Heidi Ellison
L’Homme qui Rêvait d’un Enfant
Big Baby Alfred (Artus de Penguern), on the left, meets his adopted “child,” Jules K. (Darry Cowl). L’Homme qui Rêvait d’un Enfant is a weird fairytale with plenty of charm, fine performances, visual appeal and a great score, but it … Read More
Entre Adultes
Chain of Lovers The afterglow doesn’t last long. Here’s a film that does what the French do best onscreen: talk – about love and sex and relationships. And it does it simply and cleverly, with great charm. The film, inspired … Read More
Nue Propriété
Home Wars Twins Thierry (Jérémie Renier) and François (Yannick Renier) play a video game. The presence of Isabelle Huppert, revered in France as a great actress, gives Nue Propriété, by young Belgian director Joachim Lafosse, major credentials as a serious … Read More
Pars Vite et Reviens Tard
A Plague of Symbols One of the film’s several chase scenes. Pars Vite et Reviens Tard is a rarity: a film made in Paris that doesn’t make the city look like a picture postcard. Although it features many handsome views … Read More
Le Dernier des Fous
(No) Fun on the Farm Litte Martin (Julien Cochelin) in a foreshadowing scene. Called the “first great film of the year 2007” by the magazine Les Inrockuptibles (whose critics are among the hardest-to-please in the French press), Laurent Achard’s Le … Read More
Cœurs
A Long, Snowy Ride to Nowhere Dan (Lambert Wilson) and Gaëlle (Isabelle Carré) meet through an Internet dating site. Alain Resnais’ new film, Cœurs, based on Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s play Private Fears in Public Places, is a big, baggy mess: … Read More
Quand J’étais Chanteur
Sentimental Song Depardieu is thoroughly convincing as a mildly successful dance hall singer. Gérard Depardieu, that workhorse of French cinema (and bull of a man), puts in yet another fine performance in Quand J’étais Chanteur, the story of Alain Moreau, … Read More
Un Ami Parfait
Perfect Friend, Imperfect Film The confused Julien gets some comfort from the person claiming to be his girlfriend. Director Francis Girod’s new film, Un Ami Parfait, is about a man trying to solve the mystery of his own life, or … Read More
Belle Toujours
The Death of Desire Séverine and Husson recall transgressions of yesteryear. “He’s an odd bird,” a waiter says of the main character at the end of this film, and the same might be said of Belle Toujours, a famous Portuguese … Read More
Ne Touchez pas la Hache
Distant Love The duchess (Jeanne Balibar) pushes away the importunate general. Jacques Rivette’s Ne Touchez pas la Hache (Don’t Touch the Axe), an adaptation of Balzac’s novel La Duchesse de Langeais, is an object lesson in how to take a … Read More