"Actor: Michel"

• World Noir Vol 2 (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (26/08/2024) from £40.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  AS THE 1960S BEGAN, THE CLASSIC PERIOD OF FILM NOIR CAME TO AN END IN HOLLYWOOD. BUT FILMMAKERS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD WOULD CONTINUE TO PRODUCE FIRST-RATE EXAMPLES OF THE GENRE, WITH THREE SUPERB EXAMPLES COLLECTED HERE. IN HELMUT KÄUTNER'S BLACK GRAVEL AN ILLICIT COUPLE FIND THEMSELVES HAVING TO COVER UP A PAIR OF DEAD BODIES IN POST-WAR GERMANY. IN JACQUES DERAY'S SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE FIVE GANGSTERS BUY A CACHE OF DRUGS, BUT ONE OF THEM IS PLANNING A DOUBLE CROSS. IN TAKUMI FURUKAWA'S CRUEL GUN STORY A GANGSTER (JOE SHISHIDO) EXECUTES A DARING HEIST ON AN ARMOURED VEHICLE.

• Breathless | DVD | (22/06/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo), an ex-airline steward turned hoodlum, steals a car and heads to Paris. Discovering a gun in the car's glove department, he uses it to shoot and kill a cop who tries to wave him down. He wants to escape to Italy with his American girlfriend Patricia (Jean Seberg), but the police are after him, and he is distracted by all the pleasures Paris has to offer.Story-wise, Jean-Luc Godard's A Bout De Souffle (1960) (aka Breathless) is pretty thin, but as its director always proclaimed, you don't need much in the way of narrative to make a movie. Sometimes a girl and a gun are quite enough. The effortlessly cool and laconic Belmondo mirrors the director's mischief and flamboyance. With his fat cigarette stub perched on his bottom lip, his shades, his felt hat and white socks, he looks like a cross between a left-bank intellectual and an American gumshoe (perhaps his beloved Bogart). With her close-cropped hair and New York Herald Tribune T-shirt, his girlfriend (Jean Seberg) is equally stylish. A Hollywood star (she had appeared in the lead in Otto Preminger's Saint Joan in 1957 when she was still a teenager), the Iowa-born Seberg is turned by Godard into the lithe embodiment of European radical chic.The film has a spontaneity that studio-bound offerings of the time missed by a mile. Cameraman Raoul Coutard uses natural light and real locations whenever possible. Lots of the pet tricks in the movie--jump cuts, whip pans and improvised tracking shots--have been copied relentlessly by imitators ever since. A Bout De Souffle, though, is unique: anarchic, liberating and hugely stylish, "the best film around now", as its trailer proclaimed. It made Godard, almost overnight, into "the world's most discussed, interviewed and quoted filmmaker". --Geoffrey MacnabOn the DVD: Godard's greatest movie has been lovingly transferred to disc by Optimum, and comes with several extras including trailers and production notes and an old Godard short, Charlotte Et Son Jules, also starring the swaggering, arrogant Belmondo. --Geoffrey Macnab

• Le Diner De Cons | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £9.46   |  Saving you £6.53 (69.03%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Each week Pierre and his friends organize what is called as ""un dner de cons"" in which each participant must bring the most idiotic companion as a guest with a prize awarded to the most irritating of the evening. Pierre (Thierry Lhermitte) thinks his quarry is unsurpassable but when an injury forces him to miss the regular meal he finds that his new found friend is not easy to shake off...

• Joyeux Noel | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £4.77   |  Saving you £11.22 (235.22%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When war breaks out in the lull of summer 1914 it surprises and pulls millions of men in its wake. And Christmas arrives with it's snow and multitude of family and army bundles. But the surprise won't come from the inside the generous parcels which lie in the French Scottish and German trenches. That night a momentous event will turn the destinies of four characters; A Scottish priest a French lieutenant an exceptional German tenor and the one he loves and sings with a wonderful Danish soprano. They will find themselves at the heart of unprecedented fraternisations between German British and French troops. During that Christmas Eve the unthinkable will happen: rifles will be left at the bottom of trenches and steps will be taken towards those opposite to shake their hands exchange a cigarette or a piece of chocolate to wish them a ""Merry Christmas"".

• Wasabi | DVD | (18/08/2003) from £7.49   |  Saving you £12.50 (166.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This high-energy Dirty Harry in Japan stars Jean Reno (The Professional) as a maverick Paris cop with sledgehammer fists and a short temper. Promoted to sudden fatherhood when he "inherits" a spunky Japanese daughter (Ryoko Hirosue) he never knew, he becomes her droopy guardian angel, protecting her from an army of yakuza gangsters. Written and produced by Luc Besson, the former fashionista director of Euro-sleek shoot-'em-ups, this colorful B-movie blast is as gritty as an oil slick on a water slide but packed with explosive action. Director Gerard Krawczyk punctuates his gunfights with the Hong Kong school of recoil (bullets blast victims across the screen) and an undercurrent of humor. As long as you don't lean too hard on such niggling details as logic, legality, and the laws of physics, this silly, splashy, family bonding bulletfest is a spirited good time.

• The Count Of Monte Cristo | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Alexandre Dumas' celebrated book 'The Count Of Monte Cristo' follows the adventures of Edmond Dants (Gerard Depardieu) a 19th-century French version of James Bond a rich ruthless and suave purveyor of homemade justice. This French production is extravagant having the destinction of being the first filmed version of the newly restored unabridged version of Dumas' classic which runs about 800 pages. The movie was filmed all over Europe and doesn't leave out any detail from the ce

• The Girl From Paris | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £18.73   |  Saving you £1.26 (6.73%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Fed up with city life Sandrine (Mathilde Seigner) decides to leave Paris and live out her dream of becoming a farmer. It's love at first sight when she comes across a farmstead on the Vercors plateau which she takes over from cantankerous farming veteran Adrien (Michel Serrault). Sandrine is confident she can run the farm by herself but Adrien is sceptical; the trials of the oncoming winter will prove them both wrong... Set against a backdrop of beautiful French Alpine countrysid

• Weak Spot (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (27/01/2025) from £15.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Ugo Tognazzi (La grande bouffe) is an innocent playboy holiday rep in Greece who is picked up by two secret agents (Michel Piccoli, Le Mépris and Mario Adorf, The Italian Connection). Suspected of being part of an underground resistance, he is to be transported by the agents to Athens where he will be interrogated by superior officers. Their journey is the start of a cat-and-mouse game that beautifully plays on Tognazzi's screen persona with the thrilling tension of Costa-Gavras' Z. Newly restored in 4K by Studio Canal, Peter Fleischmann's paranoid thriller is made available on Blu-ray for the first time.

• Asterix And Obelix Take On Caesar (1999) | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (20.04%)   |  RRP £5.99

  'Asterix and Obelix Take On Caesar' is France's second most successful film of all time and stars internationally renowned actor Gerard Depardieu as Gaulish warrior Obelix alongside Oscar winning Roberto Benigni as the wicked Detritus. Journey back 2000 years as Ancient France is on the brink of complete Roman invasion well almost complete... except for one small village of indomitable Gauls that still holds out against the invaders. It is here that Asterix and his friends are con

• Love Like Poison | DVD | (25/07/2011) from £8.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (77.86%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Anna a young teenager comes home from her Catholic boarding school for the holidays and discovers her father has left. Her mother is devastated and confined in the company of the local priest who is also a childhood friend. Anna clings to her beloved grandfather. She also grows close to Pierre a free-spirited teenager who cares little about God. Anna is preparing for her confirmation but her budding desire for Pierre shakes her faith. She longs to give herself over body and soul but doesn't know if it is to God or something else ...?

• Mississippi Mermaid (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (29/07/2024) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Wealthy plantation tycoon Louis (Jean-Paul Belmondo, Breathless) puts up an ad for a bride and luminous beauty Julie (Catherine Deneuve, Belle de Jour) arrives in answer. More attractive than the photograph he received Louis is nevertheless enraptured despite some strange details in her story. Things get complicated when Julie disappears and Louis determines to find her, leading him on a trail of mystery and erotic obsession. Adapted by Truffaut from a novel by Cornell Woolrich (The Bride Wore Black), Mississippi Mermaid is a lush colour noir that features the twists and turns of the genre with the heart of Renoir (to whom the film is dedicated) while Belmondo and Deneuve are on top form.

• L'Homme De Ma Vie | DVD | (03/09/2007) from £16.67   |  Saving you £-1.68 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  As a way of getting on in the world working for wages and constantly being in danger of being fired or laid off is a pretty poor system. In this movie pretty young Aimee decides that marriage to the right man is a much better bargain. Though she is very fond of an impoverished bookstore owner the man who meets her strict criteria is a famous and high-strung restaurant critic. After cohabiting with her new spouse for a while she goes for the really big-time payoff that comes with divorce and stages everything entirely to her satisfaction.

• The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg | DVD | (10/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg' is an unforgettable story of a lost love! Set in the French seaside town of Cherbourg the all-sung dialogue tells the story of shop-girl Genevieve (Catherine Deneuve) who discovers that she is pregnant after her garage mechanic boyfriend Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) is drafted to fight in the Algerian war. She marries the decent and honourable diamond merchant Roland Cassard (Marc Michel) but lives

• The Night is Young | DVD | (23/06/2014) from £8.95   |  Saving you £7.04 (78.66%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Night Is Young - Petty thief and street hustler Alex (Denis Lavant) plots to steal a new miracle cure for an AIDS-like virus on behalf of his gangster friend Marc (Michel Piccoli). But this attracts the notice of a mysterious American woman who also wants the serum. One of the most notable films of the 80s this dazzlingly inventive mix of off-beat romance and sci-fi thriller cemented Carax's reputation as one of the most exciting directors in the world.

• A.W.O.L. | Blu Ray | (18/05/2015) from £13.98   |  Saving you £4.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Action legend Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as a soldier drawn into the world of modern-day gladiators fighting for the amusement of the rich in this fast-moving action thriller. Upon receiving news that his brother in Los Angeles is seriously injured Lyon Gaultier (Van Damme) deserts the French Foreign Legion from a remote outpost in North Africa. Fleeing from two of the Legion's security force who have orders to bring him back at any cost Lyon reluctantly turns to the illegal bare-knuckles underground fighting circuit to raise the money he needs to help his brother's family. This riveting action-adventure combines the raw power and charisma of Van Damme with the exciting world of no-holds-barred street fighting.

• L'Atalante and the films of Jean Vigo - 2 disc set | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £13.79   |  Saving you £6.20 (44.96%)   |  RRP £19.99

  L'Atalante (1934):This intoxicatingly inventive masterpiece is one of the world's great films. A simple and engaging plot is transformed into a kaleidoscope of dazzling digressions and offbeat characterizations complete with tour-de-force scenes that still seem fresh and startling. propos de Nice (1930):What starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Cote d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.Taris (1931):An Inventive short portrait of a swimming champion Zero de Conduite (1933):A radical, delightful tale of boarding-school rebellion that has influenced countless film-makers.

• Belle De Jour | DVD | (22/01/2007) from £15.94   |  Saving you £4.05 (25.41%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Undoubtedly Luis Bunuel's most accessible film Belle de Jour is an elegant and erotic masterpiece that maintains as hypnotic a grip on modern audiences as it did on its debut 30 years ago. Screen icon Catherine Deneuve (Repulsion) plays Severine the glacially beautiful sexually unfulfilled wife of a surgeon whose blood runs icy with ennui until she takes a day-job in a brothel. There she meets a charismatic but sinister young gangster (Pierre Clmenti) and ignites an obsession that will court peril.

• Boudu Saved From Drowning | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £11.98   |  Saving you £8.01 (40.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In an oeuvre permeated with ambivalence toward bourgeois life director Jean Renoir speculates on the result of the abandonment of those values in Boudu Saved From Drowning. Producer Michel Simon stars as Boudu a vagabond who attempts suicide by throwing himself into the Seine grieving over the loss of his dog. But Eduaord Lestingois (Charles Granval) a humane bookseller rescues him and takes him into his home hoping to reform the shaggy bum. Shortly thereafter anarchy

• More (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (19/09/2011) from £16.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (17.66%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Barbet Schroeder's (Single White Female, The Valley) dark tale, based on a true story, follows the naive Stefan (Klaus Grunberg) in his pursuit of offbeat American Estelle (Mimsy Farmer) to the island paradise of Ibiza. He leads a seemingly idyllic life with her by the sea - where the scenic beauties and delights of LSD and nude sunbathing are fully revealed by Nestor Almendros' stunning photography - before succumbing to the destructive trappings of heroin addiction.The film is famous for its subdued, moody Pink Floyd soundtrack, featuring some of the band's most spontaneous and eclectic work - including Green is the Colour, Cymbaline and The Nile Song.Extra Features: Dual Format Edition: includes both the Blu-ray and the DVD of the film and the extras. Original trailer Trailers for The Valley and Matresse Interview with Barbet Schroeder Fully illustrated booklet

• The Bride Wore Black | Blu Ray | (20/11/2023) from £16.25   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim) stars as the titular bride, who after marrying her love sees him murdered on the steps outside the church. From here she enacts her ruthless revenge on the group of men responsible. Undoubtedly an influence on Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, François Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black was itself influenced by the director's idol, Alfred Hitchcock. Adapting celebrated crime writer Cornel Woolrich (who was also the author of the short story Hitchcock's Rear Window is based on) Truffaut's film is a deliciously entertaining tale that was one of the director's biggest hits. Alongside Moreau, the film boasts a sensational cast, including Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Clude Brialy, Charles Denner and Michel Bouquet among others, and features a score by the maestro, Bernard Herrman (Psycho). Product Features High-Definition digital transfer Original uncompressed mono PCM audio Archival interviews with François Truffaut and Jeanne Moreau (1968, 1969) Appreciation by filmmaker Kent Jones (Hitchcock/Truffaut) Barry Forshaw on Cornel Woolrich and the adaptation Trailer Optional English subtitles