Category Archives: French Movies

Les Biches (The Does)

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Helen Van Kruyssen

Claude Chabrol’s take on sexual ambiguity in 1968 is mischievous. Stéphane Audran plays the resplendent Frédérique, nouvelle vague’s colonialist of female lust and control. She’s the wealthy dominatrix who wants power over those she desires, and she pursues them with … Continue reading →

Posted in Claude Chabrol, Film Review, French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Review, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, Gender, Lesbian Films, Lesbian Movies, Nouvelle Vague, Sexuality, St. Tropez, The New Wave | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Belle de Jour (Beauty of the Day)

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

Corridors of erotic fantasies help Séverine (Catherine Deneuve) navigate the confines of her private and public life. Or, as the original trailer says: ‘a divorce between the soul and the flesh.’ Séverine has been married to her doctor husband, Pierre … Continue reading →

Posted in Auteur, Film Review, French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reveiw, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, Gender, Melancholy, romance, Sexuality | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Véronique et son Cancre (Veronica and her Dunce)

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol’s sharp arrow strikes at the heart of all that’s rotten about unimaginative teaching … Continue reading →

Posted in Auteur, Claude Chabrol, Comedy, Eric Rohmer, Eric Rohmer short film, Film Review, French Cinema, French comedy-drama, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reveiw, French Movies, French short film reviews, French short films, Movie Review, Nouvelle Vague, The New Wave | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

L’Amour l’Après-Midi (Love in the Afternoon)

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

It’s a small, claustrophobic world in which Frédéric (Bernard Verley) moves. He has his family at home, and his work in the office. The Paris streets are busy and full of attractive women and with all the strength and passion … Continue reading →

Posted in Auteur, Eric Rohmer, Film Review, French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reveiw, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, Nouvelle Vague, Paris in film, Paris in the movies, romance, Sexuality, The New Wave | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vive Le Tour

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

Persistence, pain and the village parade sit solid at the heart of Louis Malle’s 1962 short documentary about the Tour de France. The cyclists pedal as fast as Malle’s camera rolls, and the result is an efficient yet poetic take … Continue reading →

Posted in Auteur, Film Review, French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reveiw, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, French short film reviews, French short films, Louis Malle, Nouvelle Vague, The New Wave | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Les Témoins (The Witnesses)

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

Love is a crashing symbol (and fidelity a distant drum-roll) in André Téchiné’s film about desire, control and the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in mid-eighties Paris. Sarah (Emmanuelle Béart) finds motherhood difficult: it’s hard to write with a young … Continue reading →

Posted in AIDS/HIV epidemic in Paris, Emmanuelle Béart, Film Review, Forgiveness, French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reveiw, French Movie Review, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, homosexulaity in cinema, Paris in film, Paris in the movies, Sexuality | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Madame Bovary

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

Isabelle Huppert places a sad stone in Emma Bovary, one that will never move … Continue reading →

Posted in Auteur, Claude Chabrol, Film Review, French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reveiw, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, Literary adaptation in French cinema, Madame Bovary, Nouvelle Vague, Sexuality, The New Wave | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Charlotte et Son Steak

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

The simple preparation of a steak by a woman intellectually resistant to the dry charm of an intense man (played by Jean-Luc Godard) comprises this neat 10-minute short, directed and written by Eric Rohmer at the very beginning of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Auteur, Eric Rohmer, Eric Rohmer short film, Film Review, French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reveiw, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, French short film reviews, French short films, romance | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

37°2 le Matin (Betty Blue)

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

“… a travelling circus of events, holding the trauma of romance, and the joys of desire as something more vital to life than work.” Continue reading →

Posted in French Cinema, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Review, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, romance, Sexuality | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Conte d’Automne (An Autumn Tale)

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Helen Van Kruyssen

Match-making, loneliness and re-writing the rules of love are the mellow sunsets in Éric Rohmer’s Conte d’Automne (An Autumn Tale) Continue reading →

Posted in Auteur, Eric Rohmer, French Film, French film Review, French Movie, French Movie Reviews, French Movies, Nouvelle Vague | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment