L’État Sauvage
Calamity Jeanne Rides Again
A feminist French Western? Well, why not? Just about every other imaginable kind of Western has already been made, so not much else is left. L’État Sauvage (Savage State), directed by David Perrault, takes place in 1861 during the American … Read More
Les Misérables
Hugo in the Projects
Editor’s note: Les Misérables is now available on DVD from Amazon and FNAC for home viewing. In the midst of the furor surrounding Roman Polanski’s award as best director for J’Accuse at last week’s Césars (the French Oscars), Les Misérables, the … Read More
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
On a Slow Burn
I am rather late in seeing Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), directed by Céline Sciamma, but the movie, released in the United States on Valentine’s Day, is topical once again. It is … Read More
J’ai Perdu Mon Corps
Body Issues
Unlike Les Hirondelles de Kabul, reviewed here recently, the film J’ai Perdu Mon Corps (I Lost My Body), directed by Jérémy Clapin, has good reason to be animated. Full of fantasy elements. it would have been most difficult to make … Read More
Hors Normes
Do-Good, Feel-Good Film
Directors and screenwriters Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache seem to be making a career out of feel-good movies about gnarly subjects. Their huge hit, Intouchables (2011), the second most successful film ever made in France, was an upbeat film about … Read More
Matthias et Maxime
Will They or Won't They?
Having just turned 30, the director and actor Xavier Dolan can no longer be called the wunderkind of Canadian cinema, but the fact that he has already directed eight full-length features shows how prolific he has been. He has also … Read More
La Belle Époque
High-Tech Time Machine
My heart sinks these days when I see the cast list of new French movies containing familiar names of great actors from the past. All too often they seem to have phoned in their roles and appear perfectly content to … Read More
Chambre 212
Ghosts of Lovers Past
Although not born in the city, Christophe Honoré has become the quintessential Parisian film director. Many of his movies (such as Dans Paris and my particular favorite, Les Chansons d’Amour) are set in very recognizable locations around the city. His … Read More
Atlantique
Ghostly Romeo and Juliet
Having only seen the trailer, I went to the film Atlantique, directed by Mati Diop and winner of the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, under the misapprehension that it was a film about the struggles of migrants … Read More
Alice et le Maire
Political Talkie
Éric Rohmer, the king of “talkies,” helped give French cinema its all-talk, no-action reputation. Most of his quiet, charming movies were filled with intellectual discussions about the politics of love, with little actual lovemaking. Now, one of Rohmer’s favorite actors, … Read More