French films and actresses....

[Lady Day]

I, personally, prefer to see them with subtitles, not dubbed.

Sincerely,
Le Loup

Amen! I dont care that I cant understand (no matter the language), it just sounds so much better.

LD

 

[Quigley Brown]

The recent 'Cache' is very good. I never get tired of watching it plus 'Diva,' 'A Man and a Woman,' and 'Breathless' (since I have the DVDs...).

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

The recent 'Cache' is very good. I never get tired of watching it plus 'Diva,' 'A Man and a Woman,' and 'Breathless' (since I have the DVDs...).

I have tried a number of times to get into Breathless; just can't do it.
How about The 400 Blows? One of my favorite films...

 

[pennycarrol]

Hello!! I just wanted to recommend a movie called "Les femmes de l'ombre"!! Here is the sinopsis/summary of the film!!


"Committed to the French Resistance, Louise fled to London after the assassination of her husband. She is recruited by the SOE, a secret service intelligence and sabotage led by Churchill.
In an emergency, he entrusts his first mission, the exfiltration of a British officer captured by the Germans when he was preparing the landing on the Normandy beaches. The man has not yet spoken, but time is running out. Louise must first be a commando of women specially selected for the needs of the operation. For recruitment, all means are: lies, blackmail, remissions. It urges Suzy, cabaret dancer who excelled in the art of seducing men, then Gaëlle, chemist, a specialist in explosives; finally Jeanne, prostitute, capable of cold-blooded murder.
Thrown in Normandy, they are joined by Maria, a Jewish Italian radio operator and last piece of the device.
The mission began well but is complicated very quickly. Forced to return to Paris, SOE sets a new goal, almost suicidal: eliminate one of the centrepieces of the Nazi counter-intelligence, Colonel Heindrich. The man already knows too much on the preparations for the landing.
Five women, far from being heroines, but who will become."


My god, my grammar... lol lol lol!!

 

[mike]

Simone Simon! HubbaHubba!!!

And as a director, Maurice Tourneur! He's Jacques' father and was one of the earliest and best pioneers of cinema, he began in the early teens in France making film version of grand guignol and poe stories! eventually he came to America and spent about 15 years making a wide variety of films which always had a visual style leaps and bounds beyond other filmmakers, he made virtually film noir in 1919! Eventually the Hollywood moneymen rubbed him and his art the wrong way and off to France he went. Where he spent the rest of his life (last US film was the silent-squakie the Mysterious Island) close to the end of his career he made a wonderfully haunting film in the late 40's called the Devil's Hand (aka Carnival of Sinners) which is a retelling of the monkey's paw story.

Oh! Rene Clair's the Crazy Ray (aka At 3:25) is a hell of a picture aswell! And he also made the Phantom of the Moulin Rogue if I remember correctly, which is a bit limited in scope but has some wonderful scenes with a man's spirit running around paris in the mid 20's.

Aaaand I almost forgot the serials of Feuillade like the -almost- Fantomas and Les Vampyres.

And I guess if I have to live in the present that new upstart whatshisname's film, Grand Illusion with Erich Von Stroheim is an absolute masterpiece

 

[Caroline]

Suzy Delair!

For me, my be-all, end-all French actress is Suzy Delair. I just adore her in "Quai des Orfèvres" which is one of my favorite french films ever. If you never thought you would sing to yourself in French, watch this film and then, even if you speak no French ordinarily, you'll find yourself singing "Dance avec Moi" or the unforgettable chorus "petite tra-la-la!" I'll probably obsess on her all day and post a photo essay later! Really a great, charming actress to check out!

 

[Caroline]

Suzy Delair

Isn't she cute?!

 

[Joan]

I might add that any young man contemplating going off to the military should be forced to watch The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

What treachery from Genevieve!

I don't know if I agree with this analysis, but the film is definitely a good one. I'll watch anything with Catherine Deneuve in it. 8 Femmes is brilliant, and The Last Metro is another excellent one.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I have long loved the old French classics - almost everything by Cocteau, Renior, Clair, Demy, Rohmer, Truffaut, etc.

But I'm sorry to say that I generally find most modern French films underwhelming. Either they're just too lightweight - The Valet, Avenue Montaigne, Amelie, etc. - or just too odd and/or extravagently overpraised - A Very Long Engagement, Les Choristes, Cache, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, etc. It's been a long time since I saw a French film that really knocked me over...

 

[pennycarrol]

Doctor Strange, I have to agree with you!! I totally hated "Les choristes", but here it was a huge success!! Old french movies were the best!! But now what is really successfull are comedies.. I think that France needs to laugh.....

 

[Naphtali]

I have seen only two French films; both were entertaining; both needed no subtitles in reality. I saw "That Man From Rio" (1964) at the Shady Oak Theater in Clayton, Missouri. It starred Françoise Dorleac and Jean-Paul Belmondo. The sister of Catherine Deneuve was breathtakingly attractive while Belmondo strongly reminded me of a Bogart-James Garner composite. The plot was a zany roller-coaster of spies, assassins, and escapes.

The other I watched at home, "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" (1953), starring Jacques Tati. This was droll, in a way I enjoyed it the same way as "Local Hero." I cannot identify why I enjoy either film, but I do.

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

I have long loved the old French classics - almost everything by Cocteau, Renior, Clair, Demy, Rohmer, Truffaut, etc.

But I'm sorry to say that I generally find most modern French films underwhelming. Either they're just too lightweight - The Valet, Avenue Montaigne, Amelie, etc. - or just too odd and/or extravagently overpraised - A Very Long Engagement, Les Choristes, Cache, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, etc. It's been a long time since I saw a French film that really knocked me over...

I'm with you on most of them, but I thought that Cache was riveting, and Amelie is one of my favorite films- just magical.

 

[Hondo]

Simone Signoret is a favorite, Madame Rosa in La Vie devant soi
Yes indeed love and enjoy the French, (Italian, German, Japanese, Chinese),
especially in subtitles, big subtitle fan.
Unfortunately we don't get enough foreign language films.

Hey everyone!!I'm curious... I just wanted to know, do you watch vintage french films (maybe with subtitles?)!! Do you love our actresses? What do you think?? I have to say that Arletty, Michèle Morgan, Simone Signoret, Louis Jouvet, Louis de Funès, Michel Galabru............ lol!!! (plus heaps) are my favourites!!! I'd love to hear what you think about vintage french films!!
Amicalement, Pennycarrol!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alex Oviatt]

Can I just say two words? Catherine Deneuve. Loved her in the wacky French Techincolor musical "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" and have never stopped. Jamais.

 

[Bugsy]

I agree completely. She was beautiful then and continues to be so.

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

Can I just say two words? Catherine Deneuve. Loved her in the wacky French Techincolor musical "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" and have never stopped. Jamais.

Absolutely. She is a miraculous woman. She has accepted her age gracefully, and is all the better for it. She should give lessons to the Botox/surgery-obsessed actresses out there now...

 

[HadleyH]

I love French vintage films, ( but my favorites are New Wave, made during the late 50s and early 60s).
I prefer subtitles in all foreing films.
My favorite french golden age actress is Annabella. I own several of her movies, among them the famous "Hotel du Nord" (1938) ,"Le Million" (1931) and "Under the Roofs of Paris" (1930), the last two directed by the great french director Rene Clair.



By the way, she did marry the most eligible bachelor in Hollywood,Tyrone Power

 

[Martinis at 8]

Can I just say two words? Catherine Deneuve. Loved her in the wacky French Techincolor musical "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" and have never stopped. Jamais.

That film should be required viewing for all young men going off to the military who are leaving girlfriends behind. I had my son watch it with a girl who was interested in him. Never heard from her again! :eusa_clap

 

[rocketeer]

A need to resurrect this thread.
love French films plus other European continental movies as well.
i usually watch in home language with subtitles.
My favourites are usually the French New wave, saw Zazie Dans Le Metro when I was small and was hooked on foreign language films.
Two that stand out to me would have to be Bout de Souffle with Jean Paul Belmondo, a bit like a French Steve McQueen and Wages of Fear with Yves Montand

 

[Benzadmiral]

Brigitte Bardot.

That is all.