Category

French and French-language Films

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, Middle Eastern Films

The Congress: good ideas and astute criticism of Hollywood and technology undone by a confused narrative

4 min read

Ari Folman, “The Congress” (2013) Partly based on Stanislaw Lem’s novel “The Futurological Congress”, in which the central character suffers from both delusional and actual mental…

Read article The Congress: good ideas and astute criticism of Hollywood and technology undone by a confused narrative

French and French-language Films

The Children of Paradise: a sumptuous melodrama rich in character, the complexities of human nature and the grandeur of life

5 min read

Marcel Carné, “The Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis” (1945) Made under difficult conditions in Vichy France, this sumptuous film is rich in character…

Read article The Children of Paradise: a sumptuous melodrama rich in character, the complexities of human nature and the grandeur of life

British Films, French and French-language Films

A trite plot and character stereotyping can’t lift “Paris 2054: Renaissance” from bland SF thriller genre

3 min read

Christian Volckman, “Paris 2054: Renaissance” (2006) A glossy animated style of minimal black-and-white presentation, emphasising detail, mood and atmosphere in a future Paris governed by corporations…

Read article A trite plot and character stereotyping can’t lift “Paris 2054: Renaissance” from bland SF thriller genre