Language: French – Page 3 – Wimbledon Film Club

Holy Motors

Surrealist comedy delivering a visual feast populated with gripping performances. A day-in-the-life tale of a shadowy character called M. Oscar results in a concoction tailor-made for cinephiles. Makes other films look staid. The spark for the film came from Carax’s observation that stretch limousines were being increasingly used for weddings. He was interested in their…

Monsieur Lazhar

In Montreal, an elementary school teacher hangs herself. Bachir Lazhar, a recent Algerian immigrant, then offers his services to replace her, claiming to have taught in his home country. Desperate to fill the position, the principal, Mme Vaillancourt, takes him at his word and gives him the job. He gets to know his students despite…

Polisse

A critically acclaimed French film, winner of the Cannes Jury Prize 2011 and 13 Cesar Awards also earning international praise. Yet some critics found it manipulative and likened it to TVs The Wire when a film splits critics like this its usually well worth the watch. The Paris Police Departments Juvenile Protection Unit has a…

The Kid With a Bike

A lean, direct narrative and a superb central performance provide emotional impact in this excellent drama. A boy, abandoned by his father, is put into care. The kindness of a stranger offers him a measure of hope, but can he accept it? Written and directed by the Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the film…

Amour

In this two-hander, played by French acting legends Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Georges and Anne are two retired music teachers who have been blissfully married for at least 6 decades. When Anne suffers two strokes, Georges lovingly assumes the role of carer but their love is tested in the face of the demands falling…

Thérèse Desqueyroux

In the south-west of France, in the late 1920s, Thérèse Laroque agrees to a marriage of convenience between wealthy families by marrying Bernard Desqueyroux, a bourgeois landowner. They then settle on his family’s property, located in a vast area stretching over acres of pine forests. Bernard is a local man with a passion for hunting…

In The House

A pupil writes increasingly evocative and erotic stories that engage his middle-aged teacher- events start to spiral out of control.

The Past

A film about moral choice and responsibility. A man goes to Iran, abandoning his wife and children in Paris. She asks for a divorce.

Lift to the Scaffold

Distinguished French director Louis Malle (1932-95) made his debut feature film at the age of 24 with this taut thriller, having won the Palme d’Or in 1956 for the documentary The Silent World, co-directed with Jacques Cousteau. The film’s narrative and editing techniques are seen as a key influence on the Nouvelle Vague movement. The…

Timbuktu

Mauretanian director Sissako, who spent part of his youth in Mali, was inspired to make this film when he read an article in Paris newspaper in 2012 about the public stoning of an unmarried couple in the town of Aguelhok (for reportedly having children outside wedlock). Set against the stunning landscapes of the fabled Saraha…