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Reviews
Un indien dans la ville (1994)
Excellent comedy
This movie is both beautiful and funny, and well served by excellent actors, including the young boy interpreting MimiSiku. There are so many comic situations, and even if the characters are somewhat carictural, it never goes into the "too much" area. The result is a funny and light family movie. If you don't laugh while watching this film, you should consider visiting a doctor...
L'incroyable histoire du facteur Cheval (2018)
The life of a genius of naive art
This film based on real facts is incredibly powerful and moving. The relationship to his daughter Alice is the key to understand all what Cheval did. It's for her he will build this incredible palace. Most of the time he never speaks to anybody, but with Alice, the words spill out of his heart. He share with her his poetic vision of the world, full of legends, lost civilizations, ans symbolism. The way Cheval dies at the end of the movie is just so beautiful and moving... It's the most beautiful death of cinema history! Cheval was found of symbols, and interstingly enough, he died at the age of 88, symbol of eternity, and it took him 33 years to build his palace, the age of Christ. I like to believe that this was not just a coincidence...
Le choix des armes (1981)
Mad dog vs big cat
This film is fascinating. The face to face between a suburbs' "mad dog" played by Gérard Depardieu and a retired "big cat" of organized crime interpreted by Yves Montand, makes a wonderful moment of cinema! The atmosphere is worthy of a great film noir. No trace of justice or forgiveness. A ruthless and blind mechanics will crush individual destinies one after the other. Only the end of the film escapes the tragedy and offers a deeply moving moment of hope. The photography is very beautiful, with memorable close-ups of the faces of Montand, Deneuve and Depardieu. Well done Mr. Corneau.
Un mauvais fils (1980)
Simply life
It is not a film to be explained, it is a film to be lived! It goes straight to the heart, simply to the essential. Exceptional in truth and authenticity with a great casting of exceptionnal actors. Wonderful!
I mostri (1963)
Ordinary Monsters...
Sketch movies are usually not my favourites, but this one is really good! It is a incredible festival of comic roles, brilliantly interpreted by a legendary duo : Vittorio Gassman and Ugo Tognazzi! Two "monsters" of italian cinema... These 20 mini-stories illustrate all the faults and defaults of Italian people of that time through an incredible kaleidoscope of characters and situations. Gassman and Tognazzi give it their best and the result is brilliant. Dino Risi casts a tender and ruthless eye on his compatriots, and very often our prejudices are comforted. An excellent moment of cinema!
La grande sauterelle (1967)
Money or Love?
This film is very difficult to label. It's not really a crime comedy, nor really a romance. The criminal plot serves as a pretext to shoot the movie in Lebanon and on the green carpet of casinos, but is only a secondary element. Important moments are made up of human encounters, telescoping of different and picturesque personalities that nothing should bring together and yet ... In light and superficial airs, the film touches on very fundamental subjects: freedom, love and possession, the relationship to money... This film is filled with poetry and romantic moments and Mireille Darc is sublimely highlighted. The atmosphere and the characters are extremely endearing. I loved it!
L'incorrigible (1975)
Too cartoonish...
I really love Belmondo, he is a great actor, and his collaborations with Philippe de Broca are usually great successes: "Cartourche", "the man from Rio", "the tribulations of a Chinese in China", "le Magnfique "... All these films have in common: humor, action and a breathtaking pace! You never get bored for a single second! This movie is weaker than the others in my opinion. The character of Victor played by Belmondo pushes the caricature somewhat too far. Some gags are too repetitve and drawn in length, for example the scene of the painting's theft. In the same vein, I prefer a lot "le Magnifique" produced two years ealier. Audiard's dialogues are also less punchy than usual, they feel a little warmed up, and the secnario is not very consistent. In short, you will still have a fairly good funny time, but the result could have been much better. I prefer the older ones...
La menace (1977)
Almost perfect plan...
I really liked this nervous and intense film, which is at the same time a thriller, a drama and an action film. The main roles are very well interpreted. Montand is perfect in this type of character, which is reminiscent of the one he interprets in "police python 357". He plays a real genius, and the sense of detail which he uses to deceive the police works perfectly well, but will also cause his downfall. By staging his own death, he goes a little too far, and a grain of sand the size of a heavy truck that shouldn't have been there, will derail his perfect plan. I admit that the ending is not very likely, but so what? Does a movie need to be likely to be good? A film must provoke emotions and make you feel, travel, dream ... "The menace" perfectly fulfills the contract! The suspense and the tension don't leave you from start to finish. And if you love canadian landscape and big trucks like I do, you will be even more deligthed! You should definitely watch it!
La voglia matta (1962)
Midlife crisis turning pathetic
This film is a very beautiful bittersweet comedy with the great Ugo Tognazzi and a very young and splendid Catherine Spaak. Antonio is a middle-aged industrialist who has succeeded in his professional life but missed out on his private life: divorced, incapable of a lasting love relationship with women and barely recognizing his son when he visits him at boarding school... When meeting a group of young hedonistic and liberated teenagers, he falls irresistibly under the spell of the beautiful and provocative Francesca, her freshness and her innocence. Constantly mocked and ridiculed by the group of young people, he finds himself in a way in front of a mirror which gives him a very pitiful image of himself. The culmination of this "demolition work" being the scene where he is"crowned" Indian chief on the beach... Without speaking about the male topless beauty contest...Subjugated by Francesca, Antonio accepts all humiliations, to the point of becoming truly pathetic. Under the air of a comedy, the result is very melancholic and even bitter. Unable to hold back Francesca, the great industrialist Antonio, rises to be a weak, lost and overwhelmed man. As for this golden youth issue from the economic boom years, she is described as idle, carefree, superficial and even sometimes cruel. The generational gap is abysmal and nothing will come to bridge it. Luciano Salce will have spared no one in this film which absolutely deserves to be discovered and appreciated at its true value.
Le cave se rebiffe (1961)
Good classic french cinema 50's style
Very good ganster comedy by Gilles Grangier, the craftsman of French cinema, certainly one of his best films. Disregarded by the authors of the new wave, the one who made "daddy's cinema" deserves better than his reputation. The story and the staging are certainly classic, and a bit dated by the time the movie was made in 1960, but we spend a very good time in the company of these magnificent crooks interpreted by Jean Gabin and Bernard Blier. These two actors have no equal when it comes to interpreting Audiard's superb dialogues that you absolutely must appreciate in the original version. And the views of Paris are just superb...
Fleur d'oseille (1967)
Treasure hunt with Mireille Darc
The Audiard / Lautner tandem is legendary for French cinema of the 1970s and together they created excellent comedie,s carried by fine dialogues that have often become cult. "Fleur d'oseille" is a bit below their best hits in my opinion. For me it is the presence of the babies which is somewhat disturbing. The film is a bit slow to get started. The scenes shot in the institute for single mothers are long and unnecessary. It is only when the girls leave the institution that the rythm starts to pick up. Other than that, the movie is quite funny and entertaining. The most legendary scene of the film is obviously when the two girls take their outdoor bath naked in their garden ... I love Mireille Darc and seeing her in this scene is a real pleasure! Overall I had a good entertaining time but the result could have been funnier I would say, or maybe I just had higher expectations? Still very much worth watching!
Ashanti (1979)
Rreasonably entertaining exotic adventure
After watching this movie twice, the first time as a teenager, the second time now with my 50s, I don't understand why the reviews are so negative. It is true that with such a bunch of actors (Michael Caine, Peter Ustinov, William Holden, Omar Shariff) and such great filming locations, the result should have been much better! Michael Caine is definitely one of my favorite actors, but I have to admit that his performane in this film is rather weak, well below the usual level anyway. But it's not his worst movie! There are also real problems of holes in the scenario and improbabilities. The helicopter crash scene is a great example of a failure! The character played by Caine is far from being an adventurer, yet having plunged into the river to escape death, we find him a few minutes later back at his hotel in the city center without a scratch ... For me the David Linderby's character (played by Caine) is the weakest and most unlikely of the film. Is it because of the script, the directing or Caine himself who was bored? I could not say ... Still, Kabir Bedi, Beverly Johnson and Peter Ustinov offer rather interesting performances. Overall I found the film entertaining, exotic and reasonably interesting, and despite its many flaws quite endearing! The shots are very beautiful, and personally I liked the musical score.
Les tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine (1965)
Exotic adeventure not taking itself seriously
This film is very typical of the spirit of the sixties, a nice mixture of exotic adventure film, comedy and action. It seems not to be everyone's taste, but it's definitely my liking! The story is being driven at a frantic pace and Belmondo is completely in his element. He runs, jumps, and twirls in all directions. Some action scenes are still impressive by today's standards. Ursula Andress brings the necessary touch of charm and seduction and Jean Rochefort (without his legendary mustache) is impeccable in his role of faithful servant. The images shot on location in Hong Kong, India, and Nepal are a real treat and have a documentary value today. Ideally, watch it after the even better "the man from Rio", of which he does not quite reach the level, but constitutes a very pleasant and entertaining sequel. I recommend to watch it with your children and teenagers, the will love it!
La valise (1973)
Great fun by George Lautner and Francis Veber!
This movie is an excellent and light comedy gently mocking racial prejudices between French, Jewish people and Arabs ... The actors are emblematic of the 70s in French cinema. Michel Constantin and the great Jean-Pierre Marielle, too often confined to supporting roles, are both perfect, as well as the magnificent Mireille Darc who plays with all her charm. We wouldn't make this kind of comedies anymore nowadays, politically too incorrect, which is a shame ... Another reason to watch it!
The Martian (2015)
Disturbing propaganda elements
I truly enjoyed the film and found it excellent and untertaining untl the very disturbing and ridiculous parts about chinese good guys saving the mission...This is pure propaganda, exactly like in "Gravity" by the way and this is very disturbing. Without it, I would give a 9...
Il mattatore (1960)
100 faces of Gassman
This very good comedy by Dino Risi is a treat, especially for the performance of Vittorio Gassman! His memories of a long life as a petty crook allow us to see him at work in a multitude of short stories and disguises, each one more funny than the others. A great performance by this excellent actor from the golden years of Italian cinema. Just enjoy it!
Bullseye! (1990)
Double fun!
This film is neither the worst nor the best comedy in the world. But I had a good moment each time I watched it! Some scenes are really funny. But the main interest for me is to see two actors that I love, Caine and Moore, just having fun together and gently making fun of the characters they've played in other movies. This spirit of derision is a treat. At no time do they take themselves seriously and I thank them for that! Such a difference with today's actors...
Without being a masterpiece, this film is funny, light and entertaining. It is well worth the detour and deserves a little more lenient reviews I think. I give a 7
Le secret (1974)
Manhunt
The secret plunges us into a terrifying manhunt and paranoid descent into hell. David, played by the excellent Jean-Louis Trintignant, escapes from a clandestine prison where he is being held for a state secret of which he accidentally became aware. In his flight he meets a couple of post sixty-eighters magnificently interpreted by the beautiful Marlène Jobert and the incomparable Philippe Noiret. Getting friends, they will try to help him in his escape ... The atmosphere is very oppressive and the doubt permanent. Like Marlène Jobert, feeling very attracted by this attractive and mysterious man but also very frightened at the idea that he could be a madman escaped from an asylum, the spectator is constantly tossed about and drawn into a headlong rush that one quickly guesses tragic... This film deals above all with "reason of state" which can be ruthless in the face of the derisory freedom of individuals, at a time when this theme was acute, in the seventies. Without knowing the exact nature of the secret and who is really hunting David, we can identify senior officials of the internal security and intelligence services. Today we would call it the deep State. This ruthless and reckless beast is skillfully opposed by Robert Enrico to the idealistic and somewhat naive world of the post-sixty-eighters, who end up crushed by the relentless machine. A wonderful and very atmospheric film that chills your spine and which is unfortunately still relevant today.
Senilità (1962)
Love and death in Trieste
A very beautiful and tragic film by Mauro Bolognini and a magnificent role for Claudia Cardinale, that of Angiolina, a free and strong young woman.
Quite the opposite of the central character, Emilio, blinded by a childish egoism and teenage fantasies. He does not want to see in the beautiful Angionlina, with whom he falls in love, anything else than a naive and innocent young girl. Torn between physical passion and the fear of entering into a truly lasting relationship, this pathetic character fails to see that she is in fact a clever and cunning woman living of prostitution. Even when his co-workers and his best friend, the playboy Stefano, try to warn him, he refuses the obvious and locks himself in his idealistic views. He is so closed in on himself, his passions and his fears, that he does not even see his poor sister Amalia wasting away by his side.
The character of Amalia is for me the most touching of the film. This shy and clumsy old maid who falls in love with the playboy Stefano. Emilio, who transfers his own fears to his sister, prevents his friend from seeing her again and thus provokes her despair which will lead her to a tragic end.
The end of the film tells the whole story again: The broken and humiliated Emilio wallows on the ground as Angiolina leaves, true to herself and free in the arm of a passing new man ...
If the film is imbued with gravity, melancholy and sadness, it is never heavy or exaggerated in the pathos, on the contrary, everything is treated with finesse and subtlety.
The text read in voice-over harmoniously matches the sublime images of the city of Trieste, magnificently photographed.
Une femme à sa fenêtre (1976)
The power of love
This film is a real masterpiece! But to really appreciate it you have to know the meaning of the words beauty, finesse and elegance... This is not a political film, the context of Greece in the thirties is only a backdrop, the real issue is elsewhere . So forget any comparison with Costa Gavras. The movie describes with great finesse the sad existence of a rich and neglected woman who searches for meaning in her life and finds it by falling desperately in love with a communist activist that everything opposes to her aristocratic and hushed world. Victor Lanoux is very convincing in this character endowed with an almost animal virile strength. And Romy Schneider and very moving, as always, in her interpretation of a fragile and desperate woman, that love feelings will make strong and full of hope. Her husband Rico is an Italian dandy, who continues to love and respect his wife in some way, but no longer feels up to her. Umberto Orsini offers a perfect and high class interpretation! Finally, let's not forget Philippe Noiret, who is also perfect as a boring aristocrat, in love with this flamboyant woman who will never belong to him. Fates shattered by history could cloud the end of this story. And yet love and life are stronger!.. A girl will be born from this intense love union and 30 later she returns with emotion to the place where her parents first met, the hotel room of the Acropolis in Athens. This movie must touch you right in the heart. I highly recommend this very beautiful and touching film! And I even didn't speak about the magnificient images shot in Greece, particularly in Delphes..
L'alpagueur (1976)
Typical seventies
Good solid action for a Belmondo in great shape! Bruno Cremer is very convincing as well as a coldblooded killer using lost youth to help him carrying out his crimes. It's a very entertaining and fun to watch movie, with a very nice musical score.
Le jeu avec le feu (1975)
The Mansion of perversions
This film is an "Unidentified Erotic Object". The scenario is strange and labyrinthine. We often get lost in this labyrinth, hesitating between real, dreamlike or fantasized scenes. The casting is exceptional, with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Philippe Noiret, two huge stars of European cinema as well as Joëlle Coeur and Sylvia Christel, two icons of erotic movies. The aesthetics of the film are impeccable. Each scene is composed like a painting or like an opera, the sets are sumptuous, the girls are gorgeous and the photography is splendid . It is therefore a real high level visual delight. The perversions to which the residents of the mansion are subjected are filmed with such a level of aestheticism and artistic composition that they appear acceptable. Which is a real "tour de force". We should not seek to discuss the verisimilitude or the absurdity of certain script or visual choices, we just have to get carried away in this sweet erotic delirium which travels to the limits of reality and the strangest fetishistic fantasies without ever falling into vulgarity or ugliness. On the contrary, everything is beautiful! And that is already a reason good enough to watch this film by agreeing to leave in the locker room its prejudices on what is acceptable or not in the matter. In the midst of the many European erotic productions of the 70s, this film is a little gem to discover!
État de siège (1972)
Striking testimony
Both political act and historical testimony, this magnificent film by Costa Gavras must be shown to the younger generations and even be part of history lessons! It is a real immersion in the fight between the far left activists of Tupamaros in Montevideo in the 1970s against an authoritarian and repressive state apparatus. Above all, it describes in detail the parallel structures set up by the American services under the disguise of assistance and without any legality, like death squadrons as they will be called in other Latin American countries. The methods are shown in all their brutality: violence, torture and arbitrary assassinations. The film's script is based on actual events, only the names have been changed. Yves Montand's performance is all the more impressive when you consider his political commitment against fascism and arbitrariness. Other excellent cast include Jacques Weber, Renato Salvatori and Jean-Luc Bideau.
La chair de l'orchidée (1975)
Hypnotic Charlotte Rampling
This is the first film directed by Patrice Chéreau. It's a movie of genre and atmosphere. A dark and creepy atmosphere, worthy of the darkest Noir movie. Rain and fog bathe the whole film, filled with strange and insane characters. Huge sinister houses add some claustrophobic tension. Some of the characters are not very credible and the scenario gets weaker toward the end of the picture. But the sepulchral atmosphere and the magnificent acting performances by Charlotte Rampling and Simone Signoret are worth the detour. The face-to face between the two women gives rise to very touching scenes. The photography is magnificient as well.
Le sucre (1978)
Bittersweet sugar!
This bittersweet comedy refers to a very real event: the speculative sugar bubble of 1974, when soaring prices created a real shortage in French stores and speculative madness. The bursting of this bubble has ruined many speculators and threatened to sink 3 French banks, before the state came to the rescue. It is this mechanism that is fiercely portrayed in the film, along with all the intricate cogs and schemes of commodity markets and of course the small arrangements between friends. The big fish always come out and it's the little ones who drink the cup at the end ... That's the moral of the story! The subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 proved, if necessary, that this is still true today.
Depardieu and Carmet have crossed paths in other films before, but this is the first time that a film has been built on this powerful and sympathetic tandem. An unfailing friendship will be born between them after this film. A great selection of actors completes this legendary duo: Michel Piccoli, Georges Descrières, Marthe Villalonga, Roger Hanin, Claude Piéplu... For those who love French cinema of the 70s, these names awaken the nostalgia of blessed times.
This film is not the best known in Gérard Depardieu's filmography, but it really deserves to be discovered and if possible in its original version with subtitles.