| Code
1 |
Belle de Jour
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Code 1 |
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Belle de jour stars the eternally elegant Catherine Deneuve.
In this, one of her younger roles, she is a housewife with an air of
prim innocence and frigidity about her. In actual fact she takes up an
afternoon job working in a brothel as a prostitute. It takes her a while
to overcome her reserve, especially since not all users of such services
are god's gift to women. Please note that at
the time of writing this, amazon.co.uk were only offering it in NTSC
Code 1 (US) format. |
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| Code
1 |
Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources
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Code
2 |
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Brilliant scenery and acting. Jean de
Florette (played by Gerard Depardieu) is a city man, who
moves with his wife and Manon his daughter, to a farm he
has inherited. He has read copious books on agriculture
and has great plans to be a successful farmer, thereby
intending to escape the rat race. His new neighbours, the
unsavoury Soubeyrans (Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil)
have other plans however. Manon des Sources is the sequel to Jean de Florette.
Emmanuelle Beart plays Manon, who has grown up into a
beautiful young woman. She wreaks her revenge on the
Soubeyrans for the wrongs they did her father in the
first film. |
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| Code
1 |
My Mother's Castle / My Father's Glory
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Code 2 |
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Both
of the movies "My
Mother's Castle" & "My Father's Glory" are about the same family living
and vacationing in southern France. I was always particularly taken with
"My Mother's Castle", because of the tension created when the family
trespass on other peoples property, while taking a short cut to their holiday
home. This is the sort of material that can haunt your dreams.
Please note that the Code 2 version retains it's French title
"Le Chateau De Ma Mere" as does the companion movie
"La Gloire De Mon Pere". |
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Code 1 |
Betty Blue |
Code 1 |
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A sexy if rather weird and sometime violent story. I guess part of the
appeal for me, was that I have taken vacations in Gruissan, Narbonne and
Marvejols, all of which are used for location shooting. The beach houses
at Gruissan being particularly distinctive. I also love the Betty Blue
theme music by Gabriel Yared. Betty is played by Beatrice Dalle. Please note that at
the time of writing this, amazon.co.uk were only offering it in NTSC
Code 1 (US) format. |
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Code 1 |
The Hairdresser's Husband |
Code 2 |
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You would think that this movie would be quite boring, since most of the
action (or lack of it) takes place in a hairdresser's shop. In fact it
is quite enthralling and sexy. It draws you into a world which consists
of little more than two people. The "husband's" choice of music to dance
to, is interesting too. At the time of
writing this, it was waiting for release on Code 1 DVD at amazon.com,
although a VHS tape version was already available. |
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Code 1 |
Leon |
Code 2 |
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Luc Besson movies
tend to contain a lot more action, than standard French cinematographic
fare. So it is good to have a few of his movies around for when the
action mood grips you. Jean Reno appeared in earlier Besson movies
including "The Big Blue" and "La Femme Nikita", he stars in this one as
an assassin. |
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Code 1 |
Chocolat |
Code 2 |
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I guess this is not really a French movie, since the author of the book
on which the film is based is English, and although he lives in France,
Johnny Depp was not born French. However the story is most certainly set
in France and the pace and characters are all that you would expect to
find in a French movie. Juliette Binoche (an authentic French person)
who opens a village Chocolate shop plays her part perfectly, as does
Johnny Depp. According to his biography, Alfred Molina was born in 1953,
in London, UK, of a Spanish father and an Italian mother. He makes a
great Frenchman too!!! |
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Code 1 |
Amelie |
Code 2 |
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This movie is so much fun. Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a totally
lovable character who spends her time changing people lives for the
better. Her father likes to stay at home tending his garden gnomes.
Despite Amelie's best efforts he refuses to get out and enjoy himself.
However when one of his gnomes decides to go on a world tour without him
(sending back proof of travel photographs from exotic places), all that
changes. Other excellent movies starring Audrey Tautou include "He Loves
Me, He Loves Me Not" and "Dirty Pretty Things", although Amelie is the
one with the feel good factor. |
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