Catherine Deneuve
1) The midwife
Language
Français
Description
Two of French cinema's biggest stars shine in this bittersweet drama about the unlikely friendship that develops between Claire, a talented but tightly wound midwife, and Beatrice, the estranged, free-spirited mistress of Claire's late father. Though polar opposites in almost every way, the two come to rely on each other as they cope with the unusual circumstances that brought them together.
2) Peaceful
Language
Français
Description
A son in denial of a serious illness. A mother facing the unbearable. And between them a doctor and a nurse fight to do their job and help them find acceptance. The four of them have one year and four seasons to come together and understand what it means to die while living. Writer and director Emmanuelle Bercot initially set out to explore the undying connection between a mother and her child, but through a chance encounter with Dr. Gabriel Sara,...
Language
Français
Description
Jeanne lives in a house in the suburbs with her mother Louise. The two women get on well together. Louise earns her living by looking after children. Jeanne is half-heartedly looking for a job. Louise harbors the hope of getting her daughter a job with Samuel Bleistein, a famous lawyer she knew in her youth. They are set on a collision course because of an incredible lie that Jeanne invents, a lie that grows into the biggest news and political story...
4) Persepolis
Language
Français
Appears on these lists
Description
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family. Their long dream is realized when the hated Shah is defeated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, Marji grows up to witnesses first hand how the new Iran has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study....
Language
Français
Description
Middle-aged musician Antoine suddenly decides to end his career. After several days of aimless wandering, he is hired as the caretaker of an old residential building in Paris. Mathilde is a recently retired resident, generous-spirited and deeply involved with the management of the building. After she discovers a crack in her living room wall, her worry gradually turns to panic--what if the building were to collapse?
7) Repulsion
Series
Criterion collection volume 483
Language
English
Description
Carol is a fragile, frigid young Belgian beauty cracking up over the course of a terrifying weekend. Left alone by her vacationing sister in their London flat, she finds herself haunted by specters, real and imagined, as her insanity grows to a violent pitch.
Series
Criterion collection volume 716
Language
Français
Appears on these lists
Description
The story of Guy and Genevieve, young lovers who live in the seaport of Cherbourg. They are separated when Guy must leave the pregnant Genevieve to fight in the war in Algeria. While he's away Genevieve's mother encourages her to marry an elegant diamond merchant who fell in love with her at first sight. Set during 1957-1963. The dialogue is entirely sung in French.
Language
English
Description
An American professor travels with his beautiful wife Helene to a Portuguese monastery to prove his theory that Shakespeare was actually of Spanish Jewish origin. The host at the convent is the sinister Baltar, who becomes infatuated with Helene. A classic battle of good versus evil ensues as the flirtation between the two develops leaving the viewer wondering which one of these characters is the Devil himself.
12) A Christmas tale
Series
Criterion collection volume 492
Language
Français
Appears on these lists
Description
When steely French matriarch Junon (Catherine Deneuve) learns she has leukemia, she asks her children and grandchildren at the family Christmas gathering to see if they are eligible to become bone marrow donors. This causes deep friction in the family, especially between Junon's daughter Elizabeth (Anne Consigny) and son Henri (Mathieu Amalric), who already have a tumultuous relationship. Their mother's sickness also recalls the traumatic loss of...
13) Belle de jour
Series
Criterion collection volume 593
Language
Français
Description
Séverine, a Paris housewife, begins secretly spending her afternoon hours working in a bordello in an examination of contemporary social mores and class divisions.
16) Kings & queen
Language
Français
Description
This exhilarating film from Amaud Desplechin expertly mixes comedy, tragedy, and melodrama to tell the emotionally gripping story of the interesting lives of two former lovers.
17) Talking picture
Language
Portuguese
Description
Eight-year-old Maria and her history professor mother embark on an ocean cruise from Portugal to Bombay, India. As three mysterious and glamorous women board the ship, their picturesque journey begins to grow in tension and complexity.
Language
Français
Description
Gilbert Valance is a successful theater actor who learns that his wife, daughter, and son-in-law have been killed in a car accident. Over time, Valence's life regains a semblance of normalcy - he takes care of his orphaned grandson, strolls the streets of Pairs, frequents his favorite cafe and retuns to the stage. But when an American film director casts him against type in an English-language production of Ulysses, Valance struggles to master the...