French crime films of the 1950s and ’60s often centered on professional criminals who followed codes of honor that put them on a more-or-less level moral playing field with the detectives tracking them down. Whether it was Jean Gabin’s aging gangster Max in Jacques Becker’s Touchez Pas au Grisbi or Alain Delon’s steely eyed assassin Jef in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï, these men had a sophistication and moral grounding that minimized the violence and chaos they caused. They were dangerous, even deadly, but only when they needed to be and in a way the cops could wrap their heads’ around.
Fun City Editions’s new Blu-ray set, Seeing Red: 3 French Vigilante Thrillers, consists of a trio of films that play like French twists on the hyper-violent Italian poliziotteschi crime films that reached the height of their popularity in the ’70s. In Jean-Claude Missiaen’s Shot Pattern,...
Fun City Editions’s new Blu-ray set, Seeing Red: 3 French Vigilante Thrillers, consists of a trio of films that play like French twists on the hyper-violent Italian poliziotteschi crime films that reached the height of their popularity in the ’70s. In Jean-Claude Missiaen’s Shot Pattern,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Hungry for those wet Parisian streets, the city lights, and cadavres en lambeaux in the pale moonlight? Enter three highly atmospheric, star-studded Crime Noirs, one of which is a stealth classic of Gallic Pulp. Stars Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, and Annie Girardot bring the tales of à sang froid malice and mayhem to life. The films featured are Gilles Grangier’s Speaking of Murder (Le rouge est mis) and Édouard Molinaro’s Back to the Wall (Le dos au mur) and Witness in the City (Un Témoin dans la ville). Beware of French husbands when cucklolded — they show no pity. Bonne chance, victimes!
French Noir Collection
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957-59 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 265 minutes / Street Date November 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, Annie Girardot, Paul Frankeur,...
French Noir Collection
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957-59 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 265 minutes / Street Date November 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, Annie Girardot, Paul Frankeur,...
- 11/19/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Watching both versions of this 1964 drama of Elephant Man-style exploitation reveals an impressive degree of tenderness and complexity
Marco Ferreri’s 1964 movie La Donna Scimmia (The Ape Woman) is a bizarre satire whose effect depends on keeping you unsure how bizarre and how satirical it is supposed to be. This is due to the vivid streak of sentimental tragicomedy that runs through the film – in fact, through both versions of the film that were made, and that now have now been included on the Blu-ray and digital versions of this release. Producer Carlo Ponti persuaded the director to create a “happy ending” version so the film could be entered for the Cannes film festival, and there is the original version Ferreri shot with its much darker ending. But you have to watch both; this dual narrative gives the film a new tenderness and complexity.
The Ape Woman is inspired...
Marco Ferreri’s 1964 movie La Donna Scimmia (The Ape Woman) is a bizarre satire whose effect depends on keeping you unsure how bizarre and how satirical it is supposed to be. This is due to the vivid streak of sentimental tragicomedy that runs through the film – in fact, through both versions of the film that were made, and that now have now been included on the Blu-ray and digital versions of this release. Producer Carlo Ponti persuaded the director to create a “happy ending” version so the film could be entered for the Cannes film festival, and there is the original version Ferreri shot with its much darker ending. But you have to watch both; this dual narrative gives the film a new tenderness and complexity.
The Ape Woman is inspired...
- 10/7/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
French filmmaker Alain Jessua comes up with a commercial thriller with a science-fiction, medical horror twist. Alain Delon and Annie Girardot don’t shy away from some matter-of-fact nude scenes, that serve a legit dramatic purpose. Outside France the sex content was almost the only angle exploited. Beneath the glamour and intrigues at a chic rejuvenation clinic is an unflinching statement about the abusive entitlements of the wealthy. But don’t worry, being rich means never having to say you’re sorry. In a beautiful restored transfer with full language choices.
Shock Treatment
Blu-ray
Severin Films
1973 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 91 87 min. / Traitement de Choc, Doctor in the Nude / Street Date October 27, 2020 / 30.00
Starring: Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Robert Hirsch, Michel Duchaussoy, Gabriel Cattand, Jeanne Colletin, Robert Party, Jean Roquel, Roger Muni, Lucienne Legrand, Anne-Marie Deschodt, Jurandir Craveiro, Joao Pareira Lopez.
Cinematography: Jacques Robin
Film Editor: Hélène Plemiannikov
Special Effects: Louis Assola, André Pierdel
Music: Alain Jessua,...
Shock Treatment
Blu-ray
Severin Films
1973 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 91 87 min. / Traitement de Choc, Doctor in the Nude / Street Date October 27, 2020 / 30.00
Starring: Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Robert Hirsch, Michel Duchaussoy, Gabriel Cattand, Jeanne Colletin, Robert Party, Jean Roquel, Roger Muni, Lucienne Legrand, Anne-Marie Deschodt, Jurandir Craveiro, Joao Pareira Lopez.
Cinematography: Jacques Robin
Film Editor: Hélène Plemiannikov
Special Effects: Louis Assola, André Pierdel
Music: Alain Jessua,...
- 10/31/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Film and television producer Robert Bradford, novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford’s husband who shepherded adaptations of many of her books, died early Tuesday morning in New York’s Presbyterian Hospital following a stroke. He was 94.
Badford played a large role in his wife’s work, producing nine of her books as miniseries and movies-of-the-week for NBC and CBS, including “A Woman of Substance” starring Liam Neeson and Jenny Seagrove, and “Voice of the Heart” starring James Brolin and Lindsey Wagner. In addition to his love for film, he also had a significant appreciation for books and was the first person to buy a full-page ad on the back page of the the New York Times Arts section to promote his wife’s book, which he continued to do for many of her novels over the years. The couple celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary last December.
Badford was born in Germany...
Badford played a large role in his wife’s work, producing nine of her books as miniseries and movies-of-the-week for NBC and CBS, including “A Woman of Substance” starring Liam Neeson and Jenny Seagrove, and “Voice of the Heart” starring James Brolin and Lindsey Wagner. In addition to his love for film, he also had a significant appreciation for books and was the first person to buy a full-page ad on the back page of the the New York Times Arts section to promote his wife’s book, which he continued to do for many of her novels over the years. The couple celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary last December.
Badford was born in Germany...
- 7/5/2019
- by Anna Tingley
- Variety Film + TV
Robert E. Bradford, a film and television producer, and the husband of novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford, died July 2 in New York’s Weill Cornell Hospital after suffering a stroke at the couple’s Manhattan home the week prior. A spokesperson for the family confirmed his death. Bradford was 92.
The couple celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this year.
Bradford produced nine of his wife’s books as mini-series and movies of the week for NBC and CBS, including 1989’s Voice of the Heart starring Lindsay Wagner and James Brolin; 1992’s To Be The Best, again with Wagner; and 1993’s Remember starring Donna Mills and Stephen Collins.
According to information provided by the family, the German-born and French-educated Bradford left Europe for New York after World War II, landing a job in public relations. After moving to Hollywood, he met the men who would become his mentors: attorney Louis Blau of Loeb and Loeb,...
The couple celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this year.
Bradford produced nine of his wife’s books as mini-series and movies of the week for NBC and CBS, including 1989’s Voice of the Heart starring Lindsay Wagner and James Brolin; 1992’s To Be The Best, again with Wagner; and 1993’s Remember starring Donna Mills and Stephen Collins.
According to information provided by the family, the German-born and French-educated Bradford left Europe for New York after World War II, landing a job in public relations. After moving to Hollywood, he met the men who would become his mentors: attorney Louis Blau of Loeb and Loeb,...
- 7/5/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Curiosa
French director Lou Jeunet makes her directorial debut with Curiosa, produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films. Lensed by Simon Roca, Jeunet’s project stars Niels Schneider, Noemie Merlant, Camelia Jordana, Amira Casar, Mathilde Warnier and Benjamin Lavernhe. Jeunet has directed several television features over the past two decades (she got her big break via François Truffaut’s scribe Claude de Givray landing her Tout ce qui Brille with Annie Girardot and Isabelle Carré) and she recently worked as an assistant to Robin Campillo on Bpm. Curiosa is her first stint behind the camera since 2004.…...
French director Lou Jeunet makes her directorial debut with Curiosa, produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films. Lensed by Simon Roca, Jeunet’s project stars Niels Schneider, Noemie Merlant, Camelia Jordana, Amira Casar, Mathilde Warnier and Benjamin Lavernhe. Jeunet has directed several television features over the past two decades (she got her big break via François Truffaut’s scribe Claude de Givray landing her Tout ce qui Brille with Annie Girardot and Isabelle Carré) and she recently worked as an assistant to Robin Campillo on Bpm. Curiosa is her first stint behind the camera since 2004.…...
- 1/1/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Luchino Visconti’s national epic looks and plays better than ever. A Southern family relocates to Milan, and each of the sons reacts differently to life in the big city. It’s one of Italy’s most emotional film experiences.
Rocco and His Brothers
Blu-ray
Milestone Cinematheque
1960 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 177 m. / Rocco e i suoi fratelli / Street Date July 10, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Alessandra Panaro, Spiros Focás, Max Cartier, Claudia Cardinale, Nino Castelnuovo, Enzo Fiermonte, Suzy Delair, Paolo Stoppa.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editor: Mario Serandrei
Production Designer: Mario Garbuglia
Original Music: Nino Rota
Written by Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa and Enrico Medioli
Produced by Giuseppe Bordogni, Goffredo Lombardo
Directed by Luchino Visconti
By 1960 Roberto Rossellini was almost finished with big screen feature work, but Italy’s other neorealist pioneer Luchino Visconti was just getting started on a series of masterpieces.
Rocco and His Brothers
Blu-ray
Milestone Cinematheque
1960 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 177 m. / Rocco e i suoi fratelli / Street Date July 10, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Alessandra Panaro, Spiros Focás, Max Cartier, Claudia Cardinale, Nino Castelnuovo, Enzo Fiermonte, Suzy Delair, Paolo Stoppa.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editor: Mario Serandrei
Production Designer: Mario Garbuglia
Original Music: Nino Rota
Written by Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa and Enrico Medioli
Produced by Giuseppe Bordogni, Goffredo Lombardo
Directed by Luchino Visconti
By 1960 Roberto Rossellini was almost finished with big screen feature work, but Italy’s other neorealist pioneer Luchino Visconti was just getting started on a series of masterpieces.
- 6/26/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The strangest Italian portmanteau picture of the sixties features glorious Silvana Mangano in dozens of costume changes, directed by big names (Visconti, De Sica, Pasolini) and paired with a woefully miscast Clint Eastwood. The other major attraction is a delightful music score by Piero Piccioni, with an assist from Ennio Morricone.
The Witches
Special Edition Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 120 (?) 111 105 min. / Le streghe / Street Date January 30, 2018 / 34.95
Starring: Silvana Mangano, Clint Eastwood, Annie Girardot, Francisco Rabal, Massimo Girotti, Véronique Vendell, Elsa Albani, Clara Calamai, Marilù Tolo, Nora Ricci, Dino Mele Dino Mele, Helmut Berger, Bruno Filippini, Leslie French, Alberto Sordi, Totò, Ciancicato Miao, Ninetto Davoli, Laura Betti, Luigi Leoni, Valentino Macchi, Corinne Fontaine, Armando Bottin, Gianni Gori, Paolo Gozlino, Franco Moruzzi, Angelo Santi, Pietro Torrisi.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editors: Nino Baragli, Adriana Novelli, Mario Serandrei, Giorgio Serrallonga
Original Music: Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni
Written by Mauro Bolognini, Fabio Carpi,...
The Witches
Special Edition Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 120 (?) 111 105 min. / Le streghe / Street Date January 30, 2018 / 34.95
Starring: Silvana Mangano, Clint Eastwood, Annie Girardot, Francisco Rabal, Massimo Girotti, Véronique Vendell, Elsa Albani, Clara Calamai, Marilù Tolo, Nora Ricci, Dino Mele Dino Mele, Helmut Berger, Bruno Filippini, Leslie French, Alberto Sordi, Totò, Ciancicato Miao, Ninetto Davoli, Laura Betti, Luigi Leoni, Valentino Macchi, Corinne Fontaine, Armando Bottin, Gianni Gori, Paolo Gozlino, Franco Moruzzi, Angelo Santi, Pietro Torrisi.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editors: Nino Baragli, Adriana Novelli, Mario Serandrei, Giorgio Serrallonga
Original Music: Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni
Written by Mauro Bolognini, Fabio Carpi,...
- 2/13/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Review by Roger Carpenter
In a day and age when video distribution companies are mostly concerned with the bottom dollar and release or re-release films they know are guaranteed to sell (anyone care to count the number of Us releases of The Evil Dead series or Night of the Living Dead?), one of my favorite things about Arrow Video USA is their apparent fearlessness in releasing films and box sets that are probably only going to appeal to a very small niche audience.
Along with Arrow Academy, Arrow Video USA’s arthouse imprint, the company has released a good portion of Walerian Borowcyzk’s films and is busily releasing the early works of Seijun Suzuki as well as other, relatively obscure, 50’s and 60’s Japanese films. While I applaud Arrow for releasing these films and enjoy them all immensely, I’m just not sure the typical movie fan has a...
In a day and age when video distribution companies are mostly concerned with the bottom dollar and release or re-release films they know are guaranteed to sell (anyone care to count the number of Us releases of The Evil Dead series or Night of the Living Dead?), one of my favorite things about Arrow Video USA is their apparent fearlessness in releasing films and box sets that are probably only going to appeal to a very small niche audience.
Along with Arrow Academy, Arrow Video USA’s arthouse imprint, the company has released a good portion of Walerian Borowcyzk’s films and is busily releasing the early works of Seijun Suzuki as well as other, relatively obscure, 50’s and 60’s Japanese films. While I applaud Arrow for releasing these films and enjoy them all immensely, I’m just not sure the typical movie fan has a...
- 2/12/2018
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Welcome to a pair of vintage mysteries with George Simenon’s popular Inspector Jules Maigret, a gumshoe who gets the tough cases. Top kick French actor Jean Gabin is the cop who keeps cool, until it’s time to rattle a recalcitrant suspect. In two separate cases, he tracks a serial killer in the heart of Paris, and travels to his hometown to unearth a murder conspiracy.
Maigret Sets a Trap
and
Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
Blu-ray (separate releases)
Kino Classics
1958, 1959 / B&W /1:37 flat; 1:66 widescreen / 118, 101 min. / Street Date December 5, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber: Trap, St. Fiacre / 29.95 ea.
Starring: Jean Gabin, Annie Girardot, Jean Desailly, Olivier Hussenot, Lucienne Bogaert, Paulette Dubost, Lino Ventura, Dominique Page / Jean Gabin, Michel Auclair, Valentine Tessier, Michel Vitold, Camille Guérini, Gabrielle Fontan, Micheline Luccioni, Jacques Marin, Paul Frankeur, Robert Hirsch.
Cinematography: Louis Page
Film Editor: Henri Taverna
Original Music: Paul Misraki...
Maigret Sets a Trap
and
Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
Blu-ray (separate releases)
Kino Classics
1958, 1959 / B&W /1:37 flat; 1:66 widescreen / 118, 101 min. / Street Date December 5, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber: Trap, St. Fiacre / 29.95 ea.
Starring: Jean Gabin, Annie Girardot, Jean Desailly, Olivier Hussenot, Lucienne Bogaert, Paulette Dubost, Lino Ventura, Dominique Page / Jean Gabin, Michel Auclair, Valentine Tessier, Michel Vitold, Camille Guérini, Gabrielle Fontan, Micheline Luccioni, Jacques Marin, Paul Frankeur, Robert Hirsch.
Cinematography: Louis Page
Film Editor: Henri Taverna
Original Music: Paul Misraki...
- 12/9/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
An icon of elegance and comedy with an instantly recognizable mustache, veteran French actor Jean Rochefort has died. The prolific talent and three-time César Award winner was hospitalized in August and passed away overnight Sunday, his family told Afp. He was 87. Rochefort had nearly 150 films under his belt, including 1972 Cannes entry Hearth Fires opposite Annie Girardot, and that same year’s Le Grand Blond Avec Une Chaussure Noire (The Tall Blond Man With One Black Sh…...
- 10/9/2017
- Deadline
In 2001, controversial filmmaker Michael Haneke adapted the controversial Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek’s controversial 1983 novel The Piano Teacher. What we got was, naturally, controversial: a sophisticated, psychologically deep film set in a music conservatory in Vienna that went on to win multiple awards at Cannes, and one that makes the mouth dry up in shock and repulsion, both because of what Haneke shows on screen as well as what he explores in the characters’ minds. We often want to turn away from both.
Isabelle Huppert, who went on to win her second Best Actress Award at Cannes for this role, plays Erika Kohut, a piano teacher in a Viennese conservatory. Within those hallowed and intellectual surroundings, Erika looks rather conservative and assured, as if all passions were directed at the instrument with little care about other passions. On the outside, her life supports that interpretation: she’s passed middle age...
Isabelle Huppert, who went on to win her second Best Actress Award at Cannes for this role, plays Erika Kohut, a piano teacher in a Viennese conservatory. Within those hallowed and intellectual surroundings, Erika looks rather conservative and assured, as if all passions were directed at the instrument with little care about other passions. On the outside, her life supports that interpretation: she’s passed middle age...
- 10/4/2017
- by Trevor Berrett
- CriterionCast
The Piano Teacher
Blu-ray
Criterion
2001 / 1:85 / Street Date September 26, 2017
Starring Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel, Annie Girardot
Cinematography: Christian Berger
Film Editor: Monika Willi, Nadine Muse
Produced by Veit Heiduschka
Music: Martin Achenbach
Directed by Michael Haneke
Her serene face a fragile mask just waiting to crack along with her sanity, the tortured spinster at the center of The Piano Teacher is a Blanche Dubois for the S&M set.
Her name is Erika Kohut, a brilliant but merciless tutor entrenched in a swank Viennese conservatory where she brings a surgical precision to her teaching (while leaving the anesthesia at home). She’s a harsh mistress, no doubt, but she’s merely assumed the mantle of her mother, a clinging horrorshow who monitors her middle-aged daughter’s every move while provoking nightly brawls that begin in the living room and end in the bedroom; a sick parody of a bad marriage.
Blu-ray
Criterion
2001 / 1:85 / Street Date September 26, 2017
Starring Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel, Annie Girardot
Cinematography: Christian Berger
Film Editor: Monika Willi, Nadine Muse
Produced by Veit Heiduschka
Music: Martin Achenbach
Directed by Michael Haneke
Her serene face a fragile mask just waiting to crack along with her sanity, the tortured spinster at the center of The Piano Teacher is a Blanche Dubois for the S&M set.
Her name is Erika Kohut, a brilliant but merciless tutor entrenched in a swank Viennese conservatory where she brings a surgical precision to her teaching (while leaving the anesthesia at home). She’s a harsh mistress, no doubt, but she’s merely assumed the mantle of her mother, a clinging horrorshow who monitors her middle-aged daughter’s every move while provoking nightly brawls that begin in the living room and end in the bedroom; a sick parody of a bad marriage.
- 9/23/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
We return with a look at Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers. Enjoy!
From Masters of Cinema:
From Luchino Visconti — the master director of such classics as La terra trema, Bellissima, and The Leopard — comes this epic study of family, sex, and betrayal. Alongside Fellini’s La dolce vita and Antonioni’s L’avventura, Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers [Rocco e i suoi fratelli] ushered Italian cinema into a new era, one unafraid to confront head-on the hypocrisies of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living, and the collision between generations.
When a tight-knit family moves from Italy’s rural south to metropolitan Milan, the new possibilities – and threats – present in their fresh surroundings have alarming, unforeseen consequences. Operatically weaving the five brothers’ stories across a vast canvas, with an extraordinary cast including Alain Delon, Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale, Rocco and His Brothers stands as one of the most majestic and influential works of its era.
From Masters of Cinema:
From Luchino Visconti — the master director of such classics as La terra trema, Bellissima, and The Leopard — comes this epic study of family, sex, and betrayal. Alongside Fellini’s La dolce vita and Antonioni’s L’avventura, Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers [Rocco e i suoi fratelli] ushered Italian cinema into a new era, one unafraid to confront head-on the hypocrisies of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living, and the collision between generations.
When a tight-knit family moves from Italy’s rural south to metropolitan Milan, the new possibilities – and threats – present in their fresh surroundings have alarming, unforeseen consequences. Operatically weaving the five brothers’ stories across a vast canvas, with an extraordinary cast including Alain Delon, Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale, Rocco and His Brothers stands as one of the most majestic and influential works of its era.
- 2/15/2017
- by Tom Jennings
- CriterionCast
'Million Dollar Baby' movie with Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood. 'Million Dollar Baby' movie: Clint Eastwood contrived, overlong drama made (barely) watchable by first-rate central performance Fresh off the enthusiastically received – and insincere – Mystic River, Clint Eastwood went on to tackle the ups and downs of the boxing world in the 2004 melo Million Dollar Baby. Despite the cheery title, this is not the usual Rocky-esque rags-to-riches story of the determined underdog who inevitably becomes a super-topdog once she (in this case it's a “she”) puts on her gloves, jumps into the boxing ring, and starts using other women as punching bags. That's because about two-thirds into the film, Million Dollar Baby takes a radical turn toward tragedy that is as unexpected as everything else on screen is painfully predictable. In fact, once the dust is settled, even that last third quickly derails into the same sentimental mush Eastwood and...
- 10/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2016: 'Viva' with Héctor Medina. Multicultural Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2016 submissions Nearly ten years ago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changed a key rule regarding entries for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar;* since then, things have gotten quite colorful. Just yesterday, Sept. 16, '15, Ireland submitted Paddy Breathnach's Viva – a Cuban-set drama spoken in Spanish. And why not? To name a couple more “multicultural and multinational” entries this year alone: China's submission, with dialogue in Mandarin and Mongolian, is Wolf Totem, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud – a Frenchman. And Germany's entry, Labyrinth of Lies, was directed by Giulio Ricciarelli, who happens to be a German-based, Italian-born stage and TV actor. 'Viva': Sexual identity in 21st-century Cuba Executive produced by Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), Viva tells the story of an 18-year-old Havana drag-club worker,...
- 9/17/2015
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
After being a major influence on his work, Martin Scorsese worked with Milestone Films to bring forth a stellar-looking restoration of Luchino Visconti’s 1960 classic drama Rocco and His Brothers. After stopping by various festivals, including Tiff and Nyff, it’ll be released in NYC and Los Angeles next month, followed by hopefully a home release.
We now have a new trailer, which is fairly brief, but gives us a glimpse at the restoration while introducing our main ensemble. Starring Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, and Claudia Cardinale, check out the trailer and gorgeous poster (designed by Lauren Caddick) below for the film which kicks off its three-week run at Film Forum on Friday, October 9.
Joining the tragic exodus of millions from Italy’s impoverished south, the formidable matriarch of the Parondi clan (Katina Paxinou, Best Supporting Oscar winner, For Whom the Bell Tolls) and her brood emerge from Milan’s...
We now have a new trailer, which is fairly brief, but gives us a glimpse at the restoration while introducing our main ensemble. Starring Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, and Claudia Cardinale, check out the trailer and gorgeous poster (designed by Lauren Caddick) below for the film which kicks off its three-week run at Film Forum on Friday, October 9.
Joining the tragic exodus of millions from Italy’s impoverished south, the formidable matriarch of the Parondi clan (Katina Paxinou, Best Supporting Oscar winner, For Whom the Bell Tolls) and her brood emerge from Milan’s...
- 9/17/2015
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Following its announcement of its Main Slate and Projections titles, the New York Film Festival springs a few surprises with the lineups for its Special Events and Revivals sections—not the least of which is a new film by Paul Thomas Anderson. More highlights: Athina Rachel Tsangari's Chevalier, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's documentary on Brian De Palma, Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog, revivals of King Hu's A Touch of Zen, Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers with Annie Girardot and Alain Delon—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/21/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Following its announcement of its Main Slate and Projections titles, the New York Film Festival springs a few surprises with the lineups for its Special Events and Revivals sections—not the least of which is a new film by Paul Thomas Anderson. More highlights: Athina Rachel Tsangari's Chevalier, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's documentary on Brian De Palma, Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog, revivals of King Hu's A Touch of Zen, Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers with Annie Girardot and Alain Delon—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/21/2015
- Keyframe
Between his high profile marriages to Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda, director Roger Vadim engaged in a notable liaison with Catherine Deneuve, just prior to her ascension to international stardom in 1964’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Having brought Bardot to fame with his most notable title, his 1956 debut And God Created Woman, their working relationship would continue across several more titles, even as he married another actress, Annette Stroyberg, who starred in his 1959 version of Dangerous Liaisons and the erotic vampire flick Blood & Roses. Between these flurry of romances, Vadim would return to black and white cinematography (which he seemed to prefer for evoking period) with 1963’s Vice and Virtue a loose adaptation of the Marquis De Sade’s controversial erotic novel Justine for WWII era occupied France, resulting in his only collaboration with Deneuve as the virtuous member of a pair of beautiful sisters surviving on opposite ends of the oppressive Nazi spectrum.
- 3/18/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Honorary Award: Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth among dozens of women bypassed by the Academy (photo: Honorary Award non-winner Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Blvd.') (See previous post: "Honorary Oscars: Doris Day, Danielle Darrieux Snubbed.") Part three of this four-part article about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Honorary Award bypassing women basically consists of a long, long — and for the most part quite prestigious — list of deceased women who, some way or other, left their mark on the film world. Some of the names found below are still well known; others were huge in their day, but are now all but forgotten. Yet, just because most people (and the media) suffer from long-term — and even medium-term — memory loss, that doesn't mean these women were any less deserving of an Honorary Oscar. So, among the distinguished female film professionals in Hollywood and elsewhere who have passed away without...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Bob Hoskins dead at 71: Hoskins’ best movies included ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit,’ ‘Mona Lisa’ (photo: Bob Hoskins in ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ with Jessica Rabbit, voiced by Kathleen Turner) Bob Hoskins, who died at age 71 in London yesterday, April 29, 2014, from pneumonia (initially reported as “complications of Parkinson’s disease”), was featured in nearly 70 movies over the course of his four-decade film career. Hoskins was never a major box office draw — "I don’t think I’m the sort of material movie stars are made of — I’m five-foot-six-inches and cubic. My own mum wouldn’t call me pretty." Yet, this performer with attributes similar to those of Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, and Lon Chaney had the lead in one of the biggest hits of the late ’80s. In 1988, Robert Zemeckis’ groundbreaking Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which seamlessly blended animated and live action footage, starred Hoskins as gumshoe Eddie Valiant,...
- 4/30/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award: Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau, Judi Dench are the only three female recipients to date (photo: European movies’ Lifetime Achievement Award-less actress Danielle Darrieux) (See previous post: "Catherine Deneuve: Only the Third Woman to Receive European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.") As mentioned in the previous post, French film icon Catherine Deneuve is only the third woman to receive the European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award since the organization’s first awards ceremony in 1988. Deneuve’s predecessors are The Lovers‘ Jeanne Moreau (1997) and Notes on a Scandal‘s Judi Dench (2008). In that regard, the European Film Academy is as male-oriented as the Beverly Hills-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More on that below. Male recipients of the European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award are the following: Ingmar Bergman, Marcello Mastroianni, Federico Fellini, Andrzej Wajda, Alexandre Trauner, Billy Wilder,...
- 9/25/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or-winning film Amour will strike some as brutal, as its elderly characters grapple with the indignities of ageing. The director proves a challenging subject to interview as he evades and obstructs – much like his films
Michael Haneke likes to say that his films are easier to make than to watch. Cast and crew have fun, but he expects his audience to be disturbed, affronted, even sickened. "On the set I make jokes," he said when we met in Paris to discuss Amour, which deservedly won him the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year. "I can't get too involved, or it turns into sentimental soup. I try to keep it light."
What he tried to alleviate while making Amour was a grim anatomy of elderly debility and dementia, complete with incontinence, forced feeding and the eventual stench of putrefaction. The film follows the decline of an octogenarian musician,...
Michael Haneke likes to say that his films are easier to make than to watch. Cast and crew have fun, but he expects his audience to be disturbed, affronted, even sickened. "On the set I make jokes," he said when we met in Paris to discuss Amour, which deservedly won him the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year. "I can't get too involved, or it turns into sentimental soup. I try to keep it light."
What he tried to alleviate while making Amour was a grim anatomy of elderly debility and dementia, complete with incontinence, forced feeding and the eventual stench of putrefaction. The film follows the decline of an octogenarian musician,...
- 11/5/2012
- by Peter Conrad
- The Guardian - Film News
Oscar host 2012 Billy Crystal Oscar 2012: TV Ratings Up Pt.1 Another bit of good news for the Academy and ABC was that this year's Academy Awards managed to retain its 2011 TV audience in the coveted 18-49 year-old age group despite the absence of young favorites such as the Harry Potter movies' Daniel Radcliffe or the Twilight movies Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. Social media tracker Trendrr said that online buzz during the show reached 4.2 million hits, twice the number in 2011. On Twitter, the Oscarcast was trending in just about every country. So, having a blockbuster competing for Best Picture will help television ratings to some extent or other. No one can argue against that. But that's clearly not all there is to the Oscar ceremony's allure. At the 2009 Oscar show, for instance, host Hugh Jackman and presenters Robert Pattinson and Zac Efron received some of the credit for the dramatic ratings increase,...
- 2/28/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
"TCM Remembers 2011" is out. Remembered by Turner Classic Movies are many of those in the film world who left us this past year. As always, this latest "TCM Remembers" entry is a classy, immensely moving compilation. The haunting background song is "Before You Go," by Ok Sweetheart.
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
- 12/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Paulette Dubost, known as the "Dean of French Cinema," and an actress in films directed by Jean Renoir, Marcel L'Herbier, Jacques Tourneur, Julien Duvivier, Max Ophüls, Preston Sturges, François Truffaut, Louis Malle, and Marcel Carné, died of "natural causes" on Sept. 21 in the Parisian suburb of Longjumeau. The Paris-born Dubost had turned 100 years old on October 8, 2010. Dubost's show business career began at the age of seven, performing various duties at the Paris Opera. Following some stage training, her film debut took place in 1931 in Wilhelm Thiele's Le bal, which also marked the film debut of Danielle Darrieux (who's still around and still active). Ultimately, Dubost's film career was to span more than seven decades, during which time she was featured in over 140 movies. She is probably best remembered as the adulterous chambermaid Lisette in Jean Renoir's 1939 comedy-drama La règle du jeu / The Rules of the Game, considered by...
- 9/25/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Claudia Cardinale, Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, The Leopard Burt Lancaster is Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" featured star today, August 25. TCM is presenting 11 Burt Lancaster movies, including two premieres: The Leopard and Scorpio. [Burt Lancaster Movie Schedule.] A powerful but hammy leading man who developed into a first-rate mature actor-star in movies such as Luchino Visconti's Conversation Piece and Louis Malle's Atlantic City, Lancaster had a long, eclectic, and prestigious career both in Hollywood and abroad. Imagine Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Clark Gable, or John Wayne working with Visconti and Malle, not to mention Bernardo Bertolucci (Novecento / 1900), John Cassavetes (A Child Is Waiting), and Bill Forsyth (Local Hero). TCM is now showing Cassavetes' A Child Is Waiting (1963), quite possibly the director's most accessible — i.e., commercial — effort. Produced by Stanley Kramer, a filmmaker with a strong (at times overly so) sense of (liberal) social commitment, and directed by...
- 8/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Boxing BrothersOnly 3 episodes of Hit Me With Your Best Shot left and here's one of the three! Please join us with your own "best shot" choices for Aliens (July 13th) and Rebel Without a Cause (July 20th) as we close out the second season in the next two weeks.
Those films will be easier tasks than Luchino Visconti's Rocco And His Brothers (1960), mostly because they're more familiar properties. Visconti offers up so much to ponder in his novelistic film that one viewing might not suffice.
Rocco and His Brothers, which charts the sad aspirational lives of the Pardoni family -- they're country boys who move to the big city (Milan) -- is structured loosely by chapters named after and focusing on each brother from eldest to youngest: Vincenzo (Spiros Focás), Simone (Renato Salvatori), Rocco (Alain Deloin), Ciro (Max Cartier) and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi). But this family is so codependent...
Those films will be easier tasks than Luchino Visconti's Rocco And His Brothers (1960), mostly because they're more familiar properties. Visconti offers up so much to ponder in his novelistic film that one viewing might not suffice.
Rocco and His Brothers, which charts the sad aspirational lives of the Pardoni family -- they're country boys who move to the big city (Milan) -- is structured loosely by chapters named after and focusing on each brother from eldest to youngest: Vincenzo (Spiros Focás), Simone (Renato Salvatori), Rocco (Alain Deloin), Ciro (Max Cartier) and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi). But this family is so codependent...
- 7/7/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The cinema just lost two major actresses who I'd spend time writing about if I weren't so sick (I had hoped to shake this flu off in 24 hours damnit.)
The French actress Annie Girardot (1931-2011) has passed away. We last saw her in terrific form in two Michael Haneke pictures as the disturbing mother of Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher and the sharp minded matriarch in Caché (Hidden)... god what a movie that was. Well, both of them actually. You can read some notes on her career at Mubi. Here, Stateside, we lost a giant of the golden age, the sex symbol Jane Russell (1921-2011). I thought I'd share a previous article I really enjoyed writing on her as one of Hollywood's most beautiful mid-century stars and an underrated comedienne at that. This was originally published last October but if you're new to the site, it's new to you.
The French actress Annie Girardot (1931-2011) has passed away. We last saw her in terrific form in two Michael Haneke pictures as the disturbing mother of Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher and the sharp minded matriarch in Caché (Hidden)... god what a movie that was. Well, both of them actually. You can read some notes on her career at Mubi. Here, Stateside, we lost a giant of the golden age, the sex symbol Jane Russell (1921-2011). I thought I'd share a previous article I really enjoyed writing on her as one of Hollywood's most beautiful mid-century stars and an underrated comedienne at that. This was originally published last October but if you're new to the site, it's new to you.
- 3/2/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Versatile French actor whose work ranged from popular comedy to melodrama
Annie Girardot, who has died aged 79 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease, was an extremely versatile performer whose distinguished career stretched from the Comédie-Française, through popular comedies and melodramas to the French New Wave and beyond. Jean Cocteau, in whose play La Machine à Ecrire (The Typewriter) she starred, called her "the finest dramatic temperament of the postwar period". Hardly ever considered a sex goddess like her near contemporaries Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot, the petite Girardot, with her strongly etched features, often set off by short hair, and a warm deep voice was, nevertheless, able to create an erotic charge when needed.
Ironically, following her screen debut in 1956, and after nine French films in four years, she came to international prominence when her voice was dubbed into Italian in Luchino Visconti's Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers,...
Annie Girardot, who has died aged 79 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease, was an extremely versatile performer whose distinguished career stretched from the Comédie-Française, through popular comedies and melodramas to the French New Wave and beyond. Jean Cocteau, in whose play La Machine à Ecrire (The Typewriter) she starred, called her "the finest dramatic temperament of the postwar period". Hardly ever considered a sex goddess like her near contemporaries Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot, the petite Girardot, with her strongly etched features, often set off by short hair, and a warm deep voice was, nevertheless, able to create an erotic charge when needed.
Ironically, following her screen debut in 1956, and after nine French films in four years, she came to international prominence when her voice was dubbed into Italian in Luchino Visconti's Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers,...
- 3/2/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
[1] What is Page 2? Page 2 is a compilation of stories and news tidbits, which for whatever reason, didn’t make the front page of /Film. After the jump we’ve included 40 different items, fun images, videos, casting tidbits, articles of interest and more. It’s like a mystery grab bag of movie web related goodness. If you have any interesting items that we might've missed that you think should go in /Film's Page 2 - email us [2]! [3] Cake Central member Nunuk created [4] the coolest The Lion King-themed cake ever made. Time Magazine [5] lists The 25 Best Movie Sound Tracks. [6] AICN [7]'s behind the scenes photo of the day is Vigo from Ghostbusters 2. French actress Annie Girardot died [8] Monday, February 28th in Paris at age 79. Watch a new television spot [9] for Limitless. Movieline [10] has compiled a list of the 9 most scathing reviews of the 2011 Academy Awards. British actor/writer/humorist Stephen Fry...
- 3/1/2011
- by Peter Sciretta
- Slash Film
French actress Annie Girardot has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She was 79.
The star passed away in Paris, France on Monday.
Girardot began her career in the theatre before moving to the silver screen in the 1950s.
She rose to prominence portraying a prostitute opposite Alain Delon and Italian actor Renato Salvatori in 1969's Rocco and his Brothers. She and Salvatori went on to wed in 1962 and had a daughter, Giulia.
Girardot's acting honours include two Cesar awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars; she earned Best Actress in 1977 after appearing in Jean-Louis Bertucelli's Doctor Francoise Gailland, and landed her second in 2002 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Piano Teacher.
She separated from Salvatori but the pair never divorced.
The star passed away in Paris, France on Monday.
Girardot began her career in the theatre before moving to the silver screen in the 1950s.
She rose to prominence portraying a prostitute opposite Alain Delon and Italian actor Renato Salvatori in 1969's Rocco and his Brothers. She and Salvatori went on to wed in 1962 and had a daughter, Giulia.
Girardot's acting honours include two Cesar awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars; she earned Best Actress in 1977 after appearing in Jean-Louis Bertucelli's Doctor Francoise Gailland, and landed her second in 2002 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Piano Teacher.
She separated from Salvatori but the pair never divorced.
- 2/28/2011
- WENN
French actor famed for his long-running role as Simenon's Maigret
Georges Simenon described his creation Jules Maigret, the gruff, pipe-smoking, Parisian police inspector, thus: "His build was plebeian. He was enormous and bony. Hard muscles stood out beneath his jacket… Above all, he had his very own way of planting himself in a spot… He was a solid block and everything had to break against it." Simenon could have been describing the French actor Bruno Crémer, who has died of cancer aged 80. Crémer, who played Maigret on French television in 54 episodes over 14 years (from 1991 to 2005), had hard acts to follow in Pierre Renoir, Jean Gabin and Jean Richard in France, but the role fitted him as perfectly as the hat and heavy overcoat he wore most of the time.
Maigret was the hero of 75 novels, 28 short stories, many films and endless TV series in numerous languages, including Japanese. In the two British series,...
Georges Simenon described his creation Jules Maigret, the gruff, pipe-smoking, Parisian police inspector, thus: "His build was plebeian. He was enormous and bony. Hard muscles stood out beneath his jacket… Above all, he had his very own way of planting himself in a spot… He was a solid block and everything had to break against it." Simenon could have been describing the French actor Bruno Crémer, who has died of cancer aged 80. Crémer, who played Maigret on French television in 54 episodes over 14 years (from 1991 to 2005), had hard acts to follow in Pierre Renoir, Jean Gabin and Jean Richard in France, but the role fitted him as perfectly as the hat and heavy overcoat he wore most of the time.
Maigret was the hero of 75 novels, 28 short stories, many films and endless TV series in numerous languages, including Japanese. In the two British series,...
- 8/25/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Marco Ferreri's 1969 film Dillinger is Dead is now out on DVD from The Criterion Collection. Ferreri's film is an exercise in pop art surrealism that captures the aesthetic and political zeitgeist of the 60s. Connoisseurs of avant-garde cinema will be more than pleased with this release. As for others . . .
Dillinger is Dead depicts a night in the life of an Italian gas mask designer named Glauco (Michel Piccoli). Glauco is tired with his job, his wife (Anita Pallenberg) and the sexy maid (Annie Girardot) with whom he has an affair. He goes through his routine with bored efficiency. While cooking dinner, he discovers a gun wrapped in old newspapers. The lead story in the papers is the shooting of John Dillinger in 1934. He becomes obsessed with Dillinger and the gun. As a result, his mundane existence gives way to escapist fantasies.
Ferreri's film is unorthodox in both style and subject matter.
Dillinger is Dead depicts a night in the life of an Italian gas mask designer named Glauco (Michel Piccoli). Glauco is tired with his job, his wife (Anita Pallenberg) and the sexy maid (Annie Girardot) with whom he has an affair. He goes through his routine with bored efficiency. While cooking dinner, he discovers a gun wrapped in old newspapers. The lead story in the papers is the shooting of John Dillinger in 1934. He becomes obsessed with Dillinger and the gun. As a result, his mundane existence gives way to escapist fantasies.
Ferreri's film is unorthodox in both style and subject matter.
- 3/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
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