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Home Archives for french film

October 4, 2011 By iluvcinema 3 Comments

Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: An Affair of Love (1999/2000)

An Affair of Love* is a French language film from 1999 (distributed in the US in 2000) directed by Belgian Frédéric Fonteyne and starring Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez in the title roles of ‘Her’ and ‘Him’.

‘Her’ and ‘Him’ meet via a personal ad in a magazine.They are both seeking an anonymous liaison; they do not know each other’s name (as has been agreed upon). However, over the course of the affair, it becomes obvious to the couple as well to the audience that what was supposed to be a series of ‘encounters’ has become something a bit more complicated. The question then becomes what will happen next?

I will not completely ‘spoil’ the rest of the plot in hopes that you will check out this film; but I suspect that many of you will be able to figure it out to varying degrees.

The irony of the French title is that there is nothing pornographic about this film. In fact, quite the opposite is true: it is a tender tale of two people who are faced with the decision as whether or not to act upon their love for each other.

I like to think of this film as sort of a companion piece to another tale of love that is (maybe) not fully realized – Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter. In Brief Encounter, we have a pair of adults whose love is present but never fully expressed (their one attempt falls haplessly apart). In An Affair of Love there is the full expression of the act of love which develops into a real love – but it is similar to Brief Encounter in that the love is somehow incomplete and not fully realized to a conventional satisfaction.

In both movies, the end result can (may) leave the audience feeling alienated and unfulfilled. But because An Affair of Love is handled properly – through its adept directing and acting – the audience leaves the film understanding. In my opinion, there must be a level of accomplishment in having achieved that.


* French Title: Une Liaison Pornographique

Filed Under: Recommendation Tagged With: french film, overlooked film, romance

March 16, 2010 By idawson Leave a Comment

Franco-cinephiles Rejoice!

Photo Credit: Film Society of Lincoln Center (Click on Image)

If you are in the NYC area you have until March 21st to view some great contemporary French imports.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: french cinema, french film, lincoln center film society

October 20, 2009 By idawson 1 Comment

8 Femmes (8 Women); France 2002 (Dir. F. Ozon)

Enjoy the long trailer below:

[Advisory: Near the end there is a subtitled bit of “strong” language].

8 Femmes was on Starz Comedy last night. I first saw this film several years ago. Although not a major purveyor of French cinema, I have been known to dabble a little in it. I approached this film with some curiosity as it is a musically-inclined film with a murder mystery at the center of it. The major selling from what I can only amateurly gather is that the “huit femmes” in the film are all very famous French actresses. I would say my knowledge of the majority of them is pretty okay (Ledoyen, Deneuve, Huppert, Darrieux, Sangier, Beart) if not limited to a handful of both French and English language films, but as a film fan I would not say my knowledge is neither extensive nor encyclopedic.

In a modern sensibility, this film can be seen equivalent to the soon to be released Nine, which features a dizzying amount of A-list talent.

Back to 8 Femmes – it did not disappoint. It was a fun musical comedy that was dramatic when it needed to be. I recommend anyone who likes musicals, and murder mysteries in the style of Clue take a gander at this film. It has an interesting (in a pleasing way) ending that is sure not to disappoint.

One year later, Ozon directed another French film that I liked that also was a  mystery at the heart of it, Swimming Pool. This film also feature Ms. Sangier in a lead role.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: 2002, 8 femmes, ardant, beart, deneuve, eight women, foreign film, france, francois ozon, french film, huppert, international film, ledoyen, murder mystery, musical, sangier, subtitles

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