Storyline : Based on a true story. Madame Claude, a well connected Parisienne with dark past, runs a network of high-class call girls. She sends her girls to any place in the world to satisfy sexual desires of wealthy and powerful men. Claude's manipulations also involve big business and politics. Meanwhile, photographer David Evans is trying to clear his own criminal record by providing the authorities with pictures of Claude's girls with important clients in compromising positions. But powerful men can do anything to keep their secrets...
Stars : Françoise Fabian, Murray Head, Dayle Haddon, Klaus Kinski, Maurice Ronet, Robert Webber, Marc Michel, Pascal Greggory
Storyline : Popular cheerleader Nina Deer's world is turned upside down when her parents adopt a recently orphaned deaf girl, Dot . But in this suburban home, things are not what they seem. Dot's arrival puts a crack in Nina's idyllic social life and the dark secrets her family harbors soon become exposed. Nina's friends, including the handsome Connor , develop an odd fascination with the newcomer and confide in her their darkest secrets. Dot quietly shoulders the burdens of those around her, simultaneously hiding her own secrets as well.
Storyline : Several bourgeois friends planning to get together for dinner experience a succession of highly unusual occurrences that interfere with their expected dining enjoyment. A complex, shifting, virtually plotless web of dreams within dreams within dreams, centered around a group of six outwardly respectable upper-middle class members of society and their repeatedly thwarted attempts to have a meal together - the interruptions becoming more and more surreal as the film progresses.
Stars : Fernando Rey, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Stéphane Audran, Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier, Julien Bertheau, Milena Vukotic, Maria Gabriella Maione, Claude Piéplu, Muni, François Maistre, Pierre Maguelon, Maxence Mailfort
Storyline : This is a jolly coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old boy named Laurent Chevalier who is growing up in bourgeois surroundings in Dijon, France. This is France in the mid-1950s rather than America in the 1990s. Thus, Laurent is unharmed by events which would irreparably shatter the self-esteem of a modern American adolescent: he gets drunk, he smokes, he has sex, he is smothered by his mother, he is ignored by his father, a priest makes a pass at him, he gets rheumatoid fever, etc. There's enough scandalous behavior in this film to make 100 made-for-TV movies, and yet this is a very happy and oddly innocent tale.
Stars : Lea Massari, Benoît Ferreux, Daniel Gélin, Michael Lonsdale, Ave Ninchi, Gila von Weitershausen, Marc Winocourt, Henri Poirier, Micheline Bona, Liliane Sorval
Storyline : Oozing sensuality, the seductively alluring, Eliane Wieck, arrives with her demure German mother and her disabled father in a rural southern French town, in a frilled dress and with a small suitcase in her hand. Pin-Pon, a car mechanic and volunteer firefighter, instantly falls for the charms of the mysterious newcomer--and before long--they get married. However, was it love at first sight for Eliane, too? What links her enigmatic presence to the family's old and dust-covered mechanical piano in the barn? It seems that the stage is set; but, what drives the cryptic young woman? Is it hungry curiosity or is it something far more sinister?
Stars : Isabelle Adjani, Alain Souchon, François Cluzet, Suzanne Flon, Maria Machado, Manuel Gelin, Jenny Cleve, Michel Galabru, Roger Carel, Maïwenn Le Besco
Storyline : A small village in the north of France. Elizabeth, almost thirteen, is the daughter of the hairdressers of the town. For more than three years she has been secretly visiting Marcel, a forty-year-old mute man, who works as a caretaker at a castle, and whom the villagers call simple-minded. They have their rites, their games, their habits- their quarrels too, quickly forgotten and forgiven. Their relation is secret and strange, she is being in turn authoritarian and submissive. But, this little game becomes heavy while the girl becomes a young girl. One day, Elisabeth, who plays the organ at the church, passes the competition of the conservatory brilliantly. She leaves the village without regret, while Marcel can not bear her absence.
Stars : Klaus Kinski , Pénélope Palmer , Michel Robin , Hélène Surgère , Ary Aubergé , Georges Lucas
Storyline : A brand new journalist goes behind the scene of a dance and music organization. She finds her true love and a suppressed dream of hers.
Stars : Mateusz Damiecki , Izabella Miko , Violetta Arlak ,Anna Bosak , Katarzyna Figura , Roma Gasiorowska , Antonina Girycz , Krzysztof Globisz , Katarzyna Herman , Olivier Janiak , Dominika Kluzniak , Jacek Koman, Marcin Korcz , Zhora Korolyov , Wojciech Kowman
Storyline : Divorce lawyer Katherine is told her Destiny lies with a Man named Michael so finding him should be easy, right? Join Katherine as she searches for her soul mate called Michael or is it really Michael she is searching for? Love isn't easy and sometimes it is right in front if you.
Stars : Beverly D'Angelo, Brant Daugherty, Creed Bratton, Diego Serrano, Elliott Gould, Larisa Oleynik, Laura Breckenridge, Ryan Sypek, Shaun Sipos
Storyline : In Paris around 1900, Georges Randal is brought up by his wealthy uncle, who steals his inheritance. Georges hopes to marry his cousin Charlotte, but his uncle arranges for her to marry a rich neighbour. As an act of revenge, Georges steals the fiance's family jewels, and enjoys the experience so much that he embarks upon a life-time of burglary.
Stars : Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marie Dubois, Paul Le Person, Julien Guiomar, Geneviève Bujold, Christian Lude, Françoise Fabian, Marlène Jobert, Bernadette Lafont
Storyline : Sigismond is a man lost in an erotic haze which clouds his judgment. Early in the film, it is evident that the man has a physically passionate relationship with his wife, with whom he has a son. While on a business trip to Paris, he comes under the spell of a famous, beautiful prostitute who resembles his wife. However, his efforts to monopolize her attention are not appreciated by her pimp, and he is severely beaten. When he gets a letter informing him of the death of his wife and son, he is totally devastated.
Stars : Sylvia Kristel ,Joe Dallesandro, André Falcon ,Mireille Audibert ,Denis Manuel ,Emmanuel Franval , Dominique Marcas ,Norma Picadilly ,Camille Larivière ,Luz Laurent ,Louise Chevalier ,Karin Albin Jean Lara , Carlo Nell , Dominique Erlanger
Storyline : Elizabeth and her daughter Cecile spend their holidays at a lakeside resort in the French mountains. Elizabeth falls in love with a strange Italian, Giovanni, while young Cecile is courted by an apprentice cook. It seems that mother and daughter are drifting apart from each other, but then their holidays are over.
Stars : Romy Schneider, Nino Castelnuovo, Suzanne Flon, Mehdi El Glaoui, Bénédicte Bucher, Jean-Claude Brialy, Philippe Castelli
Storyline : A director is casting dancers for a large production. Large numbers of hopefulls audition, hoping to be selected. Throughout the day, more and more people are eliminated, and the competition gets harder. Eventually, approximately a dozen dancers must compete for a few spots, each hoping to impress the director with their dancing skill. But, is this really what the director is looking for?
An adaptation of one of the most successful and unusual musicals of all time. A group of Broadway hopefuls auditioning for a place in the chorus line of a new show, relate the stories of their lives -- their disappointments, their dreams, and the professional rejections and successes. Among the dancers trying to make the grade is the director's former lover, a woman who once made it big and now would be grateful just to dance in the chorus.
Stars : Michael Douglas, Terrence Mann, Alyson Reed, Audrey Landers, Michael Blevins, Jan Gan Boyd, Yamil Borges
Storyline : The Angélique series comes to a conclusion in this fifth film. Angélique's unparalleled beauty lands her in trouble. She is captured and brought to the harem of the Mulay Ismail, Sultan of Morocco. However, the rebellious beauty refuses to be tamed...
Stars : Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Jean-Claude Pascal, Jacques Santi, Helmuth Schneider, Roger Pigaut, Ettore Manni, Erno Crisa, Bruno Dietrich, Pasquale Martino
Storyline : This is the fourth film of the Angélique series. Having discovered that her beloved is still alive, Angélique boards a galley ship and sails the Mediterranean. However, their ship is attacked by pirates and Angélique once more finds herself in peril...
Stars : Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Roger Pigaut, Christian Rode, Ettore Manni, Bruno Dietrich, Pasquale Martino, Sieghardt Rupp, Jean-Claude Pascal, Helmuth Schneider
Storyline : This is the third of the Angélique films. After the loss of her second husband, Angélique goes home to live quietly with her children. However, King Louis XIV has a mission for her involving the Persian ambassador. Later, rumors spread that she has become the new mistress of the king. As Angélique navigates politics and matters of the heart, she uncovers a secret....
Stars : Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Toja, Sami Frey, Estella Blain, Fred Williams, Pasquale Martino, Jean Paredes, René Lefèvre, Michel Galabru, Philippe Lemaire
Storyline : This is the second in the Angélique series. Picking up where the previous adventure ended, Angélique joins her childhood friend Nicolas and his band of bandits. But when tragedy hits, the beautiful and ever resourceful Angélique finds a way to move on. She rescues her children, becomes a successful businesswoman by running her own restaurant, and becomes entangled in politics. But where will her heart lead her next...?
Stars : Michèle Mercier, Jean Rochefort, Claude Giraud, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Giuliano Gemma, Claire Maurier, Ernst Schröder, Charles Regnier, Jacques Toja, François Maistre, Noël Roquevert, Rosalba Neri, Serge Marquand, Robert Hoffmann, Malka Rikowska
Storyline : In the first of the Angélique series, the beautiful feisty teenage heroine becomes entangled in a political assassination plot and is betrothed to a stranger who is twelve years her senior and a reputed sorcerer.
Stars : Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Jean Rochefort, Claude Giraud, Giuliano Gemma, Charles Régnier, Jacques Toja, Madeleine LeBeau, Jean Topart, Bernard Woringer, Philippe Lemaire, Serge Marquand
While slasher throwbacks are easy to find and occasionally even successful, few have been able to crack the code when it comes to making a modern giallo film. Things like Amer and The Editor have their hearts in the right place and certainly evoke that bygone era, but it always feels like an homage, as opposed to a genuine entry in the sub-genre. So I am happy to report that Yann Gonzalez' Knife + Heart, a French film that was on the festival circuit a year or two ago, finally gets it right - it's just a straight up giallo, one that uses its influences more carefully and always has its own story and characters at the forefront of its intentions. Every now and then I'd catch a whiff of this or that older movie, but then get pulled right back into their movie as opposed to thinking about any others I may have seen.
Set in the late '70s, our group of protagonists are the cast and crew of an adult film production house specializing in gay porn. A masked killer (leather mask, naturally - and yes he has the gloves to match) has seemingly targeted the group and is offing them one by one, usually using a dildo that doubles as a switchblade (!). The owner of the company, Anne (Vanessa Paradis), is the only one who seems to believe that they could all be in danger (the cops don't care much, given their background) and goes about trying to discover the culprit's identity while also trying to reignite her affair with Lois, her ex-lover who also works as the company's editor. As her only clue is a feather that was found at one of the murder sites, suggesting the killer may have had a bird with him (that'd be one of those rare direct references - you'll likely think of Crystal Plumage), she decides to try to lure him out by basing their newest film around the case.
The gay element aside (the older films were rarely sympathetic toward gay people, and were also "of their time" when it comes to misogyny), there's very little about it that would make it feel out of place alongside Argento, Martino, etc. The murder scenes are effectively lurid and suspenseful, there are some odd moments of humor, and the music by M83 (Gonzalez' brother, as it turns out!) is flat out gorgeous. But what really won me over is the mystery plot, which - like most of the ones I've seen - is impossible to solve ahead of time and largely centers on information that was never divulged or even hinted at in the first hour or so of the film. Some might find this frustrating (I myself probably lambasted a film or two for doing it in my younger days) but it's truly how a lot of them worked, and thus it's perfect.
The only drawback is that the connection isn't quite as solid as I hoped. The motive is clear and even kind of sad in a way, but it's almost completely random that they end up going after the cast/crew of the film, so you don't get that "it was YOU?" kind of moment that's always part of the fun (especially when it makes little sense), because none of them actually know the killer personally and Anne is the only one aware of their backstory at all (which she only learns out of coincidence to boot). Not enough to derail the movie or anything, but just a warning to those who are into the more "you reminded me of my mother who I saw cheating on my father with so I had to kill your friends" kinda nuttiness that we usually get in these things.
As for the sexual content, it was actually tamer than I thought! Considering the setting, and the fact that French films aren't as reserved as American ones when it comes to sex, I was expecting NC-17 level content, but it's not particularly graphic. In fact the only junk you see is on the murderer's dildo weapon, I think - even milder actions like kissing are brief. The basic plot will turn off homophobes and the like anyway, so I'm rather surprised they didn't go all out - it's actually no more explicit than Cruising, which played as the second half of this double feature at the New Beverly (and yes, I stayed awake through both, thank you very much). I had never seen Cruising before, knowing only its plot, and I was surprised to discover I actually preferred this - they're paced almost identically (I'd be willing to bet Cruising was one of Gonzalez' influences, in fact), but this kept me engaged and seemed to be more focused.
(That said, and skip this if you haven't seen Cruising yet, I inexplicably managed to call the twist without even realizing it. In the very first scene, a pair of cops (Joe Spinell and Mike Starr!) are harassing some transvestite hookers in their car when the camera cuts outside of it to show a man in a wide-ish shot, walking into a bar. His face isn't seen, but my first impression was "Oh that's Pacino's character, entering the story." However, it's then revealed this character is the killer... who turns out to (maybe?) be Pacino anyway. Wacky!)
Back to Knife + Heart though. No, it won't be for everyone, but as I've long since tired of the winking attitude toward making these kind of retro films, I was so happy that it WASN'T one of those that I found it easy to forgive its occasional sluggish pace and awkwardly staged climax, where the mystery is solved by being in the right place at the right time not once but twice. Most of the old gialli have plenty of things I could criticize as well, so let's not pretend it's the only one to muck a few things up. By getting more right than wrong, and treating the sub-genre seriously, I was more than sold on it, and hope fellow fans will seek it out (it hits Shudder next week, so that should make it easier). The only thing missing (unless I didn't catch it) was a bottle of J+B whiskey - just supply your own and have a great time reliving the glory era of this fare as if it never went out of style.
Storyline : Joelle lives on a large estate with her crippled husband, Il conte . Just as he begins to feel he can't match up to his wife's sexual needs, his wife's ex-lover, Charles is released from prison. Her husband invites him to become a groundskeeper on the estate, knowing that the two will eventually hop in the sack. And thus, satisfy Malú. The ex-lover sure has an appetite to match Lady Chatterly's!! He makes love his priority with basically all the female folk around. At one point jealousy overwhelms her and she locks him in a giant humidor. Also, she opens up her inhibitions and makes love with a woman that her ex-lover introduces her to (the model she was painting). Lots and lots of sex, nudity, soft focus and slow motion. And plus an out of the blue pitchforking!
