Category Archives: French cinema

Feather Dusting: “Le Journal d’une femme de chambre” (1964)

        “Le Journal d’une femme de chambre”  (1964)     Considering the rich mining afforded by Octave Mirbeau’s 1900 novel “Le Journal d’une femme de chamber”, a work encompassing pointedly satiric critical observations on class, sexuality and … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, books, French cinema, Jeanne Moreau, Luis Bunuel, movie remakes, Movies, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Internal Obsession: “Love” (2015)

              Internal Obsession:  “Love”  (2015)     “Love” is Gaspar Noé’s least controversial and most emotionally accessible film to date; an astonishing statement when one considers that the film is liberally packed with scenes … Continue reading

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Revisit: Mismatch: “La petite marchande d’allumettes” / “The Little Match Girl” (1928)

  “La petite marchande d’allumettes / The Little Match Girl” (1928) (Originally posted on March 13, 2014)      Jean Renoir’s film version of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1854 story “Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne” (“The Little Match Girl”) alters the … Continue reading

Posted in books, children's books, fantasy, French cinema, Jean Renoir, Movies, religion, short films, short stories, silent movies, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Revisit: ORWELL LITE: “ALPHAVILLE, UNE ETRANGE AVENTURE DE LEMMY CAUTION” (1965)

ALPHAVILLE, UNE ÉTRANGE AVENTURE DE LEMMY CAUTION                                   (1965) (Originally posted on May 21, 2013)      One of the interesting characteristics of many of the young men associated with La Nouvelle Vague was their affinity toward what in higher literary … Continue reading

Posted in books, film noir, French cinema, Movies, Mystery, Paris, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, May 2018 Edition, Vol. K – 6

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, May 2018 Edition, Vol. K – 6      Why does it seem that the very idea of “good”children has been abandoned? The bawling spoiled moppets who pollute every … Continue reading

Posted in book reviews, books, British films, children, French cinema, History, humor, Italian cinema, Movies, parenting, Romance, westerns, writing | 7 Comments

Inconvenient Truth: “Elle s’appelle Sabine” (2007)

         “Elle s’appelle Sabine”  (2007)          Ideally the documentary form should present an objective point of view. How then to judge a film which by the very nature of the film maker’s intimate relationship … Continue reading

Posted in biography, Documentaries, French cinema, medicine, movie reviews, Movies, psychiatry, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

    Adrift: “Fidelio, l’odyssée d’Alice”  (2014)

        “Fidelio, l’odyssée d’Alice”  (2014) Fidelity has long been used as a thematic excuse for Hollywood excursions into cheap eroticism, using the subject as an excuse for glossy portraits of high profile versions of Joe Sarno films … Continue reading

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Love in the Fast Lane: “Populaire” (2012)

      “Populaire”        (2012) One of the obvious ingredients comprising the classic American romantic comedy- an ingredient long since abandoned in the genre, subject to the coarsening depiction of the relationship between the sexes since the too long … Continue reading

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An Intimate Life: Undressing Emmanuelle by Sylvia Kristel

             Undressing Emmanuelle by Sylvia Kristel     The memoirs of a Euro starlet whose greatest claim to fame was in embodying the cinematic incarnation of the eponymous character in the provocative roman a clef by … Continue reading

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La beauté du monde: Classic Film Images Quiz, August 2015 Edition, Vol. 36-24-36

La beauté du monde: Film Images Quiz, August 2015 Edition, Vol. 36-24-36      Welcome all purveyors of cinematic curiosity to yet another edition of America’s most pointless monthly game, and a source of possible future litigation by the National Organization … Continue reading

Posted in cinema, comedy, Culture, Film, French cinema, German cinema, horror, humor, Italian cinema, Movies, Mystery, Puzzles, sex, theater, women | 1 Comment

Soft at the Core: “Emmanuelle” (1974)

    In the world of cinema sex, Just Jaeckin’s 1974 film “Emmanuelle” holds a rather special position between the then newly popularized concept of “porno chic” and the continuing exploration of sexual politics within the framework of the artistically … Continue reading

Posted in books, erotica, Film Reviews, French cinema, movie reviews, Movies, Porno Chic, Reviews, sex, Sylvia Kristel, women | Tagged | 3 Comments

Belmondo in Bondage: “Le Professionel” (1981)

         “Le Professionel” is a confused thriller involving French secret agent Joss Beaumont (Belmondo) who finds himself abandoned, tortured and imprisoned in the fictional African nation of Malagawi after being betrayed by his own people who have second thoughts … Continue reading

Posted in 1980's cinema, 1980's movies, Film, Film Reviews, French cinema, Jean-Paul Belmondo, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews | Leave a comment

ORWELL LITE: “ALPHAVILLE, UNE ETRANGE AVENTURE DE LEMMY CAUTION” (1965)

     One of the interesting characteristics of many of the young men associated with La Nouvelle Vague was their affinity toward what in higher literary circles would be regarded as trashy pulp fiction. Francois Truffaut, for example, was drawn to … Continue reading

Posted in 1960's movies, art house cinema, cinema, Culture, Film, Film Reviews, French cinema, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Bottom of the Class: “Mes chères études” (2010)

       Emmanuelle Bercot’s “Mes chères études” (the title translates into “My Expensive Studies” as opposed to the English title “Student Services” which is reminiscent of far too many sniggery teen sex comedies) is a filmization of the pseudonymously penned book … Continue reading

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