz: Usually the process of a writer is a lonely one. How did you feel once you started shooting 'Las malas....' and all of a sudden you had to share these characters with the world and they now no longer belonged just to you?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: It's shocking to be 5 years writing a script and then suddenly a 1st Ad begins to chop up your film in scenes, sequences, inserts - the film shoot looked more like a brick factory factory and you worry about the creative process. At the end in the editing and sound process the film recovered its beauty. So now I learned that you have to faith that things at the end will work out. It's an interesting lesson in learning to trust others.
LatinoBuzz: What made you believe that you could, against any odds, become a filmmaker?
Rosario Garcia-Montero:I always said, only when I finish my first feature film that I will be able to write down on the immigration information papers that you fill out on the planes: ”Occupation: Filmmaker”. Before I would write “Occupation: Parasite”. So it’s a matter of perseverance, the parasite which transforms elegantly into filmmaker.
LatinoBuzz: I loved that you used an Afro-Peruvian character, which is seldom seen in South American films. Did you write the character with that description?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: Im glad you ask about him. I love Melchor Gorrochategui (who plays Isaac). He was one of the most amazing casting “accidents”. In Peru when you are trying to cast Afro-Peruvian actors, there is very few. So I began looking for real characters in the street. The first casting call I did, all the non actors came to my casting they felt intimidated by the lights and cameras and literally escaped. So I found a new casting person that would go to their homes and have tiny camera. Melchor had never acted and he had never driven a car, so sometimes instead of rehearsing we would make him learn how to drive. Yes, it is true that in a certain high class in Lima, employees were black. So Issac in a way speaks of this Lima, disappearing with him. An old Lima. Finally, he is being replaced by a bodyguard who tells us that everything has changed and not necessarily for the better. Issac is a melancholy character. He's like a flame that extinguishes but one of the few that connects with Cayetana.
LatinoBuzz: Was there a particular film or filmmaker that inspired the aesthetic of 'Las Malas...'
Rosario Garcia-Montero: 'The Return', a film from Russia that I watched with my cinematographer. The way they use the color desaturation. Cassavetes' 'Faces', for the rawest acting. Buñuel – 'The Exterminating Angel', one of the most inspiring films. Fellini's 'Notti Di Cabiria', greatest character study. And 'Jeux Interdits' - darkest film from the 50's. A sleeper.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
LatinoBuzz: It seems that some Latin American filmmakers are exorcising their countries demons through their work and art – would you say that was true when making 'Las Malas Intenciones'?
Rosario Garcia-Montero:When making the bad intentions. I definitely exorcised 5 or 6 demons, 30 smaller demons a few children phobias, but also I exorcised my country collective demons and some of the upper classes.
To give a small example, I even fixed some of Peru’s needs for some triumphs. I made Peru beat Brazil 6-0 in soccer! But I've also too exorcised demons and the collective trauma of certain social classes.
LatinoBuzz:Your lead character, Cayetana has all the markings of a classic coming of age character. If she had to form a circle of misfit friends made up of characters from other coming of age films, who would they be?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: 'Let The Right One In' –vampire girl. 'Spirit of the Beehive', Ana & her Frankenstein friend. The Romanian girl from the film 'The Fall'. The arrogant 'Rushmore' boy and the girl burning her dead animals in Rene Clement's 'Jeux Interdits'. And most of the characters in my short films like the Indian mortician from 'Are You Feeling Lonely?' All of these characters would keep Cayetana company, because what do they have in common? They all have in common this sense of not fitting in.
LatinoBuzz: 'Las Malas Intenciones' is your first feature film – what kind of feeling was it to have your whole country supporting you and pushing you to be only the 2nd foreign film nomination from Peru?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: In Peru we're always torn between sentiments, but nevertheless, these types of events are what unite and raise the esteem of a country. This kind of news generated great expectations in the entire population and mobilized and united different sectors who generally are very antagonistic towards each other.
LatinoBuzz: How was your experience in raising money for the film?
Rosario Garcia-Montero:It's an experience that begins and never ends. To make films in Peru was and is heroic.
LatinoBuzz: Where do you see Peruvian cinema in 5 years time? And what do you see your role in it?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: In the 90s some years maybe 1 or 2 films were made. That was our reality. After that a new generation began. Now I think we have more than 20 films a year, so that is real progress. I see myself in that next wave.
LatinoBuzz: The film has a great sequence in which Cayetana shows her admiration for Historical Peruvian figures such as Tupac Amaru, Jose Oyala & Miguel Grau. Who have been your own personal heroes in life?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: Cayetana has admiration for people who have left a mark on the collective Peruvian imagination. But personally, Cassavetes, Buñuel and my personal hero and to whom I dedicated this film is Maria Jimena Pinilla, my big sister.
LatinoBuzz: Who do you think Cayetana grows up to be?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: She might become an archeologist or digging graveyards. Or ghost hunter trying to communicate with the dead heroes. But there is always a chance that she becomes a filmmaker.
Once I asked my little actress Fatima Buntinx–during the shoot what she wanted to be when she grow up and she said: “I want to be a mother”
LatinoBuzz: Usually the process of a writer is a lonely one. How did you feel once you started shooting 'Las malas....' and all of a sudden you had to share these characters with the world and they now no longer belonged just to you?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: It's shocking to be 5 years writing a script and then suddenly a 1st Ad begins to chop up your film in scenes, sequences, inserts - the film shoot looked more like a brick factory factory and you worry about the creative process. At the end in the editing and sound process the film recovered its beauty. So now I learned that you have to faith that things at the end will work out. It's an interesting lesson in learning to trust others.
LatinoBuzz: What made you believe that you could, against any odds, become a filmmaker?
Rosario Garcia-Montero:I always said, only when I finish my first feature film that I will be able to write down on the immigration information papers that you fill out on the planes: ”Occupation: Filmmaker”. Before I would write “Occupation: Parasite”. So it’s a matter of perseverance, the parasite which transforms elegantly into filmmaker.
LatinoBuzz: I loved that you used an Afro-Peruvian character, which is seldom seen in South American films. Did you write the character with that description?
Rosario Garcia-Montero: Im glad you ask about him. I love Melchor Gorrochategui (who plays Isaac). He was one of the most amazing casting “accidents”. In Peru when you are trying to cast Afro-Peruvian actors, there is very few. So I began looking for real characters in the street. The first casting call I did, all the non actors came to my casting they felt intimidated by the lights and cameras and literally escaped. So I found a new casting person that would go to their homes and have tiny camera. Melchor had never acted and he had never driven a car, so sometimes instead of rehearsing we would make him learn how to drive. Yes, it is true that in a certain high class in Lima, employees were black. So Issac in a way speaks of this Lima, disappearing with him. An old Lima. Finally, he is being replaced by a bodyguard who tells us that everything has changed and not necessarily for the better. Issac is a melancholy character. He's like a flame that extinguishes but one of the few that connects with Cayetana.
LatinoBuzz: Was there a particular film or filmmaker that inspired the aesthetic of 'Las Malas...'
Rosario Garcia-Montero: 'The Return', a film from Russia that I watched with my cinematographer. The way they use the color desaturation. Cassavetes' 'Faces', for the rawest acting. Buñuel – 'The Exterminating Angel', one of the most inspiring films. Fellini's 'Notti Di Cabiria', greatest character study. And 'Jeux Interdits' - darkest film from the 50's. A sleeper.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
- 12/26/2012
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
René Clemént's La baby sitter (1975) is a damned good twisty thriller, so I don't know why it has a lousy reputation. Its director belonged to that tricky post-war, pre-nouvelle vague generation which included Clouzot, Bresson, Becker and Melville: lots of talent, but no unity of theme, style or purpose. Consequently, like all the others except Bresson, he's celebrated for a few stand-out movies impossible to ignore, while the rest are swept under the rug.
Maria Schneider plays a French sculptor in Rome who works evenings as a babysitter. Unbeknownst to her, actress friend Sydne Rome is involving her in a kidnapping scam masterminded by a lawyer, a stuntman, and two more actors (actors are evil in this film!). Since the toughest part of any kidnap is the handover, they've hatched the plan of using an innocent patsy to collect the loot and handover the prize, a millionaire's little son, Boots Franklin (I know: Boots Franklin?...
Maria Schneider plays a French sculptor in Rome who works evenings as a babysitter. Unbeknownst to her, actress friend Sydne Rome is involving her in a kidnapping scam masterminded by a lawyer, a stuntman, and two more actors (actors are evil in this film!). Since the toughest part of any kidnap is the handover, they've hatched the plan of using an innocent patsy to collect the loot and handover the prize, a millionaire's little son, Boots Franklin (I know: Boots Franklin?...
- 6/2/2011
- MUBI
It appears that I should re-title this semi-regular column on the blog “this month in criterion blogs,” rather than “this week,” given that I haven’t written one of these since the end of March. If you’ve been following along with the various news items in my life, you’ll know that I have a lot on my plate these days, and it won’t be cleared for another 18 years or so. That being said, there have been a lot of great Criterion-related blog posts going up on my favorite sites in April, and I thought it was about time to share them all with you fine readers.
This month I’d like to highlight all of the amazing stuff going on at Film School Rejects. As you know from the past few entries in this series, they have their own weekly Criterion column, the Criterion Files. For April,...
This month I’d like to highlight all of the amazing stuff going on at Film School Rejects. As you know from the past few entries in this series, they have their own weekly Criterion column, the Criterion Files. For April,...
- 4/22/2011
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
• Introduction to The Great Movies III
You'd be surprised how many people have told me they're working their way through my books of Great Movies one film at a time. That's not to say the books are definitive; I loathe "best of" lists, which are not the best of anything except what someone came up with that day. I look at a list of the "100 greatest horror films," or musicals, or whatever, and I want to ask the maker, "but how do you know?" There are great films in my books, and films that are not so great, but there's no film here I didn't respond strongly to. That's the reassurance I can offer.
I believe good movies are a civilizing force. They allow us to empathize with those whose lives are different than our own. I like to say they open windows in our box of space and time.
You'd be surprised how many people have told me they're working their way through my books of Great Movies one film at a time. That's not to say the books are definitive; I loathe "best of" lists, which are not the best of anything except what someone came up with that day. I look at a list of the "100 greatest horror films," or musicals, or whatever, and I want to ask the maker, "but how do you know?" There are great films in my books, and films that are not so great, but there's no film here I didn't respond strongly to. That's the reassurance I can offer.
I believe good movies are a civilizing force. They allow us to empathize with those whose lives are different than our own. I like to say they open windows in our box of space and time.
- 10/2/2010
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
tuesday top ten returns! It's for the list-maker in me and the list-lover in you
The Cannes film festival wrapped this weekend (previous posts) and the most recent Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, The Secret in Their Eyes is still in the midst of a successful Us run. That Oscar winning Argentinian film came to us from director Juan Jose Campanella. It's his second film to be honored by the Academy (Son of the Bride was nominated ten years back). The Academy voters obviously like Campanella and in some ways he's a Hollywood guy. When he's not directing Argentinian Oscar hopefuls he spends time making Us television with episodes of Law & Order, House and 30 Rock under his belt.
So let's talk foreign-language auteurs. Who does Oscar love most?
[The film titles discussed in this article will link to Netflix pages -- if available -- should you be curious to see the films]
Best Director winners Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) and Milos Forman
(Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
Please Note:...
The Cannes film festival wrapped this weekend (previous posts) and the most recent Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, The Secret in Their Eyes is still in the midst of a successful Us run. That Oscar winning Argentinian film came to us from director Juan Jose Campanella. It's his second film to be honored by the Academy (Son of the Bride was nominated ten years back). The Academy voters obviously like Campanella and in some ways he's a Hollywood guy. When he's not directing Argentinian Oscar hopefuls he spends time making Us television with episodes of Law & Order, House and 30 Rock under his belt.
So let's talk foreign-language auteurs. Who does Oscar love most?
[The film titles discussed in this article will link to Netflix pages -- if available -- should you be curious to see the films]
Best Director winners Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) and Milos Forman
(Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
Please Note:...
- 5/31/2010
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The woes of rights have made a lot of fandom particularly challenging, whether it's seeing your beloved television shows never make DVD due to music rights, ultimate editions never getting released due split studio rights (Fire Walk with Me!), or Criterion titles disappear from the shelves.
Criterion has announced that they're about to lose the rights to 23 excellent titles from StudioCanal at the end of March. "The titles are going to Lionsgate, and we don't know when they may be rereleased. As ever, we will continue to try to relicense the films so that they can rejoin the collection sometime in the future." The titles are: Alphaville, Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy, Le corbeau, Coup de torchon, Diary of a Country Priest, The Fallen Idol, Forbidden Games, Gervaise, Grand Illusion, Le jour se leve, Last Holiday, Mayerling, The Orphic Trilogy, Peeping Tom, Pierrot le fou, Port of Shadows, Quai des Orfevres,...
Criterion has announced that they're about to lose the rights to 23 excellent titles from StudioCanal at the end of March. "The titles are going to Lionsgate, and we don't know when they may be rereleased. As ever, we will continue to try to relicense the films so that they can rejoin the collection sometime in the future." The titles are: Alphaville, Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy, Le corbeau, Coup de torchon, Diary of a Country Priest, The Fallen Idol, Forbidden Games, Gervaise, Grand Illusion, Le jour se leve, Last Holiday, Mayerling, The Orphic Trilogy, Peeping Tom, Pierrot le fou, Port of Shadows, Quai des Orfevres,...
- 2/3/2010
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
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