Titles: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W-Y Z Titles are listed aphabetically in French Film and French WWII Occupation French History and Culture African cinema (including films from Francophone Africa) Experimental and Avant-Garde Films (for early French avant-garde films) French Cinema Bibliography Luis Buñuel bibliography Jean-Luc Goddard bibliography Jean Renoir bibliography François Truffaut bibliography 36 fillette (1988) Directed by Catherine Breillat. Cast: Delphine Zentout, Etienne Chicot, Olivier Parni`ere, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Berta Dominquez D., Jean-Francois Stevenin. Lili, at fourteen, is literally busting out of her children's size dress. While on vacation with her family, she vows to lose her virginity and soon attracts the attention of a good looking, middle-aged playboy. With the skill of an adult and the naivete of a child, Lili seduces him. Her involvement with this older man and a chance encounter with a musician further her journey towards sexual awakening. 88 min. DVD 7171 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Catherine Breillat bibliography À Ma soeur (The Fat Girl) (2001) Directed by Catherine Breillat. Cast: Anais Reboux, Roxane Mesquida, Libero de Rienzo, Arsinee Khanjian, Romain Goupil, Laura Betti. A daring and provocative exploration of the complexities of sexual awakening involving 12-year-old Anais. With her family on holiday by the sea, she yearns for the experience of first love. However, she experiences it by proxy when her beautiful older sister, Elena gets involved with an older boy. Soon Elena's naive hopes of romance will be shattered setting a chain of events in motion that will shatter her family forever. Non-US format DVD. 83 min. DVD 2646 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database À Nos amours (1983) Directed by Maurice Pialat. Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Dominique Besnehard, Maurice Pialat, Evelyne Ker, Cyr Boitard, Pierre-Loup Rajot, Cyril Collard. A study of a working class girl of fifteen who, looking for the affection she is denied at home, enters a series of casual sexual affairs, eventually marries, then leaves her husband to fly off to America. Non-US format Special features (Disc one): Original theatrical trailer ; (Disc two): "The human eye" a 1999 documentary on the film; archival interview with Maurice Pialat on the set; a 2003 interview with Sandrine Bonnaire; new interviews with filmmakers Catherine Breillat and Jean-Pierre Gorin; actor auditions. 102 min. DVD 6661 (Criterion); copy 2: DVD 3408(PAL) DVD. In French without subtitles. Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database À Nous la liberté (1931) Directed by René Clair. Cast: Henri Marchand, Raymond Cordy, Rolla France, Paul Olivier, André Michand, Germaine Aussey, Jacques Shelly, Leon Lorin, William Burke, Vincent Hyspa. A landmark film in early sound production this is a left-wing satirical comedy about two ex-convicts, one of whom works his way up from salesman to factory owner. He oversees a highly mechanised operation where the workers are reduced to mere automatons. Blackmailed over his past, he joins up with his old cellmate, and the pair take to the road as tramps. Frequently acknowledged as the inspiration for Chaplin's "Modern times." Special feature: Entr'acte (1924), the classic surrealist short by Clair and artist Francis Picabia. 83 min. DVD 1274; vhs 999:98 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Dale, R. C. "A Clash of Intelligences: Sound vs. Image in René Clair's A nous, la liberté." French Review, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 637-44, Apr 1965 UC users only Kramer, S.P. "René Clair: Situation and Sensibility in A Nous la Liberté." (Article). Literature/Film Quarterly XII/2, Apr 84; p.142-144. René Clair bibliography Aaltra: A Road Movie (France/Belgium 2004) Directed by Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine. Cast: Benoît Delepine, Gustave Kervern, Jan Bucquoy, Pierre Carl, Michel de Houx, Isabelle Delepine, Jason Flemying, Noel Godin, Christine Grulois, Aki Kauresmaki, Bouli Lanners, Vincent Patar, Benoît Poelvoorde, Chrisophe Salengro, Vincent Tavier. In this hilarious comedy two rural neighbors who hate each other, end up paralyzed after they get tangled in a tractor during a fight. Full of spite they decide to roll across Europe to exact revenge from the tractor's manufacturer. 90 min. DVD 6304 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Une Affaire de femmes (Story of women) (1988) Director, Claude Chabrol. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Francois Cluzet, Marie Trintignant, Nils Tavernier. To survive Nazi-occupied 1940's France, Marie turns to illegally aborting pregnancies for a hefty fee. As her income increases, Marie moves her family to a posh apartment. Completely seduced by her lifestyle, Marie ignores her shell-shocked husband Paul. Things take a disastrous turn after one of Marie's "customers" dies and her husband turns her over to the authorities. Inspired by the real-life of Marie-Louise Girard, who was executed in 1943 by the Vichy Government, who'd declared abortion as a Crime Against the State because it diminished the number of potential soldiers. 108 min. DVD 7256 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Une Affaire de goût (A Matter of Taste) (1999) Directed by Bernard Rapp. Cast: Bernard Giraudeau, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Florence Thomassin. Frederic Delamont, a wealthy businessman, hires Nicolas, a young waiter, to be his personal food taster--with escalating stakes. Delamont's shrewd, bizarre plan is to make Nicolas into a counterpart so sensitive that he can anticipate and share all of his employer's exact tastes. 88 min. DVD 1703 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'âge d'or (Golden Age) (1930) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Using a melange of strange and unrelated images, this is a statement by Bunuel on the nature of the bourgeoisie, the church and the police. 62 min. DVD 3140; vhs 999:102 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Ali-Baba (et les Quarante Voleurs) (1954) Directed by Jacques Becker. Cast: Fernandel (Ali-baba), Samia Gamal (Morgiane), Dieter Borsche (Abdul), Henri Vilbert (Cassim), Edouard Delmont (Morgiane's father). In this film adaptation of the story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves Ali Baba accidentally discovers the magic cave where Abdul and his band of thieves hide their treasure. He takes enough gold to buy a slave girl from his master to be his wife, but sinister plans are being made to spoil his wedding night. Includes belly dances by women in the marketplace and Cassim's harem. 90 min. 999:3501 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Allée du Roi(1996) Director, Nina Companeez. A historical drama based on the recollections of Françoise d'Aubigne, Marques de Maintenon, wife to Louis XIV, the King of France. In French without substitles. 240 min. DVD 4510 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (Alphaville) (1965) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff, Laszlo Szabo, Michel Delahaye, Howard Vernon. A story which unfolds in a utopian world of the future. Alphaville is governed by a totalitarian system in which the individual counts for almost nothing, and an alienated society has no use for art, poetry, love, or even thought. People are reduced essentially to the level of robots. 98 min.DVD 86; VHS 999:73 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Amant (The Lover) (France / UK / Vietnam, 1992) Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Cast: Jane March, Tony Leung, Frederique Meininger, Arnaud Giovaninetti, Melvil Poupaud. A poor French teenager embarks on a love affair with a wealthy Chinese man in 1929 French colonial Vietnam, defying the boundaries of age, race and class. From the novel by Marguerite Duras. 115 min. DVD 3697; vhs 999:2285 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Amants (The Lovers) (1958) Directed by Louis Malle. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Alain Cuny, Jean-Marc Bory, Judith Magre. Landmark film of both modern French cinema and screen eroticism that portrays a fashion-dominated provincial wife whose shallow life changes overnight when she encounters an unpretentious young man. 89 min. DVD 9353 (PAL); vhs 999:3455 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Louis Malle bibliography Les Amants réguliers (Regular Lovers) (2005) Directed by Philippe Garrel. Cast: Louis Garrel, Clotilde Hesme, Julien Lucas, Eric Rulliat, Nicolas Bridet, Mathieu Genet, Raissa Mariotti, Caroline Deruas-Garrel, Rebecca Convenant. Regular Lovers is a rapturous paean to Paris in '68 love, youth, and disillusionment. A student poet is grappling in tumult with a doomed romance of the famous Parisian riots. 175 min. DVD 8142 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Amélie(1996) See Le fabuleux destin Amélie Poulain Un amour de Swann (Swann in Love) (France / West Germany, 1984) Directed by Volker Schlondorff. Cast: Jeremy Irons, Alain Delon, Ornella Muti, Fanny Ardant, Marie-Christine Barrault, Anne Bennent, Nathalie Juvet. Set in Paris in the 1890s, Swann falls in love with a young courtesan, and soon finds himself tormented by his unrelenting sexual desire. Based on Marcel Proust's monumental masterpiece of modern literature, this elegant, sensual film recreates the glittering, lost world of the aristocracy. Based on the novel by Marcel Proust. 110 min. DVD X111; vhs Video 999:701 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Amour l'après-midi (Chloe in the Afternoon) (1972) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Bernard Verley, Zouzou, Françoise Verley, Daniel Ceccaldi. Frederic leads a bourgeois life; he is a partner in a small Paris office and is happily married to Hélène, a teacher expecting her second child. In the afternoons, Frederic daydreams about other women, but has no intention of taking any action. One day, Chloe, who had been a mistress of an old friend, begins dropping by his office. They meet as friends, irregularly in the afternoons, till eventually Chloe decides to seduce Frederic, causing him a moral dilemma. 88 min. DVD 2518; VHS 999:2509 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Eric Rohmer bibliography L'Amour en fuite (Love on the Run) (1979) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marie-France Pisier. In Truffaut's fifth and final film of his semi-autobiographical "Antoine Doinel" series, Doinel is now in his thirties, newly divorced and René wing love affairs with several women from his past. But when his mother dies, he is forced to confront his emotional immaturity and inability to sustain a lasting relationship. 95 min. DVD 1727, part 4; DVD 350; VHS 999:2433 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database François Truffaut bibliography L'Amour à mort(1984) Directed by Alain Resnais. Cast: Sabine Azema, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi, Andre Dussolier, Jean Daste. Elisabeth and Simon have been together as a couple for only a few months when Simon dies. To everyone's surprise he revives after a few minutes and appears to be quite healthy again. The couple's relationship appears to become more intense, but Simon is unable to come to terms with his near-death experience, feeling an irresistible desire to withdraw from life. Their friends Judith and Jerome, a married couple of Protestant pastors, try to offer guidance and consolation through theological and philosophical discussions, but the couple are beyond their reach, and the persuasive music of 'the other,' of a love beyond death, exerts an irresistible attraction. 88 min. DVD 9803 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Amour par terre (Love on the Ground) (1984) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Jane Birkin, Geraldine Chaplin, André Dussollier, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Facundo Bo, Isabelle Linnartz, Sandra Montaigu. A film director (Clément) invites two actresses to his home to work on a performance. A magician named Paul is his current lover and lives in Clément's home. After the actresses arrive, they find themselves influenced by Paul's magic. 129 min. DVD 4584 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jacques Rivette bibliography Anatomie de l'Enfer (Anatomy of Hell) (2003) Directed by Catharine Breillat. Cast: Amira Casar, Rocco Siffredi. A man rescues a woman from a suicide attempt in a gay nightclub. Walking the streets together, she propositions him: She'll pay him to visit her at her isolated house for four consecutive nights. There he will silently watch her. He's reluctant, but agrees. As the four nights progress, they become more intimate with each other, and a mutual fascination/revulsion develops. By the end of the four-day "contract", these two total strangers will have had a profound impact on each other. Based on Breillat's novel, Pornocratie. 80 min. DVD 7170 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad) (1961) Directed by Alain Resnais. Cast: Giorgio Albertazzi, Delphine Seyrig, Sacha Pitoeff. Among an assembly of guests in a vast baroque mansion, the narrator/hero tries to persuade a woman that they have met before, and that she has agreed to go away with him, leaving the man (her husband, perhaps) who has accompanied her to this mansion. Introduces Resnais' unconventional editing techniques. 93 min. DVD 115; DVD 4210 (PAL format); VHS 999:154 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Années 80 (The Eighties) (1983) Director, Chantal Akerman. Cast: Aurore Clément, Lio, Magali Noel, Pascale Salkin. The Eighties is a film about a musical in the making. It provides insights into behind-the-scenes drama and, at the same time, is a preview of Akerman's forthcoming shopping mall musical, "Window Shopping." 82 min. 999:3597 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Antoine et Collette (1962) Directed by François Truffaut. Part of Truffaut's saga of Antoine Doinel, following the character (played by Jean-Pierre Leaud) from his stormy teens through marriage, children, divorce, and adulthood. 30 min. DVD 1727, part 1 L'appartement (The apartment) (France | Spain | Italy, 1996) Directed by Gilles Mimouni. Cast: Romane Bohringer, Vincent Cassel, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Monica Bellucci, Sandrine Kiberlain, Olivier Granier. Max, a young corporate hotshot, is planning a marriage, investigating a murder, chasing after a lost love and getting bizarrely hooked up with a mystery girl. 116 min. DVD 9310 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'appât (Fresh bait) (1995) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Marie Gillain, Olivier Sitruk, Bruno Putzulu, Clotilde Courau, Marie Ravel, Philippe Duclos, Richard Berry. A drama based on a shocking true story of greed and murder. Getting rich quick is the idea; robbery, torture, and murder are the plan. Nathalie, Eric, and Bruno lure men with the promise of sex with Nathalie. Two men enter the apartment, never to be seen alive again. 112 min. DVD 8822 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Argent (Money) (1983) Directed by Robert Bresson. Cast: Christian Patey, Vincent Risterucci, Caroline Lang, Sylvie Van den Elsen. Adapted from the story "The forged note" by Tolstoy, Bresson's film tells of the tragic chain of events which ensue when two schoolboys pass a forged banknote in a photography shop. The note is transferred to the unwitting Yvon, a delivery driver, who is arrested for possessing it. Despite being cleared by the court, Yvon loses his job and becomes trapped in a disastrous spiral of theft, imprisonment and murder. Special features: 2 interviews with Robert Bresson; Interview with Marguerite Duras; Theatrical trailer. 82 min. DVD 9438 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Robert Bresson bibliography L'Argent de poche (Small Change) (1976) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Nicole Felix, Tania Torrens, Jean-Francois Stevenin, Chantal Mercier. A poetic comedy about a group of children as they experience life from early childhood to adolescence. Truffaut interweaves vignettes of puppy love, school days, bragging rights, trips to the movie house, loving parents and one boy's escape from child abuse, as he explores the range of young emotions from humour to fantasy to the serious side of life. 105 min. DVD 513; VHS 999:2187 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'armée des ombres (Army of Shadows) (France / Italy, 1969) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Paul Crauchet, Claude Mann, Christian Barbier, Serge Reggiani. A civil engineer who is one of the French Resistance's chiefs is given away by a traitor and interned in a camp. He manages to escape, and joins his network at Marseilles, where he makes the traitor be executed... Follows the everyday life of the French Resistants : their solitude, their fears, their relationships, the arrests, the forwarding of orders and their carrying out. Special features: Audio commentary by film historian Ginette Vincendeau; new interviews with Lhomme and editor Francoise Bonnot; archival video excerpts, including on-set footage and interviews with Mellville, cast members, writer Joseph Kessel, and real-life Resistance fighters; "Jean-Pierre Melville et 'L'armee des ombres'" (2005), a short program on the director and his film; "Le journal de las Resistance" (1944), a rare short documentary shot on the front lines of the final days of German-occupied France; and a film restoration demonstration by Lhomme. 145 min. DVD 7536 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Artemisia (France / Germany / Italy, 1997) Directed by Agnes Merlet. Cast: Michel Serrault, Valentina Cervi, Miki Manojlovic, Brigitte Catillon, Maurice Garrel, Emmanuelle Devos. Tells the provocative true story of the beautiful and talented daughter of one of Italy's greatest painters. When Artemisia Gentileschi is forbidden to fully pursue her own passion of painting, she convinces a renowned artist to tutor her. He not only liberates her into the world of art but initiates her into the world of sex and love. 96 min. DVD 6109 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) (1957) Directed by Louis Malle. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly. The plot to murder his lover's husband backfires when the murderer is stuck in an elevator on the way out. Meanwhile, his car is stolen by two young delinquents who kill some German tourists with his gun and now he is charged with two murders. With a very cool musical score by Miles Davis. 87 min. DVD 5933; DVD 9353 (PAL); DVD 9353 vhs 999:3729 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Louis Malle bibliography L'Atalante (1934) Directed by Jean Vigo. Story follows some newlyweds on their barge, the "L'Atalante," up the Seine River. The bride is bored and, craving the excitement of Paris, starts flirting with men. Restored with additional footage, 87 min.: DVD 3482; vhs 999:2965; 82 min. version: DVD 1720; vhs 999:5 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Atlantide (Queen of Atlantis) (1921) Directed by Jacques Feyder. Cast:Jean Angelo, Georges Melchior, Stacia Napierkowska, Marie-Louise Iribe. Two young officers, Saint-Avit and Morhange, get lost in the desert and become prisoners of the beautiful Antinea, queen of Atlantis. Saint-Avit is blinded by his love for her, and she orders him to kill his comrade. "Filmed on location in the Sahara, the desert, with its burning sun and vast expanse of sand, is the real star of this adventure." 163 min. DVD 6474 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Au bonheur des dames (1930) Directed by Julien Duvivier. Cast: Dita Parlo, Ginette Maddie, Andrée Brabant, Pierre de Guingand. Denise, an orphaned girl, moves to Paris where she hopes to find work at her uncle's store. But the glamorous department store 'Aux Bonheur des Dames' across the street crunches all the little businesses around. She finds a position there despite the fact that the store is threatening to put her uncle out of business. Bonus features: Introduction by French film collector Serge Bromberg; featurette on recording the music score; La ventre d'un magasin: a short documentary about a department store. 89 min. DVD X2002 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Au Coeur du Mensonge (1998) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Jacques Gamblin, Antoine de Caunes, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Set in a French fishing community, Rene is a primary suspect in the rape and murder of a young girl. His wife Viviane supports him even while conducting an affair with a celebrity writer. Rene and Viviane's lives come under close scrutiny, which puts further strain on their relationship. Meanwhile the chief of police is also looking at a TV journalist, a small-time crook who fences stolen goods, and a curious married couple who run a local shop. 113 min. DVD 6603 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) Directed by Robert Bresson. Cast: Anne Wiazemsky, François LaFarge, Philippe Asselin, Nathalie Joyaut. Man's inhumanity to man is the central and often cruel theme of Bresson's perhaps most well rounded and moving film. Balthazar, a donkey, is the main character, and the film traces his birth, life and death and the various tasks he is set: drawing a carriage, a child's plaything, circus attraction, turning a grindstone, and finally a drug smuggler's transport. PAL format. 91 min. DVD 5385; vhs 999:3256 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Robert Bresson bibliography Au Revoir les Enfants (Goodbye, Children) (1987) Directed by Louis Malle. Based on the director's life, this film chronicles Malle's experiences during the German occupation of France in World War II. Julien (Malle) is 12 years old, and the smartest boy in his class at a Catholic boarding school when a new student appears. The two form a friendship and Julien soon discovers that his new friend is a Jew who must be hidden in their school from German soldiers. 103 min. DVD 5379; vhs 999:1434 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Movie Review Query Engine L'Auberge espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) (2002) Directed by Cedric Klapisch. Cast: Romain Duris, Judith Godreche, Audrey Tautou, Cecile De France, Kelly Reilly, Cristina Brondo, Federico D'Anna, Barnaby Metschurat, Christian Pagh, Kevin Bishop, Xavier de Guillebon. Xavier is a straight-laced French college senior who moves to Barcelona as part of a student exchange program, much to the dismay of his beautiful girlfriend. But sharing cramped quarters with students from all over Europe quickly leads to multi-cultural chaos as Xavier gets an eye-opening lesson on how to live, love, laugh and party. 122 min. DVD 2837 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Aventure Malgache (with Bon Voyage) (1944) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Two films made by Hitchcock during WW II at the request of the British government. When viewed by government officials they decided that the films were inflammatory and withheld them from distribution. The first, Bon Voyage, is about an RAF pilot who has escaped from a POW camp and made his way back to London with the help of the French resistance. The second, Aventure malgache, is set in Vichy-controlled Madagascar where the Resistance leader battles to keep his island free. 58 min. DVD 1031; 999:990 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob (The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob) (1973) Director, Gérard Oury. Cast: Louis De Funes, Marcel Dalio, Suzy Delair. Victor Pivert, a blustering, anti-Semitic French factory owner en route to his daughter's wedding, unwittingly stumbles on a group of Arab terrorists. After Victor is captured and escapes, he hides himself by dressing up as a rabbi, leading to one madcap situation after another. 100 min. DVD 2478 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Baise-moi (Rape Me) (2000) Directed and written by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi. Cast: Raffaela Anderson, Karen Bach. Manu is violently raped by a group of savage young thugs. Nadine, a tough-skinned prostitute, sells her body but refuses to give up her soul. Chance unites them and together they embark on a twisted rage-filled road trip of sex and murder. A vividly nihilist road movie set in France, controversial for its violence and real sex scenes. 77 min. DVD 1834 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Baisers volés (Stolen Kisses) (1968) Directed by François Truffaut. Featuring Jean-Pierre Leaud, Delphine Seyrig, Claude Jade, Michel Lonsdale, Harry Max, André Falcon, Daniel Ceccaldi, Claire Duhamel. The third in the Antoine Doinel series, (first told in the film The 400 Blows) and in many respects the autobiography of François Truffaut. After his dishonorable discharge from the army, Antoine embarks on a series of ill-fated jobs, finally settling on an amusing stint as a private dectective. In his ever-turbulent love life, he finds himself torn between an attractive, serious-minded young violinist and a glamorous, older married woman. 90 min. DVD 1727, part 2; DVD 116 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database François Truffaut bibliography La Balance (1982) Directed by Bob Swaim. Cast: Nathalie Baye, Philippe Leotard, Richard Berry. The special French police force, the Territorial Brigade, needs an informer after the murder of one of their own. They put the squeeze on Dede, a pimp, and Nicole, his girlfriend. 104 min. 999:3572 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Ballon rouge (Red Balloon) (1956) Directed by Albert Lamorisse. Academy award winning children's film about a young French boy who makes friends with a bright red balloon that joins him as he goes to school, plays with his friends, etc. No dialogue, entire story told in music and sound. 34 min. DVD 9639; vhs 999:991 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bande à part (Band of Outsiders) (1964) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur, Sami Frey. Loneliness and desperation of French urban life are major themes in this film about three young Parisians who rob a suburban house only to find that their carefree caper has tragic consequences. "This Godard film is like a reverie of a gangster movie--a gangster movie as students in an espresso bar might remember it or plan it. It has the gangster-film virtues (loyalty, daring) but they are mixed with innocence, amorality, lack of equilibrium. It's as if a French poet took a banal American crime novel and told it to us in terms of the romance and beauty he read between the lines." [Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies. (Main Stack PN1995.K19 1982)] 95 min. DVD 1539; vhs 999:756 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Bande des quatre (Gang of Four) (1988) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Ines d'Almeida, Laurence Cote, Ir`ene Jacob, Bulle Ogier, Fejria Deliba, Benoît Regent. Anna, Joyce, Claude and Lucia are all students under the tutelage of Constance Dumas. Lucia moves in with the other girls in a small house outside of Paris. Soon after, Lucia is attacked on the street outside her home and saved by a mysterious stranger. Then she discovers that the stranger is involved with all the girls and is hiding a dark secret inside the house. 155 min. DVD 4584 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jacques Rivette bibliography Les Bas-Fonds (The Lower Depths) (1936) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Jean Gabin, Louis Jouvet, Jany Holt, Junie Astor, Vladimir Sokoloff. A Baron, forced by circumstances, gives up his life of luxury and takes up residence in the slums of Paris. The Baron observes the frustrated romance between Wasska Pepel and Natacha, the thwarted dreams of an actor, and the oppressive cruelties of landlord Kostileff. 93 min. DVD 2769 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography La Bataille du Rail (The Battle of the Rails) (1946) Directed by René Clément. Cast: Marcel Barnault, Jean Clarieux, Jean Daurand, Tony Laurent, Lucien Desagneaux, François Joux, Pierre Latour. During the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, French railway workers bravely battled the Nazis on many fronts, from transporting forbidden mail to committing acts of sabotage. They became an invaluable part of the French resistance. 85 min. DVD 5097 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bowles, Brett. "Documentary Realism and Collective Memory in Post-War France, 1945-1955." Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television, Jun2007, Vol. 27 Issue 2, p251-258, 8p UC users only Torchin, Leshu. "La Bataille du Rail/Forbidden Games." Cineaste, Winter2006, Vol. 32 Issue 1, p66-68, 3pUC users only Le Beau mariage (1982) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Beatrice Romand, Andre Dussollier, Arielle Dombasle, Thamila Mezbah, Feodor Atkine, Vincent Gauthier, Sophie Renoir. An impulsive young art student, tired of the complications of freedom and insecurity, ends an affair with a painter and decides she wants to get married. She picks out a prosperous lawyer and confidently sets out to catch him, only to be ensnared by her increasingly obsessive scheming when she refuses to accept his polite indifference. 95 min. DVD 9458; DVD 9100 (non-US DVD; French w/out English subtitles) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Eric Rohmer bibliography Le Beau Serge (Handsome Serge) (1958) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Gérard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette Lafont, Michele Meritz, Edmond Beauchamp. Theology student François returns to his native Creuse and finds that the village hasn't changed much in the past decade, but his old friend Serge has become a drunkard. François tries to find out what happened to him and then attempts to help him. 98 min. 999:3655 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Harper, Dan. "Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge" Senses of Cinema, vol. 13, pp. (no pagination), Spring 2001. Claude Chabrol bibliography Beau Travail (1998) Director, Claire Denis. Cast: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Gregoire Colin, Richard Courcet. Story of a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion in Djibouti whose ordered life is turned upside down with the arrival of a new recruit who finds favor with the unit's commander. Loosely based on Herman Melville's Billy Budd. 90 min. DVD 2901; vhs 999:3161 (PAL format tape) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bedwin Hacker (France / Morocco / Tunisia, 2002) Directed by Nadia El Fani. Cast: Sonia Hamza, Muriel Solvay, Nadia Saiji, Tomer Sisley, Xaviers Desplas. From a remote mountain village in Tunisia a female hacker hijacks the airwaves in Northern Africa and France to broadcast political messages. When a French intelligence officer gets on the case, things quickly turn into a cat-and-mouse game as the two women play each other to get what they want. 105 min. DVD 5763 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Martin, Florence.. "Transvergence and cultural detours: Nadia El Fani's Bedwin Hacker (2002)." Studies in French Cinema, 2007, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p119-129, 11p UC users only La Belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast) (1946) Directed by Jean Cocteau. Cast: Jean Marais, Josette Day. Dramatized adaptation of the classic fairy tale. Tells the fable of the kindly beast and the self-sacrificing beauty whose love releases the prince in him. Contains such visual displays as tears that become real diamonds and walls that grow arms to light Beauty's path through the castle of the Beast. 90 min. DVD 216; VHS 999:113 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Belle de Jour (France / Italy, 1967) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page. Subtle, erotic film about a wealthy young surgeon's wife who indulges her masochistic fantasies by working as a part-time prostitute in a Paris brothel. 95 min. DVD 1104; vhs 999:1113 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Une belle fille comme moi (A Gorgeous Girl Like Me; Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me) (1972) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Bernadette Lafont, Claude Brasseur, Charles Denner, Guy Marchand. While researching his book, a naive sociologist embarks on a programme of interviews with female criminals. Camille Bliss tells him the story of her life and finally entangles him in her web of deceit and murder. Based on the novel: Such a gorgeous kid like me by Henry Farrell. 93 min. DVD X2057 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Belle Noiseuse (The Beautiful Troublemaker) (1990) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Beart. Piccoli stars as a famous artist who has suffered painter's block since abandoning his masterpiece, a painting of his wife Liz, entitled `La Belle Noiseuse'. Disturbing tensions develop when a young artist and his girlfriend, visiting him in his South of France retreat, inspire him to return to the canvas, using the girl as his new model. 229 min. DVD 5522; DVD 4585 (PAL, without subtitles) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Belle toujours (Portugal / France, 2006) Directed by Manoel de Oliveira. Cast: Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier, Ricardo Trêpa, Leonor Baldaque, Júlia Buisel. A sequel to Luis Buñuel's 1967 film Belle de jour. Thirty-eight years after their last encounter, Henri thinks he sees Séverine, now a widow. He blackmails her into seeing him by threatening to reveal her dark secret-- that years ago she had been a prostitute. Special features: Interviews with Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier and Ricardo Trêpa; featurette on the film's world premiere at the Venice Film Festival; trailer; film and set stills gallery; credits. 70 min. DVD X2153 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Bête humaine (The Human Animal) (1938) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux, Julian Carette, Blanchette Brunoy. A visually stunning adaptation of Zola's novel of passion, violence and destiny. Railroad engineer Jacques Lantier, descended from a family subject to madness, falls in love with a beautiful married woman, the seemingly innocent, sensuous Severine. Plotting together to kill her husband, circumstances spin out of control, and he strangles her instead. 104 min. DVD 5029; DVD 3494 (PAL); VHS 999:1917 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Betty (1991) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Marie Trintignant, Stephane Audran, Jean-Francois Garreaud, Yves Lambrecht, Christiane Minazzoli, Pierre Vernier. Betty Etamble, a promiscuous and alcoholic woman who has lost her family, ends an evening at a bar and meets Laure, an elegant retiree who lives in a luxury hotel. Laure takes the girl under her wing, and gradually details of her sinister story unfold and evolves into a lethal game of cat and mouse. 105 min. DVD 6597 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Betty Fisher et autres histoires (Alias Betty) (France / Canada, 2001) Directed by Claude Miller. Cast: Sandrine Kiberlain, Nicole Garcia, Mathilde Seigner, Luck Mervil, Edouard Baer, Stephane Freiss, Yves Jacques, Roschdy Zem. Betty is a best selling novelist who has invented her name to escape a troubled past made worse by her emotionally unstable and violent mother. When her young son is killed in an accident, her mother brings her a "replacement", a boy she kidnapped off the street. 98 min. DVD 3893 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Blanc (White; Three Colors: White; Bialy; Trois couleurs: Blanc) (1993) Director, Krysztof Kieslowski. See East Europe Cinema filmography DVD 1749; vhs 999:2280 Bleu (Trois Couleurs: Bleu; Blue) (France / Poland / Switzerland / UK, 1993) Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Regent, Hélène Vincent, Florence Pernel, Charlotte Very, Emmunuelle Riva. A young woman is left devastated by the unexpected death of her husband and child. She retreats from the world around her, but is soon reluctantly drawn into an ever-widening web of lies and passion as the dark, secret life of her husband begins to unravel. 99 min. DVD 1748; vhs 999:2346 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bob Le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler) (1955) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Isabel Corey, Daniel Cauchy, Roger Duchesne, Guy Decomble, Andrée Garet. Bob the Gambler finds out that the Deauville Casino expects to pull in 800 million francs on a certain date. On the night of the heist, Bob plays at the casino tables where before dawn breaks some of the men and women will win, some will lose and some will die. 95 min. DVD 1264; vhs 999:413 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bon voyage (with Aventure malgache) (1944) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Two films made by Hitchcock during WW II at the request of the British government. When viewed by government officials they decided that the films were inflammatory and withheld them from distribution. The first, Bon Voyage, is about an RAF pilot who has escaped from a POW camp and made his way back to London with the help of the French resistance. The second, Aventure malgache, is set in Vichy-controlled Madagascar where the Resistance leader battles to keep his island free. 58 min. DVD 1031; vhs 999:990 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Bonheur (Happiness) (1965) Directed by Agnes Varda. Cast: Jean-Claude Drouot, Claire Drouot, Marie-France Boyer, Sandrine Drouot, Oliver Drouot. An amiable, young carpenter decides that he will be happiest with both a wife and a mistress. His affair however, leads to tragedy as his wife tries to accept the situation but at a picnic drowns herself. Special DVD features: "The two women of Le bonheur" (2006), a short film; Thoughts on "Le bonheur" (2006), a discussion; two short pieces by Varda investigating people's idea of happiness; "Jean-Claude Drouot returns" (2006) featurette; segment from the 1964 television program Demons et merveilles du cinema, featuring footage of Varda shooting Le bonheur; interview with Varda from 1998; "Du cote de la cote" (1958), a short film; theatrical trailer; production notes. 85 min. DVD 9074; vhs Video 999:1982 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La bonne année (Happy New Year) (1973) Directed by Claude Lelouch. Cast: Lino Ventura, Françoise Fabian, Charles Gérard, André Falcon. Simon develops an intricate plan to meet the lovely lady who operates the antique shop next to Van Cleef & Arpels, the location of his next jewelry heist. The attraction is undeniable, but Simon is a professional and will not let romance get in his way --or will he? 102 min. DVD X2053 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Bonnes femmes (Good Girls) (1965) Directed by Cladue Chabrol. Cast: Bernadette Lafont, Clotilde Joano, Stephane Audran, Lucile Saint-Simon, Mario David. In the drab Paris of the early sixties, four shop-keeping girls are looking for love. While their lecherous boss savors every opportunity to deliver a dressing down, the girls find emotional escape by flirting with delivery men, wandering the and gossiping about the enigmatic motorcyclist who hangs about. A tense yet airy drama that characterizes the best films of the French new wave. 93 min. DVD 320 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Le Boucher (The Butcher) (1969) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Stephane Audran, Jean Yanne, Antonio Passalia. In a provincial French town, a sophisticated schoolmistress avoids attachments but strikes up a congenial friendship with the charmingly passionate local butcher, a veteran of Indochina. As a serial killer spreads terror throughout the countryside, the effort of these two people to come back from their emotional islands to some kind of mutual understanding and reality builds from oblique tenderness and humor to shattering tragedy. 87 min. DVD 1733 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Boudu sauvé des eaux (Boudu Saved From Drowning) (1932) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Michel Simon, Marcelle Hainia, Severine Lerczynsha, Jean Gehret, Max Dalban, Jean Baste, Charles Granval. A well-off bookseller rescues a tramp from a suicidal plunge into the Seine and his family dedicates itself to reforming him. He shows his gratitude by shaking the household to its foundations, challenging the hidebound principles of his hosts. Special DVD features: Archival introduction by Jean Renoir; excerpt from a "Cineastes de notre temps" program, featuring Renoir and Michel Simon; new video interview with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin; archival interview with Eric Rohmer; interactive map of 1930s Paris, featuring locations for the film; a new essay by Renoir scholar Christopher Faulkner. 87 min. DVD 4359; vhs 999:118 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Boulangère de Monceau (The Girl at the Monceau Bakery) (1963) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Barbet Schroeder, Claudine Soubrier, Michèle Girardon. The story of a young man who becomes infatuated with a woman he sees on the street, but after several days without seeing her again sets his sights on a girl in the local bakery, eventually having to choose between them. (DVD 211 includes Suzanne's Career/La Carriere de Suzanne, another of the "six films that make up the Moral Tales.") (26 min.) DVD 6054; DVD 211 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Eric Rohmer bibliography À Bout de souffle (Breathless) (1960) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Liliane David, Daniel Boulanger, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Francois Truffaut. In this groundbreaking new wave classic a playful car thief accidentally shoots a policeman, then hides out in Paris with a hip American girl, trying to hustle enough cash for a getaway. DVD 8726 includes: Disc one: Archival interviews with director Jean-Luc Godard and actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, and Jean-Pierre Melville ; French theatrical trailer -- Disc two: new video interviews with Coutard, asst. director Pierre Rissient, and filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker ; new video essays: filmmaker Mark Rappaport's Jean Seberg and critic Jonathan Rosenbaum's "Breathless as Criticism" ; "Chambre 12, Hotel de Suede," an 80 min. French documentary about the making of Breathless with members of the cast and crew ; "Charlotte et son Jules," a 1959 short by Godard starring Belmondo ; plus: a book featuring an essay by scholar Dudley Andrew, writings by Godard, Francois Truffaut's original film treatment, and Godard's scenario. 90 min. DVD 8726; DVD 937; VHS 999:417 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bye-Bye (France / Belgium / Switzerland, 1995) Director, Karim Dridi. Cast: Sami Bouajila, Nozha Kouadra, Philippe Ambrosini. After a family tragedy, two young French-Arab brothers leave Paris and end up on the door step of their uncle and his family in Marseilles. Once there, the two are pulled apart as one is seduced by the streets and its life of drugs and crime, while the other desperately seeks to rescue his brother without falling to its temptations. 107 min. 999:3497 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Ça commence aujourd'hui (It All Starts Today) (1999) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Philippe Torreton, Nadia Kaci, Maria Pitarresi. Daniel is schoolmaster of a kindergarten in a small French town. The local economy, which depended entirely on coal production, has been mired in a depression ever since the mines were closed. When their parents fall into utter discouragement or even poverty because of prolonged unemployment, the children suffer the consequences. Daniel is confronted daily with difficult situations and he feels required to deal with them although they are outside the scope of his responsibilities. 114 min. DVD 8816 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Caché (France / Austria / Germany / Italy, 2005) Directed by Michael Haneke. Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Benichou, Annie Girardot, Bernard Le Coq, Walid Afkir, Lester Makedonsky, Daniel Duval, Nathalie Richard, Denis Podalydes, Aissa Maiga. A talk show host and his wife and son seem to be living an ideal life until clandestinely-filmed videotapes of their private lives start to show up on their front porch. As the tapes reveal more secrets, the resulting stress and fear leads to conflict, obsession, and deceit for the couple and brings back episodes from the husband's childhood when he wronged a young Algerian boy. Special features: Interview with director Michael Haneke and Serge Toubiana (ca. 25 min.); behind-the-scenes featurette (ca. 32 min.). 118 min. DVD 6929 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Café au lait (Métisse) (France / Belgium, 1993) Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Cast: Julie Mauduech, Herbert Kounde, Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassell, Jean-Pierre Cassell. Lola, a West Indian beauty, confronts her two lovers with her impending motherhood, then flatly refuses to reveal which of the two men is the father. At first, they compete for the right to help Lola through her pregnancy, but soon the three come to a bohemian accord to share the responsibilities of parenthood. 94 min. 999:3496 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Higbee, Will. "The return of the political, or designer visions of exclusion? The case for Mathieu Kassovitz's 'fracture sociale' trilogy." Studies in French Cinema; 2005, Vol. 5 Issue 2, p123-135, 13pUC users only La Cage aux folles (1979) Directed by Edouard Molinaro. Cast: Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, Michel Galabru, Claire Maurier, Remi Laurent, Carmen Scarpitti, Benny Luke, Luisa Maneri. A farce involving a flamboyant homosexual couple's attempt to appear to be conventional parents in front of the prospective in-laws of the son of one of the men. 99 min. DVD 782; VHS 999:976 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Sikov, Ed. "Homosexuals, Bandits, and Gangsters: Gay Images in La Cage aux Folles." Cineaste, vol. 11 no. 4. 1982. pp: 30-35. Tavernier-Courbin, Jacqueline. "La Cage aux Folles as Comedy of Manners: From the Play to the Film." Thalia: Studies in Literary Humor, vol. 7 no. 2. 1984 Fall-Winter. pp: 44-50. La Cage aux folles II (1981) Director, Marcello Danon. Cast: Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, Marcel Bozzuffi, Paola Barboni, Giovanni Vettorazzo, Benny Luke. Continues the story of Albin and Renato, a gay couple who are proprieters of a transvestite nightclub. When Albin feels his attractiveness to Renato is waning, he sets out to make Renato jealous, with the disasterous yet hilarious result of embroiling them in a spy caper. 100 min. DVD 783 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Camille Claudel (1989) Directed by Bruno Nuytten. Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, Madeleine Robinson, Laurent Grevill, Philippe Clevenot. A historically accurate depiction of one of the most important collaborations in the history of art, that of legendary sculptor Rodin, and the creative prodigy Camille Claudel. 149 min. DVD 518; VHS 999:1154 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Capitaine Conan (1996) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Philippe Torreton, Samuel Le Bihan, Bernard Le Coq, Catherine Rich, François Berléand, Claude Rich. Conan, a dedicated career soldier, serves the band of fifty French irregulars under his command in the Great War. After the signing of the 1919 Armistice, Conan lays down his arms and attempts to extricate his men from the war but his troops continue to fight for nine months after the war is ended. Based on the novel by Roger Vercel. 130 min. DVD 1256 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le caporal épinglé (The Elusive Corporal (1962) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Jean-Pierre Cassel, Claude Brasseur, O.E. Hasse, Claude Rich, Jacques Jouanneau, Mario David, Jean Carmet, Guy Bedos, Sacha Briquet. Set in a German P.O.W. camp in 1940, this is the story of a French corporal who is determined to escape to return to Paris and fight once more. 96 min. DVD 7586 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography La Captive (2000) Directed by Chantal Akerman. Cast: Stanislas Merhar, Sylvie Testud, Olivia Bonamy, Liliane Rovere, Aurore Clément. Simon is obsessed with Ariane and keeps her as his willing captive. She tolerates his elaborate desires, his endless interrogations and surveillance. Still Ariane is able to maintain her own reserve of privacy, her own mental and physical freedom. Although often affectionate to Simon, Ariane prefers women and so leads a double life. But this only magnifies Simon's pain until his obsessive desires culminate in devastation and tragedy. 118 min. DVD 2321 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Beugnet, Martin; Schmid, Marion. "Filming jealously: Chantal Akerman's La Captive (2000)." Studies in French Cinema; 2002, Vol. 2 Issue 3, p157, 7p UC users only McKibbin, Tony. "La Captive and the power of love." Studies in French Cinema; 2003, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p93-99, 7p UC users only Chantal Akerman bibliography Les Carabiniers (1963) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Albert Juross, Marino Mase, Catherine Ribeiro, Geneviève Galea, Jean Brassat, Gérard Poirot. Centers on two peasants who join the King's army. Seduced by the promise of riches, the two leave their wives and embark into the war sending postcards home that detail their conquests. Upon their return, they learn that a peace treaty has been signed and in turn, are betrayed by the king for their overzealousness. 80 min. DVD 1835 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean-Luc Godard bibliography Un Carnét de Bal (1937) Directed by Julien Duvivier. Cast: Marie Bell, Françoise Rosay, Harry Baur, Louis Jouvet, Fernandel. Story of a widow who uncovers a 20-year old dance card from a ball and decides to find all her former partners. None of the men have come out well and the one man she truly loved committed suicide and orphaned his son. The widow adopts the boy. 125 min. Video/C 999:3769 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Carrière de Suzanne (Suzanne's Career) (1963) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Examines the relationship between a timid Parisian student, and his lecherous friend, who both become interested in the same girl. (DVD 211 includes The Girl at the Monceau Bakery/La Boulangère de Monceau, another of the "six films that make up the Moral Tales.") 52 min. DVD 6053; DVD 211 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Carrosse d'or (The Golden Coach)(1953) Director Jean Renoir. Cast: Anna Magnani, Odoardo Spadaro, Nada Fiorelli, Dante, Duncan Lamont, Paul Campbell, Jean Debucourt. An eighteenth-century comic fantasy about a viceroy in Central America who receives a golden coach and gives it to the tempestuous star of a touring commedia dell'arte company. 103 min. DVD 2914 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Casque d'or (Golden Marie)(1952) Director Jean Renoir. Cast: Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Claude Dauphin, Raymond Bussières, Gaston Modot, Paul Barge, Dominique Davray, Daniel Mendaille. In an open-air dance hall, the members of Leca's gang are relaxing with their ladies. One of the ladies, Marie, meets Manda, who is a carpenter by trade. Marie's man Roland is a jealous sort and does not like the idea of Marie and Manda becoming friendly, and Leca himself has his eye on Marie. What follows is a story of love, death, friendship and jealousy during the Belle Epoque. Special features: Audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie; 1995 video interview with actor Serge Reggiani; 1960 interview with actress Simone Signoret from the French television program 'Cinepanorama'; excerpt from an episode of the French television series 'Cineastes de notre temps', dedicated to Jacques Becker; rare, silent behind-the-scenes footage of Becker on the set, with commentary by film scholar Philip Kemp; new essay by Kemp. 94 min. DVD 6623 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hayward, Susan. " Signoret's star persona and redressing the costume cinema: Jacques Becker's Casque d'Or (1952)." Studies in French Cinema, 2004, Vol. 4 Issue 1, p15-28, 14p UC users only Jean Renoir bibliography Céline et Julie vont en bateau (Céline and Julie Go Boating) (1974) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Marie-France Pisier, Philippe Clévenot, Barbet Schroeder. "A brilliantly allusive meditation on the nature of fantasy, this is regarded by many as Jacques Rivette's most accomplished film. Two girls meet and wind up sharing each others' lives -- same flat, same fiance, same clothes -- even the same imagination. The film spins a circular, tortuous fantasy around their lives while at the same time acting as a meditation on the art of cinema itself." 193 min. 999:1758 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Cercle rouge (Red Circle) (1970) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Alain Delon, André Bourvil, Gian Maria Volante, Yves Montand, Paul Crauchet, François Perier. A master thief is fresh out of prison. But instead of toeing the line, he finds his steps leading back to the shadowy world of crime. He, a notorious escapee, and an alcoholic ex-cop plan a jewel heist, while being persued by a police superintendent. 140 min. DVD 2201 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Cérémonie (1996) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Featuring Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Bonnaire, Jacqueline Bissett, Jean Pierre Cassel. An eccentric housekeeper for a wealthy French family and her boisterous postal worker friend unleash a vicious rampage against the bourgeois family. 111 min. DVD 2889; vhs 999:2192 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database César (Fanny Trilogy) (1936) Directed by Marcel Pagnol. This is the last film of Pagnol's Fanny trilogy (titles: Marius, Fanny, César). Fanny's son César is told his real father is not Fanny's husband but rather Marius. The young man sets out to find his father and through his efforts Fanny and Marius, still in love, are finally united after 20 years. 133 min. DVD 2751; vhs 999:773 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Marcel Pagnol bibliography Cet obscur objet du désir (That Obscure Object of Desire) (France / Spain, 1977) Directed by Luis Buñuel. A middle-aged man falls in love with a much younger woman in this satire on sexual obsession. 100 min. DVD 944; VHS 999:1590 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Un Chant d'Amour (1947) Jean Genet's story of male prisoners and a prison guard expressing self love and love for each other. Male homosexual expression is shown together with masturbation, sadism, and fantasy. 28 min. DVD 5413; vhs 999:1070 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Giles, Jane. The Cinema of Jean Genet: Un Chant d'amour / Jane Giles. London: BFI Publishing, 1991. (Main Stack PN1998.A3.G445 1991) Adnum, Mark. "Un Chant d'amour." Senses of Cinema: An Online Film Journal Devoted to the Serious and Eclectic Discussion of Cinema. 27: (no pagination). 2003 July-Aug. Barbaro, Fabrice. "Les idoles et la distance" (Un chant d'amour, Genet's only film) Cahiers du Cinema no435 Sept 1990. p. 74-5 Giles, Jane. "Un chant d'amour par Jean Genet" Artforum International v 26 Jan 1988. p. 102-6 Giles, Jane. The cinema of Jean Genet : Un chant d'amour / Jane Giles. London : BFI Publishing, 1991. (Main Stack PN1998.A3.G445 1991) Oswald, Laura. "The Perversion of I/Eye in Un Chant d'amour." Enclitic, vol. 7 no. 2. 1983 Fall. pp: 106-115. Un Chapeau de paille d'Italie (Italian Straw Hat) (1927) Directed by René Clair. Set in Paris, 1895, the plot concerns a frantic search for a duplicate of a Leghorn straw hat eaten by a horse. The hat is needed to allay a jealous husband's suspicion that his wife has been unfaithful. 114 min. 999:641 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Savage, John. "L'Amour Fou: nationalism, patriarchy and the nuptial farce in L'Âgege d'or and Un chapeau de paille d'Italie." Studies in French Cinema, 2007, Vol. 7 Issue 3, p243-258, 16p UC users only René Clair bibliography Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) (France / Italy / Spain, 1972) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Cast: Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stephane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Bulle Ogier, Paul Frankeur, Julien Bertheau. An all-star French cast assembles for an elegant dinner party, but whenever they try to eat, something happens to interrupt them. Mixes biting social satire with bold surrealistic invention as the dinner party serves to lampoon such targets as diplomats, wealthy socialites and even radical terrorists. 100 min. DVD 445; vhs 999:78 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Château de ma mère (My Mother's Castle) (1991) Directed by Yves Robert. Cast: Phillippe Caubère, Nathalie Roussel, Thérèse Liotard, Didier Pain. The story of Marcel Pagnol's childhood holidays in Provence continues in My Mother's Castle. During a Christmas in the region Marcel's affection for the area deepens and he also learns to love and appreciate his Mother's true nature. Based on the work of Marcel Pagnol. 98 min. DVD 2922; vhs 999:960 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Chien Andalou (1929) Directed by Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dali. This surrealistic movie was written over the course of a three day exchange of fantasies and dreams with Salvador Dali. Silent with musical accompaniment and original French intertitles. 16 min. DVD 3341; vhs 999:2252; vhs 999:173 (with 'Land Without Bread') Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Chienne (1931) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Michel Simon, Janie Marèze, Georges Flamant, Magdalaine Berubet. "Cashier Maurice Legrand is married to Adele, a terror. By chance, he meets Lucienne, "Lulu", and make her his mistress. He thinks he finally met love, but Lulu is nothing but a streetwalker, in love with Dede, her pimp. She only accepts Legrand to satisfy Dede's needs of money." [IMDB] 55 min. 999:576 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Des Chiens dans la Neige (Wolves in the Snow) (Canada, 2002) Directed by Michel Welterlin. Cast: Marie-Josee Croze (as Marie Jose Croze), Jean Philippe Ecoffey, Romano Orzari, Anne Roussel, Antoine Lacomblez. Antoine has been cuckolding Lucie for years. A violent marital argument ensues resulting in Antoine's death. After lying about Antoine's whereabouts, Lucie discovers his secret life of gangsters, money laundering and violence. Followed, threatened and badgered by the gangsters, Lucie becomes trapped by her deceit. The body of Antoine disappears, other corpses appear, and the money, very quickly, becomes only the pretext of an alarming turn of events. 95 min. DVD 6345 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Chinoise (1968) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Anne Wiazemsky, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Michel Semeniako, Juliet Berto. Centers upon a small group of Parisian students who discuss the implications of the cultural revolution in China and how it may be possible to effect, by means of terrorism, a similar political and cultural upheaval in the West. Non-US format DVD (PAL, Region 2). 93 min. DVD 4262 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Chocolat (UK/US 2000) Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin, Johnny Depp. When a single mother and her young daughter move to rural France and open a chocolate shop - with Sunday hours - across the street from the local church, they are met with some resistance from the rigidly moral community. But as soon as the townspeople discover their delicious products, their attitudes begin to change. 122 min. DVD 1745 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Chocolat (France / West Germany / Cameroon, 1989) Directed by Claire Denis. Cast: Giulia Boschi, Isaach de Bankole, François Cluzet, Cecile Ducasse, Mireille Perrier. Frances Dalens has returned to Cameroon to trace her past. Soon the sights, sounds and smells sweep her back to her childhood and memories of the people who populated her youth. This is a mesmerizing memoir of life in colonial Africa in the 1950s, as seen through the unblinking eyes of the young daughter of a French official. 105 min. DVD 781; VHS 999:2088 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Choristes (The Chorus) (France / Switzerland / Germany, 2004) Directed by Christophe Barratier with Jean-Paul Bonnaire, Marie Bunel and Jean-Baptiste Maunier. Cast: Gérard Jugnot, François Berléand, Kad Merad, Jean-Paul Bonnaire, Marie Bunel, Paul Charieras. Unemployed music teacher Clément Mathieu becomes the supervisor at a French boarding school for the rehabilitation of minors. Dismayed by the repressive administration, he works to positively transform the students' lives through music. 97 min. DVD 3914 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Chute de la maison Usher (Fall of the House of Usher) (1928) Directed by Jean Epstein; Assistant Director, Buñuel. In an aristocratic English family the young lord finds to his horror, while painting his wife's portrait, that as the work progresses life drains from his lady. In this poetic horror film, called by some the most outstanding achievement of this genre, an absolute mastery of editing and rhythm is employed with lighting and Gothic sets combining to impart an unearthly sense of mystery. Based on two short stories by Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Oval Portrait". Silent film with music and French intertitles. 44 min. DVD DVD 360; vhs 999:1377 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Cinépoèmes & films parlants A collection of ten short films directed by the writer, Pierre Alferi, between 2000 and 2002, with music composed by Rodolphe Burger. The booklet contains English translations of extracts from Le Cinéma des familles. Contents" Films parlants: La Berceuse de Broadway -- La protection des animaux -- Coincés -- Élenfant -- Cinépoèmes: Elvin Jones -- Lapins du soir -- Atman -- Nuitée -- Ne l'oublie pas -- Tante Élisabeth. In French without English subtitles. 82 min. DVD X774 La Cité des enfants perdus (The City of Lost Children) (France / Germany / Spain, 1995) Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Cast: Ron Perman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Dominique Pinon, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Geneviève Brunet, Odile Mallet, Mireille Mosse. This fantastically-twisted fairy tale is chock-full of curious characters and special effects. A sad and heartbroken madman, Krank, is aging prematurely because he can't dream. He kidnaps little children, hoping that eventually he will find a way to steal their sleeping thoughts. The story takes the form of a quest, as a sentimental harpooner-turned-fairground strongman, One, sets out to find his young brother on a dilapidated oil rig. He soon falls in love with the gutsy nine-year old girl (who is head of the orphan gang), and together they run a gauntlet of fantastical dangers as they join hearts and hands to save a small boy's dreams from the madman's master plan. 114 min. DVD 3014; vhs 999:2352 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Classe tous risques (The Big Risk)(1960) Directed by Claude Stutet. Cast: Lino Ventura, Sandra Milo, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marcel Dalio, Claude Cerval, Jacques Dacqmine. After hiding out in Milan for nearly a decade, former gang boss Abel Davos sneaks back into Paris, along with his children and appointed guardian, Eric Stark. Beset by backstabbing former friends, Abel begins a journey through the postwar Parisian underworld that is both throat grabbing and soul searching. A character study of a career criminal at the end of his rope. Special features: Excerpts from "Claude Sautet ou la magie invisible:" a 2003 documentary on the director by N.T. Binh and Dominique Rabourdin; interview with Classe tous risques novelist and screenwriter Jose Giovanni; archival interview footage featuring actor Lino Ventura discussing his career; original French and U.S. theatrical trailers; booklet: features new essays by director Bertrand Tavernier and Binh, a reprinted interview with Sautet, and a 1962 tribute by Jean-Pierre Melville. 108 min. DVD X94 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Cléo de 5 à 7 (Cleo from 5 to 7) (1961) Directed by Agnes Varda. Cast: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, Dorothee Blank, Michel Legrand, Jose-Luis de Vilallonga. An intimate portrait of a woman who is waiting to learn if she has terminal cancer. The beautiful but spoiled Cleo searches for answers with a fortune-teller, then seeks comfort in the familiar as she shops for a hat, talks with friends, and rehearses a song. Shot almost entirely on location, this visually entrancing film captures the look, feel, and sounds of Paris as Cleo views the world with a new awareness. 90 min. DVD 1181; vhs 999:2203 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (Code Unknown: Incomplete Yales of Several Journeys)(France / Germany / Romania, 2000) Director, Michael Haneke. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Ona Lu Yenke, Sepp Bierbichler, Arsinee Khanjian. On a bustling Paris street corner four separate livesintersect, interweaving the stories of a promising actress, her photojournalist boyfriend, a teacher of African descent and a Romanian illegal immigrant in this portrait of life in a fractured, lonely world. 113 min. DVD 2051 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Collectionneuse (Collector-Girl) (1966) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Patrick Bauchau, Daniel Pommereulle, Haydee Politoff, Alain Jouffroy. A witty and erotic look at the theme of resisting sexual temptations. Two older men spend their holidays in a house near St. Tropez with a beautiful young girl who collects men the way some people collect art. Both men try to resist being added to her collection, however, they soon fall victim to her charms. 88 min. DVD 4346 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Eric Rohmer bibliography Comment ça va? (How is it Going?) (1976) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard and Anne Marie Mieville. Cast: Michel Marot, Anne-Marie Mieville. A middle-aged Communist editor and his young typist and collaborator set out to make a videotape about their magazine and printing plant. The young typist/collaborator takes issue with the rough cut. The film goes on to prove the corruptness of the entire process of gathering and transmitting information. 78 min. 999:2065 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où; il veut (Man Escaped) (1956) Director, Robert Bresson. Cast: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock. Based on a true story, tells of a French Resistance fighter who is sent to an infamous prison in 1943, where 7,000 of the 12,000 prisoners housed there died either by natural means or by execution. Lt. Fontaine is certain that execution awaits him, and begins planning his escape. For a period of time he goes it alone, but reluctantly takes on a partner. He gets some help from a couple of prisoners allowed to stroll in the exercise yard, but for the most part he is a figure of isolation. 100 min. DVD 2770 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Contes des Quatre Saisons (Tales of the Four Seasons) (1989-1998): Conte de Printemps (A Tale of Springtime) (1989) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Anne Teyssedre, Hugues Quester, Florence Darel. Romantic comedy about Jeanne, a philosophy teacher who doesn't want to stay at her boyfriend's apartment while he's away. At a party, she meets Natacha who invites Jeanne to stay with her at her father's place, since he's at his girlfriend's most of the time. What Natacha really wants is to start a romance between Jeanne and her father. Non-US (PAL) format DVD. 103 min. DVD 6387 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Conte d'Hiver (A Winter's Tale) (1988) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Charlotte Very, Frederick Van Den Driessche, Herve Furic, Michel Voletti. On holiday in Brittany, Felice has an idyllic romance which results in the birth of her child. She loses touch with the father and becomes obsessed with the lost love of her life. Non-US (PAL) format DVD. 110 min. DVD 6388 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Conte d'Ete (A Summer's Tale) (1989) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Melvil Poupaud, Amanda Langlet, Aurelia Nolin, Gwenaelle Simon. A graduate student takes a vacation and while waiting for his girlfriend, he becomes attracted to two other women. For the next three weeks, he must decide which woman he wants. Non-US (PAL) format DVD. 113 min. DVD 6389 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Conte d'automne (An Autumn Tale) (1990) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Marie Riviere, Beatrice Romand, Alain Libolt, Didier SAndré , Alexia Portal. Best friends Magali, a widowed winegrower, and Isabelle, a happily married bookshop owner, have known each other since childhood. Magali admits that she would enjoy some male companionship, prompting Isabelle to place a lonely hearts ad on her behalf, with unexpected results. Non-US (PAL) format DVD. 107 min. DVD 6390 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Coquille et le clergyman (The Seashell and the Clergyman) (1927) Directed by Germaine Dulac. a clergyman, committed by his calling to celibacy but in love with a romantic beauty, is afflicted by sexual torments he is unable to resolve. Silent with music and French intertitles. 32 min. DVD 4095; vhs 999:838 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Corbeau (The Raven) (1943) Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Cast: Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Micheline Francey, Helena Manson, Jeanne Frusier-Gir, Sylvie, Liliane Maigne, Pierre Larquey, Noel Roquevert. A mysterious writer of poison pen letters, known only as Le Corbeau, plagues a French provincial town, unwittingly exposing the collective suspicion and rancor seething beneath the community's calm surface. Brilliantly captures the spirit of paranoid pettiness and self-loathing turning an occupied French town into a twentieth-century Salem style witch-hunt. Made during the Nazi occupation of France, the film was attacked from all sides and banned after the Liberation. 91 min. DVD 3276; vhs 999:1650 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Corniaud (The Sucker) (France / Italy, 1964) Directed by Gérard Oury. Cast: Bourvil, Louis de Funes, Venantino Venantini, Jacques Eyser, Henri Virlojeux. After the luxury car of an import-export businessman crashes into his car, Antoine Marechal is offered, as compensation, an all-expenses-paid trip to Naples in a Cadillac. Marechal accepts eagerly, never dreaming what he is transporting. 90 min. 999:3174 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Coup de Torchon (1981) Directed by Bernard Tavernier. Cast: Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Stephane Audran, Eddy Mitchell, Guy Marchand, Irené Skobline. After Lucien Cordier, the only police officer in a small African village is ridiculed by the local pimp, cheated on by his wife, and suffers his mistresses being beaten, he begins to get rid of the evil ones in his life. 128 min. DVD 1797 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Speck, Oliver C. "The cesspool of colonial cinema: Coup de torchon by Bertrand Tavernier." Studies in French Cinema, 2006, Vol. 6 Issue 3, p207-217, 11p UC users only Bernard Tavernier bibliography Coup pour coup (Blow for Blow)(France / West Germany, 1971) Director, Marin Karmitz. Cast: Anne-Marie Bacquiér, Danielle Chinsky, Eva Damien, Maité Delamarre, Annick Fougery, Jean Hébert, Anne Lipinska, Christiane Rorato, Andre Rouyer, Jean Tervoort, André Watt. Collectively made by more than 100 factory workers, peasants, students, musicians and film-makers, this is a fictionalized account of a wildcat strike at a garment factory in France during which the seamstresses demand better working conditions. Special features: [Disc 1] preface and interviews (75 min.) ; [Disc 2] Le journal du tournage de Coup pour coup / document exclusif commente par Marin Karmitz (121 min.) ; Le conflict LIP 1973-1974 / Dominique Dubosc (59 min.) ; Presentation de Dominique Dubosc (10 min.) 161 min. DVD X2062 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le couple témoin (The Model Couple)(France / Switzerland, 1977) Director, William Klein. Cast: Andre Dussolier, Anemone, Georges Descri?eres, Jacques Boudet. The French Ministry of the Future chooses two "normal", white, middle-class citizens for a national experiment. They will be monitored and displayed on television in a model apartment outfitted with state-of-the-art products and non-stop surveillance--the template for "a new city for the new man." 101 min. DVD 9849 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Rapfogel, Jared. "The Delirious Fictions of William Klein.." Cineaste; Fall2008, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p20-23, 4p UC users only Cour Toujours (Dad on the Run) (2000) Director, Dante Desarthe. Cast: Clément Sibony, Rona Hartner, Isaac Sharry, Marie Desgranges, Emmanuelle Devos. Jonah, a young musician and father to a newborn son, learns at the last minute that, according to an obscure Jewish custom, he must rush to bury the foreskin of his just-circumcised son. 89 min. DVD 1709 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Cousins (The Cousins) (1959) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Gérard Blain, Jean Claude Brialy, Juliette Mayniel, Claude Cerval. A law student stays with his sophisticated cousin in Paris, and his life is altered. 110 min. 999:673 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Crainquebille (1922) Directed by Jacques Feyder. Cast: Maurice de Feraudy, Françoise Rosay, Felix Oudart. In this great satirical classic of the French cinema a Parisian street merchant is unjustly accused and jailed but afterwards finds happiness as a tramp. 77 min. DVD 6474 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (Crime of Monsieur Lange) (1936) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: René Lefevre, Florelle, Jules Berry, Marcel Levesque, Sylvia Bataille, Nadia Sibirskaia. A group of workers take over a publishing house when its crooked owner, Batala, absconds. Batala returns to resume control, but one of the workers, Lange, kills him to save the collective. 89 min.DVD 3494 (PAL); VHS 999:583 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les croix de bois (Wooden Crosses) (1932) Directed by Raymond Bernard. Cast: Pierre Blanchar, Gabriel Gabrio, Charles Vanel, Raymond Aimos, Antonin Artaud, Paul Azais, Rene Bergeron, Raymond Cordy. Film adaptation of the anti-war novel by Roland Dorgelès that follows a French regiment in World War I as it trudges from patriotism to disillusionment. 113 min. DVD 8175 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Jacques Weber, Anne Brochet, Vincent Perez, Roland Bertin. In 17th-century Paris, a long-nosed poet and swordsman helps his handsome friend win the girl he himself loves. 138 min. 999:505 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Daddy Nostalgie (1992) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Jane Birkin, Odette Laure, Emmanuelle Bataille, Charlotte Kady. A drama about reconciliation and family ties. This is the story of a daughter's return to the family villa to spend time with her mother and her dying father. Daddy and daughter have never been close, but they begin to develop a belated bond of intimacy and come to know and understand one another for the first time. 105 min. DVD 8827 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne) (1944) Directed by Robert Bresson. Cast: Cast: Maria Casarès, Paul Bernard, Elina Labourdette, Lucienne Bogaert, Jean Marchat. Hélène, a sophisticated but jaded socialite, realizes she has become indifferent to her longtime lover so she introduces him to her friend Agnes, hoping they will be attracted to one another. They are, but Agnes has a dark secret in her past, one which jeopardizes any chance for their happiness together. 83 min. DVD 2476; VHS 999:1342 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Powers, John. "Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne." (Review) Film Comment v35, n3 (May, 1999):38. Robert Bresson bibliography Danton(France / Poland / West Germany, 1982) Directed by Andrzej Wajda. Cast: Gerard Depardieu, Wojciech Pszoniak, Patrice Chereau, Roger Planchon, Jacques Villeret, Angela Winkler, Georges Danton, the popular revolutionary leader, returns to Paris at a time when the new Republic is in disarray. Maximilien Robespierre and his allies have set up a monstrous dictatorship, beginning the infamous "Reign of Terror." Danton pleads with the people for an end to the bloodshed which violates the spirit of their revolution. 166 min. DVD X1609; vhs 999:198 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) (France, 2005) Directed by Jacques Audiard. Cast: Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup, Linh-Dan Pham, Aure Atika, Emmanuelle Devos, Jonathan Zaccai, Gilles Cohen. In this remake of Fingers, Tom, a ne'er-do-well, works with two scheming real estate men who have little or no morals. He decides to return to the piano and become a concert pianist, like his mother. His piano teacher is a Chinese piano virtuoso who has recently come to live in France. She doesn't speak a lick of French so music becomes the only language they have in common. Before long, Jacques' bid to be a better person means that he begins to yearn for true love. But, when he finally has the chance of winning his best friend's wife, his passion only succeeds in scaring her. And then, one day, his dubious past comes to light... 107 min. X608 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Décade prodigieuse (Ten Days' Wonder) (Italy / France, 1972) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins, Marlene Jobert, Michel Piccoli. Divided into 10 days, the story focuses on the wealthy Van Horns. Orson Welles plays the eccentric tycoon who lives in an Alsatian chateau with his young wife and his adopted son, a sculptor given to hallucinatory fits that cause him to fear he has unknowingly committed murder. Of course, wife and son are having a passionate affair and being blackmailed, which sets in dizzying motion the complex plot. 105 min. DVD 1730 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (The Young Girls of Rochefort) (1967) Directed by Michel Legrand. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, George Chakiris, Françoise Dorleac, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli. Delphine and Solange are twin sisters living in the picturesque seaside village of Rochefort-- Delphine teaches dance while Solange composes and gives piano lessons. As the girls dream of success and romance in the far-off big city, they don't realize that true love may be just around the corner. 112 min. DVD 1172 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Dentellière (Lacemaker) (France / Switzerland / West Germany, 1977) Directed by Claude Goretta. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Yves Beneyton, Florence Giorgetti, Anne-Marie Duringer. A shy beautician falls rapturously in love with a handsome student who is captivated by her gracefulness but his inability to appreciate her inner beauty leads to heartbreaking tragedy for the fragile young woman. 107 min. 999:2904 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Dernier métro (Last Metro) (1980) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Poiret, Heinz Bennent. In Nazi-occupied Paris the jewish director of the Montmartre theatre is in hiding. In his absence, the theatre is run by his wife who is determined to protect her husband. Special features DVD X1689: Disc one: New audio commentary by Annette Insdorf, author of François Truffaut; audio commentary by actor Gérard Depardieu, historian Jean-Pierre Azéma, and Truffaut biographer Serge Toubiana. Disc two: Deleted scene; French television excerpts featuring interviews with Truffaut and actors Catherine Deneuve, Depardieu, and Jean Poiret; new video interviews with actors Andréa Ferréol, Sabine Haudepin, and Paulette Dubost, second assistant director Alain Tasma, and camera assistants Florent Bazin and Tessa Racine, in which they discuss The last metro's ensemble performances and visual style; a video interview with the celebrated cinematographer Nestor Almendros, detailing his collaborations with Truffaut; "Une histoire d'eau," a 1958 short film by Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard; theatrical trailer.131 min. DVD X1689; also DVD 1216; vhs 999:1095 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Dernier tango à Paris (Last Tango in Paris; Ultimo tango a Parigi) (Italy / France, 1972) Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Cast: Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Maria Michi, Giovanna Galletti, Jean-Pierre Leaud. An American widower in Paris, desolate at the unexplained suicide of his wife, plunges into an erotic affair with a young French girl half his age with tragic consequences 131 min. DVD 303; VHS 999:983 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Détective (1985) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Nathalie Baye, Claude Brasseur, Johnny Hallyday, Laurent Terzieff, Aurelle Doazan, Jean-Pierre Leaud. A take on modern morality and popular culture set amidst the confines of a decaying Parisian hotel. The plot is set in motion when a miserably married couple attempt to collect a debt from mob-plagued boxing manager, the mischievously named Jim Fox Warner. Meanwhile, a house detective tries to solve an old murder case. 94 min. DVD 9296 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Deux Anglaises (Two English Girls) (1971) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Kika Markham, Stacey Tendeter, Sylvia Marriott, Philippe Leotard. Two English sisters at the turn of the century are in love with the same man for seven years. His inability to choose between them (compounded by his overpossessive mother), and the girls' own powerful passions -- both expressed and repressed -- create a painful, emotionally charged triangle. 130 min. DVD 1246; vhs 999:2421 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Deux fois cinquante ans de cinéma français (2 x 50 Years of French Cinema) (1995) Directed by Anne-Marie Mieville and Jean-Luc Goddard. Rather than exulting the achievements of the last hundred years this entry laments the ways that cinema has been forgotten. It is a work of sadness, but also of mischievous and quirky humour. 1998. Video/C MM444 Deux ou trois choses que je sais d'elle (Two or Three Things I Know About Her) (1966) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Marina Vlady, Anny Duperey, Roger Montsoret, Jean Narboni, Christophe Bourseiller, Joseph Gehrard, Raoul Levy, Yves Beneyton, Juliet Berto, Helena Bielicic, Marie Bourseiller, Robert Chevassu, Blanding Jeanson, Benjamin Jules-Rosette, Jean-Pierre Laverne, Jean-Patrick Lebel, Anna Manga, Claude Miller, Helene Scott. The "her" in the film refers to Paris. Inspired by a real article on housewife prostitution, the film examines Godard's theory that if you lived in Paris (at the time) one had to prostitute oneself to survive. This "sociological fable" is shot through the eyes of Juliette, a housewife who spends one day a week in central Paris selling her body on the street in the hope that she will be able to escape the high rise suburban drudgery in which she lives with her family, and find happiness. Disc set includes book (50 p.) on making of the film. 84 min. DVD 8461; vhs 999:1761 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Deux secondes (2 secondes) (Canada, 1998) Director, Manon Briand. A champion mountain bike racer named Laurie hesitates at the start gate, and the two seconds lost cost her the race--and her place on the team. Forced into retirement, she is delighted to discover a job as a bike messenger. By chance, she meets Lorenzo, a cantankerous Italian bike shop owner and former champion himself. Their mutual love and appreciation of cycling draw them together in spite of initial clashes. One night, they decide to face each other in a peculiar duel. Lorenzo shows Laurie how every victory is relative and that--speaking of relativity--speed is not the only way to bring time to a halt. 105 min. DVD 1070 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le deuxième souffle (Second Breath)(France, 1966) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Christine Fabrega, Raymond Pellegrin, Marcel Bozzufi, Paul Frankeur, Denis Manuel, Jean Negroni. Gustave Manda, better known as Gu, a dangerous gangster, escapes from jail. He goes to Paris to join Manouche and other friends, and becomes involved in a gangland killing. Before leaving the country with Manouche, Gu needs a final job to get some money. But that's not so simple when you have Inspector Blot tracking you, and have to deal with the consequences of the shooting in Paris. Special features: Audio commentary featuring film scholar Ginette Vincendeau; new video interview with director Bertrand Tavernier (publicity agent on the film); archival footage featuring interviews with Melville and actor Lino Ventura; original theatrical trailer; new and improved English subtitle translation; a new essay by film critic Adrian Danks. 144 min. DVD X647 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean-Pierre Melville bibliography Les Diaboliques (1954) Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Cast: Cast: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, Charles Vanel, Paul Meurisse. Mystery drama about murder in a private school for boys. The wife and the mistress of a tyrannical headmaster dispose of him only to be mystified by the disappearance of his body and ghostly hints of his presence. 109 min. DVD 345; VHS 999:124 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Diagonale du Fou (Dangerous Moves) (1984) Directed by Richard Dembo. Cast: Michel Piccoli, AlexAndré Arbatt, Leslie Caron, Liv Ullmann. A senior Soviet chessmaster and his former star pupil, now a dissident living in exile, square off in a highly publicized chess tournament. Both become pawns however in a much larger political game. 110 min. DVD 5543 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Un dimanche à la campagne (A Sunday in the Country) (1984) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Louis Ducreux, Michel Aumont, Sabine Azema, Genevieve Mnich, Monique Chaumette. Monsieur Ladmiral, an aging impressionist painter, spends his usual Sunday afternoon visit with his family ruminating over life's small pleasures and inevitable disappointments until his daughter Irene arrives. Irene, a whirlwind of activity for whom life itself is an art, has a magical reviving effect on her father and the world suddenly takes on the beautiful hues and feelings of an Impressionist masterpiece. 94 min. DVD 8832 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Dîner de Cons (Dinner Game) (1998) Director, Francis Veber. Cast: Jacques Villeret, Thierry Lhermitte, Frances Huster, Alexandra Vandernoot, Daniel Prevost, Catherine Frot. Pierre and his snobbish friends have a standing date for dinner. Every week, they compete to see who can bring the biggest idiot to the party. 80 min. DVD 3631 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Diva (1981) Director, Jean-Jacques Beineix. Cast: Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, Frederic André i, Richard Bohringer, Thuy An Luu, Roland Bertin, Gérard Darmon. Cynthia Hawkins is the operatic superstar whose refusal to make a recording frustrates her adoring public. A young fan named Jules makes a secret tape and is stalked by thugs who plan to blackmail the diva. Jules also accidently taped, in addition to the concert, film which proves a top mobster's role in an international sex and drug ring and now two hired killers are out to get the tape. 123 min. DVD 697; VHS 999:2953 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Domicile conjugal (Bed and Board) (1970) Directed by François Truffaut. The fourth and penultimate film in Truffaut's semi-autobiographical series about Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) depicts our hero in the early years of marriage. Antoine and Christine become the proud parents of a son, but Antoine soon tires of domesticity and is lured into a disastrous affair with a Japanese girl. 100 min. DVD 1727, part 3; DVD 337; 999:2190 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database François Truffaut bibliography La Double Vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Veronique) (France/Poland/Norway, 1991) Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Cast: Irene Jacob, Philippe Volter, Sandrine Dumas, Halina Gryglaszewska, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Jerzy Gudejko, Claude Duneton. Weronika is a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Veronique, is a French music teacher. Though they are unknown to each other, the two women share an enigmatic, purely emotional bond. The two were born on the same day and each senses that somewhere there exists another person with whom their lives are intertwined. Special features: (Disc one:) Audio commentary by film scholar Annette Insdorf; three short documentary films by Kieslowski: "Factory" (1970), "Hospital" (1976), and "Railway station" (1980); "The musicians" (1958), a short film by Kieslowski's teacher Kazimierz Karabasz; U.S. ending. -- (Disc two): "Kieslowski - dialogue" (1991), a documentary; rare behind-the-scenes footage; "1966-1988: Kieslowski, Polish filmmaker", a 2005 documentary; new video interviews with cinematographer Sawomir Idziak and composer Zbigniew Preisner; a 2005 interview with actress Ir`ene Jacob; a booklet featuring new essays by Jonathan Romney, Slavoj Zizek, and Peter Cowie, and excerpts from "Kieslowski on Kieslowski." 97 min. DVD 6605 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Doulos (1968) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani, Jean Desailly, Michel Piccoli. A complicated thriller about the fatalistic relationship between two men, Maurice, a crook just out of prison, and Silien, a mysterious, cryptic informer caught up in the complex relationship between the criminal underworld and the police. In French without subtitles. DVD X646; copy 2 DVD 3655 (Non-US format DVD (PAL)) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean-Pierre Melville bibliography Drôle de drame ou L'étrange aventure de Docteur Molyneux (Bizarre, Bizarre) (1937) Directed by Marcel Carné. Cast: Michel Simon, Françoise Rosay, Louis Jouvet, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Jean-Louis Barrault, Nadine Vogel. A quiet botanist is the secret author of a popular crime novel. His peaceful existence is threatened when a crazed fan vows to kill the author of "The model crime." The convoluted plot involves a group of Victorian Englishmen who get so enmeshed in lies and disguises, murders and supposed murders, intrigues and romances, that Scotland Yard and the participants themselves are confused. 109 min. DVD 4793 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Turk, Edward Baron. "Marcel Carné's Deceptive Comedy...... Drôle de drame." Literature/Film Quarterly. 1980. Vol. 8, Iss. 3; p. 165 (5 pages) UC users only Marcel Carné bibliography Drôle de Félix (Adventures of Felix) (2000) Directors, Olivier Ducastel & Jacques Martineau. Cast: Sami Bouajila, Patachou, Ariane Ascaride, Pierre-Loup Rajot, Charly Sergue, Maurice Benichou. This French comedy-drama features Felix, an unemployed, gay Frenchman of Arab descent, who has a series of adventures during a trek through the French countryside. The film examines the familiar theme of a man's search for his identity. Felix is forced to confront the anger he feels toward his father for abandoning him, and the fear and shame he feels, living as an outsider in a predominantly straight, Caucasian world. 95 min. DVD 1706 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database McGonagle, Joseph. "Gently does it: Ethnicity and cultural identity in Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's Drôle de Félix." Studies in European Cinema Volume: 4 | Issue: 1 , May 2007 Pratt, Murray. "Felix and the Light-Hearted Gay Road Movie: Genre, Families, Fathers and the Decolonization of the Homosexual Self." Australian Journal of French Studies. 41 (3): 88-101. 2004 Sept-Dec. Provencher, Denis M. "Tracing Sexual Citizenship and Queerness in Drôle de Félix (2000) and Tarik el hob (2001) Contemporary French & Francophone Studies, Jan2008, Vol. 12 Issue 1, p51-61, 11p Schilt, Thibaut. "Hybrid Strains in Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's Drôle de Félix." Contemporary French and Francophone Studies11:3,361 - 368, 2007 UC users only Swamy, Vinay. "Gallic dreams? The family, PaCS and kinship relations in millennial France." Studies in French Cinema; 2006, Vol. 6 Issue 1, p53-64, 12p UC users only To the top L'ecole des facteurs (1947) Directed by and starring Jacques Tati. "In his office, the chief postman of a French rural community puts three junior postmen through a course of intensive training. The aim is to reduce the time of their postal round so that they can catch the airmail plane on time. In the classroom, Franç ois may be the star pupil, but when he gets back to his daily round, countless obstacles prevent him from succeeding in his mission..." [filmsdefrance.com] 18 min. Included on DVD 895 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Édith et Marcel (France, 1983) Directed by Claude Lelouch. Cast: Evelyne Bouix, Marcel Cerdan jr., Jaques Villeret, Francis Huster. Summary This tragic musical drama chronicles the star-crossed love between beloved French singer Edith Piaf and World Middleweight boxing champion Marcel Cerdan who died in a plane crash. The tumultuous affair is paralleled by the love affair of a French POW and his young pen pal who get engaged after writing to each other for four years and having never met. Their romances are framed by the sad, torchy songs of Piaf. 156 min. DVD X2052 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Eldorado (1921) Directed by Marcel L'Herbier. Cast: Eve Francis, Jaque Catelain, Marcel, Pardot. This early French film broke new ground with its combination of avant garde and traditional narrative techniques. This tale of a dancer rejected by her lover and forced to endure other indignities in order to support her child is told in expressionistic style, with camera angles and architectural design defining the emotional states of the characters even more than the plot. 98 min. vhs 999:3423 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Elena et les hommes (Elena and Her Men) (Italy / France, 1956) Director, Jean Renoir. Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer, Jean Richard, Juliette Greco, Pierre Bertin, Magali Noel. Set amid the military maneuvers and Quatorze de Juillet carnivals of turn-of-the-century France, Jean Renoir's romantic comedy stars Ingrid Bergman as a Polish princess who drives men of all stations to fits of desperate love. 95 min. DVD 2914 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Éloge de l'amour (In Praise of Love) (2001) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Alain Sarde, Ruth Walburger, Bruno Putzulu, Cecile Camp, Jean Davy, Françoise Verny, Audrey Klebaner, Jeremie Lippmann, Claude Baignieres. This film is divided into two sections which pivot on the death of a young woman. In Part one Edgar, a film director, has searched out Elle to star in a film he is trying to make depicting what he calls the four stages of love. The second part of the film flashes back two years to the time when Edgar first met Elle, the granddaughter of an elderly couple, veterans of the French Resistance, who were selling the rights to their story. 98 min. DVD 1817 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database McNeill, Isabelle. "Phrases, monuments and ruins: melancholy history in Éloge de l'amour (2001)." Studies in French Cinema; 2003, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p111-120, 10p UC users only Morrey, Douglas. "History of resistance / resistance of history: Godard's Éloge de l'amour (2001)." Studies in French Cinema, 2003, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p121-130, 10p UC users only Sofair, Michael. "In Praise of Love (Éloge de l'amour)." Film Quarterly Dec 2004, Vol. 58, No. 2: 36–44.UC users only Jean-Luc Godard bibliography Emak Bakia (Silent, with intertitles in French, 1927) Directed by Man Ray. Three experimental short films by Man Ray: Retour a la raison (1923); Emak Bakia (1927); Les mysteres du chateau du Dé; (1929). In Emak Bakia all the principles of surrealism are followed as Man Ray uses light patterns from rotating objects to exhibit his early Dadaistic affiliations. Retour a la raison was made by sprinkling various items on raw stock and exposing them to light. In Les mystères du château du Dé, a modern villa is the scene of an unsolved mystery. 50 min.999:2267; also on 999:878 and 999:2001 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud (My Life and Times with Antonin Artaud) (France, 1993) Directed by Gérard Mordillat. Cast: Sami Frey, Marc Barbe, Julie Jezequel, Valerie Jeannet, Clotilde de Bayser, Charlotte Valandrey. Presents the last two years of the life of French poet, madman, genius, and theatrical impressario, Antonin Artaud. Based on the diaries of Jacques Prevel, a poet who befriended Artaud in 1946 when he was released from an insane asylum. Special features: Documentary by Gerard Mordillat and Jerome Prieur (1933, 21 min.) "Jacques Prevel, de colere et de haine," an intimate portrait of the poet Jacques Prevel, a very close disciple of Artaud, based on the accounts of those close to him ; booklet including interviews with the directors and profiles of the participants ; optional subtitles ; scene selection. 93 min. DVD 5094 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Enfant (The Child) (2005) Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Cast: Jeremie Renier, Deborah Francois, Jeremie Segard, Fabrizio Rongione, Olivier Gourmet. When a small-time crook and his young girlfriend have a child, he decides to sell the baby for money. When his girlfriend finds out, she goes into shock. While she recovers in the hospital, he tries to get their son back and redeem himself. 96 min. DVD 6096 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Enfant sauvage (The Wild Child) (1969) Directed by François Truffaut. A film based upon the true journal account of a French physician, Dr. Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard of the National Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, Paris, who undertook the task of effecting the education of a child found living like an animal in the forest in 1798. Itard, whose teaching strategies survive today in the Montessori Method, was unsure whether he was helping a savage become human or turning a forest child into a semi-civilized idiot. 86 min. DVD 1263; vhs 999:1420 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise) (1949) Directed by Marcel Carné. Cast: Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Pierre Renoir, Maria Casares. Story of theatrical society in 19th century Paris and the love between the mime Debureau and the beautiful courtesan Garance who is also loved by an aristocrat, a criminal, and an actor. 195 min. DVD 1126; vhs 999:539 (2 cassettes) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les enfants du siècle (Children of the century)(1999) Directed by Diane Kurys. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Stefano Dionisi, Robin Renucci, Karin Viard, Isabelle Carre, Patrick Chesnais, Arnaud Giovanetti, Denis Podalydès, Olivier Foubert, Marie-France Mignal, Michel Robin. A dramatization of the love affair between the authors George Sand and Alfred de Musset that scandalized their families, friends and the salons of Paris in nineteenth century France. 137 min. DVD 8161 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Des enfants gâtés (Spoiled Children) (1997) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Michel Piccoli, Christine Pascal, Michel Aumont, Gerard Jugnot. A succesful writer sequesters himself in a drab modern apartment to finish his latest script, but is drawn into an affair with a beautiful young and unemployed publisher's assistant and into her involvement with a fight for tennants' rights against a landlord who believes in neither human dignity nor architectural beauty. 110 min. DVD 8828 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les enfants terrible(1950) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Nicole Stephane, Edouard Dermithe, Renee Cosima, Jacques Bernard, Roger Gaillard, Maurice Revel, Adeline Aucoc. Voice: Jean Cocteau. Elisabeth is very protective of her teenage brother Paul, who has been injured in a snowball fight at school and has to rest in bed most of the time. The siblings are inseparable, living in the same room, fighting, playing secret games, and rarely leaving the house. Paul's friend, Gerard, often drops by to stay with them. One day Elisabeth brings home Agathe to live with them. She bears a strong resemblance to Dargelos, a schoolboy whom Paul had a crush on and the same boy who injured him. When Paul and Agathe become attracted to each other, Elizabeth becomes very jealous. Special features: Audio commentary by writer, film critic, and journalist Gilbert Adair; interviews with producer Carole Weisweiller, actors Nicole Stephane and Jacques Bernard, and assistant director Claude Pinoteau; "Around Jean Cocteau" (2003), a short video by filmmaker Noel Simsolo discussing Cocteau and Melville's creative relationship; theatrical trailer; gallery of behind-the-scenes stills; a booklet featuring a new essay by critic Gary Indiana, a tribute by Stephane, an excerpt from Rui Nogueira's "Melville on Melville" and drawings by Cocteau. Based on the 1929 novel "Les enfants terribles" by Jean Cocteau. 106 min. DVD 8315 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Sterritt, David. "Les Enfants terribles." Cineaste. Spring 2008. Vol. 33, Iss. 2; pg. 60, 3 pgs UC users only Turk, Edward Baron. "The Film Adaptation of Cocteau's Les Enfants terribles." Cinema Journal, Spring80, Vol. 19 Issue 2, p25-40, 16pUC users only Jean-Pierre Melville bibliography L'enfer (1994) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Emmanuelle Beart, Francois Cluzet, André Wilms, Marc Lavoine, Nathalie Cardone, Mario David, Christiane Minazzoli, Dora Doll, Jean-Pierre Cassel. Paul and Nelly are a picture-perfect bride and groom and work hard to make their hotel a success. However, Paul can't shake the nagging feeling that Nelly is having an affair, and his jealousy grows to insane proportions. 100 min. DVD 6604 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Entr'acte (Avant garde. #2) (1924) Directed by René Clair. Three experimental films produced in the 1920s: Entr'acte, by René Clair (1924); Symphonie diagonale, by Viking Eggeling (1924); L'Etoile de mer, by Man Ray (1928). 42 min. 999:289 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Entre les murs (The Class) (2008) Directed by Laurent Cantet. Cast: François Bégaudeau, Nassim Amrabt, Laura Baquela, Juliette Demaille, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi. François and his fellow teachers prepare for a new year at a high school in a tough neighborhood. Armed with the best intentions, they brace themselves to not let discouragement stop them from trying to give the best education to their students. Cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom, a microcosm of contemporary France. As amusing and inspiring as the teenaged students can be, their difficult behavior can still jeopardize any teacher's enthusiasm for the low-paying job. François insists on an atmosphere of respect and diligence. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics are put to the test when his students begin to challenge his methods. Inspired by the novel Entre les murs by François Bégaudeau. 130 min. DVD X1877 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Esquive (Games of Love & Chance) (2003) Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. Cast: Osman Elkharraz, Sara Forestier, Sabrina Ouazani, Nanou Benhamou, Haffet Ben-Ahmed, Aurelie Ganito, Carole Franck, Hajar Hamlili, Rachid Hami, Meriem Serbah, Hanane Mazouz, Sylvain Phan. A sensitive portrait of a group of teenagers living in the projects outside Paris and surviving in a world marginalized by society. Set during preparations for a school production, it captures the affections, quarrels, and jealousies as well as the budding romance between childhood friends Krimo, who is very shy, and Lydia, the fiery blonde star of the school production. 117 min. DVD 5446 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Swamy, Vinay. "Marivaux in the suburbs: Reframing language in Kechiche's L'Esquive (2003)." Studies in French Cinema; 2007, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p57-68, 12p UC users only Esther (Austria / Israel / UK, 1985) Directed by Amos Gitai. Cast: Simone Benyamini, Rim Bani, Zare Vartinyan, Juliano Mer, Mohammed Bakri. In this beautiful transposition of the biblical story, Amos Gitai updates the passionate tale about the ruler of a great and sprawling kingdom who chooses as his queen a beautiful peasant girl named Esther. But when Esther hides her Jewish identity from her husband, a vicious cycle of revenge begins. 97 min. DVD X2100 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Et Dieu... créa la femme (And God Created Woman) (France / Italy, 1956) Directed by Roger Vadim. Juliette Hardy (Brigitte Bardot) is sexual dynamite, and has the men of a French town panting. Antoine, the only man who moves her wouldn't dream of settling down with a woman considered the town tramp. While Antoine's away, his younger brother Michel proposes to Juliette and she accepts out of liking rather than love. But what will happen when Antoine returns? 92 min. En francais: DVD 3582; vhs 999:2429; Dubbed into English: 999:1925 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mancini, Michele "So Who Created...Vadim." (Interview). Film Comment XXIV/2, Mar-Apr 88; p.18-23. Director Roger Vadim discusses highlights of his career, and his remake "And God created woman". Roger Vadim bibliography État de siège (State of Siege) (France / West Germany / Italy, 1973) Directed by Costa Gavras. Cast: Yves Montand, Renato Salvatori, O. E. Hasse. A drama based on the true story of the interrogation and execution of CIA agent Dan Mitrione by urban guerillas, the Tupamoros of Uruguay. Kidnapped by the revolutionaries, Mitrone who had been training the country's police in sophisticated counter-insurgency and torture techniques, was held hostage in exchange for the release of political prisoners. Shot in Chile with the approval of President Allende shortly before his assassination, the film was the first to detail the uglier side of the kind of paramilitary training that the U.S. has often performed for its allies. PAL format tape. 120 min. 999:3237 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'éternel retour (Eternal Return) (1943) Directed by Jean Delannoy; screenplay, Jean Cocteau. A young man and his uncle have a deep friendship that is threatened when the young man falls in love with the uncle's wife. 100 min. 999:231 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Sims, Gregory. "'Tristan en chandail': poetics as politics in Jean Cocteau's 'L'Eternel Retour.'" (cinema of the Occupation) French Cultural Studies, Feb 1998 v9 n1 p19(32) Étoile de mer (Starfish; Avant garde #2) (1928) Directed by Man Ray. Three experimental films produced in the 1920s: Symphonie diagonale, by Viking Eggeling (1924); L'Etoile de mer, by Man Ray (1928); Entr'acte, by René Clair (1924). 42 min. DVD 4191; also included on vhs 999:2267; 999:2001; 999:289 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Exiles (France / Japan, 2004) Directed by Tony Gatlif. Cast: Romain Duris, Lubna Azabal, Leila Makhlouf, Zouhir Gacem, Habib Cheikh. A young couple, both of Arabic descent, leave Paris with no money, jobs, or connections, and travel to their ancestral home of Algeria. In search of re-connecting to their roots, they cross three countries by foot, bus, train, and hitched rides. 104 min. DVD 5393 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie from Montmartre) (France / Germany, 2001) Director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Cast: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Serge Merlin. Amelie is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amelie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Despite all this, Amelie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. She decides to step into the lives of others around her to help them out. 122 min. DVD 1214 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Andrew, Dudley. "Amélie, or Le Fabuleux Destin du Cinéma Français." Film Quarterly Jan 2004, Vol. 57, No. 3: 34-46. UC users only Bonnaud, Frédéric. "The Amélie Effect: To Hear the French Tell It, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Film Hasn't Only Saved French Cinema As We Know It, It's Saved France." Film Comment 37:6 (November-December 2001) p. 36-38 UC users only Ezra, Elizabeth. "The Death of an Icon: Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain." French Cultural Studies, Oct2004, Vol. 15 Issue 3, p301-310, 10p Scatton-Tessier, Michelle. "Le Petisme: flirting with the sordid in Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. Studies in French Cinema, 2004, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p197-207, 11p UC users only Familia (Family) (Canada, 2005) Directed by Louise Archambault. Cast: Sylvie Moreau, Macha Grenon, Mylene St-Sauveur, Juliette Gosselin, Vincent Graton. Familia: Mimi, a divorced aerobics instructor, who's up to her ears in debt, leaves Montreal with her 14-year-old daughter and moves in with her childhood friend, Janine. Mimi's rebellious teenage daughter and Janine's shy daughter become friends, leading to unforseen tensions that force both generations to reassess their values. 102 min. DVD 6322 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Fanny (Fanny Trilogy) (1932) Directed by Marcel Pagnol. This is the second film of Pagnol's Fanny trilogy (titles: Marius, Fanny, César). Fanny, daughter of a fishmonger loves Marius son of a saloon owner, who has just gone to sea for an extended period. Fanny discovers she is pregnant and marries a rich older man, to give her son legitimacy. Marius returns planning to marry Fanny, but his father knowing who fathered Fanny's child sends Marius away to prevent complications. 120 min. DVD 2751; vhs 999:772 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Marcel Pagnol bibliography Fantôme de la liberté (Phantom of Liberty) (1974) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Buñuel attacks society's false ideas of liberty from religion to politics using humor from high wit to low comedy. 104 min. DVD 5921; vhs 999:989 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Fantômas (1913-1914) Directed by Louis Feuillade. Films from the silent serial crime saga with the evil Fantômas battling Inspector Juve. Based on novels by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain. [Disc 1]. Fantômas(A l'ombre de la guillotine) (1913, 54 min.). Juve contre Fantômas(1913, 60 min.). Le mort qui tue (1913, 91 min.) -- [Disc 2]. Fantômascontre Fantomas (1914, 59 min.). Le faux magistrat (1914, 70 min.). Special features. Photography, Georges Guerin and Albert Sorgius. Cast: Rene Navarre, Edmond Breon, Georges Melchior, Renee Carl, André Luguet, Yvette André yor. Special features: Photo gallery, covers of the novels, sinister crime stories of the time, illustrated filmographies, a comparison of the original novels with the films, interviews with Marcel Allain, clips from the show "Pour le plaisir" (Rendez-vous avec Fantômas, created by Georges Franju, 1966) and "Bonnes adresses pour rever" (created by Roland Bernard, 1969). DVD 5868 Farinelli, il Castrato (Belgium / France / Italy / USA, 1994) Directed by Gérard Corbiau. Cast: Stefano Dionisi, Enrico Lo Verso, Elsa Zylberstein, Jeroen Krabbé. The true story of a world famous castrato in the 18th century. With charisma, talent, drive and success, Farinelli had everything: money, talent, fame, women, and the voice of an angel. He becomes obsessed with earning the respect of his brother's rival, the composer Handel. 110 min. DVD X1393 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Fausse alerte (The French Way) (1940) Director, Jacques de Baroncelli. Cast: Josephine Baker, Micheline Presle, George Marchal, Raymond Aimos, Jean Tissier, Gabrielle Dorziat, Saturnin Fabre, Marguerite Perry, Lucien Baroux. A rare wartime musical comedy featuring Josephine Baker as a Parisian cabaret singer who assists two lovers in the face of their parents' disapproval while trying to re-open her nightclub. Includes Baker and chorus girls in cabaret rehearsals and performances. 74 min. 999:3496 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Fausse suivante (False Servant) (2000) Directed by Benoît Jacquot. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain, Pierre Arditi, Mathieu Amalric, AlexAndré Soulie. Based on the popular stage play by the 18th century author Marivaux, filmed in a theater using vintage costumes and minimal props to help retain the flavor of the stage production. An attractive heiress disguises herself as a man as she travels for a weekend getaway to the estate of her friend the Countess. En route, the heiress, introducing herself as "The Chevalier," meets Lelio, the Countess's fiancee who confides that he isn't really in love with the Countess and he's hoping that someone else will take her off his hands. The heiress agrees as "the Chevalier" to romance the Countess. PAL format DVD (non-US standard). 85 min. DVD 1333 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Brunette, Peter; Peary, Gerald. "A Child of the New Wave: An Interview with Benoît Jacquot." Cineaste vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 23-27, 2000 UC users only Frodon, Jean-Michel. "'Rester malades du cinma': Conversation entre Andrée Téchiné et Benoît Jacquot." Cahiers du Cinéma, vol. 596, pp. 18-20, December 2004 Lardoux, Xavier. Le cinema de Benoît Jacquot Paris : Editions PC, 2006. (MAIN: PN1998.3.J28 L27 2006) La Femme d'à côté (The Woman Next Door) (1981) Directed by François Truffaut. Featuring Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Henri Garacin, Michele Baumgartner, Roger Van Hool, Veronique Silver. Former lovers find themselves unintentionally reunited seven years later as neighbors in a small French village. Although they are now married to different people, their ill-fated relationship rekindles, causing irrevocable damage to all parties. 106 min. DVD 1081; vhs 999:2407 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Une Femme douce (A Gentle Woman) (1969) Directed by Robert Bresson. Dominique Sanda, Guy Frangin, Jane Lobre, Dorothee Blank, Claude Ollier. When the teenage wife of a pawnbroker suddenly and inexplicably commits suicide, her distraught husband tries to understand why. As the story unfolds in flashbacks, a pattern of miscommunication and abuse is revealed. 89 min. 999:1980 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Robert Bresson bibliography Une Femme est une femme (Woman is a Woman) (1961) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. A nightclub stripper wants to have a baby and settle down with her lover. When he refuses, she turns to his best friend. 85 min. DVD 847; VHS 999:452 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Femme infidèle (The Unfaithful Wife) (1969) Directed by Claude Chabrol. In this sharp comedy with a sting aimed at the facade of a loveless marriage, a man suspects his wife of infidelity so he hires a private detective to watch her, who confirms his worst fears. Darkly amusing and accurately observed, this is the film which established Chabrol as a master of the off-beat thriller. 94 min. DVD 1729; vhs 999:3205 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Une femme mariée: Suite de fragments d'un film tourné en 1964 (A Married Woman) (1964) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Macha Meril, Philippe Leroy, Bernard Noel, Roger Leenhardt, Rita Maiden. A married woman carrying on an affair with a married man discovers that she is pregnant. Double trouble follows: first, she is not sure who the father is; second, she doesn't know whether or not she loves either man. A look at modern relationships expressed largely through montages of pop art images and sounds. DVD special features: Archival 1966 interview with Chantal Goya; new video interviews with Goya, Kurant, and Jean-Luc Godard collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin, conducted in 2005; video discussion of the film between French film scholars Freddy Buache and Dominique Paini; Swedish television footage of Godard directing the "film within the film" scene; trailers; 16-page booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Adrian Martin and a reprint of a report from the set by French journalist Philippe Labro. 98 min. DVD 4539; vhs 999:2007 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean-Luc Godard bibliography La Femme Nikita (1990) Directed by Luc Besson. Thriller about a street junkie who is picked up and recruited against her will for training in a secret government agency as a killer. In three years time she is transformed into a beautiful and sophisticated woman, and soon falls in love with a soft-spoken romantic. When she receives a call and is ordered to kill someone she has to fight against the trap of her double life. 117 min. DVD 5948; vhs 999:1922 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Fiancée du pirate (A Very Curious Girl) (1969) Directed by Nelly Kaplan. Cast: Bernadette LaFont, Georges Geret, Michel Constantin, Julien Guiomar. A beautiful peasant girl is known intimately by most of the men in her village. Tired of enduring the physical abuse and the sexual exploitation for free, she starts to charge a fee for her services. Suddenly she has more power than she ever dreamed of. 105 min. vhs 999:1821 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Giukin, Lenuta. "Demystification and Webtopia in the Films of Nelly Kaplan" Cinema Journal 42:3 (Spring 2003) Go to Journal Issue p. 96-113 UC users only Kay, Karyn. "French Cinema: The Revenge of Pirate Jenny a Very Curious Girl: Part One." The Velvet Light Trap 9 (Summer 1973) p. 46 UC users only Waldman, Diane. "French Cinema: The Eternal Return of Circe A Very Curious Girl: Part Two." The Velvet Light Trap 9 (Summer 1973) p. 49 UC users only Le feu follet (The Fire Within) (1963) Directed by Louis Malle. Cast: Maurice Ronet, Lena Skerla, Yvonne Clech, Hubert Deschamps, Jean-Paul Moulinot, Ursula Kubler, Jeanne Moreau. Describes the last 48 hours in the life of a dissolute playboy - an "old young man" who has used up his life and is heading relentlessly toward suicide. The ghosts of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Marilyn Mornroe are invoked in the film, but Malle's vision of alcoholism, dissolution and suicide is one without self-pity or spurious sociology. 103 min. DVD 9353 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Fille de l'eau (Whirlpool of Fate)(1925) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Catherine Hessling, Pierre Philippe, Marc Rosaert, Harold Lewingston, Maurice Touze. After the suspicious death of her father a young girl runs away from her brutal uncle and joins a Gypsy camp. 72 min. DVD 7586 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Le Film est déja commencé? (1951) Directed by Maurice Lemaitre. With "Film Annonce" - 8 min. (1993) This major work of lettrist cinema had as much direct or hidden influence on the New Wave as it does on today's Avant-Garde. Its first screenings in Paris in 1951 became major events. The critics despised it, but this work is and will remain a landmark in film history. 59 min. 999:1962 Flandres (Flanders)(2006) Directed by Bruno Dumont. Cast: Adelaide Leroux, Samuel Boidin, Henry Cretel. Andre is forced to leave his secret love, Barbe, to serve as a soldier. On his last night of freedom, he witnesses Barbe and another local sleeping together in a parking lot. A twist of fate forces the two men to fight side by side. 91 min. DVD 8745 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database France Tour Detour Deux Enfants (1978) In this intimately scaled study of the effect of television on a French family, Jean Luc Godard and Anne Marie-Mieville interview two children in contemporary France. Interviews, collages of television, cinema and advertising images are intercult with commentary by two adult television journalists. As they expose how a child's world is "programmed" by the institutions of family, school and television, Godard and Mieville posit the mass media as the pervasive cultural influence in the home, with television as the 20th century primer. Loosely inspired by G. Bruno's work: Le tour de la France par deux enfants. Originally produced in 1978. 54 min. each movement Mouvement 1-2 In movements 1 and 2 Godard's provocative questions range loosely around the children's perceptions and experiences of darkness, light, chemistry and physics. Video/C 6540 Mouvement 3-4. In movements 3 and 4 Godard's provocative questions range loosely around the children's perceptions and experiences of the familiar, geography, the unknown and techniques. Video/C 6541 Mouvement 5-6. In movements 5 and 6 Godard's provocative questions range loosely around the children's perceptions and experiences of impressions, dictation, pressures and the French culture. Video/C 6542 Mouvement 7-8. In movements 7 and 8 Godard's provocative questions range loosely around the children's perceptions and experiences of violence, grammar, disorder, and calculation. Video/C 6543 Mouvement 9-10. In movements 9 and 10 Godard's provocative questions range loosely around the children's perceptions and experiences of power, music, life story, and the economy. 54 min. Video/C 6544 Mouvement 11-12. In movements 9 and 10 Godard's provocative questions range loosely around the children's perceptions and experiences of reality, logic, dreaming, and morals. Video/C 6545 François Truffaut: Portraits volés Delivers deep insight into the celebrated French director through accounts by friends, colleagues, actors and actresses, filmmakers and relatives commenting on the man and his work. Featured are extracts from his films, rare and unpublished photos, and archive material that will present a new look at an extraordinary man. 1993. 93 min. Video/C 8114 French CanCan (1955) Directed by Jean Renoir. Featuring Jean Gabin, Françoise Arnoul, Maria Felix. A musical comedy about an aging theater impressario with a talent for transforming common working girls into dance hall sensations. Complications arise when he is captivated by Nini, a beautiful laundress, and decides to make her the star of his new show. Despite a jealous mistress and romantic intrigue, the show must go on. The film concludes with an exuberant, high-kicking cancan finale at the grand opening of the Moulin Rouge. 105 min. DVD 2913; vhs 999:3233 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography To the top Gadjo Dilo (Crazy Stranger) (Romania / France, 1997) Directed by Tony Gatlif. Cast: Romain Duris, Rona Hartner, Isidor Serban, Ovidiu Balan, Angela Serban. A young French man, in search of a legendary Gypsy singer, is taken in by a Gypsy community in Romania. The inhabitants at first do not like him but as they grow to know him he is accepted and learns their ways of talking, drinking, dancing, and cursing. 96 min. DVD 6458; vhs 999:2256 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Kessenides, Dimitra. "Gadjo Dilo." Cineaste, 1998, Vol. 23 Issue 4, p64, UC users only McGregor, Andrew. "French cinema in exile: trans-national cultural representation in Tony Gatlif's Gadjo Dilo." New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, 2008, Vol. 6 Issue 2, p75-83, 9p UC users only Orlean, Matthieu. "Gadjo dilo." Cahiers du Cinema, Apr 1998, Issue 523, p78-78, 1p Le Gai savoir (The Joy of Learning) (1968) Directed by Jean Luc Godard. Emile and Patricia stumble across each other in an abandoned TV studio where they agree to meet for 7 nights to create a new type of cinema. 96 min. 999:1104 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Gaumont Treasures: 1897-1913 This collection looks at pioneering French filmmakers from the Gaumont studio, with extensive examples of their work. Disc 1:Few individual artists have exerted as profound an influence upon the evolution of cinema as Alice Guy (later known as Guy-Blaché). With this collection of more than 60 films, culled from the world's leading archives and carefully mastered, Guy may no longer be seen as a "woman filmmaker." These films, produced by Guy for Gaumont before she moved to the U.S., reveal her to be an unqualified pioneer of motion pictures. Contents: Fisherman at the stream = Pêcheur dans le torrent (1897) -- Bathing in a stream = Baignade dans un torrent (1897) -- Serpentine dance = Bob Walter, Danse serpentine (1897) -- Turn-of-the-century blind man = Aveugle fin de siècle (1898) -- At the hypnotist's = Chez le magnétiseur (1898) -- Burglars = Cambrioleurs (1898) -- Disappearing act = Scène d'escamotage (1898) -- Surprise attack on a house at daybreak = Surprise d'une maison au petit jour (1898) -- At the club = Au cabaret (1899) -- Wonderful absinthe = Bonne absinthe (1899) Avenue de l'Opera (1900) -- Automated hat-maker and sausage-grinder = Chapellerie et charcuterie automatiques (1900) -- At the photographer's = Chez le photographe (1900) -- Dance of the seasons: winter, snow dance = Danse des saissons: L'Hiver, danse de la neige (1900) -- Landlady = Concierge (1900) -- Turn-of-the-century surgery = Chirurgie fin de siècle (1900) -- Pierrette's escapades = Fredaines de Pierette (1900) -- At the floral ball, featuring Miss Lally and Miss Julyett of the Olympia = Mesdemoiselles Lally et Julyett de l'Olympia, au bal de flore (1900) -- Cabbage-patch fairy = Fée aux choux (1900) Serpentine dance by Lina Esbrard = Lina Esbrard, Danse serpentine (1902) -- Midwife to the upper class = Sage-femme de première classe (1902) -- Untimely intrusion = Intervention malencontreuse (1902) -- Miss Dundee and her performing dogs = Miss Dundee et ses chiens savants (1902) -- How monsieur takes his bath = Comment Monsieur prend son bain (1903) -- Faust and Mephistopheles = Faust et Méphistophélès (1903) O'Mers in 'The Bricklayers' = O'Mers dans 'Les Maçons' (1905) -- Statue = La statue (1905) -- Magician's alms = Charité du prestidigitateur (1905) -- Clown, dog and balloon = Clown, chien et ballon (1905) -- Spain = Espagne (1905) -- Tango =Le Tango (1905) -- Malagueña and the bullfighter = Malagueña et le torero (1905) -- Cook & Rilly's trained rooster = Coq dressé de Cook et Rilly (1905) -- Cake walk, performed by Nouveau Cirque = Le Cake Walk du Nouveau Cirque (1905) -- Alice Guy films a 'Phonoscène' in the studio at Buttes-Chaumont, Paris = Alice Guy tourne une phonoscène sur le théâtre de pose des Buttes-Chaumont (1905) Saharet performs the Bolero = Saharet, Boléro (1905) -- Polin performs 'The anatomy of a draftee' = Polin, L'Anatomie du conscrit (1905) -- Dranem performs 'The true jiu-jitsu' = Dranem, Le Vrai Jiu-jitsu (1905) -- Dranem performs 'Five o'clock tea' = Dranem, Five O'clock tea (1905) -- Félix Mayol performs 'Indiscreet questions' = Félix Mayol, Questions indiscrètes (1905) -- Félix Mayol performs 'The Trottins' polka' = Félix Mayol, La Polka des trottins (1905) -- Félix Mayol performs 'White lilacs' = Félix Mayol, Lilas-Blanc (1905) Birth, the life and the death of Christ = Naissance, la vie et la mort du Christ (1906) -- Obstacle course = Course d'obstacle (1906) -- Madame's cravings = Madame a des envies (1906) -- Sticky woman = Femme collante (1906) -- Hierarchies of love = Hiérarchie dans l'amour (1906) -- Cruel mother = Marâtre (1906) -- Story well spun = Histoire roulante (1906) -- Drunken mattress = Matelas épeliptique (1906) -- Parish priest's Christmas = Noöl de Monsieur le curé (1906) -- Truth behind the ape-man = Vérité sur l'homme-singe (1906) -- Consequences of feminism = Résultats du féminisme (1906) -- Ocean studies = Effets de mer 1906) -- Game-keeper's son = Fils du garde-chasse 1906) -- Race for the sausage = Course à la saucisse (1907) -- Glue = Glu (1907) -- Fur hat = Bonnet à poil (1907) -- Cleaning man = Frotteur (1907) -- Four-year-old hero = Héroïne de quatre ans (1907) -- Rolling bed = Lit à roulettes (1907) -- Irresistible piano = Piano irrésistible (1907) -- On the barricade = Sur la barricade (1907) -- Dirigible 'Homeland' = Ballon dirigeable 'Le Patrie' (1907). DVD X2028 Disc 2: This collection looks at pioneering French filmmakers from the Gaumont studio, with extensive examples of their work. Best remembered today for his espionage serials Les Vampires and Fantômas, Louis Feuillade had a more varied and profound influence upon French cinema than many of his followers realize. For more than a decade, he was the artistic director at Gaumont, encouraging the rise of such filmmakers as Abel Gance and Léonce Perret. This collection of films offers a wider view of Feuillade's directorial efforts -- but, admittedly, it is only a small portion of the nearly 800 films he is believed to have directed. Contents: Colonel's account = Récit du colonel (1907) -- Very fine lady = Dame vraiment bien [in collaboration with Romeo Bosetti] (1908) -- Spring = Printemps (1909) -- Fairy of the surf = Fée des grèves (1909) -- Custody of the child = Possession de l'enfant (1909) -- Defect = Tare (1911) -- Roman orgy = 'Orgie romaine (1911) -- Trust, or the battles for money = Trust, ou les batailles de l'argent (1911) -- Heart and the money = Coeur et l'argent [in collaboration with Léonce Perret] (1912) -- Obsession = Hantise (1912) -- Tragic error = Erreur tragique (1913) -- Bout de Zan steals an elephant = Bout de Zan vole un éléphant (1913) -- Agony of Byzance = Agonie de Byzance (1913) -- Special feature : Louis Feuillade: Master of many forms (ca. 11 min.) DVD X2029 Disc 3: This collection looks at pioneering French filmmakers from the Gaumont studio, with extensive examples of their work. Until now, the films of Léonce Perret have been virtually unseen in the United States, yet he was a hugely influential figure in the growth of the French film industry. As an actor, he appeared in more than 100 films from 1909 to 1916, including the long-running series of "Léonce" comedies. But his greater contribution was as a director who set the standard to which other French filmmakers aspired. His films had a technical mastery and aesthetic grace that allowed them to reveal subtleties of character and meaning. Contents: Mystery of the rocks of Kador = Mystère des roches de Kador (ca. 44 min., 1912, hand-tinted) -- Child of Paris = Enfant de Paris / written and directed by Léonce Perret ; photography, Georges Specht ; cast, Léonce Perret, Louis Leubas, Maurice Lagrenée, Émile Keppens (ca. 124 min., 1913) -- Special feature: Léonce Perret: The filmmaker's filmmaker (ca. 18 min.). DVD X2030 Le Gendarme à New York (1965) Directed by Jean Girault. Cast: Louis De Funes, Michel Galabru, Jean LeFebvre, Christian Marin, Alan Scott, Geneviève Grad. The St. Tropez police squad goes to the International Police Convention in New York City to represent France. The daughter of the squad's sergeant stows away on the ship and turns the trip into a disaster for her father. 100 min. 999:3173 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Genou de Claire (Claire's Knee) (1969) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Satirizes a diplomat's sexual temptations. On vacation without his fiancee, he flirts with a brash, charming nymphet, while harboring a secret, peculiar obsession for her stunning teenage sister. (One of the six films that make up the "Moral Tales".) 106 min. DVD 341; vhs 999:2508 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jones, Edward T. "Desire under the Helms of Rohmer and Buñuel: Claire's Knee and That Obscure Object of Desire." Literature-Film Quarterly. 9(1):3-7. 1981 UC users only Eric Rohmer bibliography Germinal (1993) Directed by Claude Berri. Cast: Miou-Miou, Renaud, Jean Carmet, Judith Henry, Jean-Roger Milo, Gérard Depardieu. Recreates the gut-wrenching poverty and intense struggles of striking French coal-miners in 1884 at the Voreux mines through the bitter toils of Maheu and his family and Etienne, an organizer for the miner's new union. As conditions in the mines worsen, Etienne convinces Maheu to organize a a miner's strike but when the miners finally do strike the owners send in armed soldiers to defend the mines. Based on a novel by Emile Zola. 166 min. 999:3286 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (The Gleaners and I) (2000) Director, Agnes Varda. The first of Varda's efforts to be filmed with a digital videocamera focuses on gleaners, those who gather the spoils left after a harvest, as well as those who mine the trash. Some completely exist on the leavings; others turn them into art or find a use for what others have cast off. The director likens gleaning to her own profession -- that of collecting images, stories, fragments of sound, light, and color. 82 min. DVD 1281 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Gloire de mon père (My Father's Glory) (1991) Directed by Yves Robert. Cast: Phillippe Caubère, Nathalie Roussel, Thérèse Liotard, Didier Pain. The enchanting story of Marcel Pagnol's childhood in the south of France, and a very special summer when he was 11 years old. In the countryside of Provence he fell under the spell of the rugged hills, made new friends and strengthened the unique bond with his father. Based on the work of Marcel Pagnol. 110 min. DVD 2933; vhs 999:959 Credits and Other information from the Internet Movie Database Golem, l'esprit de l'exil (Golem, the Spirit of Exile) (Germany / Netherlands / UK /France / Italy, 1991) Directed by Amos Gitai. Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Ophrah Shemesh, Mireille Perrier, Sotigui Kouyate, Samuel Fuller, Bernardo Bertolucci, Fabienne Babe, Bernard Eisenschitz, Philippe Garrel. An allegory of the Golem, a Jewish mythical creature personifying displacement and exile, this film tells the story of a woman (similar to the biblical Ruth) and her sisters, who are forced into exile after the death of their husbands. It is set in 1990s Paris, where the director was living in self-imposed exile following the ban on his 1982 documentary in Israel. The recurring theme of the film is migrations and unrooting, like the legendary Golem. 115 min. DVD X2100 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Gone du Chaaba (The Kid from Chaaba) (1997) Director, Christophe Ruggia. Cast: Bouzid Negnoug, Mohamed Fellag, Nabil Ghalem. Set in 1956 France in a city slum outside of Lyons, a poor Algerian father wants his son to be the best in school, although the boy is not very gifted. 105 min. DVD 1265 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Goût des autres (The Taste of Others) Directed by Agnes Jaoui. Cast: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Alain Chabat, Agnes Jaoui, Gérard Lanvin, Christiane Millet, Wladimir Yordanoff. The lives and loves of several completely opposite men and women artfully intersect in what becomes a delightfully funny web of romantic entanglements! While negotiating differences in wealth and status, style, and taste, this vivid collection of characters mix and match in outrageously volatile combinations! 112 min. DVD 1158 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Grande Bouffe (1973) Directed by Marco Ferrerin. Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi, Andréa Ferreol, Solange Florence, Blondeau Giorgetti, Michele AlexAndré , Monique Chaumette. Four world-weary middle-aged men decide to gorge themselves to death in one final orgiastic weekend full of gourmet food, call girls, and a hefty, lusty schoolteacher. Special DVD feature: Excerpt from the documentary "Marco Ferreri: the director who came from the future." 130 min. DVD X1672; vhs 999:3463 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Grande Illusion (The Grand Illusion) (1937) Directed by Jean Renoir. Jean Renoir's classic anti-war film. A non-inflammatory World War I film set on the front in 1916, before American involvement. It is a study of a prisoner of war camp and the disillusionment of captors and prisoners alike. 111 min.DVD 141; DVD 3494; VHS 999:82 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Grand Voyage (2004) Directed by Ismael Ferroukhi. Cast: Nicolas Cazale, Mohamed Majd, Jacky Nercessian. A few weeks before his college entrance exams, Reda, a young man who lives in the south of France, finds himself obligated to drive his father to Mecca. The wide cultural and generational gap between the two is worsened by their lack of communication. Reda finds it hard to accommodate his father, who demands respect for himself and his pilgrimage. From France, through Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan to Saudi Arabia, the two embark on a road trip that will change their lives. 108 min. DVD 6328 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Guerre est finie (The War Is Over) (1966) Directed by Alain Renais. Cast: Yves Montand, Ingrid Thulin, Geneviève Bujold, Jean Daste. In this complex and perceptive film an aging Spanish revolutionary finds his idealism destroyed when he returns from exile to visit his longtime mistress. 120 min. DVD 5935; vhs 999:2013 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Alain Resnais bibliography To the top La Haine (Hate) (1995) Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Said is an Arab, Hubert is black, Vinz is a Jew, all living in Paris. Each of them needs to vent the anger they feel about the police brutality that landed another friend in the hospital. Vinz finds a Smith & Wesson .44 that sparks the shocking climax after the boys tangle with the cops and a gang of skinheads. Special features (ca. 135 min.) (Disc 1): Video introduction by Jodie Foster (14:51); Audio commentary by director Mathieu Kassovitz; Theatrical trailers. (Disc 2): "Ten Years of La haine" (83:25); "Social Dynamite" (33:59); "Preparing for the Shoot" (5:57); "Making of a Scene" (6:36); Deleted and extended scenes (5:57); Still gallery. Essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau, and appreciation by Costa-Gavras in booklet. 95 min. DVD 7386; DVD 5603 (non-US DVD); vhs 999:1644 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Movie Review Query Engine Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien (With a Friend Like Harry) (2000) Directed by Dominik Moll. Cast: Laurent Lucas, Sergi Lopez, Mathilde Seigner, Sophie Guillemin. Michel, who wrote poetry, and Harry, a rich spoiled brat, were school chums. Now twenty years later, Michel, who is married with three young girls, meets up with Harry on the way to Michel's summer home. Harry "forces"his way into their lives and nothing will be the same again. Trying to make Michel's life "easier", Harry embarks on a path that will become self-destructive. 116 min. DVD 1018 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Haut, bas, fragile (Up, Down, Fragile) (2001) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Marinanne Denicourt, Nathalie Richard, Laurence Cote, André Marco, Bruno Todeschini, Wilfred Benaiche, Marcel Bozonnet, Philippe Dormoy, Pierre Lacan, Stephanie Schwartzbrod, Christine Vezinet, Anna Karina, Enzo Enzo. A luminously unique romantic musical set in summertime Paris. In beautiful sun drenched streets, cafes and parks three young lives intersect and are changed by an artist, a mystery, and a gun. 164 min. DVD 4585 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hélas pour moi (Oh, Woe Is Me) (1993 ) Director, Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Gerard Depardieu, Laurence Masliah, Bernard Verley, Aude Amiot. God may have entered the body of Simon to experience love and desire with Simon's wife Rachel. Based in part on the Greek legend of Amphitryon, the film is set in a small Swiss town on Lake Geneva. Based on the play Amphitrion 38 by Jean Giraudoux. 83 min. DVD 9296 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Un héros très discret (A Self Made Hero) (1997) Director, Jacques Audiard. Cast: Mathieu Kassovitz, Anouk Grinberg, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jean-Louis Trintignant. Restricted from service during World War II a young Frenchman can only watch as the war ends without him. He decides to flee to Paris where his inspired gift of deception leads to a tenaciously drawn plan to reinvent himself with a new heroic identity as a leader of the French Resistance. 105 min. DVD 9832; vhs 999:3451 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Une hirondelle a fait le printemps (The Girl from Paris) (2001) Directed by Christian Carion. Cast: Michel Serrault, Mathilde Seigner, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Frederic Pierrot, Marc Berman, Francoise Bette, Christophe Rossignon, Roland Chalosse. Sandrine is a successful Parisienne who tires of her job in the rat race and decides to buy Adrien's isolated farm with the caveat that he remain onsite for a period of time. A touching story of growth and change and of the glorious ability of nature to stir the depths of one's heart. 103 min. DVD 8256 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hiroshima mon amour (1959) Directed by Alain Resnais. During the filming of an anti-war film in Japan, a French actress falls in love with a Japanese architect. While sharing an intimate relationship, they also begin sharing the memories of a war experience at opposite sides of the world. 91 min. DVD 1716; vhs 999:28 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Histoire d'Adèle H. (The Story of Adele H) (1975) Directed by François Truffaut. Based on a true story, this film concerns Adele (Isabelle Adjani), the younger daughter of the famous author Victor Hugo, who follows her lover, Lt. Pinson, to Nova Scotia in 1863. Refusing to acknowledge his rejection of her, Adele continues to pursue Pinson for years, until her obsession gives way to madness. 97 min. DVD 517; VHS 999:2265 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Histoire d'O (The Story of O)(France / West Germany / Canada, 1975) Directed by Just Jaeckin. Cast: Corinne Clery, Anthony Steel, Udo Kier, Jean Gaven. O is taken by her boyfriend, Rene, to a bizarre retreat, where she is trained in bondage and sexual perversion. Rene discharges a personal debt by transferring possession of O to his step-brother. 98 min. DVD X677 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Histoire(s) du cinema: [introduction a une veritable histoire du cinema la seule la vraie] [SOUND RECORDING] Videographic film history essays by Jean Luc Godard (the sound track to a video by the same name), consumed with nostalgia for old movies and unusual image-mixing techniques. This provacative, wildly multiple video-poem is about an old man, his editing suite and his cultural lamentations. Text in French, with English and German translations. Based on Godard's book Histoire(s) du cinema 4vol (Main Stack PQ2667.O315.H57 1998) SOUND/D 84 Histoires extraordinaires (Spirits of the Dead) (1968) Presents three films based on the dark prose of Edgar Allan Poe. Metzengerstein, directed by Roger Vadim, with Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda, is the tale of a young woman who believes the spirit of the cousin she loved, killed in a stable fire she started, is in a horse that escaped. William Wilson, directed by Louis Malle, with Brigitte Bardot and Alain Delon, is the story of a mean-spirited Austrian officer who kills his doppelganger in a duel. Toby Dammit, directed by Federico Fellini, with Terence Stamp, is about a film star who takes off on a drunken spree after his film is completed, and was liberally adapted from Edgar A. Poe's novel Don't Wager Your Head to the Devil. 121 min. DVD 1819 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Un Homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman) (1966) Directed by Claude Lelouch. Cast: Anouk Aimee, Jean Louis Trintignant, PIerre Barouh, Valerie Lagrange, Henri Chemin, Yane Barry, Paul Le Person, Simone Paris. A love story of two tragically widowed people, a daredevil race-car driver and a movie script girl who meet while visiting their children's boarding school. They soon share a love filled with warmth, humor and truth, and intertwined with the demands of career and parenthood. 103 min. DVD 5526; vhs 999:735 (Dubbed into English) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Lelouch bibliography Un Homme qui dort (The Man Who Sleeps) (1974) Directed by Bernard Queysanne. Cast: Jacques Spiesser (student), Ludmila Mikael (voice/narrator). In this French tour-de-force a young student (Jacques Speisser) decides to have no more interaction with the world than is needed to minimally sustain life. His increasingly automaton-like behavior is coupled with a strange clarity of insight about the world around him. His inner musings as he wanders the luminous streets of Paris are narrated in the form of an unwritten diary by Ludmila Mikael. Contents: Disc 1: Version originale française avec la voix de Ludmila Mikaël (77 min.) ; Versions américaine (voix de Shelley Duvall), allemande (voix d'Andrea Kopsch) et espagnole ; La bande-annonce originale. -- Disc 2: Supplements: 1 ire-traduire Georges Pérec (71 min.) ; Propos amicaux à propos d'espèces d'espaces (32 min.) ; Deux documentaires de Bernard Oueysanne autour de l'oeuvre et de la personnalité de Georges Pérec. 77 min. DVD X1839 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hôtel des Amériques (Hotel America ) (1981) Directed by André Téchiné. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Patrick Dewaere, Etienne Chicot, Sabine Haudepin, Dominique Lavanant. Helène, a distracted anesthetist, almost runs down Gilles one evening on a Biarritz street. She is still numb from the drowning death earlier that year of her lover, a visionary architect. Gilles presses for a relationship, then backs away, deciding she could never love someone of lower class and limited prospects. But she does fall in love with him and gradually her depression eases. As she heals, he becomes obsessed with her lover's talents and his own limitations, behaving bizarrely and pushing her away. 95 min. DVD X61 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hôtel Monterey (In: Akermania. Volume one) (1974) Shorter works directed by Chantal Akerman. Hôtel Monterey: A stark, silent look at a New York pension hotel. J'ai faim, j'ai froid (I'm hungry, I'm cold): Two young Belgian girls run away from their home in Brussels. They spend a day and an evening in Paris looking for food and love, with comic and poignant results. Saute ma ville: A young woman comes home to her apartment in Brussels, where she cooks pasta and seals herself in with duct tape. The story ends with a bang. Akerman's first film made at the age of 18. 89 min. 999:980 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Chantal Akerman bibliography Hui Clos(1954) Directed by Jacqueline Audry. Cast: Arletty, Frank Villard, Gaby Sylvia, Yves Deniaud, Nicole Courcel, Jean Debucourt, Paul Frankeur, Giani Esposito Adapted from the play by Jean-Paul Sartre, a philosophical melodrama of three people tearing each other to pieces. Considered the author's most famous drama with its immortal sentence "L'enfer, c'est les autres" (Hell is other people). 95 min. Video/C 999:3807 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Humanité(1999) Directed by Bruno Dumont. Cast: Emmanuel Schotte, Severine Caneele, Philippe Tullier, Ghislain Ghesquiere, Ginette Allegre. Pharaon de Winter is a police detective who lives with his mother in a working-class town in northern France. He agonizes over the evil he confronts every day during the course of his work. The brutal rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl tests Pharaon's profound humanity to its limits as the investigation proceeds to its climax, and as Pharaon struggles to grasp the crime's meaning. 148 min. DVD 5619 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hurlevent (Wuthering Heights) (1985) Director, Jacques Rivette. Cast: Fabienne Babe, Lucas Belvaux, Sandra Montaigu, Alice de Poncheville. Based on Emily Bronte's 19th-century novel, this film sets the drama in the French countryside of the 1930s. Tells the story of the tormented love affair between two childhood sweethearts, Catherine, a headstrong young woman, and Roc, a fiery young gypsy. 126 min. DVD 1818; DVD 4584 (PAL) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database L'Hypothèse du tableau volé (The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting) (1978) Directed by Raul Ruiz. A pedantic art collector guides the viewer around six paintings by Frederic Tonnerre, a fictitious 19th century artist, as the mystery of the disappearance of the seventh unfolds. The paintings are shown as tableaux vivants which begin to move, forcing the viewer to examine the links between art and its interpreters, between words and images. 87 min. DVD 6572; video Video/C 3972 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top I Want to Go Home(1989) Directed by Alain Resnais. Cast: Adolph Green, Laura Benson, Linda Lavin, Gerard Depardieu, Micheline Presle, John Ashton, Geraldine Chaplin, Caroline Sihol. In a satire of French and American culture, an American cartoonist accepts an invitation to show his work at an exclusive Parisian gallery, hoping to reconcile with his estranged daughter living in France, who is trying to rid herself of her American provinciality. 101 min. DVD 9802 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Ici et ailleurs (Here and Elsewhere). Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Initially begun as a documentary portraying a sympathetic view of Palestinian revolutionaries, this film was ultimately transformed into a filmed essay addressing the relationship between politics and image and the problems of documentary filmmaking. After the filmmakers returned to France, a massacre by Hussein's troops killed most of the film subjects. At this point Godard joined the production and produced a film presenting the parallel lives of two families -- one French, one Palestinian -- with the film questioning the images and suggesting that documentaries present a false, constructed vision of reality. 1970. 55 min. Video/C 6879 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I've loved you so long)(2008) Directed by Philippe Claudel. Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Grévill, Frédéric Pierrot. Summary A shell-shocked Juliette is released from prison after serving 15 years for murdering her young son. As life has moved on, she must relearn certain basics. After being banished from her family, she is now reunited with her younger sister, Lea. Hopefully, Juliette will learn to forgive herself in the process. 117 min. DVD X1612 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Inch'Allah Dimanche (Algeria / France, 2001) Director, Yamina Benguigui. Film about the "family reunion," the French government's euphemism for a 1974 law allowing Algerian wives to rejoin their husbands working in France. Strong-willed Zouina parts tearfully from her mother in the port of Algiers; once in France, she and her three small children are at the mercy of her mother-in-law and confused by the strange customs of their local grocer and garden-obsessed neighbor. The radio is her only window on life and on the women of this new country. 98 min. DVD 1907 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Alion, Yves. "Inch'Allah Dimanche: Entretien avec Yamina Benguigui." Avant Scène Cinéma, vol. 506, pp. 136-38, November 2001 Fauvel, Maryse. "Yamina Benguigui's Inch’ Allah dimanche: unveiling hybrid identities." Studies in French Cinema; 2004, Vol. 4 Issue 2, p147-157, 11p UC users only Fenner, Angelica. "Aural Topographies of Migration in Yamina Benguigui's Inch'Allah dimanche." Camera Obscura: A Journal of Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies, vol. 22, no. 66[3], pp. 93-127, 2007 UC users only Humblot, Catherine Documentaires et reportages: "Mémoires d'immigrés, l'héritage maghrébin" CinémAction 87 (April-June 1998) India Song (1974) Directed by Marguerite Duras. Cast: Delphine Seyrig, Michel Lonsdale, Matthieu Carri?ere, Claude Mann, Vernon Dobtcheff, Didier Flamand, Claude Juan. The wife of a French vice-consul in 1930s India begins having affairs in order to escape her boredom. Her husband pretends not to notice because he understands the cause of her behavior. The accompanying feature length making-of documentary includes interviews with Duras and the actors and crew of the film. Special features: La couleur des mots : India song / Le Bureau d'amination culturelle du Minist?ere des relations exterieures presente ; Medias et Medias presente ; entretiens, Dominique Noguez ; realisation Jerome Beaujour, Jean Mascolo. (1984, 67 min.) ; Duras filmography ; shooting script plans ; photos ; About the DVD version. 114 min. DVD 2869; vhs 999:1087 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Indochine (1992) Directed by Regis Wargnier. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh Dan Pham, Jean Yanne, Dominique Blanc, Henri Marteau. Eliane, a rubber plantation owner in French Indochina, hides her torrid love affairs with upper-class society. But when her adopted Indochinese daughter innocently falls in love with Eliane's secret lover, the scandal may destroy their family. 156 min. DVD 2131; vhs 999:1125 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Innocents (The Dreamers) (2003, France/Italy) Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Cast: Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Robin Renucci, Anna Chancellor. When French twins - a brother and sister - invite a man to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and anything is possible. 115 min. DVD 3043 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Innocents aux mains sales (Innocents with Dirty Hands) (1972) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Romy Schneider, Rod Steiger, Paolo Giusti, Jean Rochefort. Julie and her young lover Jeff plot to murder Julie's rich husband Louis Wormser and make it look like an accident. After the deed, Jeff disappears and Julie is arrested on suspicion of murder, but through the efforts of a clever lawyer she is released. Upon returning home, she discovers her husband Louis has returned in what proves to be the first of many plot twists in this tense thriller. 121 min. DVD 1731 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Inspecteur Lavardin (1986) Director, Claude Chabrol. Cast: Jean Poiret, Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Luc Bideau, Jacques Dacqmine. Poiret arrives at a cozy, seaside village to investigate the bizarre murder of an eminent Catholic author. The usually cool sleuth is shaken when he discovers that the victim's widow is none other than his old flame. 100 min. DVD 6596 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Les Invasions barbares (Barbarian Invasions) (2003) Directed by Denys Arcand. Cast: Remy Girard, Stephane Rousseau, Marie-Josee Croze, Roy Dupuis. It's not easy for a narrow-minded professor to reconcile with his equally stubborn son. But soon, father and son find themselves gathering with their wide and colorful circle of family and friends to confront their differences, confess their secrets, and celebrate life. 99 min. DVD 5525 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Irma Vep (1996) Directed by Olivier Assayas. Cast: Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Nathalie Richard. Aging director Henri Vidal has decided to film a remake of the legendary silent serial, Les vampires, in hopes of making a comeback. Vidal chooses Cheung to play Irma Vep, the leader of a band of jewel thieves. Arriving in Paris unable to speak a word of French, Cheung finds herself stuck in the middle of a stressful situation when the production begins to fall apart and Vidal suffers a nervous breakdown. 95 min. DVD 4136 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Irréversible (2002) Directed by Gaspar Noé. Cast: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon, Jo Prestia. Alex and Marcus are a couple whose story is told over the course of a fateful evening in a series of long takes. An emotional odyssey that unspools in reverse from gut-wrenching violence to sweetly observed moments of sublime tenderness. 90 min. DVD 8759 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top JCVD(Belgium / Luxembourg / France, 2008) Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri. Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra, Jean-François Wolff, Anne Paulicevich, Liliane Becker. JCVD, an out of luck actor, returns to his childhood home of Brussels. When he goes into a post office to receive a wire transfer, he finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation. Due to an unfortunate mistake, the police believe JCVD is responsible for the crime. As the events are played from different perspectives, JCVD finds himself protecting the hostages, as well as serving as their negotiator. JCVD is forced to accept responsibility for crimes he didn't commit, as well as the life mistakes that he did make. 97 min. DVD X1618 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database JLG/JLG (1995) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. "Godard stars as a fictional character of his own creation, musing about in his actual home in Rolle, Switzerland. In the dead of winter, he suffers the rude interruption of critics and the cheeky services of a pretty maid, while contemplating the end of western culture, cinema and his own mortality. A busy day... but still with time for tragedy, tennis and television." 65 min. 999:2102 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database J'Accuse (1937) Directed by Abel Gance. J'Accuse was first released in 1919 as a silent film, but during the late thirties, appalled at the prospect of a second World War, Gance retold his story in a vastly different version to challenge the awful onslaught of history. Jean Diaz is a research scientist who survived the carnage of WWI and swears to dedicate his life to ending war, a burden which drives him to madness. When he discovers his work is being exploited by the military-industrial establishment, he summons up the millions of dead soldiers from World War I to rise from their graves, to bring the world to its senses. Gance's monumental work anticipated the terrible destructive capability of modern weapons and remains a powerful statement for today. J'accuse is a World War I drama considered to be one of the most technically advanced films of the era and the first major pacifist film. It was referred to by Gance as "a human cry against the bellicose din of armies." Stars Marise Dauvray as Edith, a young woman who is unhappily married to an older man François, but is actually in love with a young poet Jean Diaz. Both Jean and François end up on the front lines of World War I while Edith is captured by German forces and suffers atrocities at the hands of the soldiers. Gance contrasts individual human suffering with the larger horrors of was, depicted with stark realism. Paris pendant la guerre (Paris during the war): A rare comical look at Parisian life during wartime. These short vignettes feature several popular performers of the day (including: Félix Galipaux, M. Rablet, Marcel Simon, M. Boucot, Jane Faber) ; also includes Francois Poulbot's famous political cartoons. 166 min. DVD X665 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database J'ai faim, j'ai froid (I'm Hungry, I'm Cold; in: Akermania. Volume one) (1984) Shorter works directed by Chantal Akerman. J'ai faim, j'ai froid (I'm hungry, I'm cold): Two young Belgian girls run away from their home in Brussels. They spend a day and an evening in Paris looking for food and love, with comic and poignant results. Hôtel Monterey: A stark, silent look at a New York pension hotel. Saute ma ville: A young woman comes home to her apartment in Brussels, where she cooks pasta and seals herself in with duct tape. The story ends with a bang. Akerman's first film made at the age of 18. 89 min. 999:980 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Chantal Akerman bibliography J'ai pas sommeil (I Can't Sleep) (1994) Director, Claire Denis. Cast: Katerina Golubeva, Richard Courcet, Vincent Dupont. A "granny killer" is loose in Paris, inciting fear and havoc amongst its residents. Based on the true story of Thierry Paulin, who with his male lover murdered over 20 elderly women in Paris in the 1980s, this is an eerily atmospheric portrait of urban alienation and arbitrary violence. 115 min. DVD X1120; vhs 999:3268 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Je Rentre à la maison (Vou para Casa; I'm Going Home) (France/Portugal, 2001) Directed by Manoel de Oliveria. Cast: Michel Piccoli, Antoine Chappey, Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich, Leonor Baldaque, Leonor Silveria. The comfortable daily routines of an aging Parisian actor are suddenly shaken when he learns that his wife, daughter, and son-in-law have been killed in a car crash. Having to take care of his now-orphaned grandson, he struggles to go on with his lifelong acting career but finally becomes convinced that its time to retire. 90 min. Non-US (PAL) format DVD. DVD 5271 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Je, Tu, Il, Elle (I, you, he, she) (1974) Directed by Chantal Akerman. Julie stays in a virtually bare room writing a long love letter, with which she becomes increasingly frustrated. She hitchhikes along the Brussels highway, where she is picked up by a truck driver. Arriving at the apartment of her former lesbian lover, Julie spends the night but silently leaves the apartment next morning. 90 min. DVD 8267; DVD 513; VHS 999:926 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Chantal Akerman bibliography Je vous salue, Marie (Hail Mary) (1985) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Myriem Roussel, Thierry Rode, Philippe Lacoste, Malachai Jara Kohan, Juliette Binoche. A film which presents the Virgin Birth in contemporary terms. When a teenage virgin innocent becomes pregnant the girl, her fiance, family, and friends struggle to cope. 107 min. Special feature: Le livre de Marie (The book of Mary), by Anne-Marie Mieville (1985, 28 min). DVD 6375 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean de Florette (1986) Directed by Claude Berri. Cast: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu, Margarite Lozano. The story of Jean Cadoret, a man who inherits a farm from his mother and foolishly hopes to become a gentleman farmer. But even before he arrives, his powerful neighbor Cesar, is plotting to steal his land. With the help of his corrupt nephew, the collusion of the clannish villagers and the added effects of a severe drought, Cesar hatches a wicked scheme that drives Jean to the brink of desperation. From the novel by Marcel Pagnol. 122 min. DVD 514; VHS 999:383 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Belgium / France, 1975) Directed by Chantal Anne Akerman. Cast: Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Henri Storck. Chronicles mundane episodes from the daily life of a 40-year-old housewife/prostitute who snaps when faced with intense emotion and commits a horrifying crime. Special features DVD X1959: Restored digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Chantal Akerman; "Autour de Jeanne Dielman:" a documentary shot by actor Sami Frey and edited by Agnes Ravez and Akerman, made during the filming; new interviews with Akerman and cinematographer Babette Mangolte; excerpt from "Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman:" a 1997 episode of the French television program Cinéma de notre temps; interview with Akerman's mother, Natalia; archival television interview excerpt featuring Akerman and star Delphine Seyrig; "Saute ma ville:" (1968), Akerman's first film, with an introduction by the director. A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ivone Margulies. 85 min. DVD X1959; DVD 8267 (non-US format DVD) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Autour de Jeanne Dielman (1975-2004) An unpublished documentary on the filming of "Jeanne Dielman" mounted by Chantal Akerman and Agnes Ravez and filmed throughout the shooting by Sami Frey. Looks at the relationships during rehearsals between Delphine Seyrig, Chantal Akerman and the team, almost exclusively female. Special feature: Entretien avec Chantal Akerman (1966; 17 min. : sd., col.) 78 min. DVD 8267 Jeanne la Pucelle - Les Batailles (Joan the Maid - The Battles) (1994) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, André Marcon, Jean-Louis Richard, Marcel Nozonnet, Patrick LeMauff, Didier Sauvegrain, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Bruno Wolkowitch. Tells the story of Joan of Arc recorded in meticulous detail, relying on original court transcripts and eyewitness accounts. "The Battles," the first segment of this two-part account of her life, follows Joan from her birth in 1412 describing her early life, to her response to inner voices during battles at Orleans culminating with the defeat of the English at Tourelles. 112 min. DVD 1171; vhs 999:2371 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jeanne la Pucelle - Les Prisons (Joan the Maid - The Prisons) (1994) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, André Marcon, Jean-Louis Richard, Marcel Nozonnet, Patrick LeMauff, Didier Sauvegrain, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Bruno Wolkowitch. "The Prisons," the second segment in a two-part account of the life of Joan of Arc, begins in June, 1429, as Joan rejoins the Dauphin at Loches and embarks on a series of French victories over the English. But in May of the following year, Joan is captured and imprisoned. In January of 1431, the trial of Joan of Arc begins and during five months, she faces her two judges; accused of sorcery, impurity, wearing men's clothing and refusal to submit to English rule, she is condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake. 116 min. DVD 1171; vhs 999:2372 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database J'embrasse pas (I Don't Kiss) (France / Italy, 1991) Directed by André Téchiné. Cast: Philippe Noiret, Emmanuelle Beart, Manuel Blanc, Helène Vincent, Ivan Desny, Christophe Bernard, Roschdy Zem, Raphaeline Goupilleau, Michèle Moretti. Pierre breaks away from his family life in rural France and moves to Paris where he finds it harder than expected to become an actor. He rejects the help of an older gay man and lives on the streets, where he meets a young female prostitute. 116 min. DVD X61 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jésus de Montréal (Jesus of Montreal) (1989) Directed by Denys Arcand. Cast: Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Remy Girard, Robert Lepage, Gilles Pelletier, Yves Jacques. A Montreal shrine seeks to inspire its congregants by modernizing its staging of the Passion play. A promising cast of vibrant young actors are signed on - one fresh from perfume commercials, another from the pornographic film industry, and another who had an affair with the basilica's priest - quickly drive the production on to become a smash hit. But as the play enjoys success, the actors become more and more challenged to separate their real lives from their lives onstage. 119 min. DVD 3163 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Jetée (1962) Directed by Chris Marker. "Earth lies ruined in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The few surviving humans begin researching time travel, in hopes of sending someone back to the pre-war world in search of food, supplies, and hopefully some sort of solution to mankind's imminent demise. The protagonist is a man whose retention of a single, vague childhood memory (that of witnessing a murder on the jetty at Orly airport) is the basis for his being chosen to travel back in time. His journey leads him towards an enigmatic and paradoxical destiny. This fascinating story is told primarily with still photographs; the film contains only one moving image." [Internet Movie Database]. 42 min. DVD 6:1:2 [NOTE: this version with English voice over only]; DVD 1917 (PAL); VHS 999:778 and 999:1437 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard (1975) Directed by Marcel Bluwal. Cast: Danièle Lebrun, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Françoise Giret, Claude Brasseur, André Huguet, Henri-Jacques Huet. A comic romance based on the 1730 play by Marivaux. In French without subtitles. 93 min. Video/C 9354 Jeux interdits (Forbidden Games) (1952) Directed by René Clément. An orphaned girl in 1940s France is taken in by a farm family. The story focuses on the relationship which grows between the girl and the family's youngest son. 84 min. DVD 4992; vhs 999:133 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Benson, Ed. "The Screen of History in Clément's Forbidden Games." Literature/Film Quarterly. 2005. Vol. 33, Iss. 3; p. 207 (10 pages) UC users only Le Joli Mai (1963) Directed by Chris Marker and Pierre L'Homme. A series of interviews with ordinary people in the streets of France speaking about their lives and feelings while living in France in May of 1962, the year the Algerian War came to an end. Commentary spoken by Yves Montand (French version), Simone Signoret (English version). 119 min. 999:2111 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000 (Jonah Who Will be 25 in the Year 2000) (1976) Directed by Alain Tanner. Cast: Jean-Luc Bideau, Myriam Mezi`ere, Miou-Miou, Jacques Denis. This high-spirited, freewheeling comedy tells the story of eight French veterans of 1968, stranded between revolution and accomodation in the 1970s. Among them a sexy secretary with mystical beliefs, a disillusioned journalist turned gambler, a supermarket cashier who gives away food and a highly unorthodox teacher each providing their own eccentric solutions to the problems of society. 110 min. 999:2882 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bates, Robin "Holes in the sausage of history: May '68 as absent center in three Europan films." Cinema Journal Vol XXIV nr 3 (Spring 1985); p 24-42. Joueur d'échecs (The Chess Player) (1925) Directed by Raymond Bernard. Cast: Pierre Blanchar, Charles Dulin, Edith Jehanne, Camille Bert, Pierre Batchell, Marcelle Charles-Dulin. An early silent costume drama set in the court of Catherine the Great, the film combines romance, politics, and war with the story of the invention of the chess-playing automaton. 140 min. DVD 1796 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Jour se lève (Daybreak) (1939) Directed by Marcel Carné. Cast: Jean Gabin, Arletty, Jules Berry, Jacqueline Laurent. Darkness, shadow and fog share the lead with Jean Gabin who, in his usual gruffly dignified and highly emotional manner plays an ordinary man cajoled into murder. 88 min. 999:1059 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Turim, Maureen. "Poetic Realism as Psychoanalytical and Ideological Operation: Marcel Carné's 'Le Jour se leve'." In: French film, texts and contexts Edited by Susan Hayward and Ginette Vincendeau. pp: 63-77. London ; New York : Routledge, 1989. (UCB Main PN1993.5.F7 F74 1989; UCB Moffitt PN1993.5.F7 F74 1990) Le Journal d'une femme de chambre (Diary of a Chambermaid) (1964) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Georges Geret, Daniel Ivernel, Françoise Lugagne, Muni, Jean Ozenne, Michel Piccoli. A chambermaid with Paris flair gets a job at a country estate and discovers the family she works for and the other staff members are a strange sort. She entrenches herself in sexual hypocracy and scandal with her philandering employer and when a child is murdered near the estate, she begins to have her suspicions as to whom may be responsible. 97 min. DVD 892; VHS 999:1060 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Journal d'un curé de campagne (Diary of a Country Priest) (1950) Directed by Robert Bresson. Cast: Claude Laydu, Antoine Balpetre, Gaston Severin, Leon Arvel, Jean Danet, André Guibert, Nicole Ladmiral, Jean Riveyre, Jeanne Etievant, Bernard Hubrenne, Marie-Monique Arkell. A young country priest engenders hostility, indifference, and rejection among his parishioners. Stricken by cancer, he dies a lonely death. 120 min. DVD 2475; VHS 999:125 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jours tranquilles à Clichy (Quiet days in Clichy) (1989) Director, Claude Chabrol. Cast: Nigel Havers, André w McCarthy, Barbara De Rossi, Stephanie Cotta, Eva Grimaldi, Isolde Barth. A womanizing photographer takes up residence with an impoverished writer in the promiscuous red light district of 1930's Paris. Together, they spend days at the club Melody, a place of ill-repute where prostitutes satisfy the passions and desires of their clientele. Adapted from the novel of the same title, written by Henry Miller. 100 min. 999:2900 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Judex (1917) Directed by Louis Feuillade. One of cinema's first 'superheroes,' the mysterious Judex in these early silent films is torn between an oath of justice against the wealthy banker Favraux, who had earlier wronged his family, and his secret love of Favraux's daughter, Jacqueline. This framework is the basis of a series of extraordinary and engaging incidents involving Judex's brother, the evil Diana Monti and her accomplices, the detective Cocatin, and the charming Licorice Kid. Disc 1: Prologue -- 1. The mysterious shadow -- 2. The atonement -- 3. The fantastic dog pack -- 4. The secret of the tomb -- 5. The tragic mill -- Disc 2: 6. The Liquorice Kid -- 7. The woman in black -- 8. The underground passages of the Chateau-Rouge -- 9. When the child appeared -- 10. Jacqueline's heart -- 11. The water goddess -- 12. Love's forgiveness. Features a newly recorded score by Robert Israel. Also included: The music of Judex, an 18 minute featurette in which Robert Israel discusses scoring Judex and an essay by film historian Jan-Christopher Horak. 315 min. DVD 6178 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Judex (1963) Directed by Georges Franju. Cast: Channing Pollock, Francine Bergé, Edith Scob, Théo Sarapo, Sylvia Koscina. Concerns a wicked banker, his helpless daughter, and a mysterious avenger. It plays like a fairy tale, one in which Franju creates a dazzling clash between good and evil, eschewing interest in the psychological aspects of his characters for unexplained twists and turns in the action. Special features: Interview with Jacques Champreux (the grandson of Louis Feuillade) filmed in 2007, discussing Georges Franju and their collaboration adapting the work of his grandfather. 94 min. DVD X1679 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jules et Jim (Jules and Jim) (1961) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino. In the bohemian Paris of 1912, two inseparable bon vivants fall in love with the same young woman. She capriciously marries one of them and thereupon begins a tale of the long, torturous emotional adjustments the three must make. Special features (Criterion disc DVD 4347): New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised by director of photography Raoul Coutard; Commentary with co-writer Jean Gruault, Truffaut collaborator Suzanne Schiffman, editor Claudine Bouche, and Truffaut scholar Annette Insdorf; Commentary with actress Jeanne Moreau and Truffaut biographer Serge Toubiana; New video interview with director of photography Raoul Coutard; Exclusive video interview with Jean Gruault; New Video conversation between film scholars Robert Stam and Dudley André w; 1969 segment from the French program 'L'Invite du Dimanche,' featuring Truffaut and Moreau; Excerpts from an episode of the French TV program 'Cineastes de notre temps' dedicated to Truffaut; Truffaut on novelist Henri-Pierre Roche, from the 1966 French program 'Bibliotheque de poche'; Archival audio interview with Truffaut. 106 min.DVD 4347; DVD 126; VHS 999:62 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Juste avant la nuit (Just Before Nightfall) (1971) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Stephane Audran, Michel Bouquet, François Perier, Jean Carmet, Marina Ninchi, Dominique Zardi, Henri Attal, Paul Temps. Charles Masson, an advertising executive, is having an affair with Laura, the wife of his best friend, the architect François Tellier. When one of their S&M games goes too far, Laura is accidentally strangled. Even though the police are struggling to solve the murder, Charles finds it difficult to cope with the situation and to live a normal life with his two children and loving wife Hel`ene. From Chabrol's most revered period of work between 1968 and 1974, this is a masterful exploration into friendship and the darker sides of human nature. 102 min. DVD 5414 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Juve contre Fantômas (Silent; 1913-14) Directed by Louis Feuillade. The Simplon Express disaster (23 min.) -- The haunted Villa (23 min.) Episodes of the Fantomas silent film serial about the adventures of Fantomas, the mysterious bandit in a black hood who is relentlessly tracked by Juve, the detective. Fantomas was an immense worldwide success and helped establish the advent of film serials in the United States. 47 min. 999:1926; also included on DVD 5868 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top L.627 (1992) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Didier Bezace, Jean-Paul Comart, Charlotte Kady, Jean-Roger Milo. Using the French anti-drug statute L.627 as its title and collaborating with a fifteen-year veteran of the Paris police, Tavernier plunges into the story of Lulu, a quietly dedicated narcotics cop who becomes part of a small, ill-equiped, but spirited drug squad often taking the law into their own hands. 145 min. DVD 8823 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Lacombe Lucien (1974) Directed by Louis Malle. Cast: Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clément, Holger Lowenadler, Thérèse Giehse. Louis Malle's film brilliantly relates the story of a young opportunist French peasant who joins the Gestapo during the Nazi occupation. Despite being a collaborator he falls in love with the daughter of a Jewish tailor, with profound effects on her family. A subtle, complex tale of guilt, innocence and the amorality of power. 132 min. DVD 5381; vhs 999:3071 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Laissez-passer (Safe Conduct) (2002) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Jacques Gamblin, Denis Podalydes, Charlotte Kady, Marie Desgranges, Ged Marlon, Philippe Morier-Genoud, Laurent Schilling, Maria Pitarresi, Marie Gillain. During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, the nation's movie studios continued to operate. Jean Devaivre is an assistant director for Continental Pictures, a studio which has recently been taken over by the Germans and is headed by Dr. Greven. With a wife and son to support, Devaivre feels he has little choice but to continue with his work. Screenwriter Jean Aurenche, a man who lives for wine, women and song, refuses to work for Greven, and struggles to find a way to make a living with his words. 163 min. DVD 2684 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Kauffmann, Stanley. "Grace under pressure." The New Republic. Nov 4, 2002. Vol. 227, Iss. 19; pg. 22UC users only Lovejoy, Alice. "Safe Conduct." Film Comment, Nov/Dec2002, Vol. 38 Issue 6, p76, 1pUC users only Marcelle Clements. "When Moviemaking Was a Form of Resistance." New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). Oct 13, 2002. pg. 2.11 Porton, Richard; Flitterman-Lewis, Sandy. "The spirit of resistance: An interview with Bertrand Tavernier." Cineaste. Spring 2003. Vol. 28, Iss. 2; p. 4 UC users only Lancelot du Lac (Lancelot of the Lake) (1974) Directed by Robert Bresson. Cast: Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan, Vladimir Antolek-Oresek, Patrick Bernhard, Arthur De Montalembert, Charles Balsan. Set in the last days of the doomed quest by Lancelot and the rest of King Arthur's knights for the Holy Grail, this is a tale of the end of the age of chivalry and the death of a dream. 80 min. DVD 2755; vhs 999:1206 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Land Without Bread (1929) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Bunuel's only documentary film. It portrays the everyday lives of indigent peasants in one of Spain's most desolate regions. (With "Un Chien Andalou".) 27 min. 999:173 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Léon (The Professional) (1994) Director, Luc Besson. Cast: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello. When his next door neighbors are murdered, New York's top hit man becomes the unwilling guardian of their surviving 12-year-old daughter. He helps her track the psychotic agent who murdered her family so she can exact her revenge. A non-stop crescendo of action, suspense and surprises. 110 min. DVD 5805 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Léopard (1984) Director, Jean-Claude Sussfeld. Cast: Claude Brasseur, Dominique Lavanant, Marius Weyers, Max Megy, Nini Crepon. A French secret service agent who becomes a novelist after he is forced to retire, writes about experiences he had as a spy in his novel. Adventures ensue when he and his editor, whom the ex-spy regards as too stuffy for his own good, wind up in Africa where they must overcome their mutual dislike and investigate the murder of a renowned physicist. In French without subtitles. SECAM format. 96 min. 999:3193 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Letter to Jane (France, 1972) Directors, Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin. "This extraordinary little movie emerges from the then recently formed French Dziga Vertov film collective, led by Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin. The collective produced a number of provocative films that show a distinct move away from the more 'middle class' narratives of a film like Pierrot le fou (Godard, 1965). In Letter to Jane, a single news photograph (see further discussion below) first appears on the screen: it is of Jane Fonda towering above some Vietnamese, and on the sound track Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin discuss the implications of the photograph. Their talk is didactic, and reveals what Laura Mulvey referred to later as Godard's "always interesting" misogyny (quoted in Williams 1992: 84). Certainly the intensity of a film consisting of a still picture and two ideologues berating the subject of the picture has something of the feeling of a show trial about it. The Marxist/Maoist Dziga Vertov movement and Jane Fonda's own short career as a bourgeois idealist collide in what in retrospect is a film by two rather privileged intellectuals who both seem to lack a sense of history's ironies." [Dawson, J. 2002.] Includes 1972 video interview excerpt with Jean-Luc Godard; new video interview with Jean-Pierre Gorin; includes a booklet including essays by film critics J. Hoberman and Kent Jones and Godard biographer Colin MacCabe and an excerpted interview with Gorin and Godard from 1972. 52 min. DVD 3549 (supplement to DVD of Tout va bien) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Dawson, Jonathan. "Letter to Jane." Senses of Cinema. no. 19, Mar-Apr 2002. Klein, Michael. "Letter to Jane." Film Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Autumn, 1973), pp. 62-64 UC users only Letterist Films: Woman, Women (1978-1995) Various directors. Contents: Le temoin ou la timide esperance (The witness or timid expectations), Christiane Guymer (1984, 9 min.); Guimauve et baisers bleus (Blue kisses and marshmellows), Hélène Richol (1983, 10 min.); All women are Joan of Arcs, Suzanne Lemaitre, Maurice Lemaitre (1984, 20 min.); La femme n'est plus ce qu'elle e'tait! (Woman is not what she used to be), Hélène Richol (1978, 10 min.); End memory, Pip Chodorov (1995, 6 min.); Une histoire d'amour (Love, Maurice Lemaitre (1978, 9 min.). "If the woman is not what she used to be, she will soon become, through ongoing struggle, not the future of mankind, but her own future, as demonstrated in these letterist films. Proof that she must perhaps also find companionship with men in this creative combat is offered here as the focus on the woman or on women, can signify neither myth nor exclusion." 64 min. 999:1963 Leurs premiers films (Their First Films) (1946-1971) Presents eight of the very first films of several French directors who went on to become household names in international cinema. Even in their first attempts it is easy to see what differentiated them from similar colleagues, and also how their styles became so coherent and indentifiable. Contents: L'amour existe, by Maurice Pialat (1961, b&w, 19 min.). Le chant du styRené , by Alain Resnais (1957, col., 14 min.). Charlotte et son Jules, by Jean-luc Godard (1958, b&w, 13 min.). Le coup du berger, by Jacques Rivette (1957, b&w, 27 min.). Histoire d'eau, by François Truffaut & Jean-Luc Godard (1958, b&w, 12 min.). Le labaratoire de l'Angoisse, by Patrice Leconte (1971, col., 11 min.). Les surmenes, by Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (1957, b&w, 19 min.). 24 heures de la vie d'un clown, by Jean-Pierre Melville (1946, b&w, 18 min.) (Note: search IMDB.com for more details on each filmmaker.) DVD 3134 Level Five (1997) Directed by Chris Marker. The French computer programmer Laura inherits the task of making a computer game of the Battle of Okinawa in Japan during WWII. She searches the Internet for information and interviews Japanese experts and witnesses. The extraordinary circumstances of the Battle lead her to reflect deeply on her own life and humanity in general, particularly the influence of history and memories. 105 min. 999:3156 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) (1960) Directed by Roger Vadim. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Philipe, Annette Vadim, Jeanne Valerie, Jean Louis Trintignant. Based on the 18th century novel that scandalized Parisian society and updated by Vadim. Valmont (Gérard Philipe) and Juliette (Jeanne Moreau) have an unusual open marriage in which adulterous affairs are encouraged. A Swiss ski resort provides the perfect backdrop for their perverse game of devastating the emotional lives of those around them. Their game backfires when Valmont breaks their cardinal rule by falling in love. Created is an unforgettable portrait of a decadent society where people become mere playing pieces in the game of seduction. 111 min. 999:453 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Liliom (1934) Directed by Fritz Lang. Cast: Charles Boyer, Madeleine Ozeray, Florelle, Pierre Alcover, Robert Arnoux. Brash ne'er-do-well Liliom, played by Boyer with physical gusto and inner uncertainty, is a carnival barker until he encounters the ethereal Julie, whom he marries. When he is killed in a knife fight he is allowed to return to earth for one day to see how his wife and daughter are managing. Based on the play by Franz Molnar. 120 min. DVD 6861; DVD 2457; vhs 999:700 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Fritz Lang bibliography Lola (1961) Directed by Jacques Demy. Cast: Anouk Aimee, Marc Michel, Jacques Harden, Alan Scott, Elina Labourdette. In Nantes, a bored young man named Roland is letting life pass him by when he has a chance meeting with a woman he knew in his teens: she's Lola, now a cabaret dancer. She's also the devoted single mother of a young son, and she harbors the hope that his father, who deserted her during pregnancy, will return. Roland realizes he's in love with Lola, and this gives sudden purpose to his life. But how does she feel? Woven into the story are an American sailor who likes Lola and is kind to her son; a girl on the eve of her 14th birthday, when all things seem romantic; the girl's mother, a lonely widow; and, an aging woman who misses her son. And who's the rich guy in the Cadillac? 90 min. DVD 6660 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Lola Montès (1955) Directed by Max Ophuls. Cast: Martine Carol (Lola Mont`es), Peter Ustinov (Ringmaster), Anton Walbrook (King Ludwig), Henri Guisol (Maurice), Lise Delamare (Lola's mother), Paulette Dubost (Josephine), Oskar Werner (Student). Depicts, through flashbacks, the life of a famous courtesan, recounted as part of a lavish circus act. The ringmaster introduces and displays Lola Montes who recalls her romances with Franz Liszt, a student, and Ludwig, King of Bavaria before she was reduced by scandal, poverty and ill fortune to her present life as a circus performer. 110 min. DVD 189 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Burdick, Dolores M. "Lisa, Lola, and I: The Woman Unknown as the Woman Immortal in Ophuls and Robbe-Grillet." Michigan Academician, vol. 12 no. 3. 1980 Winter. pp: 251-259. Max Ophuls bibliography Un Long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement) (2004) Directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet. Cast: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jean-Pierre Becker, Dominique Bettenfeld, Jodie Foster. Mathilde is waiting desperately for her fiance to return from World War II. When bad news arrives she refuses to believe he is dead. Instead, she begins her own investigation into his infantry, hiring a private detective and piecing together his war stories. 133 min. DVD 4169 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Lucie Aubrac (1997) Directed by Claude Berri. Cast: Carole Bouquet, Daniel Auteuil. Based on a true story, this is the dramatic tale of a husband and wife along with their associates in the French Resistance during several months of 1943. Activist Raymond Samuel is betrayed by a comrade and arrested by the Gestapo. His only hope is his beautiful wife, Lucie, who conceives a bold plan for her husband's escape -- flirting with the enemy and risking her life to free him. 116 min. 999:2926 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hayes, Graeme. " Resistancialism revisited: masculinity and national identity in Claude Berri's Lucie Aubrac (1997)." Studies in French Cinema, 2001, Vol. 1 Issue 2, p108, 10p UC users only Lumière Brothers SEE Early Films Ma nuit chez Maud (My Night at Maud's) (1969) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Françoise Fabian, Marie-Christine Barrault, Antoine Vitez. In this French romantic comedy an engineer is seeking the perfect mate. Just when he thinks he has found her, he finds himself accidentally spending the night sharing the bed of a seductive divorcee, Maud. 111 min. DVD 263; VHS 999:1426 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Ma saison préferéé (My Favorite Season) (1993) Directed by André Téchiné. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Patrick Dewaere, Etienne Chicot, Sabine Haudepin, Dominique Lavanant. Helène, a distracted anesthetist, almost runs down Gilles one evening on a Biarritz street. She is still numb from the drowning death earlier that year of her lover, a visionary architect. Gilles presses for a relationship, then backs away, deciding she could never love someone of lower class and limited prospects. But she does fall in love with him and gradually her depression eases. As she heals, he becomes obsessed with her lover's talents and his own limitations, behaving bizarrely and pushing her away. 122 min. DVD X61 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Ma 6-T va crack-er (1997) Directed by Jean-François Richet. Cast: Arco Descat C., Jean-Marie Robert, Malik Zeggou, Mustapha Ziad, and Karim Rezeg. A portrait of the aimless lives of unemployed inner city youths living on society's fringe in the suburbs of a French city. The film centers on two teenaged gangs who terrorize their neighborhoods. There are few limits to their unpleasant philosophy of "desire equals acquisition." The film reaches its climax at a nightclub where the two rival groups collide when a gun fight breaks out. 97 min. DVD 8792 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Cieutat, Michel. "Ma 6-T va crack-er." CinemAction, 2002, Issue 103, p200-202, 3p; Higbee, William. "Screening the 'other' Paris: cinematic representations of the French urban periphery in La Haine and Ma 6-T Va Crack-er." Modern & Contemporary France, May2001, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p197-208, 12p UC users only Joyard, Olivier. "La cite interdite." Cahiers du Cinema, Jul/Aug 1997, Issue 515, p72-73, 2p Kohn, Olivier. "Ma 6-T va crack-er." Positif, Jul/Aug 1997, Issue 437/438, p131-131, 1p; Primeau, Francois. "Ma 6-T va crack-er." Sequences, Mar/Apr 1999, Issue 201, p39-40, 2p Ma vie en rose (My Life In Pink) (1997) Directed by Alain Berliner. Cast: Michele Laroque, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Hélène Vincent, Georges Du Fresne, Daniel Hanssens, Laurence Bibot, Jean-François Gallotte, Caroline Baehr, Julien Riviere, Marie Bunel. With six-year-old certainty, Ludovic believes he was meant to be a little girl and that the mistake will soon be corrected. Instead of the miraculous, Ludo finds rejection, isolation and guilt as the intense reactions of family, friends, and neighbors strip away every innocent lace and bauble. 89 min. DVD 960; vhs 999:2274 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Movie Review Query Engine Ince, Kate. "Queering the Family? Fantasy and the performance of sexuality and gay relations in French cinema 1995-2000." Studies in French Cinema, 2002, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p90, 8p UC users only Madame Bovary (1934) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Max Dearly, Valentine Tessier, Pierre Renoir, Daniel Lecourtois, Fernand Fabre. The wife of a stolid middle-aged doctor rebels at the provincial life forced upon her and engages in a series of illicit affairs, which ultimately lead to tragedy. 102 min. 999:372 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Milhaud, Darius. Deux chansons : extraites du film Madame Bovary / de Jean Renoir ; d'apres Gustave Flaubert ; production Nouvelle Societe de ... Paris : Enoch, [c1934] (Music M1614.M55.M2) Madame Bovary (1991) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Emma Bovary (Isabelle Hubert) is a woman possessed by a burning hunger for life and love - and a passion that can never be fulfilled. Feeling trapped in a loveless marriage, Emma indulges herself in a lifestyle of reckless overspending and a series of shocking affairs which threaten to destroy her and everyone around her. 130 min. 999:1966 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Madame de (Earrings of Madame de...) (1953) Directed by Max Ophuls. Cast: Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, Vittorio De Sica, Lea di Lea, Jean Debucourt. Tragic misunderstandings arise when a society wife sells her earrings and tells her husband she has lost them. Based on a novel by Louise de Vilmorin. 105 min. DVD 6371; vhs 999:156 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Max Ophuls bibliography Made in U.S.A. (1967) Directed by Jean Luc Godard. Cast: Marianne Faithfull, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Anna Karina. A young journalist makes enquiries about the death of the man she loved, killed by the police. Her search plunges her into a dark world of murder, gangsters, spies and corrupt police. Based on The Jugger by Richard Stark. 81 min. DVD X1749; also DVD 3654 (in French without English subtitles). Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Luc Godard bibliography Maelstrom (Canada, 2000) Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Tells the story of Bibiane, who accidentally hits a man while driving one rainy summer night. The victim is a fisherman who is left on the highway and returns home to slowly die. Guiltily attending the man's funeral, Bibiane strikes up a conversation with his son, Evian and soon the two have become romantically involved, with Bibiane unable to tell Evian her secret. In French Canadian with English subtitles. 86 min. DVD 1443 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Maman et la putain (The Mother and the Whore) (1973) Directed by Jean Eustache. Cast: Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Weingarten. Story of the obsessive sexual relationship between a disenchanted pseudo-intellectual, his lover, and a kinky nurse. Explores the cultural phenomenon of sex without love. 215 min. 999:3728 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Darke, Chris. "Three Images of May." Vertigo Summer2008, Vol. 3 Issue 9, p18-22, 5pUC users only Forbes, Jill. "Psychoanalysis as narrative in films by Jean Eustache." French Cultural Studies 14.3 (Oct 2003): 249-256. Katzman, Lisa. "The end of the world." Film Comment; Mar/Apr99, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p30, 7p UC users only Kauffmann, Stanley. "The Mother and the Whore" New Republic, 2/16/74, Vol. 170 Issue 7, p22-35, 2p Keith Reader. "The Mother and the Whore." Sight and Sound. Oct 1997. Vol. 7, Iss. 10; p. 28 (4 pages)UC users only Manon des sources (Manon of the Spring) (1988) Directed by Claude Berri. Cast: Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Beart. Ten years have passed since the tragic events of Jean De Florette. Jean's daughter, Manon, appears in town to accuse the Soubeyrans of killing her father. A tragedy results that nearly destroys Cesar, the neighbor who destroyed Jean. From the novel by Marcel Pagnol. 113 min. DVD 516; VHS 999:384 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Mariée était en noir (The Bride Wore Black) (1968) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Michel Bouquet, Jean Claude Brialy, Charles Denner, Claude Rich, Michel Lonsdale, Daniel Boulanger, Alexandra Stewart. After a bridegroom is shot on the steps of the church on his wedding day, his widow traces the group of men responsible and eliminates them one by one. 108 min. DVD 511; VHS 999:743 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Marius (Fanny Trilogy) (1931) Directed by Marcel Pagnol. Cast: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin. This is the first film of Pagnol's Fanny trilogy (titles: Marius, Fanny, César). Marius, son of César the owner of a cafe, is drawn to the sea, filled with dreams of faraway lands. He loves Fanny, but even this love is not as strong as his wanderlust. Fanny turns him loose to follow his dream. 121 min. DVD 2751; vhs 999:771 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Marcel Pagnol bibliography La Marseillaise (1938) Director, Jean Renoir. Cast: Pierre Renoir, Lise Delamare, Louis Jouvet, Andrex Andrisson, Paul Dullac, Julien Carette, Aime Clariond, Irene Joachim. Charts the progress of the French Revolution from the fall of the Bastille and its impact on the rural peasantry. Chronicles the slow erosion of the power of the aristocracy, the departure of Louis XVI from the palace, and the anticipated defeat of the Prussian army. The focus here is on the point of view of the common people. 132 min. DVD 7586 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis (Masculine Feminine) (1966) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Chantal Goya, Marlene Jobert, Catherine-Isabelle Duport, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Michel Debord, Eva-Britt Strandberg, Birger Malmsten, Brigitte Bardot. An original concoction that mixes politics, sex, comedy, nostalgia with standard boy-meets-girl theme. Interviewer/journalist Leaud has an affair with would-be rock star Madeleine in 1960's Paris. Special features: Archival 1966 interview with Chantal Goya; new video interviews with Goya, Kurant, and Jean-Luc Godard collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin, conducted in 2005; video discussion of the film between French film scholars Freddy Buache and Dominique Paini; Swedish television footage of Godard directing the "film within the film" scene; trailers; 16-page booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Adrian Martin and a reprint of a report from the set by French journalist Philippe Labro. 103 min. DVD 4771; vhs 999:93 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Georges Méliès: SEE Early Films Melo(1986) Directed by Alain Resnais. Cast: Sabine Azema, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi, Andre Dussollier, Jacques Dacqmine, Hubert Gignoux, Catherine Arditi. Marcel and Pierre, two lifelong friends, are also concert violinists. While Marcel has gone on to stardom, Pierre has settled into a contented family life with his beautiful wife, Romaine. But all is not perfect: Pierre is unaware that Romaine is having an affair with Marcel. Special features: Original theatrical trailer; interview with producer Marin Karmitz on the making of the film, and on working with director Alain Resnais. 112 min. DVD 9803 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Mépris (Contempt) (1963) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, Giorgia Moll, Fritz Lang. A young French dramatist living in Rome is working on a rewrite of the Odyssey for an American film producer. His wife suddenly ceases to love him and has an affair with the producer which leads to death. 120 min. DVD 1467; vhs 999:948 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Merci pour le chocolat (Nightcap) (2000) Director, Claude Chabrol. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, Anna Mougalis, Rodolphe Pauly, Michel Robin, Mathieu Simonet, Brigitte Catillon. Mika is the couture-attired, oh-so-perfect head of a company that makes Swiss chocolate. André is her suave concert-pianist husband whose first wife died years ago in a mysterious car acident. How is it then that André 's teenage son has no musical talent, while the stunning Jeanne, who shares his birthday, is already a world-class pianist? And why does Mika insist that everyone sip the hot chocolate she prepares each 97 min. DVD 1690 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Mille et une recettes du cuisinier amoureux (A Chef In Love)(Shekvarebuli kulinaris ataserti retsepti) (1997) Director, Nana Djordjadze. Cast: Pierre Richard, Micheline Presle, Nino Kirtadze Jean-Yves Gautier, Temour Kamkhadze. French chef Pascal Ichac travels to pre-Soviet Georgia to collect recipes. What he finds is a movable feast of food, music and festivals, along with an adventuresome travel companion, the princess Cecilia. But their romantic idyll is soon threatened by the barbarism of the Russian revolution. 100 min. 999:3517 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Million (1931) Directed by René Clair. The lyric opera is set off against the bohemian life of two poor artists both in love with a ballerina. Their happiness depends on the finding of a lottery ticket. 81 min. DVD 215; VHS 999:23 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Fischer, Lucy. "René Clair, "Le Million", and the Coming of Sound." Cinema Journal, 16:2 (1977:Spring) p.34 UC users only René Clair bibliography Milou en mai (May Fools) Directed by Louis Malle. Cast: Michel Piccoli, Miou-Miou, Michel Duchaussoy, Dominique Blanc, Harriet Walter, Bruno Carette, Paulette Dubost. Set in 1968 France, this is a comic portrait of an upper-class family in revolt, a clan that gathers to bury their matriarch and ends up almost killing each other, scrounging, backstabbing, fighting tooth and nail over prized family heirlooms. 109 min. 999:3425 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Louis Malle bibliography Les Misérables (1998) Cast: Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes, Hans Matheson, Peter Vaughan. A dramatization of Hugo's classic tale of the ex-convi Valjean, whose attempts at a normal life are disrupted by the fanatical police inspector Javert, and the French Revolution. 134 min. DVD 2771 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Misérables(1934) Director, Raymond Bernard. Cast: Harry Baur, Charles Vanel, Henry Krauss, Florelle, Gaby Triquet, Josselyne Gael, Jean Servais, Charles Dullin, Marguerite Moreno, Orane Demazis, Emile Genevois, Robert Vidalin. The story of Jean Valjean, the ex-convict who rises against all odds from galley slave to mayor, and the fanatical police inspector, Javert, who dedicates his life to recapturing Valjean. Disc 1: Les miserables, part one (109 min.) -- Disc 2: Les miserables, parts two and three (172 min.). DVD 8174 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Molière (1978) Directed by Ariane Mnouchkine. Cast: Philippe Caub`ere, Jean Daste, Josephine Derenne. How did Moliere, a child born in 1622 to working-class parents, become such a well-known author? This film dramatizes the life of an honest man who struggles incessantly to practice his art in a century of hypocrisy and repression. 290 min. DVD 4590 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mon cas (France / Portugal, 1986) Directed by Manoel de Oliveira. Cast: Bulle Ogier, Luís Miguel Cintra, Axel Bougousslavsky, Fred Personne, Wladimir Ivanovsky, Henri Serre. An experimental film presenting four rehearsals for the same story, each with a distinct style: first in the perspective of a theatre play, second in the perspective of a silent film with Samuel Beckett speaking in the background, third in the perspective of a film of the 50s and finally in a biblical philosophical perspective based on the Book of Job. Based on the work "O meu caso" by José Regio with extracts from "Pour finir encore et autre foirades" by Samuel Beckett and the Book of Job. 88 min. DVD X2147 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mon Oncle (1958) Directed by Jacques Tati. A comedy in which the vague and clumsy M. Hulot, in contrast to his more wealthy sister and brother-in-law, is constantly at odds with the modern world. 110 min. DVD 895; VHS 999:1094 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) Directed by Claude Jutra. A story set in a Quebec asbestos town in the early 1940's before the days of miners' unions. Uncle Antoine owns the general store and is the local undertaker, with his nephew Benoît as an occasional helper. On Christmas Eve a combination of events forces Benoît to face the harsher realities of life. 104 min. DVD 1061 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mon Oncle d'Amérique (My American Uncle) (1980) Directed by Alain Resnais. A case study of three characters pursuing their careers. This is intercut with segments of a lecture from Prof. Henri Laborit, a behavioral scientist speaking in pure documentary fashion, contributing his theories on memory; also intercut with footage from other movies. 123 min. DVD 1270; vhs 999:724 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mondo (1996) Directed by Tony Gatlif. Cast: Ovidiu Balan, Philippe Petit, Pierrette Fesch, Schahla Aalam, Jerry Smith, Maurice Maurin. Mondo, a 10-year-old gypsy boy, mysteriously appears in Nice, France and begins asking strangers if they would like to adopt him. As he wanders, he befriends a magician, a Vietnamese woman, a fisherman, and others. 78 min. vhs 999:3788 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Monsieur Hire (1990) Directed by Patrice Leconte. Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, André Wilms, Luc Thuillier. When a beautiful woman discovers she's being spied on by a cold, repressed neighbor, she becomes the aggressor in an erotically charged relationship that leads to a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. 88 min. DVD 9817; vhs 999:2415 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Monsieur N (France / UK, 2002) Directed by Antoine de Caunes. Cast: Philippe Torreton, Richard E. Grant, Jay Rodan, Elsa Zylberstein. Story of the last years of the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was imprisoned by the British on St Helena. Napoleon retained a loyal entourage of officers who helped him plot his escape, and evaded the attentions of Sir Hudson Lowe, the island's overzealous Governor. 127 min. DVD 8099 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Monsieur Vincent (France, 1947) Directed by Maurice Cloche. Cast: Pierre Fresnay, Aime Clariond, Jean Debucourt, Lise Delamare, Germaine Dermoz, Gabrielle Dorziat, Pierre Dux, Yvonne Gaudeau. Tells the remarkable journey of St. Vincent de Paul, who rose from slavery to become a trusted advisor to queens and princes. A dramatic biopic that reveals how St. Vincent de Paul's commitment to the poor made him a great humanitarian. 114 min. DVD 9901 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La mort en direct (Death Watch)((France / West Germany / UK, 1980) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Romy Scheider, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton, Therèse Liotard. Roddy has a camera implanted in his brain. He is then hired by a television producer to film a documentary of terminally ill Katherine, without her knowledge. His footage will then be run on the popular TV series, "Death Watch"... 128 min. DVD 8817 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mort en ce jardin (Death in the Garden; La Muerte en este jardin; The Diamond Hunters) (1956) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Cast: Simone Signoret, Charles Vanel, Georges Marchal, Michel Piccoli, Tito Junco, George M. deHoyos. Rarely seen Luis Buñuel effort mixes "Wages of Fear"--styled thrills with the director's darkly satiric outlook on religion and human nature. After fleeing a diamond field in the Amazon, a group of misfits comes to depend on each other for survival in the jungle. The discovery of a crashed airplane sends them back to their greedy, violent ways. 97 min. 999:3688 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mouchette (1967) Directed by Robert Bresson. Mouchette, a sensitive 14-year-old, lives amidst the peasant squalor of an isolated rural community. Her alcoholic father and terminally ill mother all but abandon her to become a child of the streets. Not surprisingly, her fate is sealed when she is abducted and raped by a half witted game poacher. Special DVD features: Audio commentary by renowned film scholar, critic, and festival programmer Tony Rayns; "Au hasard Bresson," documentary on the director; "Travelling" a segment from the cine-magazine TV series "Cinema"; original theatrical trailer cut by Jean-Luc Godard ; new essay by writer Robert Polito. 90 min.DVD 7392; 999:1979 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mai, Joseph. "'New(er) stories': Narration and de-figuration in Robert Bresson's Mouchette (1967)." Studies in French Cinema, 2007, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p31-42, 12p UC users only Robert Bresson bibliography Mr. Freedom(France, 1969) Director, William Klein. Cast: John Abbey, Don Pleasance, Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Claude Drouot, Serge Gainsbourg, Yves Lefebvre, Rufus, Sabine Sun, Rita Maiden. Satire about American culture, nationalism, and political boorishness. Superhero Mr. Freedom goes to France to save it from Communism, but he spends more time creating mayhem than he does helping. 92 min. DVD 9848 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Rapfogel, Jared. "The Delirious Fictions of William Klein.." Cineaste; Fall2008, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p20-23, 4p UC users only Muriel, ou, Le temps d'un retour (1965) Directed by Alain Resnais. Cast: Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Kerien, Nita Klein, Jean-Baptiste Theirree, Claude Sainval, Laurence Badie. A lonely woman invites an old lover she hasn't seen in twenty years to visit; he arrives accompanied by his young mistress. Meanwhile her stepson is suffering from an episode in which a fellow soldier in the Algerian war tortured an Arab girl named Muriel. Special DVD features: Original French theatrical trailer (newly subtitled) ; chapter selection ; interactive menus. ncludes booklet containing a new essay by writer B. Kite; another new essay about the film by writer Anna Thomgate; a short piece on the film by Henri Langlois; and a critical "scrapbook" containing excerpts by Francois Truffaut, Jacques Rivette and more. 116 min.DVD X1686; vhs 999:2017 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Alain Resnais bibliography To the top Nada (1974) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Fabio Testi, Michel Duchaussoy, Maurice Garrel, Michel Aumont, Lou Castel, Didier Kaminka, Viviane Romance. French terrorists kidnap the American ambassador, leaving dead and wounded in their wake. Soon they begin quarreling as to his fate, while the police purge suspects in an attempt to destroy the Nada faction. As the violence escalates on both sides, the State and the terrorists are forced to use one another's methods in an increasingly desperate and relentless conflict. 107 min. DVD 1735 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Naissance d'un golem (Birth of a Golem) (France, 1985) Directed by Amos Gitai. Cast: Simone Benyamini, Rim Bani, Zare Vartinyan, Juliano Mer, Mohammed Bakri. In this beautiful transposition of the biblical story, Amos Gitai updates the passionate tale about the ruler of a great and sprawling kingdom who chooses as his queen a beautiful peasant girl named Esther. But when Esther hides her Jewish identity from her husband, a vicious cycle of revenge begins. 97 min. DVD X2100 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Nana (Silent, 1926) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Catherine Hessling, Werner Krauss, Jean Angelo, Pierre Philippe, Valeska Gert. In this early French silent film, a women rises from poverty to become a dance hall queen and courtesan in 1860s Paris, destroying the lives of the men who fall in love with her. From the novel by Emile Zola. 140 min. DVD 7586; also Non-US (PAL) format DVD 6052 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Braudy, Leo "Zola on Film: The Ambiguities of Naturalism Zola on Film: The Ambiguities of Naturalism." Yale French Studies, No. 42, Zola (1969), pp. 68-88 UC users only Zola and film : essays in the art of adaptation Edited by Anna Gural-Migdal and Robert Singer. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2005. (MAIN: PQ2538 .Z64 2005) Napoléon (1927) Directed by Abel Gance. Cast: Albert Dieudonne, Antonin Artaud, Abel Gance. This restored 1927 Abel Gance movie masterpiece which presents important early use of split screen, moving camera and Polyvision, has been painstakingly resurrected. It is a historical epic on the life of Napoleon from boyhood to military triumph including treatment of the French Revolution. 235 min. 999:164 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Nés en 68: nous nous aimeront jusqu'à la mort (Born in '68)(France, 2008) Directors: Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau. Cast: Laetitia Casta, Yannick Renier, Yann Trégouët, Christine Citti, Marc Citti, Sabrina Seyvecou, Théo Frilet, Edouard Collin, Kate Moran, Gaëtan Gallier, Fejria Deliba, Slimane Yefsah, Matthias Van Khache. In 1968 a group of revolutionary French students experiences rebellion, enlightenment, and change while establishing a commune devoted to free love, anarchy, and nudism, only to see their children eventually engage in a similarly styled rebellion 20 years later. 167 min. DVD X1976 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database News from Home (France / Belgium / West Germany, 1977) Directed by Chantal Akerman. Presents a series of abstract and fragmentary images of everyday urban life in 1970s New York City, accompanied by the distinctive narration of filmmaker Chantal Akerman as she dispassionately reads through her mother's alternately affectionate, melancholic, and sincere, but maternally manipulative letters from her native Belgium. Special features: Saute ma ville (1968; 13 min. :sd., b&w); La chambre (1972; 11 min. :si., col.) 88 min. DVD 8267 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mamula, Tijana. "Matricide, Indexicality and Abstraction in Chantal Akerman's "News from Home" and "Là-bas"." Studies in French Cinema; 2008, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p265-275, 11p UC users only Chantal Akerman bibliography Noirs et blancs en couleur (Black and White in Color) (1977) Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Cast: Jean Carmet, Jacques Dufilho, Catherine Rouvel, Jacques Spiesser, Dora Doll. The idyllic life in a French-African settlement is rudely interrupted in 1915 by news of war in Europe. The French gamely assemble a rag-tag army of native soldiers to try to capture a neighboring German settlement. The result is a classic farce whose comedy is enlivened by the antic clash of African versus European customs. 88 min. DVD 1667; VHS 999:333 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Notre musique (2004) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Sarah Adler, Nade Dieu, Jean-Christophe Bouvet, Rony Kramer, Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Pierre Bergounioux, Gilles Pecquex, Georges Aguilar, Leticia Gutierrez, Ferlyn Brass, Aline Schulmann, Simon Eine. Part poetry, part journalism, part philosophy, Notre Musique is master filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard's witty and lyrical reflection on war through the ages. The film is structured into three Dantean Kingdoms: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The journey begins in Hell, represented by modern war and then moves to Purgatory, set in Sarajevo. Finally, Paradise is conceived as a small beach guarded by Marines from the United States. At the same time, the film also follows the parallel stories of two Israeli Jewish women, one drawn to the light and one drawn towards darkness. 80 min. DVD 4029 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Rascaroli, Laura. "Performance in and of the Essay film: Jean-Luc Godard plays Jean-Luc Godard in Notre musique (2004)." Studies in French Cinema, 2009, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p49-61 UC users only Vincendeau, Ginette. "Notre musique" Sight & Sound, Jun2005, Vol. 15 Issue 6, p69-70, 2p UC users only Jean-luc Godard bibliography Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble (We Won't Grow Old Together) (1972) Directed by Maurice Pialat. Cast: Marlene Jobert, Jean Yanne, Patricia Pierangeli, Jacques Galland, Christine Fabrega, Macha Meril. This drama examines the final period of a long and ultimately unhappy affair. Married to Françoise, Jean an unpleasant and domineering man, has had a connection with Catherine for six years. Distressed Catherine takes refuge with her grandmother. Non-US format DVD. In French without subtitles. 107 min. DVD 3407 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Nouvelle Vague (New Wave)(1990) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Alain Delon, Domiziana Giordano, Roland Amstutz, Laurence Côte. A wealthy woman slams her car into a hitchhiker on a winding country road. She takes him under her wing and what ensues is a brilliant allegory on the nature of God, the class struggle, and the eternal war between man and woman. 86 min. DVD X1262 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean-luc Godard bibliography La Nuit américaine (Day for Night) (1973) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Valentina Cortese, Jean Champion, Dani, Jea-Pierre Leaud, Alexndra Stewart, François Truffaut. This "homage to moviemaking," details the loves and lunacy of the closely-knit family of strangers that comprises an on-location film, cast and crew. 116 min.DVD 3524; vhs 999:1492 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Day for Night: [the complete script of the film] / François Truffaut ; translated by Sam Flores. New York: Grove Press: distributed by Random House, [1975] (Main Stack PN1997.N9.T7131) Crittenden, Roger. La Nuit Americaine London : BFI Pub., 1998. BFI film classics. (Main Stack PN1997.N9.C75 1998) La nuit Bengali (The Bengali Night)(France / Switzerland / UK, 1988) Directed by Nicolas Klotz. Cast: Hugh Grant, Supriya Pathak, Shabana Azmi, Anne Brochet, John Hurt. Allan is a British engineer who becomes entangled in a forbidden romance with his Indian employer's eldest daughter, Indira. As their passion ignites, the East-meets-West clash of cultures leads to surprising and tragic consequences. Based on a true story. Based on the novel by Mircea Eliade. 115 min. DVD X1750 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Nuit et jour (Night and Day) (1991) Director, Chantal Akerman. Cast: Guilaine Londez, Thomas Langmann, François Negret. Story of a summer in Paris and three young people. Jack drives a taxi at night, and his days are spent with Julie. When he introduces her to a friend, a young man who drives a taxi during the day, complications arise. 90 min. 999:3596 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Nuit fantastique (The Fantastic Night) (1942) Directed by Marcel L'Herbier. Cast: Micheline Presle, Fernand Gravey, Marcel Levesque, Christiane Nere, Zita Fiore, Marguerite Ducouret, Jean Paredes, Michel Vitold, Paul Francoeur, Roger Caccia, Bernard Blier, Charles Grandval, Saturnin Fabre. This surrealistic French film centers around Denis, a philosophy student who works nights at the market selling flowers. His relationship with his fiance is on shaky grounds and he becomes fascinated with a mysterious woman in white who keeps appearing in his dreams. While napping one night he finds himself chasing her around Paris; to restaurants, the Louvre museum, to a mental asylum. When he discovers a plot to kill her he goes to great lengths to try to save her, thinking this is only a dream. 91 min. 999:3424 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Nuits Rouges (1973) Directed by Georges Franju. Cast: Gayle Hunnicutt, Jacques Champreux, Josephine Chaplin, Ugo Pagliai, Gert Froebe. Summary Shadowman, a thief whose head is covered by a red mask, and his cat-suited assistant, try to find the fabled treasure of the ancient Knight Templars from a surviving sect in Paris. Special features: interview with Jacques Champreux, Nuits rouges writer, actor and grandson of Louis Feuillade, was filmed in 2007, discussing the film and Georges Franju. 104 min. DVD X1679 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Numéro deux (Number Two) (1975) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Godard's exploration of the modern family unit and how it suffers in the computerized, capitalistic world. 86 min. 999:1121 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Opera de quat'sous (The Threepenny Opera; 3groschenoper) (1931) Directed by G. W. Pabst. Two versions of a 1931 motion picture, adapted from the play by Bertolt Brecht. Disc. 1. Dreigroschenoper (In German with English subtitles; 105 min.) -- Disc 2. L'opera de Quat'sous (In French with English subtitles; 98 min.) Cast: Rudolph Forster, Lotta Lenya, Carola Neher, Reinhold Schunzel. The story involves the charismatic Macheath, known as "Mack the Knife" and the complications which arise when he weds Polly Peachum, the daughter of "London's Beggar King," a sort of pimp of the destitute. Non-US format DVD. DVD 3593; vhs 999:185 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Orphée (Orpheus) (1949) Directed by Jean Cocteau. Cocteau's modern version of the Orpheus legend, based on his own play. 86 min. DVD 209; vhs 999:211 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Outremer (Overseas) (1990) Directed by Brigitte Roüan. Cast: Nicole Garcia, Marianne Basler, Brigitte Rouan, Philippe Galland, Pierre Doris. For three beautiful sisters, the lush and privileged life of French colonial Algeria creates an oasis in the center of a harsh desert when revolution and dramatic social change erupts around them. 96 min. Video/C 999:3809 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Panique (1946) Directed by Julien Duvivier. Cast: Viviane Romance, Michel Simon, Max Dalban, Emile Drain. Two lovers frame a stranger for murder in this study of mob violence in the slums of Paris in the aftermath of World War II. 93 min. 999:2455 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Parade (1973) Directed by Jacques Tati. Cast: Jacques Tati, Karl Kossinger, Michele Brabo, Pia Colombo. In this fantasy film Jacques Tati presents a humorous performance of circus acts before a cheering audience, including mimes, magicians, musicians, singers, jugglers, acrobats, and various others, as well as the audience itself. Tati himself appearing as Monsieur Loyal, presents many of his most famous music hall pantomimes. 88 min. 999:3639 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (Umbrellas of Cherbourg) (1963) Directed by Jacques Demy. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel. Two lovers, separated by the Algerian war, meet again after she has remarried. A cinematic triumph unique in its presentation--all of the dialogue is sung. The haunting music and beautiful photography combine to make this an outstanding dramatic romance. 90 min. DVD 3935; vhs 999:1823 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Paris, je t'aime (I Love Paris) (2006) The world's top directors and some of America's top stars create a panoramic portrait of Paris in these 18 short films about the City of Lights. Each filmmaker brings their own personal touch, underlining the wide variety of styles, genres, encounters and the various atmospheres and lifestyles that prevail in the neighborhoods of Paris. Disc 1: Behind-the-scenes featurette; previews ; Disc 2: 18 behind-the-scene featurettes; video & split screen; storyboard. Quartier des Enfants Rouges / written and directed by Olivier Assayas -- Quartier Latin / directed by Frederic Auburtin, Gerard Depardieu ; written by Gena Rowlands -- Quais de Seine / directed by Gurinder Chadha ; written by Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha -- Tour Eiffel / written and directed by Sylvain Chomet -- Tuileries / written and directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen -- Bastille / written and directed by Isabel Coixet -- Père-Lachaise / written and directed by Wes Craven -- Parc Monceau / written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron -- Porte de Choisy / directed by Christopher Doyle ; written by Christopher Doyle, Gabrielle Keng, Kathy Li -- Pigalle / written and directed by Richard LaGravenese -- Quartier de la Madeleine / written and directed by Vincenzo Natali -- 14th arrondissement / directed by Alexander Payne ; written by Nadine Eid, Alexander Payne -- Montmartre / written and directed by Bruno Podalydès -- Loin du 16ieme / written and directed by Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas -- Place des Fetes / written and directed by Oliver Schmitz -- Place des Victoires / written and directed by Nobuhiro Suwa -- Faubourg Saint-Denis / written and directed by Tom Tykwer -- Le Marais / written and directed by Gus Van Sant. Additional directors, Frederic Auburtin, Gerard Depardieu, Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Isabel Coixet, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuaron, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Alexander Payne, Bruno Podalydes, Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas, Oliver Schmitz, Nobuhiro Suwa, Tom Tykwer, Gus van Sant ; music, Pierre Adenot. Fanny Ardant, Leila Bekhti, Melchior Beslon, Juliette Binoche, Seydou Boro, Steve Buscemi, Sergio Castellitto, Willem Dafoe, Gerard Depardieu, Cyril Descours, Marianne Faithfull, Ben Gazzara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Olga Kurylenko, Li Xin, Elias McConnell, Aissa Maiga, Margo Martindale, Yolande Moreau, Emily Mortimer, Florence Muller, Nick Nolte, Bruno Podalydes, Natalie Portman, Paul Putner, Miranda Richardson, Gena Rowlands, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ludivine Sagnier, Barbet Schroeder, Rufus Sewell, Gaspard Ulliel, Elijah Wood. 110 min. DVD 8839 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Paris nous appartient (Paris is Ours) (1959) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Betty Schneider, Giani Esposito, Jean-Claude Brialy. This French New Wave film tells the story of Ann, a Parisian student who learns that the deaths of her two friends were due to a fascist conspiracy centered in Paris. 138 min. DVD 6374; vhs 999:3561 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Paris qui dort (The Crazy Ray) (1923) Directed by René Clair. Cast: Henri Rollan, Madeline Rodrigues, Albert Prejean, Myla Seller. This first film by René Clair (notable for its comic and trick effects), was mostly shot on the Eiffel Tower. One man, the night watchman on the Eiffel tower, finds himself the only one awake in Paris. Everyone else has been frozen in time by a mysterious ray invented by a mad scientist. He is shortly joined by a group who were flying in an airplane at the time of the catastrophe. Together they try to convince the scientist to awaken the people. 62 min. Included on DVD 1368; also vhs 999:3235 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Ousselin, Edward. "The Uses of a National Icon: The Eiffel Tower in René Clair's Paris qui dort." Nottingham French Studies, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 47-54, Spring 1999 Paris vu par Chabrol, Douchet, Godard, Pollet, Rohmer, Rouch (Six in Paris) (1965) Cast: Barbara Wilkind, Barbet Schroeder, Micheline Dax, Jean-Michel Rouziere, Gilles Queant. Six short films present stories of different neighborhoods of Paris. "Saint-Germain-des-Pres," by Jean Douchet, is the story of the up-and-down relationship between a male model and an American coed. "Gare du Nord," by Jean Rouch, is a haunting twist-of-fate tale involving a suicidal handsome stranger. In "Rue Saint Denis," by Jean-Daniel Pollet, an experienced prostitute picks up a virginal dishwasher. In "Place de l'Etoile," by Eric Rohmer, a timid salesclerk thinks he has committed murder. In "Montparnasse et Levallois: un action film," by Jean-Luc Godard, filme par Albert Maysles, a woman is afraid she has mixed up letters to her two boyfriends. "La Muette," by Claude Chabrol, is the story of a young boy who finds a way to ignore his obnoxious parents. "Les cineastes ont ecrit les scenarios et les dialogues de leurs sketches." Special DVD features: Interviews with Barbet Schroeder, Jackie Ravnal. Albert Maysles, and Richard Brody 93 min. DVD X399; vhs 999:3228 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Une Partie de campagne (Day in the Country) (1936) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Sylvia Bataille, Georges d'Arnoux, Jeanne Marken, André Gabriello, Jacques Bernard Brunius, Paul Temps. The story of a Parisian merchant who takes his family to the country one Sunday. Depicts the amorous escapades of a young girl and her convival mother on the outing. Special features: Introduction by Jean Renoir (6 min.) -- Pierre Braunberger, producer (8 min.) -- Recollections of the technicians (8 min.) -- "Un tournage a la campagne" (86 min.) -- "Les essais d'acteurs" (15 min.) -- "Les Cahiers du Cinema face au film" (52 min.). 40 min. DVD 4834; vhs 999:122 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Partir, revenir (Happy New Year) (1985) Directed by Claude Lelouch. Cast: Annie Giradot, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Françoise Fabian, Erik Berchot, Michel Piccoli, Evelyne Bouix, Richard Anconina, Charles Gérard. A WWII melodrama involving a Jewish family who takes refuge from the Nazis by escaping to a country home owned by aristocrats, combined with a modern story of reincarnation and artistic creation featuring the descendants of the main characters of the first narrative. 113 min. DVD X2055 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Passion (1982) Directed by Jean Luc Godard. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Michel Piccoli, Hanna Schygulla, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Jean-Francois Stévenin, Laszlo Szabo, Myriem Roussel, Dominique Blanc. A Godard-like director is trying to film a movie in the style of the great painters--Rembrandt, Goya, El Greco. The film is plagued by difficulties as the money for the film begins to run out, he can't seem to find the right lighting and the film has no story. In the middle of this intense situation, he starts a simultaneous affair with two women; Hanna, the owner of the hotel, and Isabelle, a factory worker who is trying to stir up a revolt. 88 min. DVD X1262; also DVD 9296; vhs 999:3514 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc (Passion of Joan of Arc) (1928; silent) Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Cast: René e Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz, Antonin Artaud, Gilbert Dalleu, Jean d'Yd, Lois Ravet. The trial and execution of Joan of Arc, based on actual court records, but compressed into a single day. This film is notable for its extensive use of close-ups, extreme close-ups, expressionistic camera angles, and historically accurate sets and costumes. Silent film with French intertitles and English subtitles and musical soundtrack. Special features include: an extensive production design archive; a history of Passion's many versions, with clips; audio interview with Falconetti's daughter; an essay by Richard Einhorn on Joan of Arc and Voices of Light. DVD 121; VHS 999:172; 999:2266 (Restored version) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Peau d'âne (Donkey Skin) (France, 1937) Directed by Jacques Demy. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin, Micheline Presle, Delphine Seyrig. A fairy tale about a king who wishes to marry his daughter to fulfill his wife's last wishes. She knows this is wrong and flees wearing a donkey skin until with the help of her fairy godmother, both princess and king find suitable mates and true love. 90 min. DVD 3459 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hill, Rodney. "Donkey Skin (Peau d'âne)" Film Quarterly, Winter2005/2006, Vol. 59 Issue 2, p40-44, 5p Le Gras, Gwénaëlle. "Soft and hard: Catherine Deneuve in 1970." Studies in French Cinema, 2005, Vol. 5 Issue 1, p27-35, 9p UC users only La Peau douce (Soft Skin) (1964) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jean Desailly, Françoise Dorleac, Nelly Benedetti, Daniel Ceccaldi. Pierre Lachenay, a distinguished author and publisher with a wife and child, falls in love with a flight attendant, Nicole. Unable to decide between his wife and his mistress, Pierre keeps going back and forth between the two. Irritated, Nicole leaves Pierre, and an ironic, tragic twist of fate cuts short Pierre's plans to reconcile his marriage. 118 min. DVD 1247; vhs 999:2189 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Pépé Le Moko (1937) Directed by Julien Duvivier. Cast: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Gabriel Gabrio, Lucas Gridoux, Gilbert Gil, Line Noro. The notorious Pepe le Moko is a wanted man: women long for him, rivals hope to destroy him and the law is breathing down his neck at every turn. On the lam in the Casbah of Algiers, Pepe is safe from the police--until a Parisian playgirl compels him to risk his life and leave its confines once and for all. One of the most influential films of the 20th century and a landmark of French poetic realism. 95 min. DVD 1538; vhs 999:659 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Garrity, Henry A."Narrative Space in Julien Duvivier's Pepe-le-Moko." The French Review 65 (4): 623-28. 1992 Mar. Green, Mary Jean. "Echoes of the Casbah: From Pépé Le Moko To Bab El-Oued City." Nottingham French Studies, Spring2007, Vol. 46 Issue 1, p68-83, 16p Limbrick, Peter. "(De)Colonising the Casbah: Masculinity and the Colonialist Imaginary in Pepe le Moko." New Literatures Review. 30: 17-29. 1995 Winter. Linderman, Deborah. "Pepe le Moko and the Discourse of Orientalism." Literature and Psychology. 42 (1-2): 1-17. 1996. Martin O'Shaughnessy. "'Pepe le Moko' or the impossibility of being French in the 1930s." French Cultural Studies Oct 1996 v7 n3 p247(12) Morgan, Janice. "In the Labyrinth: Masculine Subjectivity, Expatriation, and Colonialism in Pepe le Moko." The French Review 67 (4): 637-47. 1994 Mar. UC users only Vann, Michael "The Colonial Casbah on the Silver Screen: Using Pépéle Moko and The Battle of Algiers to Teach Colonialism, Race, and Globalization in French History." Radical History Review, Spring2002 Issue 83, p186, 7pUC users only Perceval le Gallois (1978) Directed by Eric Rohmer. Cast: Fabrice Luchini, André Dussollier, Marie-Christine Barrault, Marc Eyraud. A stylized film adaptation of Chretien de Troyes' 12th century Arthurian romance about Perceval of Wales, who leaves his widowed mother to become a knight. Once knighted by King Arthur, the naive and selfish Perceval must learn how to be a true knight. Based on the book by Chretien de Troyes. 140 min. 999:3190 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Petit soldat (The Little Soldier) (1960) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Michel Subor, Anna Karina, Henri-Jacques Huet, Paul Beauvais, Georges de Beauregard, Jean-Luc Godard, Laszlo Szabo. Set during the Algerian War, this drama follows Bruno Forestier, a disillusioned young deserter who becomes involved in the French nationalist movement. He is ordered to kill an Algerian sympathizer, and although he does not hold deep political beliefs, commits the murder and undergoes torture when captured. At the same time, he meets and falls in love with a woman who he does not know is fighting for the other side. The film was banned from release in France for three years because it refers to the use of torture during the Algerian struggle for independence. DVD. 88 min. DVD 1284; vhs 999:2198 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Petite Jerusalem (Little Jerusalem) (2005) Directed by Karin Albou. Cast: Fanny Valette, Elsa Zylberstein, Bruno Todeschini, Hedi Tillette de Clermont-Tonnerre, Sonia Tahar, Michael Cohen, Aurore Clément. In a Paris suburb nicknamed Little Jerusalem, a family of Sephardic Orthodox immigrants shares a low-income apartment. Beautiful, teenaged Laura distances herself from her family's religion and her own burgeoning desire by devoting every waking moment to intellectual discipline and secular philosophy. Mathilde, Laura's married older sister, worries that strict observance of the Torah's marital codes has driven her husband Ariel into the bed of another. When Laura falls under the spell of Djamel, a handsome Muslim journalist, and Mathilde discovers that her worst fears are true, the two very different sisters find themselves in very similar crises. 94 min. DVD 6159 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le petit lieutenant (The Little Lieutenant) (France, 2005) Directed by Xavier Beauvois. Cast: Nathalie Baye, Jalil Lespert, Roschdy Zem, Antoine Chappey, Jacques Perrin, Bruce Myers, Patrick Chauvel, Jean Lespert, Annick Le Goff, Berangere Allaux, Mireille Franchino, Yanis Lespert, Xavier Beauvois. Antoine, an ambitious young rookie cop from Normandy, joins an elite plainclothes crime unit in Paris. He is happy, but misses his wife, who prefers the countryside and has stayed behind. His co-workers, drinking buddies, and mentors include cynical veteran Mallet and Moroccan Muslim Solo. He also develops a close relationship with his supervisor, Inspector Vaudieu, a recovering alcoholic who develops maternal feelings towards Antoine. When the body of a Polish drifter is found murdered along the Seine, a seemingly routine investigation suddenly turns violent and changes Antoine's life forever. 110 min. DVD 8240 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Petite marchande d'allumettes (Little Match Girl) (1928) Director, Jean Renoir. Cast: Catherine Hessling, Jean Storm, Manuel Raaby, Anny Xells. The little match girl, inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, shows the visions seen by a poor match seller as she lights her matches one by one to keep from freezing to death. 33 min. DVD 7586 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography La Pianiste (Klavierspielerin; The Piano Teacher) (Germany / Poland / France / Austria, 2001) Director, Michael Haneke. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel. The story of Erika, a middle-aged classical piano instructor who is trapped between her rigid passion for music and her suffocating home life. She escapes her life with nightly voyeuristic wanderings and self-inflicted masochistic experiments. 125 min. DVD 1684; DVD 7710 (dubbed German soundtrack) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Pickpocket Directed by Robert Bresson. Cast: Martin Lassalle, Marika Green, Pierre Leymarie, Jean Pelegri. Michel, an insignificant man who drifts into crime, is arrested and imprisoned. Upon release, he abandons an attempt at reform when a master pickpocket teaches him his art. Special features: Audio commentary by film scholar James Quandt, new video introduction by writer-director Paul Schrader, the models of "Pickpocket", a 2003 documentary by filmmaker Babette Mangolte, featuring actors from the film; a 1960 interview with Bresson, from the French television program Cinepanorama; Q&A on Pickpocket, with actress Marika Green and filmmakers Paul Vecchiali and Jean-Pierre Ameris fielding questions at a 2000 screening of the film; footage of sleight-of-hand artist and Pickpocket consultant Kassagi, from a 1962 episode of the French television show La piste aux etoiles; original theatrical trailer; plus a new essay by novelist and culture critic Gary Indiana. 75 min. DVD 4973; vhs 999:3086 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Pierrot le fou (1965) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Graziella Galvani, Dirk Sanders, Roger Dutoit, Raymond Devos. Part love story, part gangster thriller, Pierrot le fou combines romance, adventure, and violence with allusions to art, literature, and cinema to create a colorful French version of the Bonnie and Clyde story. 90 min. DVD 119; VHS 999:448 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Plaisir (House of Pleasure; Pleasure) (1951) Director, Max Ophuls. Cast: Claude Dauphin, Gaby Morlay, Madeleine Renaud, Danielle Darrieux, Ginette Leclerc, Jean Gabin, Pierre Brasseur, Simone Simon, Daniel Gelin, Jean Servais, Jean Galland. Three stories by Guy de Maupassant are adapted to the screen: "The Mask", the story of a man at a masked ball who pursues his youth; "The Model", a story of a painter and the model that he pursues to tragedy; and "The House of Madame Tellier", in which a madame and her five ladies attend her niece's first communion. Non-US (PAL) format DVD. 93 min. DVD 6372 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Playtime (1967) Directed by Jacques Tati. A group of American tourists arrive in Paris, only to find that the city is indistinguishable from any other big city. Endless comedies ensue however, when the path of Monsieur Hulot (Tati) crosses that of the group. 120 min. DVD 893; VHS 999:1500 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Plein Soleil (Purple Noon) (1960) Directed by René Clément. Cast: Alain Delon, Marie Laforet, Maurice Ronet. A handsome, wealthy bachelor has a sexy girlfriend, the finest things money can buy, and an envious friend who schemes to murder him and assume his identity. Based on the novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley," by Patricia Highsmith. 118 min. DVD 4206 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Plus tard (One Day You'll Understand) (France / Germany / Israel, 2008) Director, Amos Gitai. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Hippolyte Girardot, Emmanuelle Devos, Dominique Blanc, Daniel Duval, Denise Aron-Schropfer. As the 1987 trial of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie unfolds on television, Victor Bastien reviews old family documents and finds a distressing "Aryan declaration" authored by his late father. This new discovery throws Victor's conception of his family's history into darkness. His mother, Rivka, keeps a stubborn silence about the past, while Tania, his sister, defends their father's declaration. Burning with the need to unearth the truth, Victor takes his family to the tiny village where Rivka's parents were forced to hide during the war. Based on the novel Plus tard tu comprendras by Jérôme Clément. 90 min. DVD X2031 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Pointe Courte (1954) Director, Agnes Varda. Cast: Silvia Monfort, Philippe Noiret. There are two parts to this film: sequences of life in the fishing village of La Pointe Courte (a government inspector's visit, the death of a child) alternate with others following a couple - He is from La Pointe Courte, she is Parisian - coming to terms with their changing relationship. Special features: Video interview with director Agnes Varda ; excerpts from a 1963 episode of the French television series Cineastes de notre temps, in which Varda discusses her early career. 80 min. DVD 9073 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Police (1985) Directed by Maurice Pialat. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Sophie Marceau, Richard Anconina, Pascale Rocard, Sandrine Bonnaire. A tough, romantic cop falls in love with a sullen, voluptuous suspect and struggles to reconcile his personal ethics with his growing passion for her. Non-US format DVD. In French without subtitles. 113 min. DVD 3409 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Poulet au vinaigre (Cop au vin) (1985) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Jean Poiret, Stephane Audran, Michel Bouquet, Jean Topart, Lucas Belvaux, Pauline Lafont. Set in a small town in France, an invalid bullies her teen aged son into obedience. They live on an estate marked for development, but they are refusing to sell. When a series of murders occur, the deceptively charming Inspector Lavardin gets to the bottom of it all. 100 min.DVD 6598 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le pompier des Folies-Bergère (Fireman of the Follies-Bergère) (France, 1928) With Josephine Baker; music, Eric le Guen. 7:38 min. DVD 9633 (Disc 1) Les Premiers pas du Cinema: Un Reve en couleur (Discovering Cinema: Movies Dream in Color Historical survey of the development of color in motion pictures with early films included in special features to illustrate the main points of technological and artistic development. Coloriage =Coloring:Forgerons (1895, 0:32 min.) --Mort de Marat (1897, 0:38 min.) --Danse serpentine (1898, 0:51 min.) --Execution de Jeannne d'Arc (1898, 0:41 min.) --Danseurs espagnols (1898, 2:01 min.) --Metamorphoses du Papillon (1904, 1:21 min.) --Fee aux Fleurs (1905, 1:07 min.) --Sorcier arabe (1906, 2:45 min.) -- Synthes`e additive =Additive synthesis:Inauguration du Campanile de San Marco (1912, 11 min.) --Essai trichrome du Dr. Doyen (1912, 0:40 min.) --Essai couluer de Sonia Delaunay (1928, 0:24 min.) --Jeunes femmes prenant le The (1937, 3:11 min.) --Synthese soustractive =Subtractive synthe`sis: Wonderland of California (1930, 6:50 min.) --King of Jazz (1930, 3:34 min.) --Cucaracha (1934, 19:37 min.) --Becky Sharp (1935, 2:46 min.) --New York (1938, 5:03 min.) DVD 4651 Les Premièrs pas du Cinema: A la recherche du son (Discovering Cinema: Learning to Talk) Historical survey of the development of sound in motion pictures with early films and extracts from films included in special features to illustrate the main points of technological and artistic development. Son direct =Live sound:Quand madelon (1917, 3:19 min.) --Pere la Victorie (1917, 3:55 min.) --Chamber mystery [extract] (1920, 8:15 min.) --Miss Venus [extract] (1921, 4:58 min.) --Ain't she sweet (1933, 7:13 min.) --Son sur disque =Sound on disc:Lucia Di Lammermoor (1908, 4:01 min.) --Donna e Mobile (1908, 2:29 min.) --Carmen 'Air du Toreador' (1910, 4:17 min.) --Legende du Roi Gambrinus (1911, 2:37 min.) --Marseillaise (1911, 2:48 min.) --Nursery favorites (1913, 5:29 min.) --Chanteur de jazz (1927, 6:53 min.) --Son optique =Optical sound:Snappy tunes (1923, 6:51 min.) --Theodore Case test film (1924, 0:32 min.) --Ma he's making eyes at me (1925, 1:36 min.) --Arthur Conan Doyle (1927, 10:37 min.) --Governor Young hails greater talkie season (1928, 2:29 min.) --Finding his voice (1929, 10:12 min.) DVD 4652 Prénom Carmen (First Name, Carmen) (1983) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Maruschka Detmers, Jacques Bonnaffe, Myriem Roussel, Christophe Odent. Carmen, a member of a terrorist gang, seduces the hapless policeman who tries to arrest her during a bank robbery. Fleeing together, they hide out with her eccentric uncle until the restless Carmen leads them to an absurd doom. 85 min. DVD 9296; also DVD 626; vhs 999:2402 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Préparez vos mouchoirs (Get Out Your Handkerchiefs) (1977) Directed by Bertrand Blier. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Carol Laure. Unconventional comedy in which Freud's question "What is it that women want?" is elaborated until the answer -- she knows it when she finds it -- is discovered. 109 min. DVD 5511 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Princess Tam Tam (France, 1935) Directed by Arys Nissotti. Cast: Josephine Baker, Albert Prejean, Robert Arnoux, Germaine Aussy, Georges Peclet, Viviane Romance, Jean Gallard. An exotic Pygmalion-like musical comedy about a French author who goes to North Africa to write a novel but becomes distracted--then entranced--by a native girl whom he transforms into a "princess." 80 min. DVD 5569; vhs 999:3718 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Coffman, Elizabeth. "Uncanny performances in colonial narratives: Josephine Baker in "Princess Tam Tam." Paradoxa, 1997, Vol. 3 Issue 3/4, p379-394, 16p Francis, Terri. "Embodied Fictions, Melancholy Migrations: Josephine Baker's Cinematic Celebrity." Modern Fiction Studies; Winter2005, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p824-845, 22p UC users only Henderson, Mae G. "Josephine Baker and La Revue Negre: From Ethnography to Performance." Text & Performance Quarterly; Apr2003, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p107-133, 27p, UC users only Jules-Rosette, Bennetta. "Celluloid Projections." In: Josephine Baker in art and life : the icon and the image Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2007. (MAIN: GV1785.B3 J85 2007; MOFF: GV1785.B3 J85 2007) Scheper, Jeanne. "Of la Baker, I Am a Disciple": The Diva Politics of Reception." Camera Obscura, May2007, Vol. 22 Issue 65, p72-101, 30p UC users only La Prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV (The Taking of Power by Louis XIV) (France, 1965) Directed by Roberto Rossellini. Cast: ean-Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan, Silvagni, Katharina Renn, Dominique Vincent, Pierre Barrat, Fernand Fabre, Françoise Ponty, Joelle Laugeois. Presents, in a realistic rather than grandiose fashion, a dramatization of the rise to power of King Louis XIV of France (1638-1715). Shows the attendant pomp and etiquette, and the intrigues and internal power struggles that complicated his rise to power. Based on Louis XIV by Phillipe Erlander. 102 min. DVD X855; DVD 4678 (PAL format; in French without English subtitles); vhs 999:343 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database "Constructing the King's Body in Roberto Rossellini's The Rise to Power of Louis XIV." In: Writing history in film / William Guynn. New York : Routledge, 2006. (Main Stack PN1995.2.G89 2006) Prix de Beauté (Beauty Prize) (1930) Directed by Augusto Genina. Cast: Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia, André Nicolle, Augusto Bandini. Lucienne is a high-spirited young Parisian typist who leads a mundane life with her friends and fiance, André. She has to choose between André and an acting career. At first she chooses André but soon gets bored of being a housewife and flees to pursue acting. André chases her with a pistol. 93 min. DVD 5552; vhs 999:370 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Professionnel (1981) Director, Georges Lautner. Cast: Jean-Paul Belmodo, Cyrielle Claire, Jean Desailly, Marie-Christine Descouard, Elisabeth Margoni, Jean-Louis Richard, Robert Hossein French secret agent Joss Baumont is sent to one of the African countries to kill their president Njala. However, at the last moment the political situation changes and the French secret service turns him in to the African authorities, and he is sentenced to prison. After a daring escape Joss returns to France and deliberately informs his former chiefs of his presence promising them to kill Njala who has just arrived in the country on an official visit. 105 min. 999:3637 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Promesse (1996) Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Cast: Jeremie Renier, Olivier Gourmet, Assita Ouedraogo, Rasmane Ouedraogo. Under the conscienceless guidance of his father, 15 year old Igor appears destined to a life of petty crime. All changes, however, when Igor makes a promise to an immigrant who, while working illegally for his father, accidentally falls to his death. As Igor's father scrambles to cover-up the accident Igor must choose between the demands of his awakening conscience and his love for his father. 93 min. DVD 1140; VHS 999:3227 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Le Quai des brumes (Port of Shadows; Misty Warf) (1938) Directed by Marcel Carné. Cast: Jean Gabin, Michele Morgan, Michel Simon, Pierre Brasseur. Story of an army deserter who arrives at Havre and meets a beautiful girl called Nelly. 90 min. DVD 4792; vhs 999:1163 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Quai des Orfèvres (1947) Director, Henri-Georges Clouzot. Cast: Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Bernard Blier, Pierre Larquey, Suzy Delair. Set within the vibrant dancehalls and historic crime corridors of 1940s Paris, a singer with "stars in her eyes" ignores the protest of her covetous husband and pursues a meeting with a lecherous movie financier. When her husband attempts to crash the rendezvous, murder ensues. Enter the detective, whose seasoned instincts lead him down a circuitous path of alibis. 106 min. DVD 1816 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Mayne, Judith. "Dora the Image-Maker, and Henri-Georges Clouzot's Quai des Orfèvres." Studies in French Cinema, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 41-52, 2004 UC users only Les quatre cents coups (400 Blows; The Four Hundred Blows) (1958) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Remy, Guy Decomble, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffay. A tale of a lonely Parisian youth, buffeted by school and family problems. 97 min. DVD 1727, part 1; DVD 68; VHS 999:8 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Que la bête meurt (This Man Must Die) (1969) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Michel Duchaussoy, Caroline Cellier, Jean Yanne. Devastated by grief, Charles Thenier searches for the hit-and-run driver who killed his young son. When he finds the culprit, the two men begin a stalking cat-and-mouse game as one surprise follows another leading to a startling conclusion. 107 min. DVD 1732 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Que la fête commence... (Let Joy Reign Supreme) (1974) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. A historically based film about the ill-fated political reform movement attempted by the Regent, Philippe d'Orleans, counsel to l'Abbe Dubois, in 18th century France. 119 min. DVD X730 (In French with optional English subtitles); vhs 999:1503 (In French without English subtitles) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Qui êtes-vous Polly Maggoo? (Who are you, Polly Maggoo?)(France, 1966) Director, William Klein. Cast:Dorothy MacGowan, Jean Rochefort, Sami Frey, Grayson Hall, Philippe Noiret. Satire of Parisian haute couture and the modeling world. Set in the mod 1960s, this satire features model Polly MacGowan as she is being filmed for a television show. 102 min. DVD 9847 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Rapfogel, Jared. "The Delirious Fictions of William Klein.." Cineaste; Fall2008, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p20-23, 4p UC users only To the top Raja (France/Morocco, 2003) Director-writer, Jacques Doillon. Cast: Pascal Greggory, Najat Benssallem, Ilham Abdelwahed, Hassan Khissal. Set in comtemporary Marrakech, Raja explores the relationship between a wealthy middle aged Frenchman and a nineteen year old orphaned Moroccan girl. Disparities in race, economic status and language complicate the older man's pursuit of the younger girl. 110 min. DVD 5343 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Regain (Harvest) (1937) Directed by Marcel Pagnol. Cast: Orane Demazis, Fernandel, Gabriel Babrio, Henri Poupon [Robert Le Vigan]. A simple story of the land and its people. A scissors-grinder and a woman pass by a town, deserted save for one man, Panturle, who is decaying with the town. The woman stays and together they bring new life to the land. 127 min. 999:3598 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bowles, Brett. "Politicizing Pagnol: Rural France, Film, and Ideology Under the Popular Front." French History 2005 19(1): 112-142 31p. UC users only Marcel Pagnol bibliography La Règle du jeu (Rules of the Game) (1939) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Mila Parely, Jean Renoir, Roland Toutain, Julien Carette, Gaston Modot. A comedy drama set on the eve of World War II. It contrasts the affairs of the French aristocracy and the working class at a weekend house party. Masters and their servants are involved in an immoral erotic charade that builds to a shattering climax. Restored and re-released in 1959. 110 min. DVD 2230; vhs 999:51 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La reine Margot (Queen Margot) (1994) Directed by Patrice Chéreau. Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez, Virna Lisi, Jean-Claude Brialy. Thrown into a political marriage of convenience by her ruthlessly power-hungry family, the beautiful Margot soon finds herself hopelessly drawn into their murderous affairs. It's then she realizes her only hope of escape lies somewhere between the heroic soldier who loves her and the enemy husband who could save her. Based on the novel by AlexAndré Dumas. 144 min. DVD 6675 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Religieuse (The Nun) (1966) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Anna Karina, Liselotte Pulver, Micheline Presle, Francine Berge, Francisco Rabal. This adaptation of Diderot's classic 18th century novel explores with poetic simplicity the moving tale of a 16 year old girl who is forced by her mother to enter a convent. 135 min. In French without subtitles. DVD 3656 (PAL); vhs 999:1651 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Rendez-vous de juillet (July Rendezvous) (1949) Director, Jacques Becker. Cast: Daniel Gelin, Brigitte Auber, Nicole Courcel, Pierre Trabaud, Maurice Ronet, Bernard Lajarrige, Louis Seigner. A portrait of a group of young people who spurn placid bourgeoisie comforts to find true love and maturity through jazz, art, theater, and camaraderie in postwar Paris. Lucien is trying to raise money to make films in Africa. He dreams of hiring his friends to work as his production team. The group's esprit de corps is tested as love affairs complicate loyalties and others find it difficult to join Lucien against their parents wishes. 110 min. 999:3528 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Renaissance (2006) Directed by Christian Volckman. Voices: Daniel Craig, Patrick Floersheim, Catherine McCormack, Romola Garai, Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm. In this animated drama set in Paris in 2054, all movement is monitored and recorded. Casting a shadow over everything is the city's largest company, Avalon, which insinuates itself into every aspect of contemporary life to sell its primary export -- youth and beauty. In this world of stark contrasts and rigid laws the populace is kept in line and accounted for. In French without subtitles. 102 min. DVD 7164 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les rendez-vous d'Anna (France / Belgium / West Germany, 1978) Directed by Chantal Akerman. Cast: Aurore Clement, Helmut Griem, Magali Noel, Hanns Zischler. An independent woman film-maker journeys through Germany, Belgium, and France, meeting a stream of friends, lovers, relatives, and strangers, and passing through alienating landscapes of anonymous hotel rooms, train stations, and cinemas. Special features: Entretien avec Babette Mangolte (2007; 31 min. : sd., col.); Entretien avec ma mère, Natalia Akerman (2007; 28 min. : sd., col.); Entretien avec Aurore Clement (2007; 18 min. : sd., col.) 122 min. DVD 8267 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Ressources humaines (Human Resources) (1999) Director, Laurent Cantet. Cast: Jalil Lespert, Jean-Claude Vallod, Didier Emile-Woldemard, Danielle Melador, Lucien Longueville. Frank's dad, a laborer, saved his whole life to give Frank a good education. Now back home with a college degree and a management job at his dad's company, Frank is torn between his old life and new responsibilities. Thinking he understands both sides, he gets in the middle of a union dispute that risks his reputation and his father's future. 100 min. DVD 1845; vhs 999:3519 (no subtitles) Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Retour de flamme Presents twelve seminal films in the early development of motion pictures in France and the United States, with each film preceded by extensive optional historical commentary. Contents: I'll say she is / avec Marx Brothers (1931, 4:36 min.) --Peine du Talion =Talion punishment (1906, 4:12 min.) --Alice in Wonderland / avec Viola Savoy (1915, 27:43 min.) -- Trois soundies = Three soundies (8:00 min.) :Playmates (1944) --Male order (1941) --Sheik of Araby / avec Spike Jones (1944) --Crue de la Seine =Seine flood (1910, 4:26 min.) --To spring / Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising (1936, 8:58 min.) --Femmes deputes =Women deputies / avec Madeleine Guitty (1912, 7:33 min.) --MGM promp reel / Laurel et Hardy (1936, 8:30 min.) --Gosses de la butte =Montmartre's kids (1916, 3:51 min.) --Joie de vivre / Anthony Gross (1934, 8:56 min.) --Lizzies of the field / avec Billy Bevan ; production, Mack Sennett (1924, 9:29 min.) --Philips broadcast / production, George Pal (1938, 4:58 min.) Bonus feature: "Le raid en avion" (quatrieme episode, serial) / production, Ellen Richter ; realisation, Willi Wolff (1924, 21:58 min). DVD 4650 Le Retour de Martin Guerre (Return of Martin Guerre) (1982) Directed by Daniel Vigne. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, Maurice Barrier, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Isabelle Sadoyan. The film revolves around the suspenseful unraveling of the identity of the title character who has disappeared as a young husband and resumes his marriage years later. His uncle claims that this is an imposter, and a trial is demanded to resolve the situation. 111 min. DVD 62; VHS 999:238 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bann, Stephen. "Cinema and the Rescue of Historicity." History & Theory 2002 41(4): 124-133 10p. UC users only Benson, Ed. "Martin Guerre, the historian and the filmmakers: an interview with Natalie Zemon Davis." Film & History Vol XIII nr 3 (Sept 1983); p 49-65 Davis, Natalie Zemon. "Movie or Monograph? A Historian/Filmmaker's Perspective." Public Historian; Summer2003, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p45-48, 4p Humbert, Brigitte "Re-making history and cultural identity: from The Return of Martin Guerre to Sommersby." Film Criticism Fall 2001 v26 i1 p2(24) Levinson, M. "The return of Martin Guerre." (review)Cineaste Vol XIII nr 2 (1984); p 47-49 Rabel, Robert J. "Impersonation and Identity: Sommersby, The Return of Martin Guerre, and the Odyssey." International Journal of the Classical Tradition, Winter2003, Vol. 9 Issue 3, p391-406, 16p UC users only Staiger, Janet. "Securing the fictional narrative as a tale of the historical real." The South Atlantic Quarterly Spring 1989 v88 n2 p393(21) Toplin, Robert Brent. "The filmmaker as historian." American Historical Review Dec 1988 v93 n5 p1210(18) Les Revenants (They Came Back) (2004) Directed by Robin Campillo. Cast: Geraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccai, Frederic Pierrot, Catherine Samie, Victor Garrivier, Djemel Barek, Marie Matheron, Saady Delas. One morning, a small French city wakes up to discover thousands of recently dead people walking into town. The reason why is a mystery and there is no time to look into it. Hasty reunions--some passionate, some strained-- occur with their survivors. But can they be reintegrated into society when their jobs have been filled and their partners have moved on? As officials try to figure out that to do with them, the dead begin behaving in bizarre ways and it becomes apparent that the returnees are not exactly who they used to be. 103 min. DVD 8272 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La revue des revues (France, 1927) Directed by Joe Francys. Cast: Josephine Baker, Helene Hallier, Andre Luguet, Pepa Bonafe, Gretchikine, Madame Komakova, Ludovic, Lila Nikolska, Skibinne, Tiller's Follies Girls, Ruth Zackey and the Hoffmann Girls. Helene Hallier, an ambitious by innocent would-be young chorine, trumps a music hall publicity stunt to become the new Parisian nightclub sensation. The light story is only a pretext for La Revue des Revues' white-hot, non-stop procession of outrageously and scantily attired exotic dancers, showgirls, and acrobats including the Tiller's Follies Girls, Ruth Zackey and the Hoffman Girls, and danseuse russe Lila Nikolska. But it's Josephine Baker, "the high priestess of primitivism" who triumphs in two show stopping numbers. 103 min. DVD 9107 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Francis, Terri. "Embodied Fictions, Melancholy Migrations: Josephine Baker's Cinematic Celebrity." Modern Fiction Studies; Winter2005, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p824-845, 22p UC users only Henderson, Mae G. "Josephine Baker and La Revue Negre: From Ethnography to Performance." Text & Performance Quarterly; Apr2003, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p107-133, 27p, UC users only Jules-Rosette, Bennetta. "Celluloid Projections." In: Josephine Baker in art and life : the icon and the image Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2007. (MAIN: GV1785.B3 J85 2007; MOFF: GV1785.B3 J85 2007) Scheper, Jeanne. "Of la Baker, I Am a Disciple": The Diva Politics of Reception." Camera Obscura, May2007, Vol. 22 Issue 65, p72-101, 30p UC users only Ridicule (1996) Directed by Patrice Leconte. Cast: Fanny Ardant, Charles Berling, Bernard Giraudeau, Judith Godreche, Jean Rochefort. In a desperate quest to save his hometown, a young man quickly learns that a sharp wit is the key to open any door in the Versailles court of Louis XVI. But his mission is complicated by a triangle with two very seductive ladies: a sophisticated older woman who can help him...and an innocent young beauty with nothing to offer but love. 103 min. DVD 5934; vhs 999:1999 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Movie Review Query Engine Humbert, Brigitte E. "Patrice Leconte's Ridicule - Women in the political sphere: transforming memory into modernity?" Studies in French Cinema, 2003, Vol. 3 Issue 3, p137-147, 11p UC users only Vanderschelden, Isabelle. "Subtitling wit: the case of Ridicule." Studies in French Cinema, 2002, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p109, 14p UC users only Rififi (1955) Directed by Jules Dassin. Cast: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel, Perlo Vita (i.e. Jules Dassin). A suspenseful story of a successful jewel robbery engineered by an aging ex-con in which the four thieves betray each other. The film ends in an orgy of torture, murder, kidnapping and retribution. One of the greatest crime capers, it set the standard for all others that followed. Most notable is Dassin's exquisitely intense silent burglary sequence which runs nearly half an hour. 117 min. DVD 3903; vhs 999:2779 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Guicharnaud, Jacques; Goldman, Cynthia. "Of Grisbi, Chnouf and Rififi." Yale French Studies, No. 17, Art of the Cinema (1956), pp. 6-13 UC users only The River (1951) Directed by Jean Renoir. In post-World War II India, three adolescent girls develop competing crushes on a young American veteran who lost a leg in combat. As their romances and rivalries deepen, the background of the Indian society, culture and environment influences all their personalities in subtle and symbolic ways. DVD 3837; vhs 999:2821 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Robert et Robert (1978) Directed by Claude Lelouch. Cast: Charles Denner, Jacques Villeret, Jean-Claude Brialy, Regine. Two lonely young Parisians meet in a computerized "lonely hearts" dating center. Their computer dates run off when they catch sight of them but their disappointment draws them into a friendship that will give them the desire to better themselves. 102 min. DVD X2053 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Roi danse (The King Dances) (2000) Directed by Gérard Corbiau. Cast: Benoît Magimel (Louis XIV), Boris Terral (Lully), Tcheky Karyo (Moli`ere), Colette Emmanuelle (queen mother [Anne of Austria]), Cecile Bois (Madeleine), Claire Keim (Julie), Johan Leysen (Cambert), Idwig Stephane (Conti), Emil Tarding (the young Louis XIV); others. Historical drama about Louis XIV of France, centering on his passion for dance and music. The shy heir to the throne has his destiny altered when musician Jean-Baptiste Lully and the famed playwright Moliere enter his life. Recognizing the young king's talent for dance they compose and stage ballets that glorify Louis' image. The film includes many recreations of dance, drama, and opera of the era. 114 min. DVD 4502 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Roi de coeur (King of Hearts) (1966) Directed by Phillipe DeBroca. Cast: Alan Bates, Pierre Brasseur, Françoise Christophe, Jean-Claude Brialy, Julien Guiomar, Geneviève Bujold, Micheline Presle, Adolfo Celi, Michel Serrault. A Scottish soldier is assigned the task of disarming a bomb in a small French town at the close of World War I. The townspeople have deserted the town leaving behind the inmates of the local insane asylum who embrace the soldier as their king. 102 min. DVD 7393; vhs 999:1000 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Romance (1999) Directed by Catherine Breillat. Claiming he loves her, but that he has lost his desire for her, Marie's boyfriend, Paul, refuses to engage in sexual relations, catapulting Marie into a desperate search for intimacy and erotic fulfillment. 98 min. DVD 871 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Ronde (1964) Director Roger Vadim. Cast: Marie Dubois, Claude Giraud, Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jane Fonda, Maurice Ronet, Catherine Spaak, Bernard Noel, Francine Berge, Jean Sorel. A chain of love started between a young whore and a soldier ends with the same whore after having gone full circle through various characters. Based on the novel by Arthur Schnitzler. 110 min. DVD 4996 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Miller, D. A. "La Ronde." Film Quarterly Mar 2009, Vol. 62, No. 3: 23-27. UC users only La Ronde (Roundabout) (1950) Directed by Max Ophuls. Cast: Simone Signoret, Danielle Darrieux, Jean-Louis Barrault, Anton Walbrook, Odette Joyeux, Gérard Philipe. Comedy set in 1900 Vienna; a chain of love started between a young prostitute and a soldier goes full circle when the soldier ends up with her after meeting various characters. 92 min. DVD X170; vhs 999:271 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Alter, Maria P. "From Der Reigen to La Ronde: Transposition of a Stageplay to the Cinema." Literature/ Film Quarterly, vol. 24 no. 1. 1996. pp: 52-56. Miller, D. A. "La Ronde." Film Quarterly Mar 2009, Vol. 62, No. 3: 23–27. UC users only Williams, Alan. "Keep the Circle Turning: Ophuls's La Ronde." In Modern European Filmmakers and the Art of Adaptation / edited by André w Horton and Joan Magretta. pp: 38-50. New York: F. Ungar Pub. Co., 1981. Series title: Ungar film library. (UCB Main PN1997.85 .M66; UCB Moffitt PN1997.85 .M66) Les Roseaux sauvages (Wild Reeds) (1994) Directed by André Téchiné. Cast: Elodie Bouchez, Gael Morel, Stephane Rideau, Frederic Gorny. A poignant coming-of-age story set in southwest France in 1962. Sensitive young François is uncertain of his sexuality as he finds himself more attracted to his classmate Serge than to his platonic girlfriend Maite. An older boy, Henri, is drawn into the circle, further complicating relationships. Through their passage into adulthood, the four experience a series of sexual and political conflicts as they explore the mysteries of the human heart. 110 min. DVD 1864; also DVD X61 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La roue (The Wheel)(1923) Directed by Abel Gance. Disc 1. La roue [first part] (161 min.) -- Disc 2. La roue [continued] (101 min.), special features. Cast: Séverin Mars, Ivy Close, Gabriel de Gravone, Pierre Magnier. Sisif, a railwayman, and his son Elie fall in love with the beautiful Norma (whom Sisif rescued from a train crash when a baby and raised as his daughter), with tragic results. This seminal film introduced many innovations in set design and construction, and cinematic devices. Special features: Autour de la roue = Around "The Wheel" making-of featurette (8 min.), Original pressbook (3 min.) 263 min. DVD 9939 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Abel, Richard. "Abel Gance's Other Neglected Masterpiece: La Roue (1922-1923)." Cinema Journal, 22:2 (1983:Winter) p.26 UC users only Abel Gance bibliography Rouge (Red; Trois couleurs: Rouge) (1994) Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Cast: Ir`ene Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Frederique Feder. The final installment in the director's trilogy named after the colors of the French flag (titles: Bleu [Blue], Blanc [White], Rouge [Red]), Red is the story of a beautiful young model and her meeting with an unusual stranger - a meeting that leads her down a path of intrigue and secrecy. 99 min. DVD 1750; vhs 999:1676 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le rouge et le noir (The Red and the Black) (TV, 1997) Directed by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe. Cast: Carole Bouquet, Kim Rossi Stuart, Judith Godreche, Claude Rich. Set in 1830's France, the ambitious son of a carpenter challenges the rigid social order of the time when he becomes a private tutor. Although expected to channel career aspirations into the Church of the post- Napoleonic era, his intensely romantic liaisons propel him forward at a pace he cannot control. Based on the novel by Stendhal. 208 min. DVD 6671 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Rupture (The Breach) (1970) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Stephane Andran, Jean-Pierre Cassell, Michel Bouquet. A woman, with a checkered past, divorces her abusive, addict husband after he beats up their young son, breaking his leg and giving him a concussion. The husband's wealthy family tries to gain custody of the boy through the courts, but when that fails they hire a man to do whatever it takes to discredit the mother. 120 min. DVD 1734 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Sade (2000) Directed by Benoît Jacquot. Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Marianne Denicourt, Jeanne Balibar, Gregoire Colin, Isild Le Besco, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Philippe Duquesne, Vincent Branchet, Raymond Gerome. The Marquis de Sade, the famous philanthropist and sexual predator, faces execution by Robespierre's puritanical regime, but thanks to his mistress finds temporary respite at Picpus, a sanitarium for aristocrats awaiting the guillotine. There, he focuses his attention on Emilie, a teenager longing to experience sensual pleasure before her death. 100 min. DVD 2227 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Brunette, Peter; Peary, Gerald. "A Child of the New Wave: An Interview with Benoît Jacquot." Cineaste vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 23-27, 2000 UC users only Frodon, Jean-Michel. "'Rester malades du cinema': Conversation entre André Téchiné et Benoît Jacquot." Cahiers du Cinéma, vol. 596, pp. 18-20, December 2004 Fuller, Graham. "Sade." (Review). Sight and Sound 10.11 (Nov 2000): p18(2). Lardoux, Xavier. Le cinema de Benoît Jacquot Paris : Editions PC, 2006. (MAIN: PN1998.3.J28 L27 2006) Saint-Cyr(1973) Director, Patricia Mazuy. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Simon Regiani, Anne Marev, Jean-François Balmer. Madame de Maintenon, wife of Louis XIV, founds Saint-Cyr, a boarding school outside of Paris for the daughters of destitute nobility where girls are brought to acquire the language and manners befitting their rank. The school eventually becomes a source of nightmarish anxiety for her, as idle noblemen discover her young charges. In French without substitles. 114 min. DVD 4511 Saint Jacques-- La Mecque(2005) Directed by Coline Serreau. Cast: Muriel Robin, Artus De Penguern, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Pascal Legitimus, Marie Bunel, Marie Kremer, Flore Vannier-Moreau, Aymen Saidi, Nicolas Cazale. Chronicles the pilgrimage in France from Puyen-Velay to Saint-Jacques de Campostella of three estranged siblings in order to collect their inheritance from their late mother. 198 min. DVD 8454 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Saison des Hommes (The Season of Men) (Tunisia / France, 2000) Directed by Moufida Tlatli. Cast: Rabiaa Ben Abdallah, Sabah Bouzouita, Ghalia Ben Ali, Hend Sabri, Ezzedine Guennoun. Drama about a young wife who must bear her husband a son if she ever wishes to escape the island of Djerba and join him in Tunis. Her husband, like his brothers, works in Tunis eleven months of the year and returns to the island for only one. 120 min. DVD 5822 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Martin, Florence. "Silence and scream: Moufida Tlatli's cinematic suite." Studies in French Cinema; 2004, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p175-185, 11p UC users only Murphy, David. "Moufida Tlatli." In: Postcolonial African cinema : ten directors / David Murphy, Patrick Williams. Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2007. (Main Stack PN1998.2.M87 2007) Stollery, Martin. "Masculinities, Generations, and Cultural Transformation in Contemporary Tunisian Cinema." Screen, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 49-63, Spring 2001 Taubin, Amy. "Amy Taubin on Moufida Tlatli's study of a family blighted by the oppressive sexual politics of Tunisian society" Film Comment; Mar/Apr2001, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p18, 2p UC users only Les Salades de l'amour (The Supplements) The final disc in a 5 disc set of the complete saga of the life of François Truffaut's character Antoine Doinel. This final disc contains the film short "Les Mistons" which depicts a group of pubescent boys whose admiration of a young girl takes on an edge of cruelty, with unforseen results. The second film, "Working with François Truffaut," is a documentary on Truffaut's life and work featuring interviews with co-writers Claude de Givray and Bernard Revon. Contents: Les Mistons (1957, 18 min.), directed by François Truffaut -- Working with François Truffaut: Claude de Givray and Bernard Revon, co-writers (2003, 44 min.). DVD 1727, part 5 Le Salaire de la peur (Wages of Fear) (1952) Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Cast: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter Van Eyck, William Tubbs, Vera Clouzot, Folco Lulli. A study of courage and cowardice in the face of almost insurmountable odds. After establishing the characters of the protagonists in a long prologue, director Clouzot follows them as they transport a cargo of nitroglycerin over a primitive mountain road to a conclusion of high suspence and final irony. 148 min. DVD 431; VHS 999:683 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Salut Cousin! (Hey Cousin!) (France / Algeria / Belgium / Luxembourg, 1996) Director, Merzak Allouache. In the poor tenements of Paris, a young Algerian hooks up with his cousin Mok, a would-be rap star, pathological liar and an irrepressible guide to the Paris underground scene. 103 min. 999:3096 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Samia (2000) Director, Philippe Faucon. Cast: Lynda Benahouda, Mohamed Chaouch, Kheira Oualhaci, Nadia El Koutei, Yamina Amri, Lakhdar Smati. Samia, an Algerian teenager, has immigrated with her large family to Marseilles, where she must cope with both racism and her family's own restrictions on her personal freedom. Her brother, Yacine appoints himself the protector of Samia's moral and physical virtue and after their father is hospitalized and it becomes apparent that Samia's sister is having a relationship with a French boy, she responds to the pressures by becoming increasingly rebellious. PAL format. 135 min. 999:3272 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Samourai (1967) Director, Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Alain Delon, François Perier, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier, Jacques Leroy, Michel Boisrond. A steely-eyed and enigmatic hitman is hired to do away with the boss of a nightclub, which places him under total surveillance by police. At the same time, he discovers that the man he is working for has marked him for death. Based on the novel, The Ronin, by Joan McLeod. 101 min. DVD 4557; vhs 999:2357 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Sang d'un poète (Blood of a Poet) (1930) Directed by Jean Cocteau. A surrealistic allegorical myth about the life of a poet who sacrifices himself to his art. 54 min.DVD 208; VHS 999:117 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Saute ma ville (Blow Up My Town; in: Akermania. Volume one) (1968) Shorter works directed by Chantal Akerman. Saute ma ville: A young woman comes home to her apartment in Brussels, where she cooks pasta and seals herself in with duct tape. The story ends with a bang. Akerman's first film made at the age of 18. J'ai faim, j'ai froid (I'm hungry, I'm cold): Two young Belgian girls run away from their home in Brussels. They spend a day and an evening in Paris looking for food and love, with comic and poignant results. Hôtel Monterey: A stark, silent look at a New York pension hotel. 89 min. DVD 8267; vhs 999:980 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Sauve qui peut (la vie) (Slow Motion)(1979) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, Nathalie Baye, with the voice of Marguerite Duras. This parody of modern life revolves around three characters who are all at turning points in their lives--the country girl who comes to the city to be a prostitute, the city woman who decides to give up her job and pursue an idyllic life in the country, and a television director who is separated from his wife and daughter. Special features: "Scenario vidéo Sauve qui peut (La vie)": some notes on the direction and production of the film; filmographies & biographies. 84 min. DVD X1261 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Secret défense (Secret Defense)(1997) Directed by Jacques Rivette. Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Laure Marsac, Gregoire Colin, Bernadette Giroud, Françoise Fabian. A young scientist discovers from her brother that their father's death wasn't an accident, but that he was killed by his business partner and friend. 166 min. DVD 4585 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Selected Films (1989-1994) Directed by Matthias Muller. In French and German. Aus der ferne (The memo book) (1989, 27 min.); The flamethrowers, a collective film by Owen O'Toole and the groups Alte Kinder and Schmetzdahin) (1990, 9 min.); Home stories (1990, 6 min.); Sleepy haven (1993, 15 min.); Sternenschauer (Scattering stars) (1994, 2 min.); Alpsee (1994, 14 min.). Muller's experimental image-rich films deal with the intersection of the private and public spheres. His seamless, collages of personal imagery and appropriated materials weave a kinetic spell of motion and vitality, ranging from tender, magical and melancholy love poems to sarcastic comments on gender entrapment in classic-era Hollywood. 63 min. 999:1964 Une semaine de vacances (A Week's Vacation) (1980) Directed by Catherine Breillat. Cast: Nathalie Baye, Gerard Lanvin, Michel Galabru, Flore Fitzgerald, Jean Daste, Marie-Louise Ebeli. Laurence, a young schoolteacher from Lyons, takes a week's leave. During the break, she reflects on her career and her personal life. 105 min. DVD 8833 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database S'en fout la mort (No Fear, No Die) (1990) Director, Claire Denis. Cast: Isaach de Bankole, Alex Descas, Solveig Dommartin, Christopher Buchholz, Jean-Claude Brialy. Set in France, Dah, an African immigrant, and Jocelyn, a West Indian man, supply and train fighting cocks for a sleazy French saloon owner. Once Dah becomes entangled with the owner's mistress, all four characters are cast into a violent circle of gambling, desire, and agony that spins out of control. 97 min. 999:3247 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Carter, Mia. "Acknowledged absences: Claire Denis' cinema of longing." Studies in European Cinema; 2006, Vol. 3 Issue 1, p67-81, 15p UC users only McMahon, Laura. "Figuring Intrusion: Nancy and Denis." Contemporary French & Francophone Studies; Oct2008, Vol. 12 Issue 4, p463-470, 8p Sex Is Comedy (2002) Directed by Catherine Breillat. Cast: Anne Parillaud, Gregoire Colin, Roxane Mesquida, Ashley Wanninger, Dominique Colladant, Bart Binnema, Yves Osmu, Francis Seleck, Elisabete Piecho. For director Jeanne, sex is no laughing matter. She doesn't find it funny that her two leading actors can't stand each other when she's about to shoot the most important moment in her film ... the sex scene. The actress objects to nudity, the actor won't take off his socks, and the only thing heating up between them is their tempers. At her wits' end, Jeanne tries everything in her power to seduce, intimidate and sweet-talk her reluctant young lovers into performing the film's sexy final scene. 95 min. DVD 3840 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le silence de la mer (1949) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Howard Vernon, Nicole Stephane, Jean-Marie Robain, Ami Aaroe, Georges Patrix, Denis Sadier. Tells the story of a German officer who is billeted in the house of an elderly man and his niece in occupied France. Vowing never to speak to the invader, the couple listen in silence as the officer pours out his ideas and feelings about music, war and his love of France. 84 min. DVD 8455 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les silences du palais (Saimt el qusur; The Silences of the Palace) (Tunisia / France, 1994) Director, Moufida Tlatli. As Alia, the daughter of a beautiful servant, Khedija, grows up in the king's palace at the end of the French colonial rule in Tunisia, she realizes the sexual favours required of her mother and other servants, as she, herself, is misused by those in power around her. Women had to live in silence, a silence so profound, they may come to doubt their own past -- even their own existence -- yet they survived these political realities with courage, comradeship, and the resources of their bodies. 127 min. 999:3204 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Alion, Yves. "Rencontre avec Moufida Tlatli." Avant Scène Cinéma, vol. 536, pp. 3-7, Nov 2004 Martin, Florence. "Silence and scream: Moufida Tlatli's cinematic suite." Studies in French Cinema; 2004, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p175-185, 11p UC users only Murphy, David. "Moufida Tlatli." In: Postcolonial African cinema : ten directors / David Murphy, Patrick Williams. Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2007. (Main Stack PN1998.2.M87 2007) Peysson-Zeiss, Agnès. "Chants et vies de femmes dans Les Silences du palais de Moufida Tlatli." International Journal of Francophone Studies, 2006, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p223-238, 16p UC users only Rice, Laura. "Refracting an Orientalist Lens." Women & Performance; 2007, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p37-57, 21p UC users only Salhi, Kamal "Imaging Silence-Representing Women: Moufida Tlatli's Silence of the Palace and North African Feminist Cinema." Quarterly Review of Film and Video, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 253-77, Aug 2007 UC users only Sherzer, Dina. "Remembrance of Things Past: Les Silences du palais by Moufida Tlatli." South Central Review, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 50-59, Fall 2000 UC users only DD>Zayzafoon, Lamia Ben Youssef. "Memory as allegory: the spectre of incest and the (re)naming of the father in Moufida Tlatli's The Silences of the Palace (1994)." Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies, 2007, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p47-67, 21p; UC users only La Sirène du Mississippi (Mississippi Mermaid) (1969) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Deneuve, Nelly Borgeaud, Martine Ferriere, Marcel Berbery, Yves Drouhet, Michel Bouquet. She is a dream-come true for successful yet lonely Louis Durand a tobacco grower on Reunion Island. But his mail-order bride is a mystery. Her appearance doesn't match the photo she sent, her likes and dislikes aren't those described in her letters. By the time the lonely businessman husband discovers who she is, it is too late, and he will even kill to keep her. 111 min. 999:2434 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Sirène des tropiques (Siren of the Tropics) (France, 1927) Directed by Henri Etievant, Mario Nalpas. Cast: Josephine Baker, Pierre Batcheff, Georges Melchior, Regina Dalthy. Papitou is a free-spirited, animal-loving native girl who falls in love with Andre, a sophisticated young man who has been sent to the Parisian Antilles as a prospector. She is unaware that he is betrothed to another, or that his work assignment is actually a perilous ruse concocted by his scheming boss. As the truth becomes known, Papitou finds herself pursuing Andre back to Paris. 87 min. DVD 4050 Francis, Terri. "Embodied Fictions, Melancholy Migrations: Josephine Baker's Cinematic Celebrity." Modern Fiction Studies; Winter2005, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p824-845, 22p UC users only Henderson, Mae G. "Josephine Baker and La Revue Negre: From Ethnography to Performance." Text & Performance Quarterly; Apr2003, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p107-133, 27p, UC users only Jules-Rosette, Bennetta. "Celluloid Projections." In: Josephine Baker in art and life : the icon and the image Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2007. (MAIN: GV1785.B3 J85 2007; MOFF: GV1785.B3 J85 2007) Powrie, Phil; Rebillard, Éric. "Josephine Baker and Pierre Batcheff in "La Sirène des tropiques". Studies in French Cinema, 2008, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p245-264, 20p, UC users only Rebillard, Éric; Powrie, Phil. "Josephine Baker and Pierre Batcheff in "La Sirène des tropiques"." Studies in French Cinema, 2008, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p245-264, 20p UC users only Scheper, Jeanne. "Of la Baker, I Am a Disciple": The Diva Politics of Reception." Camera Obscura, May2007, Vol. 22 Issue 65, p72-101, 30p UC users only 6 Fois 2: Emissions Television Cinema. In this radically unconventional television series Godard and Mieville analyze the politics of personal and media communications in relation to society, family, and the individual. Each program is composed of two complementary parts: a visual essay on the production and consumption of images are paired with related interviews. Part 1A and 1B Part 1A shows an employer interviewing prospective employees. In Part 1B a French dairy farmer gives his views on agriculture and food production in the world. 1976? 100 min. Video/C 6534 Part 2A and 2B Part 2A studies the production and reception of cultural representations. Part 2B is an interview with Godard concerning his social analyses of media and other issues. 1976? 100 min. Video/C 6535 6 Fois 2: Emissions Television Cinema. Part 3A and 3B Part 3A is a deconstructive critique of the manipulatory power of photojournalism, news and advertising images. Part 3B is an interview with Marcel, an amateur filmmaker. Shows him filming and editing his work interspersed with his commentary. 1976? 100 min. Video/C 6536 Part 4A and 4B Part 4A is an interview with a screenwriter about the conceptualization and writing of a story. Part 4B is a series of interviews with French women of all ages, concerning their personal experiences and relationships. 1976? 100 min. Video/C 6537 Part 5A and 5B Part 5A is a collage in constant motion of the faces of a man and woman as they write a letter to eachother about their relationship. Part 5B is an interview with the mathematician René Thom. 1976? 100 min. Video/C 6538 Part 6A and 6B Part 6A is a commentary on the making of this television series and the challenges faced in its production as the traditional television conventions were rejected by Godord and Mieville as they strove to "do television differently." Part 6B is an interview with a French man and woman about their personal perceptions and experiences. 1976? 100 min. Video/C 6539 Soigne ton gauche(France, 1936) Directed by by René Clément starring Jacques Tati. "A boxer is out in the country with his entourage, training for his next fight. Meanwhile, on the farm nearby, Roger is neglecting his chores. As he watches the boxer and his sparring partners at work, Roger starts to fantasize about being a boxer himself. Then, when none of the boxer's sparring partners can continue, he is asked to fill in, although he doesn't know anything about how to box." [IMDB] 20 min. Included on DVD 894 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Souriante Madame Beudet (The Smiling Madame Beudet) (1922) Directed by Germaine Dulac. "One of the first feminist movies, The Smiling Madame Beudet is the story of an intelligent woman trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband is used to playing a stupid practical joke in which he puts an empty revolver to his head and threatens to shoot himself. One day, while the husband is away, she puts bullets in the revolver. However, she is stricken with remorse and tries to retrieve the bullets the next morning. Her husband gets to the revolver first only this time he points the revolver at her." [Internet Movie Database]. Based on the play by Denys Amiel. Silent with music and French intertitles. 26 min. 999:838 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Soigne ta droite (Keep Your Right Up!) (1982) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Jean-Luc Godard, Jane Birkin, Fred Chichin, Michel Galabru, Pauline Lafont, Rita Mitsouko. "The Idiot" (also known as "The Prince") has been guaranteed financing for a film, but only if he can deliver it within 24 hours. He encounters all sorts of hilarious problems as he attempts to do so. Meanwhile, a pop group works on a new album. 82 min. DVD 3313 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Souffle au coeur (Murmur of the Heart) (1971) Directed by Louis Malle. Featuring Lea Massari, Benoît Ferreux, Daniel Gelin, Michel Lonsdale, Ave Ninchi, Gila von Weitershausen. This Oedipal comedy, set in France in 1954, is a poignant and provocative portrait of a young man's sexual initiation and his complex, controversial relationship with his vivacious mother. 118 min. DVD 5380; vhs 999:3456 Credits and Other information from the Internet Movie Database Louis Malle bibliography Sous le soleil de Satan (Under Satan's Sun) (1987) Directed by Maurice Pialat. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Sandrine Bonnaire, Maurice Pialat, Alain Artur, Yann Dedet, Brigitte Legendre, Jean-Claude Bourlat, Jean-Christophe Bouvet, Pierre d'Hoffelize, Corinne Bourdon. Dossignan is a very zealous rural priest. The dean Menou-Segrais tries to keep him reasonable but Dossignan will be tempted by Satan as he tries to save the soul of Mouchette, a young girl who killed one of her lovers. A film about God's grace and mysticism. Non-US format DVD. In French without subtitles. 103 min. DVD 3410 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Fevret, Christian; Kaganski, Serge. "Interview with Maurice Pialat." Film Comment. May/Jun 2004. Vol. 40, Iss. 3; p. 33 (8 pages) UC users only Jones, Kent. "Under the Sun of Satan." Film Comment, May/Jun2004, Vol. 40 Issue 3, p48-48, 1p, UC users only Sous les toits de Paris (Under the Roofs of Paris) (1930) Directed by René Clair. Cast: Albert Prejean, Pola Illery, Edmond Greville, Gaston Modot. A sentimental story of the Paris underworld, with boulevard songs integrated into the action. A Parisian street singer falls in love with a girl, fights her lover and proves himself innocent of theft. In spite of the director Clair's misgivings, his first venture into sound is considered a total success. 93 min. DVD 1368; vhs 999:3490 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Stavisky (1974) Directed by Alain Resnais. Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anny Duperey, Charles Boyer, Francois Perier, Gérard Deaprdieu. An exquisite recounting of the climatic days in 1933 in the career of Stavisky, the con man turned international financier whose ruin resulted in political scandal and his own mysterious death. 117 min. 999:1547 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Sur un air de Charleston (Charleston Parade) (1926) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Catherine Hessling, Johnny Huggins, (and playing the role of angels) Pierre Braunberger, Andre Cerf, Pierre Lestringuez, Jean Renoir. Shows the journey of a man in blackface to a post-Apocalyptic Paris, where he meets a girl who teachers him the Charleston, and they leave together in his spaceship. 20 min. DVD 7586; also on vhs Video/C 999:649; Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Swimming Pool (1974) Directed by Francois Ozon. Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Marc Fayolle, Jean-Marie Lamour. Sarah is a famous British murder mystery author. Tired of London and seeking inspiration for her new novel, she accepts an offer from her publisher to stay at his home in the south of France. Sarah finds that the beautiful country locale and unhurried pace is just the tonic for her - until late one night, when John's sexy and provocative daughter, Julie, unexpectedly arrives. Sarah's English reserve is jarred by Julie's lifestyle. An increasingly unsettling series of events occur that blend a creative process with a possible real-life murder. Special features: interviews with Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Sagnier; outtakes; poster and picture galleries. 103 min. DVD 6930 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Symphonie diagonale (Avant garde. #2) (Silent with French titles and music scores, 1924) Directed by Viking Eggeling. Three experimental films produced in the 1920s: Symphonie diagonale, by Viking Eggeling (1924); L'Étoile de mer, by Man Ray (1928); Entr'acte, by René Clair (1924). 42 min. DVD 4191; vhs 999:289 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top Taris, champion de natation (Taris, roi de l'eau) (1931) "The second of Vigo's four films is about 10 minutes long. The subject, allegedly, is a French national swimming champion, Jean Taris. First we see him swimming normally. Then we see a hint that this isn't a documentary short: Taris dives into the water, Vigo runs the film backwards, and Taris is spit back out. This happens 3 times. Thus the crux of the film: inventive (for the time) technique, while overuse of it occurs. Fun stuff, though: interesting shots of Taris doing the backstroke. Finally, we see him goofing around underwater; by this point, the movie achieves a genuine state of grace. Can be found on No. 10 of the New York Film Annex's video series of experimental and abstract films." [Internet Movie Database] DVD 3482 Le Temps du loup (Time of the Wolf) (2003) Directed by Michael Haneke. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Maurice Benichou, Anais Demoustier, Lucas Biscombe, Hakim Taleb, Beatrice Dalle, Patrice Chereau. Immediately after a global catyclysm, Anna and her family arrive at their holiday home in the countryside only to find it is occupied by a group of strangers. When a shot rings out, a life is taken, and the only hope for a band of desperate refugees lies in a nearby train station and a locomotive that may never actually arrive. "Haneke never tells us what happened, but instead puts the viewer directly into the terrifying aftermath, with all of its confusion, uncertainty, and danger." 109 min. DVD 3369 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Temps retrouvé (Time Regained) (1999) Directed by Raoul Ruiz. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart, Vincent Perez, John Malkovich, Marcello Mazzarella. Set in 1922, this film opens with the French author, Marcel Proust, on his deathbed remembering his life. Gradually his own experiences give way to the characters in his novels -- fiction eclipses reality as the author's creations combine with his own experiences. The result is a montage of moving snapshots and feverish dreams that make the film the ultimate in Proustian cinema. 158 min. DVD 632 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Terre (The Earth) (1921, silent) Directed by André Antoine. Cast: Armand Bour, Rene AlexAndré , Jean Harve, Germanine Rouer. An adaptation of Emile Zola's novel of family greed, brutality and deceit in rural France. When Patriarch Pere Fouan divides his land between his two useless and scheming sons, his generosity is rewarded with treachery. When neighbor Françoise discovers the sons' plot against their father, she falls victim to their vicious revenge. 98 min. DVD 6301 DVD 6052 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Braudy, Leo "Zola on Film: The Ambiguities of Naturalism Zola on Film: The Ambiguities of Naturalism." Yale French Studies, No. 42, Zola (1969), pp. 68-88 UC users only Zola and film : essays in the art of adaptation Edited by Anna Gural-Migdal and Robert Singer. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2005. (MAIN: PQ2538 .Z64 2005) Le Testament d'Orphée, ou ne me demandez pas (Testament of Orpheus, or Do Not Ask Me Why) (1960) Directed by Jean Cocteau. Cast: Jean Marais, Maria Caseres, François Perier, Maria Dea, Edouard Dermithe. A modern account of the Orpheus myth. The poet as an 18th century man, dies, enters space time, is revived and seeks his identity. This was Cocteau's last film and includes images and scenes from his earlier films as well as serving as a gathering of personal friends and admirers. 79 min. DVD 210; VHS 999:109 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier (The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (TV, 1959) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast:Jean-Louis Barrault, Teddy Billis, Jean Topart, Michel Vitold. This French television version of the celebrated tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde is set contemporaneously and shot like a documentary program. It's also the only one in which the two characters are believably distinct: one would never guess that the fussy, ascetic Jekyll and the careless, garish Hyde could be the same man. 97 min. DVD 7586 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Le Thé au harem d'Archimède (Tea in the Harem) (1985) Directed by Mehdi Charef. Story of a North African living in Paris, Madjid, and his encounters with friends, authorities, and life. 110 min. 999:1646 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Tarr, Carrie. "Beurz in the Hood: Le Thé au harem and Hexagone." In: Reframing difference : beur and banlieue filmmaking in France Manchester, UK ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 2005. MAIN: PN1993.5.F7 T37 2005) Tarr, Carrie. "Questions of identity in Beur cinema: from Tea in the Harem to Cheb." Screen 1993 34: 321-342 UC users only Thérèse (1986) Directed by Alain Cavalier. Cast: Catherine Mouchet, Hélène Alexandridis, Aurore Prieto, Sylvie Habault, Clemence Massart, Ghislaine Mona Heftre. A dramatization of the real-life story of St. Thérèse de Lisieux, a young woman who found personal joy and spiritual liberation within the restrictive traditions of an austere religious order. 90 min. DVD 3428 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Thérèse Raquin (1953) Directed by Marcel Carné. Cast: Simone Signoret, Raf Vallone, Sylvis, Jacques Duby, Maria-Pia Casilio, Marcel André , Martial Rebe, Paul Frankeur. Thérèse and Laurent think they have gotten away with murder after Thérèse's husband "falls" from a speeding train. But a blackmailer's demands along with accusations from Thérèse's mother-in-law could trip the couple up. 102 min. DVD 4919 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hayward, Susan. "Literary adaptations of the 1950s Thérèse Raquin (1953) and Les Diaboliques (1955)." Studies in French Cinema; 2003, Vol. 3 Issue 1, p5-14, 10p UC users only Tirez sur le pianiste (Shoot the Piano Player) (1960) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger, Michele Mercier, Albert Remy, Claude Mansard. Charlie is a timid cafe pianist who has given up his former life as a concert pianist, a career which had destroyed his marriage. However, events which he seems powerless to control force his involvement with a gang of crooks who once again cause him to be responsible for the destruction of his life. 92 min. DVD 69; VHS 999:455 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World) (1991) Directed by Alain Corneau. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Anne Brochet, Guillaume Depardieu, Carole Richert, Michel Bouquet. In this seductive tale of music and passion set in 17th century France, the lives of a reclusive composer and his two beautiful daughters are forever changed by a flamboyant young student. 110 min. DVD X2141; 999:1383 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Toni (France, 1935) Directed by Jean Renoir. Cast: Edouard Delmont, Andrex. An Italian immigrant in Provence becomes entangled in relationships with his landlady and a hot-blooded Spanish woman, with tragic results. Based on a true story and filmed on location as an early example of neo-realism. Special features: Audio commentaries by critics Kent Jones and Phillip Lopate, video about the film by Geoff Andrew, new and imporoved English subtitles, 28-page booklet by Tom Milne, Jean Renoir. 80 min. DVD X240 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Jean Renoir bibliography Touche pas à la femme blanche (Don't Touch the White Woman!)(France / Italy, 1974) Directed by Marco Ferreri. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tagnazzi, Alein Cuny, Serge Reggiani. Marco Ferreri transplants the Battle of Little Big Horn to the site of a demolished Parisian mall and presents his take on the classic American Western, sympathizing with the Indians instead of the cowboys. As the cavalry fights the Indians, coward General Custer is trying to fight off the advances of both Sitting Bull and Marie-Hélène while modern day Parisian life goes on around them. Special features: Excerpt from the documentary 'Marco Ferreri: The Director Who Came From the Future. 109 min. DVD X1730 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands Off the Loot) (France, 1954) Directed by Jacques Becker. Cast: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Dora Doll, Lino Ventura, Paul Frankeur, Jeanne Moreau. An aging gangster is unwillingly brought out of retirement after one of his associates unwittingly betrays him to a rival. Based on the novel of the same title by Albert Simonin. Special features: Video interviews with actor Lino Ventura (originally aired as part of an episode of the television program "Pour le cinema" on 5/01/1972, 9 min.), composer Jean Wiener (originally aired as part of the television special "Hommage à Jean Gabin" in Feb. 1978, 2 min.) & actor Daniel Cauchy (conducted by Lenny Borger in Jan. 2002, 7 min.); excerpt from an episode of the French television series "Cinéastes de notre temps" dedicated to Becker (featuring Griffe, Simonin, Ventura & filmmaker François Truffaut, 1967, 6 min.); original theatrical trailer. 96 min. DVD X1813 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database À tout de suite (2004) Directed by Benoît Jacquot. Cast: Isild Le Besco, Ouassini Embarek, Nicolas Duvachelle, Laurence Cordier, Forini Kodoukaki. Lili is an impulsive, free-spirited art student living a staid existence with her father in 1970s Paris. When she meets a mysterious young Moroccan man at a nightclub, she falls instantly in love. Soon she learns he was involved in a botched bank robbery -- where a man was killed -- and without hesitation she allows him and his accomplice to hide out in her apartment. The two embark on a wild spree throughout France, Spain, Morocco, and Greece, in a contemporary joy ride. 95 min. DVD 6758 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Brunette, Peter; Peary, Gerald. "A Child of the New Wave: An Interview with Benoît Jacquot." Cineaste vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 23-27, 2000 UC users only Frodon, Jean-Michel. "'Rester malades du cinéma': Conversation entre André Téchiné et Benôt Jacquot." Cahiers du Cinéma, vol. 596, pp. 18-20, December 2004 Hansen-Lve, Mia. "Partir et sans réplique: A tout de suite de Benôt Jacquot." Cahiers du Cinéma, vol. 596, pp. 22-23, December 2004 Lardoux, Xavier. Le cinéma de Benoît Jacquot Paris : Editions PC, 2006. (MAIN: PN1998.3.J28 L27 2006) Toute une nuit (A whole night)(France / Belgium, 1982) Directed by Chantal Akerman. Cast: Véronique Alain, Natalia Akerman, Paul Allio, Jacques Bauduin, Nicole Colchat. Following over two dozen different people in the almost wordless atmosphere of a dark night in a Brussels town, Akerman examines acception and rejection in the realm of romance as characters meet and embrace, dance and split up, yank each other into cabs, or simply watch everyone else in the throes of passion. 90 min. Video/C 999:3870 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Tout va bien (1966) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Yves Montand, Jane Fonda, Vittorio Caprioli,Elizabeth Chauvin, Castel Casti, Eric Chartier, Louis Bugette, Yves Gabrieli, Pierre Duory. The story of a wildcat strike at a sausage factory in France, as witnessed by an American reporter and her has-been New Wave film director husband. Culminates in a free-range assault on consumer capitalism and ineffective leftists. A caustic critique of society, marriage, and revolution in post-1968 France. Special features: "Letter to Jane (1972)", Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin's postscript film to 'Tout va bien'; 1972 video interview excerpt with Jean-Luc Godard; new video interview with Jean-Pierre Gorin; includes a booklet including essays by film critics J. Hoberman and Kent Jones and Godard biographer Colin MacCabe and an excerpted interview with Gorin and Godard from 1972. 96 min. DVD 3549 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Toute une vie (And Now My Love) (1974) Directed by Claude Lelouch. Cast: Marthe Keller, André Dussollier, Charles Denner, Carla Gravina, Charles Gérard, Gilbert Becaud. An intricately constructed film spanning three generations, with Marthe Keller as the mother, daughter, and granddaughter in intertwining stories covering the history of the twentieth century, and the history of cinema and its place in the life of the century. Filmed entirely with hand-held camera, it includes an opening sequence of silent film (with musical accompaniment) and ends with a "film within a film." 142 min. DVD 4217 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Trafic (1971) Directed by Jacques Tati. Cast: Jacques Tati, Maria Kimberly, Tony Knepper, Marcel Franval, Honore Bostel, Franco Ressel, Mario Zanuelli. The bumbling Monsieur Hulot, an auto company's director of design, takes his new vehicle (a camper tricked out with absurd gadgetry) to an auto show in Amsterdam. Special features: Interview from 1971 with the cast of Trafic, from the French television program Le journal du cinema ; The comedy of Jacques Tati, a 1973 episode of the French television program Morceaux de bravoure ; theatrical trailer ; new essay by film critic Jonathan Romney. 97 min. DVD 9902 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Trois couronnes du matelot (The Three Crowns of the Sailor) (1982 ) Directed by Raull Ruiz. Cast: In this classically surreal fantasy, a sailor, known for telling tales, sees a student kill his teacher and decides to spin a few yarns for him. He tells the boy of his many adventures in exotic South American ports where he visited opium dens and stayed in cathouses. 117 min. DVD 8278 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Trop belle pour toi (Too Beautiful for You) (1989) Directed by Bertrand Blier. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Josiane Balasko, Carole Bouquet, Roland Blanche, Francois Cluzet. A man who has the perfect wife falls in love with a coarse, unattractive woman. Despite her own commitments she feels the same and the two soon embark on an affair. Though it would seem it has happened before, his stunningly beautiful wife finds this particular entanglement very difficult to accept. 92 min. DVD 5824 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database To the top L'Une chante, l'autre pas (One Sings, The Other Doesn't) (1977) Directed by Agnes Varda. Cast: Valerie Mairesse, Thérèse Liotard, Robert Dadies, Ali Raffi. A warm and joyous film celebrating the friendship between two women with sharply different personalities. The film follows their lives and friendship over a period of 14 years as each seeks to control her destiny and find contentment. 106 min. 999:3270 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Va savoir (2001) Director, Jacques Rivette. Cast: Jeanne Balibar, Sergio Castellitto, Marianne Basler, Jacques Bonnaffe, Hélène de Fougerolles, Bruno Todschini, Catherine Rouvel, Claude Berri. An elegant and charming comedy that follows the romantic misadventures of three men and three woman as they become tangled in each other's lives during the brief run of a play in Paris. 154 min. DVD 1324 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database McKibbin, Tony. "Amplification over procrastination: searching out the possible in Va savoir." Studies in French Cinema, 2006, Vol. 6 Issue 3, p195-205, 11p UC users only Les Vacances de M. Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday) (1953) Directed by Jacques Tati. Presents a series of humorous impressions and incidents at a seaside Brittany resort where Jacques Tati's famous character Mr. Hulot has gone on vacation. Principally visual humor; soundtrack is mostly ambient sound. 86 min. DVD 894; VHS 999:1 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi) (1985) Mona, an aimless drifter in the French countryside, deeply touches the lives of the people she meets and confronts them with her own ideas of freedom. Special DVD 9027 features: Remembrances (2003), a documentary on the making of the film; The story of an old lady (2003), a short piece in which Varda visits actress Marthe Jarnias, who plays the old aunt in the film; Music and dolly shots (2003), a conversation; 1986 radio interview with Varda and writer Nathalie Sarraute, who inspired the film; theatrical trailer; production notes. 105 min. DVD 9072 (Criterion); vhs DVD 276; VHS 999:882 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Vallée (The Valley) (1972) Directed by Barbet Schroeder. Cast: Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Michael Gothard, Jerome Beauvarlet, Monique Giraudy, Valerie Lagrange. Set in the rainforest of New Guinea, a restless diplomat's wife goes in search of a rare bird's priceless feathers. In the process she meets up with a group of hippies seeking spiritual and sexual enlightenment. Together they are transformed when they meet the indigenous Mapuga tribesmen and the secret "valley of the gods." 105 min. DVD 1708 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Vampires (1916) Directed by Louis Feuillade. Cast: Musidora, Edouard Mathe, Marcel Levesque, Jean Ayme, Fernand Herrmann, Stacia Napierkowska. 1. The severed head -- 2. The ring that kills -- 3. The red code book -- 4. The spectre -- 5. Dead man's escape -- 6. Hypnotic eyes -- 7. Satanas -- 8. The thunder master -- 9. The poisoner -- 10. The terrible wedding. A legendary 7 hour silent crime serial in 10 episodes describing the achievements of Les Vampires, a secret society of criminals led by Irma Vep. The gang uses kidnapping, poisonous gas, heavy artillery, sexual domination and murder to gain power over the elite of Paris. Special features: Inserted essay: The public is my master, Louis Feuillade and Les Vampires by Fabrice Zagury; For the children: a comedy sketch by the cast and crew of Les Vampires to raise funds for the French war orphans. Directed by Louis Feuillade (1916, 3 min.); Bout-de-Zan and the shirker: a comedy that features the child actor, Bout-De-Zan, from episode 8 of Les Vampires. Directed by Louis Feuillade (1916, 8 min.) 399 min. DVD 285 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Van Gogh (1991) Directed by Maurice Pialat. Cast: Jacques Dutronc, Bernard Lecoq, Alexandra London, Gérard Sety, Corrine Bourdon, Elsa Zylberstein, Leslie Azoulai. A portrait of artist Vincent Van Gogh's final days, revealing his mad genius and dark sensuality. The film was shot in the village of Auvers, where Van Gogh actually lived from May to June, 1890. Non-US format DVD. In French without subtitles. 158 min. DVD 3411 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Vatel (2000) Directed by Roland Joffe. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Timothy Spall, Julian Glover, Julian Sands. The Duc de Conde's employee, François Vatel, is in charge of cooking and preparing shows for the French King Louis XIV when he visits the castle of Chantilly, owned by de Conde. If Vatel can impress the King, de Conde will gain his favors, and the destiny of France will change. While the King is visiting and three days of banquets ensue, Vatel falls in love with the King's mistress. 103 min. DVD 1174 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Vie et rien d'autre (Life and Nothing But) (1989) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Philippe Noiret, Sabine Azema, Pascale Vignal, Maurice Barrier. Two women search for the men they love in the aftermath of World War I in France. They encounter an imperious army officer, Major Dellaplane, a man obsessed with accounting for France's war casualities. The army wants to forget the mass of missing men and has ordered Dellaplane to find one certifiably French unknown soldier to honor with burial under the Arc de Triomphe. In the course of his mission, Dellaplane learns the fate of the women's loved ones and a shocking secret that may determine the fate of the women themselves. 137 min. DVD 6624; vhs 999:2507 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Vie en Rose (La Môme) (France / UK / Czech Republic, 2007) Directed by Olivier Dahan. Cast: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Paul Rouve, Gerard Depardieu, Clotilde Courau, Jean-Pierre Martins, Catherine Allegret, Marc Barbe. Raised in a brothel, then wrested from the only life she knew by her father, so they could join the circus, Edith Piaf spent her teen years on the streets. She is finally "rescued" by a crime figure who gives her career a start and, ultimately, by her international success and final illness. Always frail, sickly, malnourished, and wildly temperamental, she was often on drugs or alcohol and was always in search of true love. Middleweight boxer, Marcel Cerdan, captures her heart and gives her something to live for, besides her music--at least for a while. Special features: "Stepping into character:" an exclusive behind the scenes look at Marion Cotillard's transformation into Edith Piaf's character, including an interview with the director and award-winning Marion Cotillard; Edith Piaf documentary. 141 min. DVD 8800 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Vie est un Roman (Life is a Bed of Roses) (1983) Directed by Alain Resnais. Cast: Vittorio Gassman, Ruggero Raimondi, Geraldine Chaplin, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi. Divided into three narratives. On the eve of the First World War, Count Forbek starts to build a fantastic castle in the Ardennes forest. After the war he uses it to start a utopian society by brainwashing his friends, including his former fiancee, Livia, and her husband. In the present day, the castle is being used as an alternative school and, in the summer holidays, for an educational conference. At the conference, the American Nora Winkle bets Claudine that the ernest public school teacher Elisabeth Rousseau will be enticed into the bed of Robert Dufresne, even though the principal speaker, Walter Guarini, is obviously interested in Elisabeth. Meanwhile, the children staying at the castle over the holidays invent their own medieval tale about freeing prisoners from the dungeons. Special features: Original theatrical trailer; 1983 "making of" documentary: "Resnais et un roman" (Resnais is a bed of roses). 110 min. DVD 9398 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Vie rêvée des anges(The Dreamlife of Angels) (1998) Directed by Erick Zonca. Cast: Elodie Bouchez, Natacha Regnier, Gregoire Colin. Optimistic hobo Isa, with her life in her backpack, has a gritty existence on the road, going from one town to another through northern France, working factory jobs and selling cards. After she loses a garment-factory job, her coworker Marie lets Isa share space in her Lille living quarters, an apartment belonging to a hospitalized mother and daughter. Isa goes through two tempestous relationships, while becoming fascinated with the girl who lived in the apartment but now lies in a coma at the hospital. 113 min. DVD 180 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Hardwick, Joe. "Fallen angels and flawed saviours: marginality and exclusion in La Vie de Jésus and La Vie rêvée des anges." Studies in French Cinema; 2007, Vol. 7 Issue 3, p219-230, 12p UC users only Harris, Sue. "Dispossession and Exclusion in La Vie rêvée des anges." In: Possessions : essays in French literature, cinema, and theory / Julia Horn & Lynsey Russell-Watts (eds.). Oxford ; New York : P. Lang, 2003. (Main Stack PQ31.C36 2001) Orr, Christopher. ""A Working Class Hero(ine) Is Something to Be": Affliction, The Dreamlife of Angels, and the Naturalist Tradition." Film Criticism. Fall 2002. Vol. 27, Iss. 1; p. 36 (15 pages) UC users only Smith, Gavin. "The Dreamlife of Angels." Sight and Sound. Nov 1998. Vol. 8, Iss. 11; p. 64 (2 pages) Une vie sans joie (A Life Without Joy) (1924) Directors, Albert Diendonne, Jean Renoir . Cast: MCatherine Hessling, Albert Diendonne, Jean Renoir. Jean Renoir wrote, financed and had a minor role in this, his first involvement in cinema. His wife Catherine Hessling played the leading role in a story of the fortunes of a young servant girl. Originally shot in 1924, 'Une vie sans joie' was recut and released for the first time in 1927 under the title 'Catherine'. 84 min. DVD X2061 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le vieil homme et l'enfant (The Two of Us) (1967) Directed by Claude Berri. Cast: Michel Simon, Roger Carel, Paul Preboist, Luce Fabiole, Alain Cohen, Charles Denner, Jacqueline Rouillard, Marco Perrin, Aline Bertrand, Sylvine Delannoy, Zorica Lozic, Elisabeth Rey, Didier Perret, and featuring the children of Biviers and St.-Vincent-de-Mercuze. A Jewish boy living in Nazi-occupied Paris is sent by his parents to the countryside to live with an elderly Catholic couple until France's liberation. Forced to hide his identity, eight-year-old Claude bonds with the irascible, staunchly anti-Semitic Grampa, who improbably becomes his friend and confidant. Special features: "Le poulet" (1962), director Claude Berri's Oscar-winning short film; new video interviews with Berri and actor Alain Cohen; interviews from 1967 with Berri and Michel Simon; excerpt from "The Jewish children of occupied France," a 1975 French talk-show segment featuring Berri and the woman who helped secure his family's safety during World War II; original theatrical trailer; plus a booklet featuring a new essay by critic David Sterritt, an appreciation of the film by Francois Truffaut, and excerpts from Berri's memoir. 87 min. DVD 8264 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Villa Des Roses (Belgium / Luxembourg / UK / Netherlands, 2002) Directed by Frank Van Passel. Cast: Julie Delpy, Shaun Dingwall, Harriet Walter, Shirley Henderson, Timothy West, Frank Vercruyssen, Toni Barry, Gary Whelan, Alfredo Pea. It's Paris in 1913 and in the months leading up to the World War, beautiful young widow Louise Creteur arrives at the Villa Des Roses to work as a chambermaid. But the 'Villa' turns out to be a dilapidated old mansion run by an eccentric British couple. Inhabiting the crumbling manor is a colorful assortment of odd balls, opportunists and lost souls. All are presided over by Ella, the gossipy cook, who secretly spies on everyone in the house. Louise takes it all in stride until her passionate romance with one of the tenants, a handsome German artist, spirals her dangerously out of control. 114 min. DVD 7509 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La ville est tranquille (The Town is Quiet) (2000) Directed by Robert Guédiguian. Cast: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gerard Meylan, Jacques Boudet, Christine Brucher, Jacques Pieiller, Pascale Roberts. Michele works at a fish market to help support her long-time unemployed husband, heroin-addicted daughter and her infant grandchild. For help she turns to an ex-boyfriend with connections to the criminal world. This portrays an intense contemporary urban reality that builds to an emotionally potent conclusion. 127 min. DVD 9304 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Vintage Erotica: Anno 1920 After the horrors of WWI, a sultry madness took hold of the French society that no authority could stop. Taking popular poetic figures of French culture and turning them into pretexts for orgies, these nineteen short films produced between 1920 and 1930, have an unexpected subversive and humorous dimension. Everything turns into group sex-- we even get a look at how fun it was to be incarcerated during the French Revolution. Contents: Zut! Zut! Ma légitime! -- Satyre Casimir -- Après-midi à la fumerie -- Au clair de la lune -- Mésaventures de Monsieur Gross' Bitt -- Deux columbines -- Séduction (le Duc de Sommerange) -- Coquette aus bas blancs -- Retour de l'explorateur -- Pierrette allait a la Riviere -- Amour chez Minouche -- Leçon de piano -- Pedicure enflammé -- Bas-fonds napolitains -- Untitled -- Télégraphiste -- Mariage ultra-moderne -- Gisele et le groom -- Après la confession. Bonus feature: Le Verrou (from Vintage erotica, anno 1930) with new score by Marcel Fragonard et Le Epopée de Culté Sinfonietta. 90 min. DVD X1943 Vintage Erotica: Anno 1930 Presents 23 films of French erotica from the 1920's and 30's, featuring all aspects of soft-core, hard-core, straight, bi, gay and fetish imagery. Made in France, these films feature lush backdrops and exotic costumes with settings ranging from the Orient to the era of the Musketeers. Filmed by professionals as well as amateurs (like the mysterious Mr. X) these films prove that erotic cinema is as old as cinema itself. Contents: Deux petites bonnes. -- Vie Parisienne. -- Sauvageonne. -- Aventures de Ben Ali. -- Scènes d'intérieur de Mr. X. -- Scènes d'extérieur de Mr. X. -- Etape en forêt. -- Flagellation en bord de Mame. -- Jeunes filles sans uniforme. -- Dressage au fouet. -- Sous les caresses du martinet. -- Nudist bar. -- En vacances. -- Nouvelle secrétaire. -- Trois gouttes de rosée. -- Grandê bagarre. -- Tournée des grands ducs. -- Verrou. -- Mousquetaire au restaurant. -- Amour et ballerine. -- Mektoud, fantaise Arabe. -- Songe de butterfly. -- Surpris par le gard-champêtre. 116 min. DVD X1944 Vintage Erotica: Anno 1940 Features fifteen remastered short films from 1940 to 1950. The 1940s sure were frisky, according to this collection of French shorts, many produced during World War II. Lesbians, XXX-rated parodies of Santa Claus, as well as erotic body painting, nudist camps films, spanking films and other themes are covered in this risque roundelay. Contents: 2 roses -- Catch cache -- [2 without titles] -- A la française -- Partie de cartes -- Esprit de famille -- Madame et sa bonne -- Vase brisé -- Monsieur a sonné -- Petit conte de noel -- Clinique en folie -- Representante -- Ersats seule -- Puce. Includes collection of still photos, 1900-1940. DVD X1945 Vintage Erotica: Anno 1950 Twenty years before the rise of 1970's hardcore films in the U.S., the commercial pornography produced by the French unleashed a new era of erotic cinema. Suddenly, unlike the common "stag" films of the time, scripts, multiple camera angles, and title credits were introduced into erotic productions. This collection features fifteen remastered French short films produced from 1950 to 1960. Contents: Femme seules (Women on their own) -- Rasage en douceu (Smooth shaving) -- Attachement (Attachment) -- Femme au portrait (Women with the portrait) -- Danseuse aux seins nus (Topless dancer) -- Plaisirs champêtres (Pastoral pleasures) -- Sans titre (Untitled) -- Service après-vente (After-sales service) -- Sans titre (Untitled) -- Peeping Tom -- San titre (Untitled) -- Rendez-vous -- Voleur entôlé = Thief in jail -- Sans titre (Untitled) -- Femmes infidèles (Unfaithful women). 110 min. DVD X1946 Vintage Erotica: Anno 1960 Shortly before the rise of mainstream pornography in the USA, the French and other Europeans produced a series of erotic loops for the theatres with a feeling of private and sleazy allure. The 1960s was a new period in music, fashion and film, which transcends to these erotic timepieces. Shows a variety of amateur footage of sexual interaction between couples, groups, lesbians, hipsters and mods. 105 min. DVD X1947 Violette Nozière (France / Canada, 1978) Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Stephane Audran, Jean Carmet, Jean-Francois Garreaud, Guy Hoffman. The daughter of a respectable middle-class couple, Violette Nozière leads a disreputable double life. Far from being the innocent young girl her parents mistake her for, she spends her nights with dissolute young men in the Latin Quarter of Paris. To acquire money for her latest lover, Violette resolves to commit an unthinkable crime. 123 min. DVD 8255 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Visages d'enfants (Faces of the Children) (1925) Directed by Jacques Feyder. Cast: Jean Forest, Victor Vina, Arlette Peyran, Pierrette Houyez, Rachel Devirys. Soon after his wife's death, the mayor of an alpine village remarries a widow with a young daughter in order to provide better care for his own son and daughter. The children in the combined family do not get along with near tragic consequences. 117 min. DVD 6474 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Visiteurs du soir (The Devil's Envoys) (1942) Directed by Marcel Carné. Cast: Arletty, Jules Berry, Marie Dea, Fernand Ledoux, Alain Cuny, Marcel Herrand, Gabriel Gabrio. In the Middle Ages, the Devil sends two envoys, Giles and Dominique, who were selfish lovers on earth, to a chateau to intervene in the betrothal between the count and Lady Anne. Since the count and Lady Anne were not truly in love their betrothal is destroyed, but Giles finds true love in his seduction of Anne. The Devil himself arrives and sets everyone at odds. 120 min. 999:3380 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Viva Laldjerie (Viva Algeria) (France/Algeria, 2004) Director, Nadir Moknèche. Cast: Lubna Azabal, Biyouna, Nadia Kaci, Jalil Naciri, Abbes Zahmani, Florence Giorgetti, Loun`es Tazairt, Akim Isker. Three Algerian women: a mother, her daughter, and a prostitute have been living in a hotel in the center of town amid creeping fundamentalism. Goucem, the daughter, has chosen a modern, emancipated life, spending steamy weekends in nightclubs. Fifi, her faithful friend, prostitutes herself under the thumb of a local protector. Papicha, the mother, eats pizzas in front of the television, torn between fear and nostalgia. 113 min. DVD 5350 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Vivement dimanche (Confidentially Yours) (1983) Directed by François Truffaut. Featuring Fanny Ardant, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Philippe Laudenbach, Caroline Sihol, Philippe Morier-Genoud. When businessman Julien Vercel is accused of murdering his wife and her lover, he hides in his office to avoid capture. It is up to his secretary Barbara, who is secretly in love with him, to prove his innocence. 110 min. DVVD 342; vhs 999:2327 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database François Truffaut bibliography Vivre au paradis (Living in Paradise) (France/Algeria, 1998) Director, Bourlem Guerdjou. Set in France in 1961-1962 during the Algerian War, this drama presents a vivid account of the exploitation and political repression of an Algerian immigrant worker living in Paris in the squalid and miserable conditions of the shantytowns. He longs to see his family and brings them from Algeria to live with him in his makeshift hut -- with disastrous results. 105 min. 999:3527 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (My Life to Live) (1962) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Contemplates the soul of a girl who leaves her husband and child to become a prostitute, then tries to quit because she falls in love. 85 min. DVD 121; tape 999:559 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La vocation suspendue (The Suspended Vocation) (1977) Directed by Raul Ruiz. Cast: Didier Flamand, Gabriel Gascon, Pascal Bonitzer, Maurice Benichou, Françoise Vercruyssen, Frederique Meininger, Edith Scob, Sylvie Herbert. In this examination of the Jesuits and the partisans of the cult of the Virgin Mary, an abbot is suspected of being a double agent for different factions in a Catholic religious community. 96 min. DVD 6572 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database La Voie lactée (Milky Way) (France / West Germany / Italy, 1969) Directed by Luis Buñuel. Cast: Paul Frankeur, Laurent Terzieff, Edith Scob, Bernard Verley. A surreal comedy on the history of human folly. Two scraggly hippie pilgrims set out on a modern odyssey that sends them travelling through time to meet Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Devil, the Marquis de Sade and a multitude of fools and knaves who wielded power in the name of holiness. 105 min. DVD 8288; vhs 999:1062 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Luis Buñuel bibliography Une vraie jeune fille (A Real Young Girl) (1976) Directed by Catherine Breillat. Cast: Charlotte Alexandra, Hiram Keller, Rita Maiden, Bruno Balp, Georges Gueret, Shirley Stoler. Alice has returned home from school for summer vacation and is stifled and bored by country life. She becomes infatuated with a young worker at her father's sawmill and when not lusting after him, she spends her days writing in her diary and dreaming up sexual fantasies. Based on the novel 'The air duct' by Catherine Breillat. 93 min.DVD 7169 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Week-end (Weekend) (1967) Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Cast: Mirielle Darc, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Jean Yanne. A middle class couple on a weekend trip get caught up in an armed liberation struggle. A sarcastic portrait of France in 1967. 105 min. DVD 4770; vhs 999:158 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Godard, Jean Luc Weekend: A Film / by Jean-Luc Godard. Rev. ed. London: Lorrimer, 1984. Series title: Classic film scripts. (UCB Main PN1997 .P56813 1984) Western (France, 1997) Directed by Manuel Poirier. Cast: Sergi Lopez, Sacha Bourdo, Elisabeth Vitali, Marie Matheron. Paco is a Spanish shoe salesman - husky, handsome, and irresistible to women. Nino is a Russian drifter - slight, sensitive, and unlucky in love. When the two men's paths collide on a French roadway, it causes a chain of hilarious events that strips Paco of his car and his job and sends Nino into the hospital. With no money and no direction, the odd couple hitchhikes across the countryside. But after several misadventures, including a madcap escapade involving a chainsaw, a wheelbarrow, and one very angry farmer, the two outsiders begin to forge a lasting friendship. 134 min. DVD X645 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Les Yeux sans visage (Eyes Without A Face) (1959) Directed by Georges Franju. Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Edith Scob. A plastic surgeon, holed up in a Paris mansion, is obsessively slicing off the faces of kidnapped women and grafting the flayed skin onto the rotting countenance of his beloved young daughter, disfigured in an automobile accident. 88 min. DVD 3065; vhs 999:477 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Zazie dans le métro (1960) Directed by Louis Malle. Cast: Catherine Demongeot, Philippe Noiret, Annie Fratellini, Vittorio Caprioli, Hubert Deschamps. Demongeot is an 11-year-old nuisance who must spend a few days with her uncle Noriet in Paris after her mother goes off with a new lover. She wants nothing more than to ride the subway but a strike by the Paris Metro workers prevents this. 92 min. DVD 9353 (PAL); 999:3465 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Zou Zou (France, 1934) Director: Marc Allegret. Cast: Josephine Baker, Jean Gabin, Yvette Lebon. When the star of a musical plays walks out on her sugardaddy producer for true love, a talented Cinderella (Baker) takes her place, saves the show, and is hailed as a new sensation on opening night. Includes five big musical numbers. 92 min. DVD 4106; vhs 999:415 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Balcerzak, Scott. "Nationalizing and Segregating Performance: Josephine Baker and Stardom in "Zouzou" (1934)." Post Script 26:1 (Fall 2006) UC users only Ezra, Elizabeth. "A Colonial Princess: Josephine Baker's French Films." In: The colonial unconscious : race and culture in interwar France thaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 2000. (Main Stack JV1835.E97 2000) Francis, Terri. "Embodied Fictions, Melancholy Migrations: Josephine Baker's Cinematic Celebrity." Modern Fiction Studies; Winter2005, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p824-845, 22p UC users only Henderson, Mae G. "Josephine Baker and La Revue Negre: From Ethnography to Performance." Text & Performance Quarterly; Apr2003, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p107-133, 27p, UC users only Jules-Rosette, Bennetta. "Celluloid Projections." In: Josephine Baker in art and life : the icon and the image Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2007. (MAIN: GV1785.B3 J85 2007; MOFF: GV1785.B3 J85 2007) Scheper, Jeanne. "Of la Baker, I Am a Disciple": The Diva Politics of Reception." Camera Obscura, May2007, Vol. 22 Issue 65, p72-101, 30p UC users only Zéro de conduite (Zero in Conduct) (1933) Directed by Jean Vigo. Satirizes the oppressive life in a French boarding school from the viewpoint of the students, climaxing in their revolt. 48 min. DVD 3482; also VHS 999:20 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Film and French WWII Occupation Langlois, Suzanne. "Images That Matter: The French Resistance in Film, 1944-1946." French History, 1997; 11: 461 - 485. UC users only Hewitt, Leah Dianne. Remembering the occupation in French film : national identity in postwar Europe New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. (MAIN: D743.23 .H48 2008) Une Affaire de femmes (Story of women) (1988) Director, Claude Chabrol. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Francois Cluzet, Marie Trintignant, Nils Tavernier. To survive Nazi-occupied 1940's France, Marie turns to illegally aborting pregnancies for a hefty fee. As her income increases, Marie moves her family to a posh apartment. Completely seduced by her lifestyle, Marie ignores her shell-shocked husband Paul. Things take a disastrous turn after one of Marie's "customers" dies and her husband turns her over to the authorities. Inspired by the real-life of Marie-Louise Girard, who was executed in 1943 by the Vichy Government, who'd declared abortion as a Crime Against the State because it diminished the number of potential soldiers. 108 min. DVD 7256 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Claude Chabrol bibliography Archives de guerre (1940-1945: ce que les Francais on vu dans les salles de cinema Five hours of French newsreels and propaganda films drawn from the archives of the Institut national de l'audiovisuel trace the history of World War II month-by-month and document life in France during the German occupation. 402 min. DVD 9247 L'armée des ombres (Army of Shadows) (France / Italy, 1969) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Paul Crauchet, Claude Mann, Christian Barbier, Serge Reggiani. A civil engineer who is one of the French Resistance's chiefs is given away by a traitor and interned in a camp. He manages to escape, and joins his network at Marseilles, where he makes the traitor be executed... Follows the everyday life of the French Resistants : their solitude, their fears, their relationships, the arrests, the forwarding of orders and their carrying out. Special features: Audio commentary by film historian Ginette Vincendeau; new interviews with Lhomme and editor Francoise Bonnot; archival video excerpts, including on-set footage and interviews with Mellville, cast members, writer Joseph Kessel, and real-life Resistance fighters; "Jean-Pierre Melville et 'L'armee des ombres'" (2005), a short program on the director and his film; "Le journal de las Resistance" (1944), a rare short documentary shot on the front lines of the final days of German-occupied France; and a film restoration demonstration by Lhomme. 145 min. DVD 7536 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Au Revoir les Enfants (Goodbye, Children) (1987) Directed by Louis Malle. Based on the director's life, this film chronicles Malle's experiences during the German occupation of France in World War II. Julien (Malle) is 12 years old, and the smartest boy in his class at a Catholic boarding school when a new student appears. The two form a friendship and Julien soon discovers that his new friend is a Jew who must be hidden in their school from German soldiers. 103 min. DVD 5379; vhs 999:1434 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Movie Review Query Engine La Bataille du Rail (The Battle of the Rails) (1946) Directed by René Clément. Cast: Marcel Barnault, Jean Clarieux, Jean Daurand, Tony Laurent, Lucien Desagneaux, François Joux, Pierre Latour. During the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, French railway workers bravely battled the Nazis on many fronts, from transporting forbidden mail to committing acts of sabotage. They became an invaluable part of the French resistance. 85 min. DVD 5097 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Bowles, Brett. "Documentary Realism and Collective Memory in Post-War France, 1945-1955." Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television, Jun2007, Vol. 27 Issue 2, p251-258, 8p UC users only Torchin, Leshu. "La Bataille du Rail/Forbidden Games." Cineaste, Winter2006, Vol. 32 Issue 1, p66-68, 3pUC users only Le Corbeau (The Raven) (1943) Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Cast: Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Micheline Francey, Helena Manson, Jeanne Frusier-Gir, Sylvie, Liliane Maigne, Pierre Larquey, Noel Roquevert. A mysterious writer of poison pen letters, known only as Le Corbeau, plagues a French provincial town, unwittingly exposing the collective suspicion and rancor seething beneath the community's calm surface. Brilliantly captures the spirit of paranoid pettiness and self-loathing turning an occupied French town into a twentieth-century Salem style witch-hunt. Made during the Nazi occupation of France, the film was attacked from all sides and banned after the Liberation. 91 min. DVD 3276; vhs 999:1650 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Le Dernier métro (Last Metro) (1980) Directed by François Truffaut. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Poiret, Heinz Bennent. In Nazi-occupied Paris the jewish director of the Montmartre theatre is in hiding. In his absence, the theatre is run by his wife who is determined to protect her husband. 131 min. DVD 1216; vhs 999:1095 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Un héros très discret (A Self Made Hero) (1997) Director, Jacques Audiard. Cast: Mathieu Kassovitz, Anouk Grinberg, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jean-Louis Trintignant. Restricted from service during World War II a young Frenchman can only watch as the war ends without him. He decides to flee to Paris where his inspired gift of deception leads to a tenaciously drawn plan to reinvent himself with a new heroic identity as a leader of the French Resistance. 105 min. DVD 9832; vhs 999:3451 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Lacombe Lucien (1974) Directed by Louis Malle. Cast: Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clément, Holger Lowenadler, Thérèse Giehse. Louis Malle's film brilliantly relates the story of a young opportunist French peasant who joins the Gestapo during the Nazi occupation. Despite being a collaborator he falls in love with the daughter of a Jewish tailor, with profound effects on her family. A subtle, complex tale of guilt, innocence and the amorality of power. 132 min. DVD 5381; vhs 999:3071 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Laissez-passer (Safe Conduct) (2002) Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Cast: Jacques Gamblin, Denis Podalydes, Charlotte Kady, Marie Desgranges, Ged Marlon, Philippe Morier-Genoud, Laurent Schilling, Maria Pitarresi, Marie Gillain. During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, the nation's movie studios continued to operate. Jean Devaivre is an assistant director for Continental Pictures, a studio which has recently been taken over by the Germans and is headed by Dr. Greven. With a wife and son to support, Devaivre feels he has little choice but to continue with his work. Screenwriter Jean Aurenche, a man who lives for wine, women and song, refuses to work for Greven, and struggles to find a way to make a living with his words. 163 min. DVD 2684 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database Kauffmann, Stanley. "Grace under pressure." The New Republic. Nov 4, 2002. Vol. 227, Iss. 19; pg. 22UC users only Lovejoy, Alice. "Safe Conduct." Film Comment, Nov/Dec2002, Vol. 38 Issue 6, p76, 1pUC users only Marcelle Clements. "When Moviemaking Was a Form of Resistance." New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). Oct 13, 2002. pg. 2.11UC users only Porton, Richard; Flitterman-Lewis, Sandy. "The spirit of resistance: An interview with Bertrand Tavernier." Cineaste. Spring 2003. Vol. 28, Iss. 2; p. 4 UC users only Reader, Keith. "French Cinema During the Occupation Years." French Studies 2004 58(3): 385-389 5p L'Oeil de Vichy (The Eye of Vichy) A compilation of long forgotten film footage and newsreels, produced by the Nazis and French collaborators during World War II. From the small town of Vichy in Central France, Field Marshall Petain's puppet government worked with their Nazi overlords in creating pro-Nazi propaganda. They skillfully produced a strange alternative history of the war years in order to turn public emotion against the Allies and the Jews. A film by Claude Chabrol. 110 min. DVD 9916; vhs Video/C 6983 Quart, Leonard. "The Eye of Vichy." Cineaste, Sep96, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p47 UC users only Roth, Michael S. "L'oeil de Vichy." The American Historical Review. Oct 1994. Vol. 99, Iss. 4; p. 1242 (3 pages) Le silence de la mer (1949) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Howard Vernon, Nicole Stephane, Jean-Marie Robain, Ami Aaroe, Georges Patrix, Denis Sadier. Tells the story of a German officer who is billeted in the house of an elderly man and his niece in occupied France. Vowing never to speak to the invader, the couple listen in silence as the officer pours out his ideas and feelings about music, war and his love of France. 84 min. DVD 8455 Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database The Sorrow and the Pity. A film by Max Ophuls. A documentary examining the occupation of France by the Germans during World War II using reminiscences and interviews of individuals and officials involved in the events at the time. Concentrates on the themes of collaboration and resistance and shows antisemitism through stark, moving newsreel footage. 260 min. DVD 672; vhs Video/C 4280 Le vieil homme et l'enfant (The Two of Us) (1967) Directed by Claude Berri. Cast: Michel Simon, Roger Carel, Paul Preboist, Luce Fabiole, Alain Cohen, Charles Denner, Jacqueline Rouillard, Marco Perrin, Aline Bertrand, Sylvine Delannoy, Zorica Lozic, Elisabeth Rey, Didier Perret, and featuring the children of Biviers and St.-Vincent-de-Mercuze. A Jewish boy living in Nazi-occupied Paris is sent by his parents to the countryside to live with an elderly Catholic couple until France's liberation. Forced to hide his identity, eight-year-old Claude bonds with the irascible, stau