Nice Slice of Life Angel (Romola Garai), accompanied by her publisher (Sam Neill) gazes longingly at Paradise House. It takes moxie to make an old-fashioned moralistic film about the consequences of hubris, but Francois Ozon has managed to pull it … Read More
Big Baby Alfred (Artus de Penguern), on the left, meets his adopted “child,” Jules K. (Darry Cowl). L’Homme qui Rêvait d’un Enfant is a weird fairytale with plenty of charm, fine performances, visual appeal and a great score, but it … Read More
Chain of Lovers The afterglow doesn’t last long. Here’s a film that does what the French do best onscreen: talk – about love and sex and relationships. And it does it simply and cleverly, with great charm. The film, inspired … Read More
Home Wars Twins Thierry (Jérémie Renier) and François (Yannick Renier) play a video game. The presence of Isabelle Huppert, revered in France as a great actress, gives Nue Propriété, by young Belgian director Joachim Lafosse, major credentials as a serious … Read More
A Plague of Symbols One of the film’s several chase scenes. Pars Vite et Reviens Tard is a rarity: a film made in Paris that doesn’t make the city look like a picture postcard. Although it features many handsome views … Read More
(No) Fun on the Farm Litte Martin (Julien Cochelin) in a foreshadowing scene. Called the “first great film of the year 2007” by the magazine Les Inrockuptibles (whose critics are among the hardest-to-please in the French press), Laurent Achard’s Le … Read More
A Long, Snowy Ride to Nowhere Dan (Lambert Wilson) and Gaëlle (Isabelle Carré) meet through an Internet dating site. Alain Resnais’ new film, Cœurs, based on Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s play Private Fears in Public Places, is a big, baggy mess: … Read More
Distant Love The duchess (Jeanne Balibar) pushes away the importunate general. Jacques Rivette’s Ne Touchez pas la Hache (Don’t Touch the Axe), an adaptation of Balzac’s novel La Duchesse de Langeais, is an object lesson in how to take a … Read More
Behind Closed Doors Bertrand (Vincent Lindon) gets some much-needed household help from his sister (director Anne Le Ny). The talented actress Anne Le Ny has made a promising start with Ceux qui Restent (Those Who Remain), her first film as … Read More
Personal History Lesson Marjane visits her uncle, a political prisoner. Persepolis, the animated film version of Marjane Satrapi’s two-volume autobiographical comic book of the same name, brings the recent history of Iran to life by showing its effects on one … Read More
