Francois Truffaut's classic tale of a love triangle which takes place over 20 years both before and after World War I. Jeanne Moreau stars as Catherine the beautiful and unpredictable woman who maintains a delicate relationship with two friends the quiet German Jules (Oskar Werner) and the romantic Parisian Jim (Henri Serre). The War intervenes and drives the men to the opposing fronts; afterwards the two quickly resume their friendship but the balance of their relationship with Catherine is now upset by more adult concerns.
Desius Heiss is the French-born owner of an antique Shop On Sly Corner who bears a grudge against society. His imprisonment and torture on Devil's Island has left the scars of repeated whippings down his back. With little care for the authorities Heiss has allowed his shop to become a centre of criminal activity and has a secret career as a receiver of stolen goods. His beloved daughter Margaret knows nothing of her father's criminal activities. But when the antique shop's assistant Archie Fellowes (Kenneth Griffith) discovers the trade in stolen goods he blackmails Heiss. Desperate to keep his criminal activities a secret from his daughter Heiss decides to silence his blackmailer.
Judith (Julie Andrews) an attractive widow is holidaying in Barbados where she meets the charming and handsome Feodor (Omar Sharif) the Russian military attach'' to Paris. A friendship develops but unbeknownst to Judith Feodor uses his position to conceal his role as Second-in-Command of the KGB. In London her Foreign Office employers have heard about their meeting and both Britain and France are alarmed believing this was a pre-arranged rendezvous between two security threats. The couple's fledging romance quickly escalates into international intrigue.
Tense spy drama about a German traitor who offers his services to the Allies towards the end of WWII. Claiming he wants to help save his country German prisoner Karl Maurer (Oskar Werner) offers himself as a spy to the American forces. But shortly after he is sent behind enemy lines his overseer Lt. Dick Rennick (Richard Basehart) begins to have serious doubts about whether he can trust the new recruit. With Rennick becoming ever more suspicious about Maurer's motives the pair soon find themselves in the thick of battle but uncertainty remains as to who the common enemy is.
Jules Et Jim' is Francois Truffaut's beautiful and enigmatic film about the lifelong friendship between two writers - French novelist Jim (Henri Serre) and Austrian children's author Jules (Oskar Werner) - and their mutual love for the eccentric Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). With artful black-and-white imagery the story begins in 1920s Paris when Jules and Jim first meet and become friends. As young single men they gallavant about Paris chasing women or studying ancient art. When they meet the equally energetic Catherine whose impulses range from dressing up as a man to taking midnight plunges into the Seine their circle is complete. But when World War II erupts with Jules and Jim fighting on opposite sides everything changes. Jules marries Catherine before going off to battle. After the war they settle into a quiet existence in the French countryside. But Catherine is restless and unfaithful. Jim reunites with his oldest and closest friend and Catherine makes room for him in their house asking him to move in and become her lover. Jim complies as he wants nothing more than to please his friend Jules who agrees to the plan...
The Key
The Testament of Dr Mabuse is Fritz Lang's sequel to his flamboyant Dr Mabuse two-part epic of the 1920s, this time adding subtle use of sound to the creepy effects developed for the earlier film. Once a Moriarty-like mastermind, the haggard Dr M (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) has become an autistic asylum inmate who scrawls plans for daring crimes in his cell and exerts an unhealthy influence on his psychiatrist. Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke), the jolly policeman from Lang's M, is puzzled by a series of daring crimes that bear the Mabuse signature, and a gang of thugs take instructions from a shadowy figure who claims after the doctor's death to be Mabuse reborn and is staging a reign of crime apparently designed to bring about the ruin of all law-abiding society. Though it works best as a textbook thriller, some commentators, including Lang, suggested that the pulp plot was intended to allegorise the evil influence of the Nazi party, with a crime boss who rants like Hitler. The many impressive set-pieces still work, too: the pursuit of a spy through a grinding print-works, an assassination at a traffic light, hero and heroine trapped in a room with a bomb and cutting a water main to flood their way to freedom, the persecution of the asylum head by a phantom of his patient, and a last-reel night-time chase. On the DVD: The Testament of Dr Mabuse on disc is accompanied by a 15-minute illustrated essay on the film and its history. There are English subtitles. --Kim Newman
Jules Et Jim (1960): Francois Truffaut's beautiful and enigmatic film about the lifelong friendship between two writers - French novelist Jim (Henri Serre) and Austrian children's author Jules (Oskar Werner) - and their mutual love for the eccentric Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). The story begins in 1920s Paris when Jules and Jim first meet and become friends. As young single men they gallavant about Paris chasing women or studying ancient art. When they meet the equally energetic Catherine whose impulses range from dressing up as a man to taking midnight plunges into the Seine their circle is complete. But when World War II erupts with Jules and Jim fighting on opposite sides everything changes. Jules marries Catherine before going off to battle. After the war they settle into a quiet existence in the French countryside. But Catherine is restless and unfaithful. Jim reunites with his oldest and closest friend and Catherine makes room for him in their house asking him to move in and become her lover. Jim complies as he wants nothing more than to please his friend Jules who agrees to the plan... The Last Metro (1980): Winning an incredible ten French Academy Awards in 1981 The Last Metro is one of Truffaut's most highly acclaimed and popular films. Starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu in magnetic performances the story is set in Paris 1942 during the Nazi occupation of France. When Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennett) the Jewish owner of the Montparnasse Theatre is forced into hiding his wife and lead actress Marion (Deneuve) takes over. Desperate to keep both the troupe and Lucas alive she stages a new play which must be a success to continue. She hires the womanising actor Bernard Granger (Depardieu) for the lead in their next production. Just as the actors begin their rehearsals an anti-semitic journalist ensconces himself in the theatre creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity. Will he discover Lucas' hideaway and the political affiliations of the group's lead actor? Truffaut delivers a captivating study of artists (the actors) struggling against the odds (the Nazis) and a compelling insight into the atmosphere of wartime Paris and the theatre set against a backdrop of exquisite period detail. La Peau Douce (1964): Pierre is a successful happily married publisher who meets Nicole a lovely airplane stewardess and begins a lustful affair with her. As his passion deepens he realizes he must choose between his wife Franca and his mistress. However the movie takes a suprising twist leading to one of the most startling conclusions in film history... The 400 Blows (1959): Praised by film-makers and critics the world over Truffaut's 400 Blows launched the Nouvelle Vague and paved the way for some of cinema's most important and influential directors. Twelve-year-old Antoine Doinel has troubles at home and at school. Ignored and neglected by his parents his relationship with his mother is further strained when he discovers that she has taken a secret lover. Added to this his school teachers have written him off as a troublemaker and with luck seemingly never on his side it is Antoine who ends up getting the blame for bad behaviour. Finding refuge only in his love of cinema Antoine soon finds it necessary to break free and discover what the world can offer outside of the confines of his everyday life. This remarkable film features the extraordinary talent of Jean-Pierre Leaud as the rebellious Antoine a character based on Truffaut himself. Doinel was to make appearances in a number of Truffaut's films (including Stolen Kisses Bed and Board and Love on the Run) all of which chart his further adventures into adulthood.
The composition and premieres of Zauberflote and the Requiem with the renowned Vienna Mozart ensemble of the 50s Oskar Werner Life And Loves Of Mozart.
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