Each week, the fine folks at Fandor add a number of films to their Criterion Picks area, which will then be available to subscribers for the following twelve days. This week, the Criterion Picks focus on eight delightful French films.
Three decades of exceptional French cinema in the service of that most intoxicating, unpredictable and stubborn of muscles, to which laws of convention and commitment prove no barrier: the heart.
Don’t have a Fandor subscription? They offer a free trial membership.
Children of Paradise by Marcel Carne
Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children Of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault,...
Three decades of exceptional French cinema in the service of that most intoxicating, unpredictable and stubborn of muscles, to which laws of convention and commitment prove no barrier: the heart.
Don’t have a Fandor subscription? They offer a free trial membership.
Children of Paradise by Marcel Carne
Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children Of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault,...
- 9/22/2015
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Chicago – French films from the ’50s can be a tough sell to a modern audience and Max Ophuls’ “The Earrings of Madame De…” recently upgraded by Criterion to a gorgeous Blu-ray edition and re-released on DVD, hasn’t gotten the critical attention it deserves over the years and so it’s not as instantly recognizable as “something that should be seen” as some of the other films of its era. Trust me. This is “something that should be seen” by everyone.
Don’t believe me? P.T. Anderson (“Boogie Nights,” “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master”), a candidate for the title of best living director offers an “introduction” to the film on the Criterion Blu-ray. It’s more than a mere introduction. It’s a mini-class, a semi-commentary over 15 minutes of the film. Anderson helps illuminate what’s so great about “Madame” and Ophuls’ work in general. However, once you watch the film,...
Don’t believe me? P.T. Anderson (“Boogie Nights,” “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master”), a candidate for the title of best living director offers an “introduction” to the film on the Criterion Blu-ray. It’s more than a mere introduction. It’s a mini-class, a semi-commentary over 15 minutes of the film. Anderson helps illuminate what’s so great about “Madame” and Ophuls’ work in general. However, once you watch the film,...
- 8/13/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Seconds (The Criterion Collection)
The Earrings Of Madame De... (The Criterion Collection)
Scary Seconds And Jewel-laden Irony
By Raymond Benson
Among the new releases this month from The Criterion Collection, that Cadillac of Blu-Ray/DVD labels, are two oldies-but-goodies—and very different ones—that will impress both the average film lover and the hardcore art house enthusiast. For me, the most anticipated title was Seconds, the 1966 paranoia-science fiction-mystery-thriller directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Rock Hudson in a cast-against-type role. There’s no question that the picture was ahead of its time. The circumstances sound familiar—it was a very intelligent, well-made, strikingly photographed genre movie that audiences found too strange or unpleasant, and it flopped... but later, because it really was good, it became a cult classic.
Seconds is a shocking film today; in 1966, it was radical. It was considered an “adults-only” movie, even though its release was prior...
The Earrings Of Madame De... (The Criterion Collection)
Scary Seconds And Jewel-laden Irony
By Raymond Benson
Among the new releases this month from The Criterion Collection, that Cadillac of Blu-Ray/DVD labels, are two oldies-but-goodies—and very different ones—that will impress both the average film lover and the hardcore art house enthusiast. For me, the most anticipated title was Seconds, the 1966 paranoia-science fiction-mystery-thriller directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Rock Hudson in a cast-against-type role. There’s no question that the picture was ahead of its time. The circumstances sound familiar—it was a very intelligent, well-made, strikingly photographed genre movie that audiences found too strange or unpleasant, and it flopped... but later, because it really was good, it became a cult classic.
Seconds is a shocking film today; in 1966, it was radical. It was considered an “adults-only” movie, even though its release was prior...
- 8/8/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Blu-ray Release Date: Aug. 6, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Danielle Darrieux in The Earrings of Madame de...
The 1953 drama-romance film The Earrings of Madame de…, a profoundly emotional, cinematographically adventurous tale of deceptive opulence and tragic romance, remains the most cherished work from French master Max Ophuls (Lola Montes).
When an aristocratic woman known only as Madame de (Danielle Darrieux) sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband (Charles Boyer, Gaslight) in order to pay a debt, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.
Ophuls’s adaptation of Louise de Vilmorin’s incisive 1951 novel employs the elegant and precise camera work for which the director is so justly renowned, to ravishing effect.
Criterion issued a splendid DVD version of the classic film (which is presented in French with English subtitles) back in 2008, which is still available. A majority...
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Danielle Darrieux in The Earrings of Madame de...
The 1953 drama-romance film The Earrings of Madame de…, a profoundly emotional, cinematographically adventurous tale of deceptive opulence and tragic romance, remains the most cherished work from French master Max Ophuls (Lola Montes).
When an aristocratic woman known only as Madame de (Danielle Darrieux) sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband (Charles Boyer, Gaslight) in order to pay a debt, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.
Ophuls’s adaptation of Louise de Vilmorin’s incisive 1951 novel employs the elegant and precise camera work for which the director is so justly renowned, to ravishing effect.
Criterion issued a splendid DVD version of the classic film (which is presented in French with English subtitles) back in 2008, which is still available. A majority...
- 6/7/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
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