Category: Movies

Truffaut’s Waltz into Darkness

Though he still doesn’t quite enjoy household name status, Cornell Woolrich might be the most influential American mystery writer of the past century. The adaptations are an obvious place to start with Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) leading the pack, but his real legacy is the way he permanently embedded modern thrillers with recurring themes.

Hollywood really jumped on the Woolrich bandwagon in the ‘40s with a slew of radio adaptations as well as fascinating films like The Leopard Man (1943), Phantom Lady (1944), The Chase (1946), and Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948). The big screen took less of an interest in him the following decades as television honed in on him instead, churning out numerous versions of his novels and short stories for home viewers on such programs as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Thriller. The 1960s would prove to be Woolrich’s last decade on earth with his passing in 1968, but he had another resurgence from a most unlikely source: acclaimed French filmmaker François Truffaut […]

Source: Streamline | The Official Filmstruck Blog – Truffaut’s Waltz into Darkness

REVIEW: The Ardennes – A Biblical showdown to a Belgian Christmas 

The name of director Robin Pront film for non French speakers can trick them into imagining a gang film of two brothers whose last names is Ardennes. Fortunately it is not.

Two brothers plan and execute the robbery. Kenny (Kevin Janssens) takes the fall for it, and spends years in jail, while , Dave (Jeroen Perceval) makes a run for it, begins a fresh start, and falls in love with his brother’s ex-girlfriend Sylvie (Veerle Baetens). The camera forwards four years later, sober and clean, Dave and Sylive are having a child, while vowing to live a 9-5 “dull” life, away from their past.

READ THE FULL FILM REVIEW AT source: REVIEW: The Ardennes – A Biblical showdown to a Belgian Christmas – 9th Euro Film Panorama – Arts & Culture – Ahram Online

Film Review: Baden, Baden

Due out later this November is Rachel Lang’s debut film about a dejected young Frenchwoman co-opted to help with some bathroom remodeling for her grandma. The “Baden, Baden”movie trailer looks very funny. Check out the FrenchCulture.org review below [ – Pas De Merde – ]

Like many in her generation, 26 year-old, free-spirited Ana lives a life teetering on the edge of comedy and melodrama. After a failed experience working on a film set, she returns to her hometown and decides to focus her energy on renovating the bathroom of her spunky, aging grandmother. Over the course of a scorching summer, Ana finds herself connecting and reconnecting with lovers and friends, as her (self-)improvement project gradually becomes more than she bargained for.

BADEN BADEN is a deceptively low-key feature debut from French filmmaker Rachel Lang, anchored by a slyly compelling, effortlessly confident lead performance by Salomé Richard, Lang’s alter ego and star of her two previous short films. Equally adept at narrative minimalism, psychological portraiture, and deadpan comedy, BADEN BADEN is a character study of great penetration and charm.

 

Source: BADEN BADEN | French Culture