It’s not all that unusual to find allegory lurking in current cinema and in media in general, especially in horror – one message hidden behind another, symbols that face one direction while pointing toward another, political dog-whistling in all its … Read More
Writer and filmmaker Catherine Breillat made her name with explicit, prolonged depictions of sex and sexuality, perhaps most notoriously in Romance (1999), in which she directed Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi in a number of unsimulated sex scenes, and À … Read More
Quentin Dupieux is one of the most original, innovative and downright wacky movie directors around. All his films have started from a completely absurd premise; for example, in Deerskin, the protagonist falls in love with a deerskin jacket that speaks … Read More
Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929) was a big beast in his lifetime, one of a triumvirate of famed French sculptors, alongside Auguste Rodin and Aristide Maillol. After he died in 1929, his reputation faded, but he’s been rediscovered in recent years, and … Read More
Mon Crime is the latest in the extraordinary number of movies that director François Ozon manages to churn out at a very regular rate. Since his first short film in 1988, he has released at least one movie per year … Read More
Adapting a much-loved novel for the big screen is always a fraught business: how do you keep the book’s readers happy while at the same time creating a piece that can stand on its own as a cinematic work? Philippe … Read More
Director Christophe Honoré has spoken of his latest film Le Lycéen (Winter Boy), which evokes the death of his father when Honoré was only 15, as his most personal yet. He has chosen, however, not to place the action in … Read More
Take a very thin script, set your film on a gorgeous tropical island, hire some good actors but let the main character do most of the talking, then stretch the movie out to two hours and 45 minutes. The result … Read More
L’Innocent is not really sure what kind of film it is. It’s a kind of stylish mystery/thriller/family drama, like Sophie Marceau’s latest, Une Femme de Notre Temps, but it’s also a kind of heist film, a kind of comedy and … Read More
The French actor Sophie Marceau, who is approaching the age of 57, has been an absolute star in France and elsewhere for some 42 years, ever since her first adolescent role in Claude Pinoteau’s La Boum (The Party) in 1980. … Read More
