FullReviews Index
The Class (Entre les murs)
Lauren Cantet's The Class - A review of Lauren Cantet's The Class - The Class won the Palm D'or at the 2008 Canne Film Festival and opens this year's New York Film Festival. Marcy reviews Lauren Cantent's The Class, based on the novel by Francois Begaudeau.
A Secret
"A Secret" review - A review of Claude Miller's "A Secret", starring Mathieu Amalric, Patrick Bruel, Cecile De France, Ludivine Sagnier, Julie Depardieu.
A Tout De Suite
Any film featuring Isild Le Besco is worth seeing. The intense French actress stars in Benoît Jacquot's "A Tout de Suite" breathes life and passion into the role of a young borgeouis art student who takes off with her Moroccan lover after he robs a bank.
I've Loved You So Long Review
I've Loved You So Long Review - A review of Philippe Claudel's I've Loved You So Long starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a woman who returns home after fifteen years in prison.
Tell No One
Guillaume Canet’s thriller "Tell No One" based on the bestselling novel by Harlan Coben, is the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. Francois Cluzet stars as Alexandre Beck who is charged for the murder of his wife eight years (Marie-Josee Croze) after his death.
The Last Mistress
Asia Argento stars as the passionate La Vellini in Catherine Breillat's most conventional film yet, an eighteenth century costume drama. Fu'ad Ait Attou makes his film debut as Ryno De Marigny, a young lord torn between his beautiful young bride (Roxane Mesquida) and the troubled mistress he cannot let go of.
Dans Paris (Inside Paris)
Christophe Honoré's follow-up to Ma Mere is a loving homage to the French New Wave that stays true to its own emotional core. Heartthrobs Louis Garrell (The Dreamers) and Romain Duris (Moliere, The Beat My Heart Skipped) play brothers who find themselves once again in their father's small Paris apartment, Jonathan (Garrell) as a student, Paul (Duris) in the throes of depression after his breakup with longtime girlfriend Anna (Joanna Preiss.)
Water Lilies (2008)
Céline Sciamma debut film "Water Lilies" follows three fifteen-year-old girls--Marie, Anne and Floriane--in an angst ridden summer in the French suburbs. Young actresses Adele Haenel, Louise Blachere, and Pauline Acquart star.
Flight of the Red Balloon (2008)
Hsiao-hsien Hou creates an intimate portrait of a small, unique family in Paris in the charming and uneventful "Flight of the Red Balloon." A frazzled and blond Juliette Binoche stars as Suzanne, an accomplished puppeteer who hires Taiwanese nanny Song Fang (played with remarkable calm and enormous appeal by Song Fang of the same name) for her seven-year-old son Simon (Simon Iteanu).
Priceless
PRICELESS, starring Audrey Tautou, is a sexy and thoroughly charming romantic comedy, and a fresh re-imagining of the cinema classic, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S. PRICELESS opens in theaters on March 28th.
Roman de Gare
ROMAN DE GARE, the highly anticipated new film from Oscar-winning director Claude Lelouch (A MAN AND A WOMAN), features Dominique Pinon and Fanny Ardant as an unlikely pair caught up in a game with high stakes – and deadly consequences.
Love Songs
Featuring the brightest young stars of French cinema and directed by rising filmmaker Christophe Honoré (DANS PARIS), LOVE SONGS is a vibrant and audacious ultra-modern movie musical. Louis Garrel (THE DREAMERS, DANS PARIS), Ludivine Sagnier (SWIMMING POOL), Chiara Mastroianni (PERSEPOLIS), Clotilde Hesme (REGULAR LOVERS), and Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet star.
Heartbeat Detector
Mathieu Amalric stars in "Heartbeat Detector," Nicolas Klotz's stylish and riveting political thriller about a man who unwittingly unearths the ghosts of his corporate employer’s sordid past.
The Witnesses
"The Witnesses", the latest from acclaimed director André Téchiné ("Changing Times, Strayed, Wild Reeds") captures the end of an era through the tale of a group of friends and lovers. The marvelous ensemble cast includes Michel Blanc, Emmanuelle Béart, Sami Bouajila, Julie Depardieu and Johan Libéreau, the film captures the end of an era through the tale of a group of friends and lovers.
Le Petit Lieutenant
Hollywood clichés and one fresh-faced police academy graduate's fantasies of the detective's life don't stand a chance in Xavier Beauvoir's gritty police thriller. With Nathalie Baye as a disillusioned cop.
The Duchess of Langeais
Jacques Rivette's impeccably assured adaptation of Balzac s tale of obsessive love and romantic gamesmanship in 1820s Paris. With Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, Bulle Ogier and Michel Piccoli.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Julian Schnabel's unorthodox biopic tells the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), the editor of the French Elle Magazine who suffered a stroke and was paralyzed by the inexplicable "locked in" syndrome at the age of 43. After recovering from her initial horror, Marcy was able to almost enjoy the experience of watching this discomfiting, wholly unique narrative.
La Vie En Rose - Review
Olivier Dahan's "La Vie En Rose" (La Môme), a portrait of Edith Piaf, France's most famous singer, features a bravada performance by the diminutive but impressively abrasive Marion Cotillard.
Blame It On Fidel
Julie Gavras' "Blame It On Fidel" depicts a Parisian family's political evolution through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl.
Molière
Romain Duris stars in Laurent Tirard's charming bio about the great French writer focuses on the years between his release from prison in 1645 at age 22 and his return to Paris 13 years later after a triumphant career as a traveling playwright and actor. Ludivine Sagnier, Fabrice Luchini, Laura Morante, and Edouard Baer co-star.
Angel – A
Luc Besson returns to Paris with a little movie that begins as playful comedy about a crook (Jamel Debbouze) who meets a beautiful woman (Rie Rasmussen) — and ends as dreadfully dumbed-down remake of Wings of Desire.
Poison Friends
The screenplay and direction of Emmanuel Bourdieu's "Poison Friends" is as pompous and blind to reality as its main character Andre Morley. Premiering in the US at the New York Film Festival, this film tells the story of a brilliant and manipulative literature student who runs amuck--while causing his trusted friends' harm.
Band of Outsiders DVD
To hear Jean-Luc Godard tell it, his seventh film "Band of Outsiders" should be a terrible bore: made as a "systemic assault" on the myths of traditional French filmmaking, the young New Wave director set forth to break all the rules. It is a testament to Godard's skills that "Band of Outsiders," almost in spite of his intentions, is an eminently watchable and charming film.
The Adventures Of Antoine Doinel
If you fall in love with a character, as I did with Antonine Doinel in Francois Truffaut's masterpiece "The 400 Blows," than there is no greater treat than a box set of Antoine Doniel movies. Luckily, Criterion obliged with this extraordinary five-DVD collection. Truffaut's young hero, played by Jean-Pierre Léaud, is impulsive, defiant, romantic, idealistic, melancholic, and perhaps unintentionally, a world class comedian.
The Page Turner
Dennis Decourt's menacing drama about a concert pianist (Catherine Frot) and her quiet, sexy young page turner (Deborah Francois) is all about revenge.