A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Reviews of films from France and French-language films from Belgium and Switzerland. At this stage, I’m not sure if there’ll be many French-language films from African and other countries coming within my orbit – probably I’ll create a separate category for them and call it French-language Films from outside Europe, or something hopefully more succinct and graceful!
French and French-language Films
Georges Franju,” Thérèse Desqueyroux” (1962) A remake of this film with Audrey Tautou as the titular character was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012…
French and French-language Films
Georges Franju, “Judex” (1963) A remake of the Louis Feuillade 1916 mini-series about the mystery masked crusader Judex (Latin for “judge”), Georges Franju’s film is said…
French and French-language Films
Jean-Pierre Melville, “Le Samouraï” (1967) A beautiful and seductive film that spawned many imitators, of which some like John Woo’s “The Killer” also became cult flicks,…
French and French-language Films, Northern European Films
Aki Kaurismäki, “Le Havre” (2011) A heartwarming comedy drama that focusses on deception and the plight of illegal migrants, “Le Havre” features characters, a plot and…
French and French-language Films
Marcel Duchamp, “Anémic Cinéma” (1926) Here’s an intriguing 7-minute animated film that consists of a sequence of spiralling patterns, either of actual spirals or concentric circles…
French and French-language Films
René Clair, “Entracte” (1924) This film’s title derives from its originally being an interlude between two acts of a ballet. Director Clair deliberately sought to make…
French and French-language Films
Louis Feuillade, “Les Vampires (Part 10: Les Noces Sanglantes)” (1916) Some time after the events of Part 9, star reporter Phillipe Guérande and Jane Bertonnier have…
French and French-language Films
Louis Feuillade, “Les Vampires (Part 9: L’homme des Poisons)” (1916) With the death of Satanas, a new Grand Vampire, Venomous, a chemist with expertise in concocting…
French and French-language Films
Louis Feuillade, “Les Vampires (Part 8: Le Maître de la Foudre)” (1916) Skipping a couple of episodes of this crime-thriller serial, I arrive at Episode 8…
French and French-language Films, German and German-language Films
Roman Polanski, “Carnage” (2011) Not one of his better efforts due to the nature of the original play but then again, a comedy from Polanski is…