Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting Frances most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literatures meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lendhis words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine
In 18th century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his native American friend Mani are sent by the King to the Gevaudan province to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast.
Hilarious expose of the modern obsession with speed and efficiency set in the rural surroundings of a French village where Francoise the postman tries to improve his round. The visual comedy invention and above all timing is superb. The evocation of rural France really does seem as if from another century....
A celebration of youth friendship and the everlasting magic of the movies. Salvatore a successful film director returns to his native Sicilian village for the funeral of his old friend Alfredo. He was the projectionist at the local Cinema Paradiso where Salvatore spent the happiest times of his childhood and developed his love of film. To the fatherless young boy Alfredo became a father figure who guided and loved him. His return also brings back poignant memories of his teenage love Elena whom he had to leave in order to pursue his dream.
Jesus of Montreal' is a surprising and dazzling tragi-comic satire on modern life based around a group of actors who gather together to perform a new interpretation of the Passion Play. Awarded the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1989 Denys Arcand's film has been a major succes throughout the world combining wild comedy with the absurd dramas of life around us.
An adaptation of a story by Guy de Maupassant which tells the tale of a young girl on an idyllic country picnic who leaves her family and fiance for a while and embarks on an all to brief romance. Includes discarded takes and screen tests. Shot on location on the banks of two small tributaries of the Seine Renoir's sensuous tribute to the countryside - and to the river - has seldom been surpassed. In its bittersweet lyricism its tenderness and poetic feel for nature its tolera
Awe-inspiring documentary following the world's birds on their migratory paths across the globe.
In this French drama a group of mourners travel from Paris to Limoges to attend the funeral of a tyrannical painter they all knew.
Make Mine Mink (1960) was adapted from a West End stage farce, Breath of Spring. In a mansion block in Knightsbridge, a gang of middle-aged biddies decide to brighten up "the dullness of the tea time of life" by staging a series of robberies on furriers, then donating the proceeds to charitable concerns. Terry Thomas as a retired army officer leads the gang, which includes Athene Seyler and Hattie Jacques, on a series of capers that nearly go awry when their maid, Billie Whitelaw, an ex-con and also a resident of the block, falls for a police officer. Among many funny scenes is a particular gem between Seyler and Kenneth Williams, her nephew to whom she hopes to palm off a stolen mink, and another where Terry Thomas enters a low-down dive to the accompaniment of the "Harry Lime theme". The playing of the whole cast is second to none under the direction of Robert Asher, who with his cameraman disguises the stage origins of the piece very adeptly. On the DVD: Make Mine Mink comes to DVD in 4:3 ratio with a mono soundtrack. The theatrical trailer is introduced by Terry Thomas, who presents us to his gang of fur thieves as the voice on the soundtrack announces him as "fur, fur funnier than you've seen him before". More TT tomfoolery can be found in the three-disc Terry Thomas Collection. --Adrian Edwards
One of the greatest of all medieval films not least for its utterly distinctive realisation of a recognisable yet alien world Walerian Borowczyk’s third feature was widely hailed as a masterpiece from the moment it first appeared and is still regarded as one of his greatest films. Based on Juliusz S?owacki’s 19th-century play Mazepa but relocated to 13th-century France Blanche tells the story of the beautiful young wife (Ligia Branice) of a nobleman many decades older (French acting legend Michel Simon). As innocent as her name suggests Blanche becomes the unwilling centre of attention in a power struggle between her husband the visiting King and his page the latter a notorious womaniser. Its unique visual style resembles a medieval fresco and its period-instruments soundtrack adapting the ancient ‘Carmina Burana’ song book was years ahead of its time. Blanche is presented in a brand new high-definition restoration from original 35mm elements. Bonus Features: New high definition digital transfers of the feature and the shorts Uncompressed Mono 2.0 PCM Audio Optional English subtitles where necessary Introduction by Schalcken the Painter director Leslie Megahey Ballad of Imprisonment a documentary about the film featuring producer Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin assistant director André Heinrich camera operator Noël Véry and assistant Patrice Leconte Obscure Pleasures: A Portrait of Walerian Borowczyk a newly edited archival interview in which Borowczyk discusses painting cinema and sex Gunpoint a documentary short by Peter Graham produced and edited by Borowczyk Reversible sleeve featuring original poster designs Collector’s booklet
The Wonderful Crook (aka Pas si merchant que 'a)
Bourgeois housewife Elizabeth takes a holiday by the sea and as identities are mistaken and amorous adventures sparked off, it becomes a vacation to remember.
Starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel this musical showcase of spectacular love songs and dazzling dance numbers garnered a 1954 Academy Award for Best Score (Musical) and received four additional nominations including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. Featuring such memorable tunes as ""Bless Yore Beautiful Hide"" and ""Goin' Co'tin "" When rugged frontiersman Adam (Keel) sweeps local beauty Milly (Powell) off her feet the whole town is turned upside-down. But no one's more shocked than Milly who discovers that she's now expected to cook and clean not only for Adam but for his six rowdy brothers too! Well Milly's no pushover and soon she has those boisterous boys whipped into ""groomhood"" and dancing for joy over six brides of their own!
One of the great late period films by Sacha Guitry - the total auteur who delighted (and scandalised) the French public and inspired the French New Wave as a model for authorship as director-writer-star of screen and stage alike. In every one of his pictures (and almost every one served as a rueful examination of the war between the sexes), Guitry sculpted by way of a rapier wit - one might say by way of the Guitry touch - some of the most sophisticated black comedies ever conceived... and La Poison [Poison] is one of his blackest. Michel Simon plays Paul Braconnier, a man with designs on murdering his wife Blandine (Germaine Reuver) - a woman with similar designs on her husband. When Braconnier visits Paris to consult with a lawyer about the perfect way of killing a spouse - that is, the way in which he can get away with it - an acid comedy unfolds that reaches its peak in a courtroom scene for the ages. From the moment of Guitry's trademark introduction of his principals in the opening credits, and on through the brilliant performance by national treasure Michel Simon (of Renoir's Boudu sauve des eaux and Vigo's L'Atalante, to mention only two high-water marks), here is fitting indication of why Guitry is considered by many the Gallic equal of Ernst Lubitsch. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to introduce Sacha Guitry into the catalogue with La Poison for the first time on video in the UK in a dazzling new Gaumont restoration. Special Features: New HD restoration of the film, presented in 1080p on the Blu-ray Newly translated optional subtitles Substantial booklet containing writing on the film, vintage excerpts, and rare archival imagery
Synopsis and product details to follow
Synopsis and product details to follow
At the age of 12 Antoine's life is dominated by twin passions dancing to Arabic music and getting his hair cut by the voluptuous middle-aged local hairdresser who inadvertently provides him with his first experience of the opposite sex. Antoine reaches middle age with his passion undiminished: upon meeting shy hairdresser Mathilde he is so taken by her that he proposes marriage. She accepts and he moves into her salon where they pursue their romance with an intensity that blind
Jacques Demy's ode to the fairy tale by 17th Century author Charles Perrault comes to life with breathtaking brilliance! This epic tale overflows with dazzling colour elaborate costumes and an enchanting score by Oscar-winning composer Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg). Catherine Deneuve stars as a Princess whose father the King (Jean Marais) seeks her hand in marriage after promising his dying wife to only wed a woman more beautiful than she. Listening to her godmother
Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lendhis words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine
A celebration of youth friendship and the everlasting magic of the movies. The story of a lifelong love affair with the movies Cinema Paradiso tells of a young boy in a small Italian Village where the only pastime is a visit to the movies at the Cinema Paradiso. Enchanted by the flickering images Salvatore yearns for the secret of the cinema's magic and is overjoyed when Alfredo the projectionist agrees to reveal the mysteries of movie making to him. As their friendship grows so does Salvatore growing older with his good friend and the movies he adores learning from both of them how to court his first love and dreaming of one day making movies of his own. When the day comes for Salvatore to leave the village and pursue his dream Alfredo makes the young man promise to never look back to keep moving forward. And so he does for thirty years until the day a message arrives that beckons him back home to a secret beautiful discovery that awaits him there.
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