Below is a list of all our French Films shown at the Cinema Evenings.
Further details regarding the films can also be found at www.imdb.com
DRAMA
• Au Nom De Ma Fille. Based on a true story, the struggle of Andre Bamberski to bring justice to his daughter Kalinka who died in disturbing circumstances. After 27 years of investigation Bamberski will finally get the killer kidnapped and brought to justice.
• Jean De Florette & Manon Des Sources. City dweller Jean de Florette moves his family to the Provence countryside in the 1920s to forge a new life as a farmer. But his cocky neighbouring rival Le Papet schemes with his simple nephew Ugolin to acquire some nearby land ensuring the novice owner never discovers an all-important natural spring.
The timeless story continues with the late Jean de Florette’s daughter Manon now a beautiful and free-spirited young shepherdess on her father’s farm. But when she finally learns the tragic truth behind her father’s death, Manon plots her revenge on the dim-witted Ugolin and the scheming Le Papet.
• Au Revoir Là-haut. November 1919. Two soldiers – a disfigured but brilliant artist and an ex-accountant – start a memorial con. But in the France of the Roaring Twenties, their adventures soon turn dangerous.
• Return to Burgundy. Modern times, After a 10 year absence, Jean returns to his hometown when his father falls ill. Reuniting with his sister Juliette and his brother Jérémie, they have to re-build their relationship and trust as a family again. Against a portrait of the French wine industry focusing on the small scale producers, the nature of ownership of vineyards, production and the impact of inheritance taxes.
DRAMA/ROMANCE
• Priceless. Through a set of wacky circumstances, a young gold digger mistakenly woos a mild-mannered bartender thinking he’s a wealthy suitor.
• The Well-Digger’s Daughter. In 1930s southern France, a father is torn between his sense of honor and his deep love for his daughter when she gets in trouble with the wealthy son of a shopkeeper.
• Marius. Part 1 of the remake of Marcel Pagnol’s ‘Marseille Trilogy’. Marius lives in bustling 1920s Marseille where his childhood friend with fishmonger’s daughter Fanny blossoms into love. Despite this, he is restless and yearns to run away to sea.
• Fanny. Part 2 of the remake of Marcel Pagnol’s ‘Marseille Trilogy’. Continuing the story Fanny finds herself pregnant and abandoned by Marius who is sailing the seven seas. She is persuaded to accept the romantic advances of an older, kid-hearted and rich widower.
• César. The original Part 3 from Marcel Pagnol’s ‘Marseille Trilogy’. Honore Panisse is dying and confesses to the priest in front of his friends that he is not the real father to his son Cesariot but he cannot bring himself to tell his son that his real father is Marius.
COMEDY/DRAMA
• La Famille Bélier. For the Béliers their sixteen year old daughter Paula is a vital member of their eccentric clan. As the only non-deaf member of the family she acts as their ears and mouth. Family life is thrown into dissarray when Paula discovers a gift for singing.
• Le Prenom. Vincent is about to become a father. At a meeting with childhood friends he announces the name for his future son. The scandalous name ignites a discussion which surfaces unpleasant matters from the past of the group.
•Le Gloire de Mon Pere & Le Chateau de Ma Mere. Based on the childhood memoirs of Marcel Pagnol.
• Looking for Hortense. A bitter sweet comedy of manners that is French in spirit but universal in appeal
• Le Havre. Marcel and Arletty’s quiet, economically impoverished but emotionally rich life is disrupted when she is diagnosed with a serious disease. At the same time, Marcel takes a young illegal immigrant under his wing.
• Les Folies Fermiers. Inspired by a True Story. David, a young peasant from Cantal, has just had an idea: to save his farm from bankruptcy, he is going to set up a cabaret on the farm.
COMEDY
• The Closet. An inspiring social comedy about an office assistant who pretends that he is gay in order to save his job.
• Le Diner de Cons. To amuse themselves at a weekly dinner, a few well-heeled folk each bring a dimwit along who is to talk about his pastime. Each member seeks to introduce a champion dumbbell.
• Viva Maria. Maria, a circus performer and Maria, the daughter of an IRA operative are brought together by fate during the heady days of 1907.
• Potiche. When her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees, a trophy wife (Deneuve) takes the reins of the family business and proves to be a remarkably effective leader. Business and personal complications arrive in the form of her ex-lover (Depardieu), a former union leader.
• La Guerre des Boutons. In the countryside of France, two groups of boys from the rural villages of Longeverne and Velran are in constant war against each other. Their war is a tradition that passes from father to son and without a motive but the rivalry between the peasants.
• Les Vacances de M. Hulot. Set in a sleepy, french coastal resort which is seasonably disrupted by holidaymakers in energetic pursuit of fun.
COMEDY/MUSICAL
• French Cancan. This comedy drama from Jean Renoir chronicles the revival of Paris’ most notorious dance as it tells the story of a theater producer who turns a humble washerwoman into a star at the Moulin Rouge.
COMEDY/ROMANCE
• Populaire. Rose is a terrible secretary but a demon typist. Her handsome boss resolves to turn her into the fastest girl in the world.
• Amélie. Amélie is an innocent and naive girl in Paris with her own sense of justice. She decides to help those around her and, along the way, discovers love.
• Gemma Bovery. Martin, an ex-Parisian well-heeled hipster passionate about Gustave Flaubert who settled into a Norman village as a baker, sees an English couple moving into a small farm nearby whose behavior also seems to be inspired by Flaubert’s heroes.
• Un homme at une femme. A widow and a widower find their relationship developing into love, but their past tragedies prove hard to overcome, causing them to proceed with utmost delicacy.
• Mood Indigo. A surreal and poetic tale of Colin and Chloe whose idyllic love story is turned on it’s head when Chloe falls sick. Colin must go out to work in a series of increasingly absurd jobs to pay for the fresh flowers that Chloe needs to be surrounded with in order to feel better.
ROMANCE/HISTORICAL/DRAMA
• Camille Claudel. The troubled life of french sculptor Camille Claudel and her long relationship with legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin are portrayed in this passionate biographical drama.
• Vatel (x 2). Vatel is in charge of the reception to the king Louis XIV. With the prince’s political ambitions at stake, its essential to please him. But when he falls in love with the king’s lover, passion and duty seem to contradict each other.
MUSICAL/ROMANCE/DRAMA
• La Vie en Rose. From the slums of Paris to the limelight of New York, Edith Piaf’s life was a battle to sing and survive, live and love.
• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
A young woman separated from her lover by war faces a life-altering decision.
ADVENTURE/COMEDY/WAR
• La Grande Vadrouille. Several ordinary Frenchmen, helping British pilots avoid Nazi captivity, goes on an epic voyage through the occupied country to the Swiss border.