La Nuit du 12

A Caring Copper

July 20, 2022 | By Nick Hammond | Film

As crazy as it might seem to be going to the movies in the middle of a heatwave in Paris, over two hours spent in an air-conditioned cinema afforded a much-needed respite from temperatures that have been edging above 40 … Read More

Le Daim

French Davy Crockett Goes Berserk

July 7, 2021 | By Nick Hammond | Film

When a French movie is described as a “comedy” and has a July release date in Paris, it almost invariably means that (1) it’s a generic film about a chaotic summer holiday with families/groups of mature male friends/bands of teens … Read More

Adolescentes

Five Years of Teen Trauma

September 23, 2020 | By Heidi Ellison | Film

Director Sébastien Lifshitz is a brave man. For five years he embedded himself and his camera in the lives of two adolescent girls in the French provincial town of Brive, recording the traumas and joys of that fraught stage of … Read More

Été 85

Summer Love

July 22, 2020 | By Nick Hammond | Film

Director François Ozon’s Été 85, originally scheduled to be part of the official Cannes Film Festival lineup this year before the coronavirus crisis forced the festival’s cancellation, is the first major movie to be released in France post-lockdown. It also … Read More

Les Misérables

Hugo in the Projects

March 4, 2020 | By Nick Hammond | Film

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 movie that won for best film, has undeservedly gone under the radar. Those hoping for another … Read More

J’ai Perdu Mon Corps

Body Issues

December 18, 2019 | By Heidi Ellison | Film

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

Chambre 212

Ghosts of Lovers Past

November 13, 2019 | By Nick Hammond | Film

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

Alice et le Maire

Political Talkie

October 7, 2019 | By Heidi Ellison | Film

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