French Films
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Afrique, Je Te Plumerai
Directed by Jean-Marie Teno. (1992) An
overview of one hundred years of cultural
imperialism in Africa. Cameroon, the only
African country colonized by three European
powers, for a case study of the devastation
of traditional African societies by imposed
colonial cultures. This film is essential
viewing for anyone who wants to understand
the cultural and intellectual conflicts
of present-day Africa. (88 min.)
Against the Wind
Directed by Charles Crichton. (1948) Filmed
in a documentary style, this is the story
of a group of English spies trained for
a special mission inside occupied France
during World War II. Their intention with
the French Resistance fighters and the
tense dangers of their mission make for
an exciting action drama. [96 min.]
Allah Tantou
Directed by David Achkar. (1991) One of
the first African films to confront the
immense personal and political costs of
the continent’s widespread human
rights abuses. [61 min.]
Battle for Dien Bien Phu
Indochina was the jewel of the French
Empire. But when Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s
independence in 1946; a deadly eight-year
struggle began. Dien Bien Phu had become
a valley of tears, a debacle that brought
to an inglorious end France’s Imperial
Dream, and laid the foundation for another
deadly war in Viet Nam. [50 min.]
Black and White in Color
Directed by Jean Jacques Annaud. (1977)
The idyllic life in a French-African settlement
is rudely interrupted in 1915 by news of
war in Europe. The settlement'’ sergeant,
Bosselet gamely tries to assemble an admittedly
rag-tag army of native soldiers to capture
a neighboring German settlement. [88 min]
Camille Claudel
Directed by Bruno Nuytten. (1988) Biography
of Camille Claudel, sister of writer Paul
Claudel, her enthusiasm impresses already-famous
sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as
an assistant, but soon Camille begins to
sculpt for herself and for Rodin. She becomes
his mistress; but after a while, she would
like to get out of his shadow [168 min.]
Children of Paradise (Les
Enfants Du Paradis)
Directed by Marcel Carné. (1945)
This tragic tale centers on the ill-fated
love between Baptiste, a theater mime,
and Claire Reine, an actress and otherwise
woman-about-town who calls herself Garance.
Three other men love garance, in turn,
Frederick, a pretentious actor; Lacenaire,
a conniving thief; and Count Eduard of
Monteray. [190 min.]
Colonel Chabert
Directed by Yves Angelo. (1994) Colonel
Chabert has been severely wounded in the
French-Russian Napoleonic war to the point
that the medical examiner has signed his
death certificate. When he regains his
health and memory, he goes back to Paris,
where his "widow", Anne has married
the Count Ferraud and is financing his
rise to power using Chabert's money. Chabert
hires a lawyer to help him get back his
money and his honor. Based on Honore the
Balzac classic novel. [110 min.]
Coup de Torchon
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. (1981)
1938, in a French African colony, Lucien
is the government official of a small village.
He is an idiot and everyone (including
his wife) humiliates him. But one day,
the tide turns for Lucien and becomes a
Machiavellian exterminating angel. [128
min.]
Cyranno de Bergerac
Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. (1990)
A dashing officer of the guard and romantic
poet, Cyrano de Bergerac falls in love
with his cousin Roxane without her knowing.
His one fault in his life, he feels is
his large nose and although it may have
been a forming influence in his rapier-sharp
wit, he believes that Roxane will reject
him. He resorts to writing letters to her
on behalf of one of his cadets, Christian,
who is also in love with Roxane but does
not know how to tell her. She falls for
the poetic charm of the letters but believes
that Christian wrote them. [135 min.]
Day in the Country (Partie de Campagne)
Directed by Jean Renoir. (1936) The family
of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in
the country. The daughter falls in love
to a man at the inn, where they spend the
day. [120 min.]
Elli Fat Mat
Antoine, a young man who was born and
spent his early childhood in Algeria, but
has lived all is adult life in France returns
to Algeria with an unusual mission. He
encounters people and places that are strange
to him. As his surroundings become ever
more familiar, it is revealed why he has
returned to his native soil. [15 min.]
Field of Honor (Champ D'honnuer)
Directed by Jean Pierre Denis. (1987)
The year is 1869. In a small village in
France, a young man, Pierre Naboulet, sells
his lucky military draft number in order
to help his poor family. War soon breaks
out against Prussia and suddenly Pierre
is on the front lines. After a vicious
battle, Pierre finds himself lost behind
enemy lines. A young German boy befriends
him and helps him return home. [87 min.]
French Louisiana, Vol. 1
Louisiana has many characteristics in
common with other states of the American
South. But, there is a difference in Louisiana.
This video explores Louisiana’s French
roots from the earliest explorations of
the Mississippi River in 1684 to the Louisiana
Purchase and statehood in 1812. [20 min]
French Louisiana, Vol. 2
The people of South Louisiana live in
an environment rich with reminders of their
French heritage. This is a video about
Louisiana today and the echoes of its French
past. [20 min.]
French Way
Directed by Jacques de Baroncelli (1945)
World War II has begun, but Parisian neighbors
Dalban (biographer of Napoleon) and Mme.
Ancelot still feud over his claim that
her great-great-grandmother did not sleep
with the Emperor! Their underage children
Claire and Bernard are in love, but cannot
marry over their parents’ opposition.
Dalban enlists beautiful cabaret star Zazu
to divert Bernard's attention with a showgirl.
But Zazu has her own ideas about young
love...and soon strange things begin to
happen. [72 min.]
Germinal
Directed by Claude Berri. (1994) Epic
masterpiece about the story of a miners’ strike
which destroys one family, yet plants the
seed of change for future generations in
the mid-18th century northern France. [166
min]
Grandes Gueules (Jailbird's Vacation)
Directed by Robert Enrico. (1965) Hector
Valentin has inherited the family sawmill
and dreams of rebuilding it into a profitable
business. However, his competition is a
modern operation with the money and the
manpower to keep him from succeeding. [125
min.]
Grand Illusion
Directed by Jean Renoir. (1938) Based
on a true story of the escape of French
soldiers from a German prison camp during
World War I. This is a gripping antiwar
classic on the crumbling social and political
values of Europe during World War I, as
symbolized by prisoners of various classes
and nationalities held captive. [111 min.]
Ici et Aillueur
Directed by Jean Luc Godard. (1976) Examination
of the parallel lives of two families -
one French, one Palestinian - uses an exploratory
combination of film and video. [85 min]
Jesus of Montreal
Directed by Denys Arcand. (1989) A group
of actors put on an unorthodox passion
play which incites the opposition of the
Catholic Church. [120 min.]
Judge and the Assassin
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier.(1975)
In 1893 Joseph Bouvier, a former Sergeant
in the French military, shoots his beloved
and attempts to kill himself. Having survived
with two bullets in his brain, he is released
from the Dole medical facility, a place
of mental and physical filthiness. He then
begins a five-year period of wandering
on the roads of southern France. During
this time, Bouvier rapes and eventually
kills two dozen defenseless shepherds and
farm servants. Judge Rousseau thinks this
case would help his career as a right wing
politician and therefore issues a warrant
of arrest to find any hobo fitting Bouvier’s
description. But if Bouvier is declared
insane, the Judge's plan may become a trap...
[128 min.]
L.627
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. (1992)
This gritty police drama shows us the underbelly
of the Parisian drug trade. Lulu is a tough
streetwise narcotics cop who does not play
by the rules or kowtow to his weak and/or
corrupt superiors. Lulu thrives in this
violent world, where sheer guts can overcome
his squad's deficiencies of money and equipment.
Despite the ruthless environment that he
lives and works in every day, he still
manages somehow to maintain his humanity.
[145 min.]
Last Metro
Directed by François Truffaut.
(1980) Lucas Steiner is a Jew who is compelled
to leave Paris in 1942. His wife Marion,
an actress, directs the theater for him.
She tries to keep the theater alive with
a new play, and hires Bernard Granger for
the leading role. But Lucas is actually
hiding in the basement...A film about art
and life. [133 min.]
May Fools
Directed by Louis Malle. (1989) Milou
never leaves the family estate. His mother
dies during the May 1968 student uprising
in Paris. The brother who is the London
correspondent for Le Monde keeps turning
up the volume of the radio for the latest
news. A deceased sister's interest in the
estate is represented by a niece who is
an antique dealer, who is most, interested
in grandmother's emerald ring that Milou's
daughter Camille has already slipped on
her finger. A non-relative, a truck driver
who can't deliver his load of tomatoes
in Paris, brings a nephew who was part
of the uprising. Everyone is on strike
and the matriarch can not be buried. [107
min.]
Monsieur Hire
Directed by Patrice Lecounte. (1989) Monsieur
Hire is a maladjusted, balding, middle-aged
man living in France.
He does not like to talk to people. A
young woman is murdered and a police detective
suspects M. Hire just because his neighbors
think he is strange. [81 min.]
Princess Tam Tam
Directed by Edmond Greville. (1935) Max
de Mirecourt, celebrated French novelist,
takes a vacation from his social-butterfly
wife in Tunisia, where he meets beautiful
Alwina, a barefoot hill shepherdess. To
cure his writer's block, Max casts Alwina
as heroine in a real-life 'Pygmalion' story.
She reacts to civilized ways and emotions
with charming simplicity. Now Max, stung
by reports of his wife's affair with a
dark-skinned maharajah, has the idea of
launching Alwina in Paris society as a
princess. Will civilization spoil her wild
charms? Who will pair off with whom? [77
min]
Return of Martin Guerre
Directed by Daniel Vigne. (1982) As a
young man, Martin Guerre leaves his farm,
family, and wife. Years later, he returns
a changed man. The village rejoices at
his return. But after a disagreement with
his uncle, the village questions Martin's
identity. [122 min.]
Story of Women
Directed by Claude Chabrol. (1988) World
War II France is the setting of this chilling
recreation of a real-life criminal case.
Marie Latour is a beautiful and childish
woman whose life and destiny are changed
when she helps a distraught neighbor. [110
min]
Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur)
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. (1953)
In the South American jungle supplies of
nitroglycerine are needed at a remote oil
field. The oil company pays four men to
deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense
rivalry develops between the two sets of
drivers and on the rough remote roads the
slightest jolt can result in death. [141
min.]
Warrior Tradition: The French Foreign Legion
(1996) From
The History Channel, this
documentary chronicles the origins of the
French Foreign Legion. [50 min.]
