Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

8 January 2015

Eureka! Entertainment To Give An UK theatrical release of Alain Renais' Last Film Life Of Riley

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Eureka! Entertainment have announced the UK theatrical release of LIFE OF RILEY (Aimer, boire et chanter), Alain Resnais’ (Last Year at Marienbad, Hiroshima mon amour) final film before his death in March 2014 is a moving, graceful, and surprisingly affirmative farewell to life from a truly great artist.

After Smoking/No Smoking (1993) and Private Fears in Public Places (2006), this is the late Alain Resnais’s thirdnadaptation of a work by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn and the great master’s last film. By confining the action to an artificial, almost entirely studio-bound world, he succeeds in creating a tragicomic theatre of vanities. Employing the ironic distance of a sage observer of human nature, Resnais ponders the power of love and desire and in doing so enables his characters, driven by their longings, hopes and obsessions, to leave the beaten track for once



In the Yorkshire countryside, the life of three couples is upset for a few months, from Spring to Fall, by the enigmatic behaviour of their friend George Riley.When general practitioner Dr. Colin inadvertently tells his wife Kathryn that the days of his patient George Riley should be numbered, he doesn’t know that George was Kathryn’s first love. Both spouses, who are rehearsing a play with their local amateur theatre company, convince George to join them. It allows George, among other things, to play strong love scenes with Tamara, who is married to Jack, his best friend, a
rich businessman and unfaithful husband.

A tearful Jack tries to persuade Monica, George’s wife who left him to be with Simeon the farmer, to go back to her husband in order to support him during his last months. George has a strange seductive power over Monica, Tamara and Kathryn, which highly upsets those men sharing their lives with the three women.

Which one will George Riley take on holidays in Tenerife with him?

If you missed LIFE OF RILEY at the recent UK French film festival, it will be released in selected cinemas nationwide in the UK and Ireland on 6 March 2015, starring Sabine Azéma, Hippolyte Girardot, Caroline Sihol.

23 November 2014

Win A Copy Of L’ecume Des Jours ' Book Mood Indigo is based on

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Tomorrow sees the release of Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo and we have some copies of the book by Boris Vian on which Mood Indigo is based to give away as competition prizes!

The film is centred around the surreal and poetic tale of Colin, an idealistic and inventive young man, and Chloé, a young woman who seems like the physical embodiment of the eponymous Duke Ellington tune. Their idyllic marriage is turned on its head when Chloé falls sick with a water lily growing in her lung. To pay for her medical bills in this fantasy version of Paris, Colin must go out to work in a series of increasingly absurd jobs, while around them, their apartment disintegrates and their friends, including the talented Nicolas, and Chick – a huge fan of the philosopher Jean-Sol Partre – go to pieces.

L’ecume Des Jours is the 1947 French novel by Boris Vian on which Mood Indigo is based, and has been translated three times into English under different titles and been the been the basis for three feature films and an opera. Starting as a romance novel and ending as a tragedy, Vian wonderfully conjures a fantastical world around his protagonists leading many critics to place him as a post-surrealist "comedian of language".

To be one of 3 lucky winners of 'L’ecume Des Jours ' Book Mood Indigo is based on, please answer the following question...

Q. What recent Comic book movie (out tomorrow also on home release) did Mood Indigo's Omar Sy star in?




Deadline is Sunday 7th December 2014 (23:59pm),If you haven’t done already Like us and stay with us at our Facebook page (if you are already liking us just share this post on twitter and facebook). Must be 15  or older to enter.

1.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, studiocanal ,15 years or older to enter 3.Failure to include any information required to enter could result in your entry been void.  4.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned, DO NOT INCLUDE telephone numbers as for security reason your entry will be deleted.5.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must stay friend/like us all the time,or future entries maybe considered one entry if you are liking us share the post on facebook and re-tweet the post.6.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 7.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain 8.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email for postal details and will be announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners. Uk & Irish entries only

UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins
Loquax Competitions
Free Competitions
ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

2 October 2014

Film Review - Le Jour se lève (1939)

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Genre:
Crime, Drama, Romance
Distributor:
Studiocanal UK
Rating: PG
Release Date:
3rd October 2014 (Cinema)
27th October 2014 (Home)
Director:
Marcel Carné
Cast:
Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Arletty,
buy:Le Jour Se Leve - 75th Anniversary Edition [DVD] [1939]

Le Jour se lève is a prime example of what is known as French Poetic realism. It’s a very important genre because it’s very much a proto version of film noir; it often concerned doomed heroes and more often than not they were crime stories. They also created realism, hence the more Poetic aspect than the documentary realism. Le Jour se lève was directed by Marcel Carné who is one the directors most associated with Poetic realism but other directors associated were Jean Renoir and Jean Vigo who, sadly, died way too young.

The film stars Jean Gabin who was the French star until the 1960s; he was in many great French films and worked with Renoir and Carné many times. Gabin plays François who is a factory worker and you first see him after he kills a man called Valentin and he barricades himself in his room after the police arrive.

The rest of the film is told in flashback, which would become a convention for many noir films to follow. He reflects on how he got in the situation he is in over the course of the long night. It involved some girls, as you might expect, and one of the girls is Valentin’s assistant. The film’s structure was very much ahead of its time and would influence Orson Welles, Jules Dassin, Jean-Pierre Melville and numerous noir films like Detour, so it’s hardly surprising that it was later remade as an American noir film. It also has an air of existentialism that only the French do this well when it comes to crime films. It all comes down to an ending that is as much Camus as it is Hammett.

Jean Gabin gives one of his finest performances in the lead role. He is often forgotten in the scheme of great film actors, partly because he was one of the first; he would be highly influential on people like Marlon Brando and James Dean. He goes through hell and replays his mistakes in his head, and due to Gabin’s performance, you can feel his pain.

Le Jour se lève is getting a theatrical re-release from the 3rd of October in selected cinemas. It will be out on Blu-Ray at the end of October. The new restoration looks beautiful; black and white works particularly well in High Definition. It includes a feature length documentary on the film, along with stuff on the deleted scenes by the Vichy Government, and a featurette on the restoration process.

★★★★
Ian Schultz

25 April 2014

A Decade of French Film

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French film will always be considered as the most stylish and influential of the cinematic cannon. In the late 50s through to the 60s Hollywood took note from the iconic and artistic films of the French New Wave, which taught America how to be simultaneously intellectually engaging, politically provocative and visually beautiful. While the popularity of this movement later began to fade and be parodied as something pretentious and dated, French Cinema in the 21st century has hit back by proving itself to be continually innovative, boasting a mix of both French and Hollywood influences whilst retaining its commitment to home grown talent.

To celebrate the release of the latest French import ‘The Informant’ from director Julien Leclercq (A Prophet) we take a look at some of the most popular French films to grace our cinema screens for the past ten years.

THE INFORMANT in cinemas from Today Friday 25th April 2014.

The Informant (2014)

An intense thriller based on true events that tells the tale of one man’s attempt to stay alive while caught between both sides of the law. The film’s excellent cast led by a captivating Gilles Lellouche ensures the plot is character driven without unnecessary melodramatics. The Informant sees Leclercq stay true to his subtle French style whilst also creating a Hollywood thrill ride, perfectly blending drama and reality to build tension throughout.


Juene et Jolie (2013)

A critically acclaimed French drama that follows the emotionally complex Isabelle as she explores her burgeoning sexuality via the world of high end prostitution with varying levels of consequence. Marine Vacth’s subtle performance as Isabelle was universally praised, showcasing the new young talent coming out of France.


Amour (2012)

This heart wrenching drama starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva sees Austrian director Michael Haneke tell the story of an elderly French couple’s struggle after Anne (Riva) suffers a stroke and becomes paralysed. The film takes on the heavy topics of ageing and death to create a moving and inspiring piece of cinema that is carried by the impressive talent of its leading cast.


The Artist (2011)

The Artist recreated the magic of early French Cinema in this playful and inventive film which was considered both a crowd pleaser and an incredible piece of film-making. The black and white silent romantic-comedy takes place in Hollywood during the Golden Age of cinema where a love story between two stars is compromised by the rise of ‘talkie’ films which are replacing silent cinema. The film’s use of an old cinema style to stunning effect meant it became the first French film to win an Academy award and also saw Jean Dujardi pick up the award for Best Actor. (The Artist is on BBC2 Sunday, 27th April, 9pm)


March of the Penguins (2005)

This 2005 French-nature documentary was a surprise global hit and showed the diversity and originality of what French cinema had to offer. The film depicts the yearly journey of the Emperor Penguins of Antarctica and was praised for its cinematography and the subtle political and social commentary that runs throughout. While some of the international versions varied from the original narration and sound track, the heart-warming story at the core of the film appealed to audiences worldwide.