Tag Archives: france

October 17, 1961 (Nuit Noire)

October 17, 1961 (Nuit Noire) (France, director Alain Tasma): Another gut-wrenching portrayal of some of the shameful events perpetrated during the Algerian war, this film is an important document of the legacy of French colonialism. On the night of October … Continue reading

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Les Choristes

Les Choristes (France/Switzerland, director Christophe Barratier): Les Choristes is an unabashedly sentimental film that reminded me very much of Italian films Ciao Professore! and especially Cinema Paradiso. It tells the story of a failed musician named Clement Mathieu who finds … Continue reading

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Breathless (À bout de souffle)

Brooke and I saw Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (À bout de souffle) (1960) the other night. It was my first time seeing it, though Brooke has seen it several times before, and says it’s one of her favourite films. Frankly, I … Continue reading

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Amelie

Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (France, 2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director) Between Jeunet’s dazzling visual tricks and Audrey Tautou’s dazzling beauty, it was hard to look at the subtitles at all (might be a reason to learn French in itself!). Jeunet … Continue reading

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Final Two Films

My final two films of the film festival: Before Night Falls – Directed by artist Julian Schnabel (who also directed Basquiat), this tells the heartbreaking true story of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, persecuted, imprisoned, and finally allowed to leave Cuba, … Continue reading

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