VIDÉOS-
Van Wylen French Video & DVD Holdings 2005-2006
FILMS
400 Coups, Les (4oo Blows, The). 1959, 99 minutes, French with
optional English subtitles, black and white, DVD. A film by François
Truffaut.
Fourteen-year-old Antoine Doinel lives in a cramped apartment
with his mother and stepfather, neglected by them and unlucky at school.
Living an intense imaginative life of his own he gets into trouble and
is finally committed to reform school from which he escapes and runs
towards the sea, which he has never seen.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .J87 Q3 1999
A Bout de Souffle (Breathless). 1960, 90 minutes, French with
English subtitles, black and white. Based on a story by François Truffaut.
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. With Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.
A playful car thief accidentally shoots a policeman, then
hides in Paris with a hip American girl, trying to hustle enough cash
for a getaway.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2680 .R776 B7413 1997
A Propos de Nice. 1929-1931, 35 minutes, silent film.
“A propos de Nice” juxtaposes images of vacationers on the
beach with impoverished slum dwellers in Nice, France.
+ “Taris” is a motion study of Jean Taris utilizing underwater cinematography.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995. 9. E96 A2 1998
Accompagnatrice, L’ (The Accompanist). 1992, 111 Minutes, French
with English Subtitles, Color. With Richard and Romane Bohringer, Elena
Safonova.
Winter 1942-43, Paris and London, Sophie accompanist to
superstar singer lives the high life on her coattails in a love-hate
relationship. Singer's husband makes shady deals. Sophie is pained
and overshadowed by the singer, misses her own chances for happiness.
CALL NUMBER: PG3476.B425 A63
Alphaville (une étrange aventure). 1965, 99 minutes, French with
optional subtitles, color, DVD. A film by Jean-Luc Godard.
Secret agent Lemmy Caution travels to another galaxy and
finds himself in a computer-run society which is dedicated to technology
and outlaws emotion.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .9. S26 A47 1998
Anglaise et le duc, L’ (Lady and the Duke). 2001, 129 minutes,
French with optional English subtitles, DVD. Based on “Ma vie sous la
revolution” (Journal of my life during the French Revolution) by Grace
Elliott. A film by Eric Rohmer.
Beautiful aristocrat Grace Elliott enjoys her comfortable
upper-middle class life and warm friendship with her former lover the
Duke of Orleans, until the turbulent French Revolution of the 1790s frighteningly
begins. Their friendship unravels as Grace risks her life taking in a
fugitive against the Duke’s wishes. Soon, Grace urges the Duke not to
make horrifying decision. But ultimately she’s unable to prevent several
bloody fates—including the possibility of her own.
CALL NUMBER: DC146.E57 A3 2002
Argent de Poche, L’ (Small change). 1976, 105 Minutes, French
with English subtitles, Color. A film by François Truffaut.
The setting is Thiers, a town in south France selected
by Truffaut because "it was small enough that you keep running into
people you know--it had a sense of community." Within that warmhearted
community, Truffaut interweaves vignettes of puppy love, school days,
bragging rights, trips to the movie house, loving parents...and one boy's
escape from the nightmare of child abuse. Only Truffaut could take a
story of such straightforward simplicity and make it so astonishingly
moving an experience. Small Change is a treasure.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .A73
Au Revoir Les Enfants. 1987, 104 Minutes, French, Color. Directed
by Louis Malle.
Julien Quentin lives in a boarding school. His strong character
makes him a leader among the children. A lonely boy, Jean Bonnet, becomes
good friends with Julien and they become inseparable until the Gestapo
show up in class and call out names looking for Jews. Jean Bonnet is
taken away...
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .A85
Babar et le Père Noel. 1985, 34 Minutes, French, no subtitiles.
King Babar takes a journey in search of the legendary Father
Christmas. But lurking along on Babar's trail is Babar's arch-enemy,
Rataxes, the Rhinoceros, who wants all of Santa's toys for himself.
CALL NUMBER: PZ10.3.B767 B3
Bal, Le. 1982, 113 minutes, color. Based on the stage production
created by Jean-Claude Penchenet. Directed by Ettore Scola.
Le Bal takes place in a hypothetical Parisian dance hall
and its plot is communicated entirely through mime, its pop music soundtrack
and period ballroom dances.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .9. M86 B6 1984
Bas-fonds, Les. 92 minutes.
The story of a group of social outcasts in the 19th century
moscow living together in a filthy rooming house, some trying to escape,
some attempting to adjust, and others hoping to maintain their illusions.
CALL NUMBER: PG3463 .N2
Belle de Jour. 1967, 100 minutes, French with English subtitles,
color. Directed by Luis Buñuel. With Catherine Deneuve.
Subtle, erotic film about a wealthy young surgeon’s wife
who indulges her masochistic fantasies by working as a part-time prostitute
in a Paris brothel.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2621 .E77 B45 1990z
Belle et la Bête, La (Beauty and the Beast). 1946, 90 minutes,
B & W, French with English subtitles. Directed by Jean Cocteau.
A magnificent work of art as well as a classic cinematic
experience. Beauty and the Beast brings to life the enchanting
fable of the kindly beast and the self-sacrificing beauty whose love
releases the prince in him. Cocteau creates a mood of dream-like delicacy
and ethereal charm.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2605 .O15 J42 1946
Bête Humaine, La. 1938, 75 minutes, black and white,
French with English Subtitles. Based on the novel by Emile Zola. With
Jean Gabin.
The scion of the alcoholic Rougon Macquart family, Jacques
Lantier is a man who loves a married woman, but whose own problems drive
him to kill her.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2498 .A1 1997
Black and White in Color. 1977, 88 minutes, French with English
subtitles, color. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
The idyllic life in a French-African settlement is rudely
interrupted in 1915 by news of war in Europe. The French gamely assemble
a rag-tag army of native soldiers to try to capture a neighboring German
settlement. The result is a classic farce whose comedy is enlivened by
the antic clash of African versus European customs.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .B52 1987
Blood of a Poet. 1930, 55 minutes, French with English subtitles,
black and white. A film by Jean Cocteau.
An artist is driven mad by the sight of his own blood and
a drawing of a mouth that seems to come to life. The combination sends
him off on a series of bizarre adventures that strive to explain how
artists become obsessed with their works.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2605 .O15 B56 1980
Camille Claudel. 1989, 159 Minutes, French with English subtitles,
Color. A film by Bruno Nuytten. With Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu.
This is the true story of Camille Claudel and Rodin's passionate
obsession with art and with each other. Both an inspiring saga of artistic
vision and the haunting story of a doomed romance, it offers a brilliant
study of the thin line separating creativity, passion, and madness. Combining
stunning cinematography, powerful performances and a timeless love story,
this film is itself a masterpiece.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .C26
Cet Obscur Objet du Désir (That Obscur Object of Desire). 1977,
104 minutes, French with English subtitles, DVD. Directed by Luis Buñuel.
A wealthy older man has an affair with a young maid played
by two different actresses in this darkly humorous satire on sexual obsession.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2623 .O8 C48 2001
Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie, Le. 1972, 2 videos (101 and
98 minutes), French with optional English subtitles, DVD. Directed by
Luis Buñuel.
An upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats,
their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudeville mixture of events
both actual and imagined.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .C528 2000
Chateau de Ma Mère, Le (My Mother's Castle). 1990, 97 Minutes,
French with English Subtitles. Directed by Yves Robert. Based on the
work of Marcel Pagnol.
Young Marcel dreams of returning to the vacation house in
the valley. So they go Christmas, Easter, and then every weekend. They
find a key that shortens their path to the cottage but a guard makes
it difficult...
CALL NUMBER: PQ2631.A26 Z54
Chocolat. 1989, 105 Minutes, French with English subtitles,
Color. A Film by Claire Denis. With Cécile Ducasse.
A mesmerizing memoir of life in colonial Africa in the 1950s
seen through the unblinking eyes of the young daughter of a French official. A
young woman has returned to Cameroon to
trace her past...Soon she is swept back to her childhood. Stifling isolation
and sexual frustration create an undercurrent of tension that threatens
to explode as an assortment of Europeans with little past and less future
pass through their sun-baked outpost. Visually breathtaking and emotionally
haunting, this stunning directorial debut presents a side of Africa--and
of youth--never before captured on film.
CALL NUMBER: DT546 .C4
Clockmaker, The. 1973, 100 minutes, French with English subtitles,
color. Based on the novel by Georges Simenon.
In Tavernier’s 1973 filmmaking debut, a tranquil man of
Lyons has his life shattered when he learns that his son is wanted for
murder. As he struggles to emerge from his self-willed solitude and create
real communication with his son, police and media add to his burden.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2637 .I53 C4613 1998
Colette. 1951, 35 Minutes, French with English subtitles, Black
and White. Society for French American Cultural Services and Educational
Aid.
This film about her life, written and directed by Colette
herself, was made three years before the death of the famous woman writer.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2605.O28 C65
Colonel Chabert, Le. 1992. 111mns.
Gerard Depardieu stars as the returning war hero who is not supposed
to return. Now he faces another battle at home to claim what is rightfully
his. Features Fanny Ardant.
CALL NUMBER: PQ 2163.C7
Comte de Monte Cristo, Le (Count of Monte Cristo, The). 1998,
4 videocassettes (480 minutes), color, French with English subtitles.
TV adaptation of the work of Alexandre Dumas. With Gérard Depardieu.
Tells the dramatic story of Edmond Dantes, a young French
sailor who is falsely denounced as a political traitor and injustly imprisoned
for 18 years without trial. After a daring escape, Dantes flees to the
island of Monte Cristo, where he finds a colossal treasure bequeathed
to him by a dying fellow inmate. Using these riches, he assumes a new
identity and devises, plan to vengeance upon all those who betrayed him.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2226 .A3 D4 1999
Conte d’Automne (Autumn Tale). 1999, 110 minutes, French with
English subtitles.
In the fourth tale of “Tales of the four seasons” by Eric
Rohmer, Magali is a 45-year old winegrower whose children have just left
home and whose friends are trying to find her a man.
CALL NUMBER: PQ 2678 .03455 C6
Cyrano de Bergerac. 1990, 138 Minutes, French with English subtitles,
Color. A film by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. With Gerard Depardieu, Jacques
Weber, and Anne Brochet.
One of the most famous romances of all time comes to brilliant
life in this dazzling new film based on the world famous play. Cyrano
is the 17th Century soldier-adventurer who is secretly in love with the
beautiful, young Roxane. Believing he is too ugly because of his grotesque
nose to ever win Roxane, the eloquent Cyrano helps Christian, a tongue-tied
soldier, to woo her with love letters. But Christian is killed in battle
and Cyrano feels compelled to keep his secret. Years later, Roxane living
in a convent, still faithful to her husband Christian, is visited by
her mortally wounded friend Cyrano. It is then that Roxane realizes
that it was Cyrano that she had loved all the time. His secret revealed,
Cyrano dies as he had lived, heroically and fearlessly.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2635.O7 C9
Diabolo Menthe (Peppermint Soda). 1977, 97 minutes, French with
English subtitles. A film by Diane Kurys.
The spirited and entertaining tale of two teen-aged sisters
living in Paris in the turbulent year of 1963.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.F67 D53 1993
Dimanche à la Campagne, Un (A Sunday in the Country). 1984,
94 minutes, French with English subtitles, color. A film by Bertrand
tavernier.
An aging Impressionist painter in pre-World War I France
is revitalized one Sunday afternoon by a visit from his energic daughter.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2603 .O64 M62 1998
Diner de Cons, Le (Dinner Game, The). 1998, 81 minutes, French
with English subtitles.
Laughter is on the menu when the creator of La Cage Aux
Folles serves up a tasty comic feast with this hillarious farce.
Pierre and his snobbish friends have a standing date for dinner. Every
week, they compete to see who can bring the biggest “idiot” to the
party. Pierre is sure he’s found a winner in the unsuspecting François,
a ministry accountant whose hobby is making matchstick models of famous
monuments. But when circumstances trap Pierre in his apartment with
Francois, the tables are turned and everyone gets their just desserts.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 D5 2000
Double vie de Véronique, La (Double life of Véronique, The).
1991, 96 minutes, Polish and French with English subtitles, color. Directed
by Krzysztof Kieslowski. With Irène Jacob.
Born on the same day, a young Polish singer and a French
music teacher and aspiring singer share the same talents and the same
sense that somewhere there exists another person with whom her life is
intertwined.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .9. F67 D68 1992
Enfant sauvage, L' (The wild child). 1970, 85 minutes, B & W,
French with English subtitles, DVD. A film by François Truffaut.
Follows the capture of a young boy found living like an
animal in the forest. Dr. Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard of the National Institute
for the Deaf and Dumb, Paris, believes the child can be transformed into
a civilized being. The doctor removes the boy from the institute into
his own home. The boy, named Victor, is divided between his longing for
the wilderness and his new life with the doctor. Itard, whose teaching
strategies survive today in the Montessori Method, is unsure whether
he is helping a savage to become human or turning a forest child into
a semi-civilized idiot.
CALL NUMBER: GN290 .E5 2001
Enfants du Paradis, Les (Children of Paradise).
1945, 195 minutes, B & W, French with English subtitles. A film by
Marcel Carné.
Set in the 1840’s when pantomime and melodrama were at their
height on Paris’ famed theater street, The Boulevard of Crime, this film
portrays the actors and thieves who made the Boulevard their home. Arletty
stars as a woman loved by a mime, an actor, a villain, and an aristocrat.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .E63
Entre Nous (Coup de Foudre). 1983, 112 minutes, French with
English subtitles, color, DVD.
Set in Lyons in the 1950s, this is the story of Madeleine
and Lena who are trapped in a rut of middle-class complacency. Their
relationship deepens into a dependency that eventually bursts the confines
of the provincial society around them.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .C7346 1998
Est/Ouest (East/West). 1999, 125 minutes, French and Russian
with English subtitles.
A young medic and his French wife return to Russia when
Stalin persuades exiles back to help rebuild the country at the end of
WWII. Based on a true story.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.F67 E37 2000
Femme du Boulanger, La (Baker’s Wife, The). 1938, 124 minutes,
French with English xubtitles, black and white. Written and directed
by Marcel Pagnol.
When the beautiful, young wife of the local baker runs off
with a handsome shepherd, the tranquility of the village is shattered.
The villagers are forced to take action when the inconsolable baker is
too heartsick to bake bread. The whole village organizes to lure, cajole
and force the young woman away from her lover and back to her husband – so
that they can have bread on their tables.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2613 .I57 F46 1988
Festin de Babette, Le (Babette's feast). 102 minutes, in French
and Danish with English subtitles, DVD.
On the desolate coast of Denmark,
two elderly, religious women take in a young woman to be their housekeeper
and cook, not knowing she is a superb French chef. When the chef, (who
is never called upon to cook anything more complicated or mouth-watering
than boiled codfish or soup), wins a large sum of money, she decides
to spend it all creating a magnificient meal.
CALL NUMBER: PT8175.B545 B33 1989
Feu Follet, Le (Fire within, The). 104 minutes, French with English
subtitles. Written and directed by Louis Malle.
Portrays the last 48 hours in the life of a dissolute playboy
as he heads relentlessly toward suicide.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2607 R5 F4 1992
Films of George Méliès. 54 minutes. Silent and musical accompaniment
added; some credits in English and French.
A collection of George Méliès trick films. These short films
combine live action and special effects and feature travelers in time
or space to fantastic or exotic locations.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .A1 F557 1996
Finzan. 1990, 107 minutes.
Finzan is the story of two women's rebellion. Nanyuma, a
young widow, refuses her brother-in-law, the village fool, when he asserts
his traditional right to "inherit" her. Fili, a young girl
sent from the city by her conservative father, is brutally "circumcised" by
the village women who are scandalized that she resists the age-old custom.
These two women's desire to control their own lives threatens the traditions
of male supremacy in the village. Customs which had bound the community
together now serve to drive out these women - one into exile, the other
possibly to her death.
CALL NUMBER: DT 551 .45 .B35 F5 1990
Genou de Claire, Le (Claire’s Knee). 1970, 106 minutes, French
with English subtitles, color, DVD. Written and directed by Eric Rohmer.
Satirizes a diplomat’s sexual temptations. On vacation without
his fiancée, he flirts with a brash, charming nymphet, while harboring
a secret, peculiar obsession for her stunning teenage sister.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .9. F78 G46 1997
Germinal. 1993, 160 minutes, color, French with English subtitles.
A film by Claude Berri.
Based on Emile Zola’s novel of class war in the 19th century
coal industry, Germinal tells the story of the robust miner Maheu,
his large family and a mysterious outsider named Lantier. When wages
are cut and working conditions at the mine become intolerable, a bitter
strike results, instigated by the idealistic Lantier and led by the unshakable
Maheu. The strike drags on through winter, and kills several miners.
There is but one bright spot in Lantier’s life - Maheu’s daughter Catherine,
for whom he will also have to fight.
CALL NUMBER: PQ 2504 .A4 1994
Gervaise. 1957, 115 Minutes, French with English subtitles,
Black and White. With Maria Schell and Francois Perier.
Based on Emile Zola's Assommoir. In 19th century
Paris, a woman struggles to keep her family going but finally succumbs
to the tawdry life of her drunken husband.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2496 .A2 1990
Gloire de Mon Père, La (My Father's Glory). 1990, 108 Minutes,
French with English subtitles, Color. Directed by Yves Robert. Based
on the work of Marcel Pagnol.
An 11 year-old boy spends an enchanted summer in the rugged
French countryside with his family. The experience becomes a turning
point in his young life and cements his relationship with his father.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2631.A26 Z53
Grand Chemin, Le (The Grand Highway). 1988, 104
Minutes, French with English subtitles, Color. A film by Jean-Loup Hubert.
Set in the late 50s in rural France,
a young boy spends the summer with friends of his mother. He is befriended
by the village tomboy, experiences earthly country life, and by summer's
end, the shy, vulnerable city-bred boy has learned to adapt to life's
harsh realities. Largely autobiographical, this film is a poignant and
humorous film based on the childhood experiences of the writer-director.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .G67
Grande Illusion, La. 1997, 113 minutes.
During World War I, three captured French pilots have an
uneasy relationship with their German commandant.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .G68
Haine, La (Hate) 1995, Color, 95 minutes, French with English
subtitles. A film by Mathieu Kassovitz.
After a young Arab is wounded by a police inspector during
a riot in a trouble ridden suburb of Paris, the neighborhood is up in
arms. The youth battle with the police and hold a low-rent housing project
in a state of seige. Among these youths blinded by their hatred of the
system, Hubert, Said and Vinz, three inseparable friends live out the
most important day of their lives. Kassovitz won best director in Cannes
1995 for this film.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 . .H24 1996
Héros Très Discret, Un (A Self Made Hero). 1997, 105 minutes,
color, French with English subtitles.
In this droll comedy Mathieu Kassovitz stars as Albert Dehousse.
At once a feeble slae to his mother’s madness, history will remember
Albert’s captivating rise to heroism as a leader of the French Resistance.
As brilliantly as de Gaulle eludes his nation’s collaboration with the
Nazis, so will Albert shed his life of mediocrity in favor of one more
fantastical.
Restricted from service, Albert can only watch as the war
ends without him. He desperately resolves to flee to Paris where his
inspired gift of deception and trickery will lead to a tenaciously drawn
plan reinventing a new and heroic identity for himself - a true reminder
that the best lives are often the ones we make up.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .S45 1998
Hiroshima, Mon Amour. 1997, 86 minutes. A film by Alain
Resnais.
A brief but intense affair between a French actress and
a Japanese architect is the focus of this heartbreaking study of war
and peace, of memory and remorse. From the opening scene, which juxtaposes
two intertwined bodies with footage of Hiroshima’s atom bomb survivors,
Resnais fuses the past with the present, personal pain with public anguish.
With its innovative use of flashbacks and sound, this highly influential
film changed our concept of time in cinema.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1995.9.F67 H57
Hussard sur le Toit, Le (The Horseman on the roof). [videorecording]
[S.1.]: Miramax Home Entertainment, 1997, 119 minutes, French with English
subtitles. A film by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. Based on the novel by jean
Giono.With Juliette Binoche and Olivier Martinez.
In a world ravaged by revolution and violence, two strangers – a
handsome renegade and a beautiful countess – find their only chance for
survival in each other. Together they undertake a perilous cross-country
journey where they will also discover unmatched danger, excitement…and
passion.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 .H66 1997 -- video
Hyenas. 1992, 113 minutes, English
An old woman, Linguère Ramatou, returns to Colobane, the
decaying village where she was born, now that she has become the richest
woman in the world. She seeks revenge against Dramaan Drameh, the lover
of her youth who betrayed her, forcing her out of the village and into
a life of prositution. She offers the villagers a trillion dollars if
they will execute Dramaan. At first outraged, they easily become addicted
to the pleasures of the consumer society. In the end, they literally
consume Dramaan, leaving behind only his tattered clothes, like hyenas.
CALL NUMBER: PT 2607 .U493 BY 1993
Indochine. 1992, 160 Minutes, French with English subtitles,
color. A film by Regis Wargnier. With Catherine Deneuve.
Regis Wargnier's epic is set during the French occupation
of Southeast Asia in the 1930s. Catherine Deneuve plays a plantation
owner who searches for her adopted Vietnamese daughter Camille (Linh
Dan Pham) after the young woman falls in love and becomes a communist
revolutionary. "This intimate and tautly scripted work interweaves
layers of deep affection with stirring historical details of 30s French
Indo-China, maintaining throughout an unshakable tension of a world about
to change" (Toronto Festival of Festivals). Winner of the
1992 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.L6 I6
J’accuse. 1939, 125 minutes, English subtitles.
A strange man, obsessed by the horrors of war, calls upon
the millions of dead soldiers from World War I to rise from their graves
and march upon the cities of the world.
CALL NUMBER: D522.23 J223 1991
J'ai Pas Sommeil (I Can't Sleep). 1996, 115 minutes, French with
English subtitles. A film by Claire Denis.
Based on the true story of Thierry Paulin, who with his
male lover murdered over 20 elderly women in Paris in the 1980's.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.F67 J35 1996
Jacquot. 1994, 118 minutes, French with yellow English subtitles.
A film by Agnès Varda on husband’s, director Jacques Demy,
childhood in Nantes
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 .J256
Jean de Florette. 1987, 122 Minutes, French with English subtitles,
color. A film by Claude Berri. With Yves Montand and Gerard Depardieu.
Set in the rugged hills of old-world France,
this powerful story of greed and passion begins with the simple ambition
of one man (Jean Cadoret), a hunchback who inherits a farm from his mother
and foolishly hopes to become a gentleman farmer. But even before he
arrives, his powerful neighbor is plotting to steal his land, aware of
a hidden spring on the property. Working with his sneaky nephew, the
greedy old man intends to use the water to grow a lucrative field of
carnations. When the wicked scheme--and a severe drought--bring Jean
to the brink of destruction, the courageous farmer makes one last attempt
to find water on his land. But his noble efforts lead only to heartbreaking
tragedy.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2631.A26 J4
Jésus de Montréal (Jesus of Montreal). 1989, 119 minutes, in
French.
A troupe of underemplyed actors joins a charismatic young
man to help a church update its annual Passion play, which attracts a
city full of hope, praise, temptation and condemnation.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .J48 1990
Journal d’une Femme de Chambre, Le (Diary of a Chambermaid, The).
1964, 98 minutes, French with English subtitles, black and white, DVD.
Directed by Luis Buñuel. Narrated by Jeanne Moreau.
A chambermaid with Paris flair, gets a job at a country
estate. The family she works for and the other staff members are a strange
sort and she must learn the ways of the country living and neighbor rivalry.
After a child is murdered near the estate, she begins to have suspicions
as to whom may be responsible.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2364 .M7 J68 2001
Jules et Jim. 1962, B & W, French with English subtitles,
105 minutes, Franscope. A film by François Truffaut.
Jeanne Moreau is the amoral, mysterious Catherine, an elusive
beauty who desires two devoted friends, Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim
(Henri Serre), and must have them both. But for Catherine, no commitment
is ever final. Her restless, reckless spirit keeps her from experiencing
true love, and leads, ultimately, to tragedy for all three. Jules
and Jim is a gentle, lyrical hymn to the fragility of life, love,
and friendship.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2635 .01958 J84 1992
Keita!: The Heritage of the Griot. 94 minutes. English.
Keïta introduces Americans, young and old, to one of the
most important works of African oral literature, The Sundjata Epic.
The film frames its dramatization of this legend within the story of
a contemporary young African's initiation into the history of his family.
When a djéliba, a master griot or bard, arrives mysteriously at the home
of Mabo Keïta to teach him "the meaning of his name," boy and
griot are inevitably brought into conflict with his Westernized mother
and schoolteacher, who have rejected African tradition. The griot reveals
to Mabo the story of his distant ancestor, Sundjata Keïta, the 13th Century
founder of the great Malian trading empire. It describes the events leading
up to Sundjata's birth as the son of the ugly, hunchbacked second wife
of a Mandé king. Sundjata is crippled at birth by his father's first
wife who fears a prophecy that he will displace her son as king. The
film tells the story of how, from these unpromising beginnings, Sundjata
first walks and gradually acquires the strength, wisdom and occult powers
he will need to fulfill his destiny as one of the great leaders of African
legend.
CALL NUMBER: Video DT533.K45 K44 1994
Lady and The Duke, The. 2002, 129 minutes
A suspenseful, visually opulent story based on a true story
about an unusual friendship during a dangerous time. Beautiful aristocrat
Grace Elliott enjoys her comfortable upper-middle class life and warm
friendship with her former lover the Duke of Orleans, until the turbulent
French Revolution of the 1790s frighteningly begins. Their friendship
unravels as Grace risks her life taking in a fugitive against the Duke’s
wishes. Soon, Grace urges the Duke not to make a horrifying decision.
But ultimately she’s unable to prevent several bloody fates – including
the possibility of her own.
Lancelot of the Lake. 1975, 80 minutes, French with English
subtitles, color.
Robert Bresson's masterpiece is set in the last days of
the age of chivalry. It is a mystical, haunting film which depicts the
doomed quest of the Knights of the Round Table for the Holy Grail. Told
in Bresson's spare style, this is a film as audacious as it is mesmerizing. With
Luc Simon, Laura Duc Condominas and Humbert Balsan.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1489.L2 L26
Like a Fish Out of Water. 1999, 90 minutes , French with English
subtitles, color, DVD.
A seductive femme fatale and two con men – one cool as ice,
the other enjoys icing his victims – enlist a mild-mannered dork in their
mission to steal a rare and valuable fish. They plan to sell it back
to its grieving owner at an enormous profit, but even a dumb fish could
tell you crime doesn’t pay, or does it?
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.F78 C6 2002
Lucie Aubrac. 116 minutes. French language, with English subtitles.
A film by Claude Berri.
Lyons, France.
March, 1943. WWII rages on and the French Resistance movement courageously
fights the Nazi occupiers. Activist Raymond Samuel, after being betrayed
by a comrade, is arrested by the Gestapo and found guilty of war crimes. Beaten,
tortured and sentenced to death, Raymond’s last – and only – hope for
survival is his wife, Lucie Aubrac. Lucie, who is as cunning and resourceful
as she is beautiful and romantic, conceives an outrageously bold plan
for her husband’s escape – flirting with the enemy and risking her life
to keep a promise they made to one another: They would never be apart
on the anniversary of the first time they made love.
CALL NUMBER: D 802.F8 L83
Ma Saison Préférée (My Favorite Season). 1996, 122 minutes, French
with English subtitles, color. With Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil.
This film explores the turbulent relationshipt between Emilie
and her brother Antoine during a particularly emotional eruption of their
long-time dysfunctional family.
CALL NUMBER: PN 2995.9 .f35 M3
Madame Bovary. 1990, 140 minutes, color. A film by Claude Chabrol.
With Isabelle Huppert.
Daughter of a peasant, married to a Doctor, she dreams of
a life of luxury as she becomes bored by her station in life in the 1800's
Normandy. She has affairs, then heavily in debt and depressed she takes
her life...
CALL NUMBER: PQ2246.M2 E5 1991
Madame Bovary. [videorecording] Los Angeles, CA: Republic Pictures
Home Video, 1992, c1990. 130 minutes.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2246.M2 E5 1992 -- VIDEO
Madame Rosa. 104 minutes. Based on a famous novel of the life
of a Jewish concentration camp survivor who takes care of those even
less fortunate than her. Stars Simone Signoret in an unforgetably moving
role.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997.M123
Maître de Musique, Le (Music Teacher, The). 1990, 100 Minutes,
French with English subtitles, color. A film by Gerard Corbiau. With
Jose Van Dam.
A poignant love story, a pulse-pounding international music
competition, a beautiful musical score...Shortly before the Great War,
celebrated singer Joachim Dallayrac suddenly announces his retirement
from the stage and devotes himself to training two young singers, the
beautiful Sophie, who falls in love with him, and Jean, a singing thief
who falls in love with Sophie. Sophie and Jean are invited to an international
singing competition which will either lead to fame and riches or to revenge...
CALL NUMBER: ML1700 .M3
Mama There's a Man in your Bed (Romuald et Juliette). 1990, 107
minutes, color, yellow subtitles. With Daniel Auteuil.
This hilarious comedy from the writer and director of the
original THREE MEN AND A BABY tells of the rise, fall and rise again
of the powerful C.E.O. of a major corporation. At the peak of his powers,
Romuald becomes the victim of envious board members who plan a takeover,
framing Romuald for insider trading. But Romuald's rivals have an unexpected
adversary and Romuald has an unexpected friend-the cleaning lady Juliette.
Juliette, working late at night, has witnessed just enough to piece together
the conspiracy against Romuald. She offers to help him and together they
conspire to take back his company. Romuald hides out in Juliette's cramped
apartment and before long finds himself caught up in the complexities
of Juliette's life including her five children and five ex-husbands.
With her help, it doesn't take Romuald long to stab the back-stabbers
back and regain his place in the company. But happiness for Romuald is
incomplete without the cleaning lady who won his heart-and won back his
company-so Romuald proposes a merger, a merger of love. It's a contract
he'll never regret.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2679.E6745 M3 1990
Manon des Sources (Manon of the Spring). 1987, 113 Minutes,
French with English subtitles, color. A film by Claude Berri. with Yves
Montand and Emmanuelle Beart.
Ten years have passed since the tragic events of Jean
de Florette. Jean's daughter, Manon, is now a beautiful young
shepherdess, roaming the rugged Provencal hills. The frustrated Ugolin
is desperately in love with the untamed woman. But Manon is repulsed
by the hapless man's pursuit. After cutting off the village's water
supply, Manon appears in town to accuse the Soubeyrans of killing her
father. Ugolin, remorseful over his role in her father's death, throws
himself at her feet. But her public rejection of him proves too much
to bear, and leads to a tragedy that nearly destroys César. But the
old man's most heartbreaking moment comes when he finally learns the
shattering truth about Jean, the son of Florette.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2631.A26 .M26
Marie-Antoinette: Les Jupons de la Révolution. 1989,
90 Minutes, French, no subtitles, color. A film by Caroline Huppert.
With Emmanuelle Beart.
A chronicle of the life of Marie-Antoinette from her adolescence
to her death. She becomes French by marriage, and is acquainted with
the luxuries of life in the court. All the while, the revolution grows
and the people are hungry. Thus begins the "prise de conscience" de
Marie-Antoinette, and she faces her destiny calmly and boldly.
CALL NUMBER: DC137.1 .M37
Marius and Jeannette. 1998. 102 minutes, color, in French with
English subtitles.
This quirky romantic comedy is a lyrical and mature chronicle
about listening to the music of the heart.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1995.9.L6M37
Mille et Une Nuits. 1991, 108 minutes.
CALL NUMBER: PJ 7715 .A73
Misérables, Les. 1994, 177 minutes, color, French with English
subtitles. A film by Claude Lelouch.
It comes like lightning. The Nazis overrun France and
for its proud people, it begins the most miserable of times. Yet it’s
not so miserable that the goodness of one man cannot triumph. In Les
Miserables, two-time Academy Award winner Claude Lelouch fashions
a magnificent achievement that won the Golden Globe Award as 1995’s Best
Foreign Film. Legenday Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as Henri Fortin, a true
and simple man whose life parallels that of Jean Valjean, the hero of
Victor Hugo’s great novel. But those parallels do not mean a simple updating
of Hugo’s tale. Instead, Lelouch uses them to fram a towering cascade
of events, traits and emotions: nobility, suffering, persistence, joy,
hate, longing, love, greed, betrayal, war, peace and life-affirming joy
and hope. “After 34 films, I am dedicated to filming hope,” Lelouch states.
Here he does it with power and grace.
CALL NUMBER: PN 2286.A3 M5
Molière. 1995, 2 Video Set (1h55 and 2h08), French, no subtitles.
A film by Ariane Mnouchkine.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1852 .A135
Molière. 1977, 2 Video Set, 280 Minutes, color, French, no subtitles.
A film by Ariane Mnouchkine. Directed by C. Lelouch.
Story of Moliere, born in 1622 France, son of a carpenter,
gentle mother who died early. Great actor, writer. From infancy to
his death...
CALL NUMBER: PQ1852 .A135
Mon Oncle. 1958, 116 minutes, French with optional English subtitles,
color, DVD. With and directed by Jacques Tati.
A comedy in which the vague and clumsy M. Hulot, in contrast
to his more wealthy sister and brother-in-law, is constantly at odds
with the modern world.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .9. F67 .M66 2001
Monsieur Vincent. 1947, 112 minutes, B & W, French with new English
subtitles.
The highly acclaimed MONSIEUR VINCENT presents a most compelling
portrait of the remarkable 17th century priest who devoted
himself to the poor, sick and abandoned in a France devastated
by Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years War. Son of a poor farmer, Vincent
went to school, graduated in theology and became a priest. Captured by
Turkish pirates and sold into slavery he later escaped to France with
his master whom he had converted! His most extraordinary life took him
from the prison galley ships into the plague ridden villages, to the
princely homes of the aristocrats whom he convinced to finance and participate
in his charitable endeavors which included the establishment of local
missions and the nations first hospitals.
CALL NUMBER: BX 4700.V6 M66 1997
Muriel, ou, le temps d’un retour. 1965, 116 minutes, in French
with English subtitles. A film by Alain Resnais.
A lonely woman is trying to sort her memories and present
desires for the resumption of a long past love.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .M875 1993
Napoléon: soldier, emperor, lover, statesman. 2000 (PBS), 2 videos,
240 minutes, English.
For nearly two decades he strode the world stage like a
colossus – loved and despised, venerated and feared. From his birth on
the rugged island of Corsica to his final exile on the godforsaken island
of St Helena, “Napoleon” brings this extraordinary figure to life.
CALL NUMBER: DC203 .N27 2000
Nuit Américaine (Day for Night). 1973, 116 minutes, color, English
language version.
François Truffaut’s 1973 film, an “homage to moviemaking”,
details the loves and lunacy of the closely-knit family of strangers
that comprises an on-location film, cast and crew.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .9. M65 N85 1989
Orpheus. 1949, black and white, 86 minutes, French with subtitles.
Jean Cocteau’s modern version of the Orpheus and Eurydice
legend depicts the love of the poet Orpheus for the Princess of Death,
who travels constantly between this world and the next. The film is replete
with poetic imagery and, as the legend unfolds, Cocteau’s photographic
mastery pulls the audience into the fantasy of being in touch with both
the real world and the world of the imagination. The brilliant director,
Jean Cocteau, calls his film “a drama of the visible and the invisible…the
myth of immortality.” Don’t miss this fascinating and enchanting adventure
into the exotic world of fantasy.
CALL NUMBER: PQ 2605 015 07 1986
Over there 1914-1918. 1963, 90 minutes.
Analyzes the reasons for World War I using documentary and
propagandistic film sequences compiled from newsreels, army films, and
suppressed footage. Presents a chronological history of the war, describes
the mechanism of the European political alliances, and explains the social
symptoms of budding nazism.
CALL NUMBER: D.5522.23 O93 1996
Overseas. 1990, 96 minutes, in French with English subtitles.
With Nicole Garcia, Rouan, Marianne Basler and Philippe Galland.
A stylistically audacious first feature by the talented
French actresse Brigitte Rouan. Set in the late 40s, this film traces
that opposite fortunes of three wealthy sisters living in French occupied
North Africa at the onset of the Algerian war.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .O8 1992
Parure, La. 1999, 20 minutes, color, in French.
The story of a woman who borrows her friend’s necklace,
only to lose it, theis dramatization of Maupassant’s cynical and caustic
tale will delight students of all levels.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2349 .A5 1999
Passion de Jeanne D'Arc, La (The Passion of Joan of Arc). 1928,
82 minutes, black and white, silent film with French intertiltles, optional
English subtitles and optional oratorio soundtrack sung in Latin and
French. DVD.
Dramatization of the life of Joan of Arc centering on her
trial and execution.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.J57 P28 1999
Petite Vendeuse de Soleil, La. 44 minutes,
in Wolof with English subtitles, color.
Parable uses the struggles of a young cripped girl in Dakar
trying to earn her living in the market place selling newspaper to mirror
Africa’s role in the international marketplace.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .P48 1999
Pièces d’Identités. 93 minutes, color and black and white.
A Congolese king searches for his daughter in Brussels where
for a time he loses his royal fetishes, his identity, but finds a friend,
a local cabdriver with a secret identity. With his help and a chain of
coincidence (it must be destined), Mani Kongo is reunited with his daughter
and his regalia and returns to Africa with a circle of friends.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .P54 1998
Place Vendôme. 1998, color, 113 minutes.
Marianne is at a terrible crossroads in her life, following
the shock of her husband Vincent’s apparent suicide and the revelation
that his prestigious jewellery business is riddled with crippling debt.
Once a promising young jeweler herself, Marianne has gradually sunk into
alcoholism since her marriage. However, the discovery of seven maghificent
diamonds, secretly stashed away by Vincent, rekindles Marianne’s forgotten
ambition. Resolving to sell them, she unwittingly enters the shady underworld
of the diamond trade, uncovering a sinister web of intrigue that will
lead to a mysterious former lover and a dangerous struggle for her own
survival…
CALL NUMBER:
Ponette. 1997, 92 minutes, French with English subtitles.
Named the Best Foreign Film of the Year by the New York
Film Critics Circle, Ponette stars 4-year old Victoire Thivisol, Winner
of the Best Acress Award at the Venice Film Festival, in the title role.
Sent to live with her relatives, Ponette experiences the hopes, dreams
and fears of a child following the loss of a parent. Ultimately, it is
her faith, love and strength of character that enables Ponette to triumphantly
overcome her tragedy.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997.P664
Règle du jeu, La. 1939, 90 mins. French with English
subtitles.
One of the great films of all time, a satirical anatomy
of polite society, with a mixture of farce and bitterness. Set at a weekend
party at the chateau of the rich Marquis de la Chayniest, the story concerns
complicated love intrigues.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.F67 R85
Retour de Martin Guerre, Le (Return of Martin Guerre, The) .
1982, 123 mns.
Tells the suspensful true story of a 16th century peasant
(Gérard Depardieu) who disappears shortly after his wedding. When he
returns from the war nine years later a much changed man, his identity
is questioned by almost everyone-- including, it seems, his wife (Natalie
Baye). Only at the end of an intense trial does the truth come out. A
remarkable portrayal of life in 16th century France.
CALL NUMBER: KJV 130 .G83 R4
Ridicule. 1996, 103 minutes, color, French with English subtitles.
A film by Patrice Leconte.
A fascinating glimpse of pre-revolutionary France where
power is defined not only by title but also by wit. Ponceludon de Malavoy
visits Versailles to request the aid of King Louis XVI. Before he can
see the King, he must prove to the courtesans that he’s capable of matching
wits. He’s befriended by Marquis de Bellegarde whose daughter, Mathilde,
enchants Ponceludon by her refusal to participate in drawing room repartee.
In a dramatic conclusion, Ponceludon must choose between Mathilde and
the court.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997.R53
Rosetta. 2000, 95 minutes, French with English subtitles.
Rosetta is a shy 17-year-old girl, living with her alcoholic
mother in a trailer park in Belgium.
Desperate to live a normal life, her ambition is to get and keep a job.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 R67 2000
Rouge et le Noir, Le (Black and the Red, The). 1957, 134 minutes,
French with English subtitles, color. Based on the novel by Stendhal.
Directed by Claude Utant-Lara.
Set in 1830’s France,
the ambitious son of a carpenter challenges the rigid social order of
the time when he becomes a private tutor.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2435 .R613 1985
Rue Cases-Nègres (Sugar Cane Alley). 1995, 107 minutes, French
with English subtitles.
A poor, hard-working sugar-cane-plantation worker makes
many sacrifices to improve her 11 year-old orphaned grandson’s chances
in life by giving him a good education.
CALL NUMBER: VIDEO PQ3949 .Z6 R8 1995
Saint Joan, Bernard Shaw's. 1987, 110 Minutes, English.
Graham Green's adaptation of Bernard Shaw's play about the
life of Joan of Arc. Originally released in 1957 as a motion picture.
CALL NUMBER: PR5363.S33 B4
Sans Soleil. 100 minutes, color.
“An unknown woman reads and comments on the letters she
receives from a friend, a freelance cameraman who travels around the
world and wonders” about the meaning of his work and about the role of
the memory he helps create.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .S26 1982
Subway. 1985, 104 minutes, French dubbed into English, color,
DVD. Directed by Luc Besson. With Isabelle Adjani.
Fred, drifter and fugitive from the corporate world, makes
his new home in the Paris metro, seduces his ex-boss’s wife Helena and
involves her in his schemes.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995 .9. D583 1997
Tatie Danielle. 1991, 114 Minutes, French with English Subtitles.
Meet the meanest old lady on earth. She's Auntie--"Tatie"--
Danielle, a demanding and manipulative woman who must be waited on hand
and foot. When she moves in with her great nephew, he and his wife hope
that "Tatie" will be the grandmother the children never had. It
doesn't take long, however, for this cantankerous old lady to make everyone's
life hell. A clever and darkly hilarious work from director Etienne
Chatliez.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.C55 T37
Temps retrouvé, Le (Time regained). 1999, 158 minutes, French
with English subtitles, DVD. A film by Raúl Ruiz, with Catherine Deneuve,
Emmanuelle Béart, John Malkovich, Vincent Perez.
Set in 1922, this film opens with Proust on his deathbed
remembering his life. Gradually his own experiences give away to the
characters in his novel.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2631.R63 T46 2001
Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World). 1992,
110 Minutes, French with English subtitles, color. With Gérard Depardieu.
Swept away by passion, music, and madness, the lives of
a virtuoso musician and his two beautiful daughters are forever changed
by the arrival of a flamboyant young student. Set in the luscious splendor
of 17th century France, it weaves
a breath-taking tapestry of sight, sound, and seduction.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .T68
Vatel. 103 minutes, DVD. Starring Gérard Depardieu, Uma Thurman,
Tim Roth.
The Duc de Condé’s employee, François Vatel, is in charge
of cooking, and preparing shows for the French King Louis XIV when he
visits the castle of Chantilly, owned by de Condé. If Vatel can impress
the King, de Condé will gain his favors, and the destiny of France will
change. While the King is visiting and three days of banquets ensue,
Vatel falls in love with the King’s mistress.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997.2 .V38 2001
Veuve de Saint-Pierre, La (The Widow of Saint-Pierre). 108 minutes,
with English subtitles, color. Starring Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil,
Emir Kusturica. Film by Partice Leconte.
A true story, set in1850 in Newfoundland. A prisonner condemned
to death becomes controversial as the police chief’s wife fights to save
him.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997.2.W53 2001
Vie de Bohème, La. Film. 1994, 100 minutes.
La Vie de Bohème is a witty look at life from the perspective
of some starving artists. Rodolfo, an Albanian Painter, Marcel, a French
poet, and Schaunard, an Irish composer, are all down and out in Paris,
contemplating the perils of impoverished genius but finding solace in
their shared commitment to the noble pursuit of art. When Marcel is evicted
from his apartment, Rodolfo invites him to share his supper in a small
restaurant, and from this generosity wins himself a friend. The two return
to Marcel's apartment to continue their conversation, only to find that
the wild musician Schaunard has become the new tenant. Over some more
wine the duo becomes a trio who together will battle their cruel destiny.
In the comic events that follow involving love, work, and of course art,
they are always one precarious step away from ruin-or the strangely elusive
moment of success.
CALL NUMBER: PQ 2367.M94 S42
Vie est belle, La (Life is Rosy). 1987, 85 minutes, French with
English subtitles, color.
The story of a rural Zairian musician who uses his wit and
talent to get his big break on television.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .V455 1987
Vie est un Long Fleuve Tranquille, La (Life is a long quiet river).
1987, 89 minutes, color, French with English subtitles.
A rich social satire, the film centers on the abrupt collision
of two very different famillies and the hilarious results. The Le Quesnoys
live the ordered, polite, uptight life of the securely wealthy. The Groseilles
are a slovenly family of tramps, lowlifes and thieves from the other
side of the tracks. When an act of revenge uncovers the fact that twelve
years ago their babies were switched at birth, the two families are plunged
into chaos.
CALL NUMBER: PN1997.9.C55 V53
Vie et Rien d’Autre, La (Life and Nothing But). Film. 1989, 135
Minutes, Color, Rated PG, French with yellow English subtitles.
A gripping historical drama unfolds against the carnage
left by World War I in France.
A search for the men they love leads two women to an imperious army officer,
Major Dellaplane (Philippe Noiret), a man obsessed with accounting for France's
war casualities. The women's quest mirrors that of tens of thousands
of French with loved ones listed as missing in action. But the army wants
to forget the mass of missing and find one certifiably French unknown
soldier to honor, for burial under the Arc de Triomphe. Dellaplane is
put in charge of the effort. In the course of his mission, he learns
the fate of the womens' loved ones and a shocking secret that may determine
the fate of the women themselves
CALL NUMBER: PN1997.V53
Violons du Bal, Les. 1974, 110mns, English subtitles. With Jean-Louis
Trintignant.
The relationship between art and personal sacrifice is explored
in Michael Drach's film about a brilliant young filmaker obsessed with
chronicling his family's efforts to escape Nazi-occupied France. Marie-José Nat
won the Best Actress Award at Cannes.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 .V56
Visiteurs, Les. 1993, 108 Minutes, French, no subtitles, color.
A warrior and his valet are time-projected from the year
1123 to 1993 in France. They
encounter all kinds of modern changes, yet are furious at being cheated
out of their castle and inheritance.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 .V57 1993
Year in Provence, A. 1989. 360mns, English
Adapted from Peter Mayle's international best seller, the
video recounts the first year of Mayle's stay in rustic Provence. Peter
and his wife Annie explore the charm of the region and meet a group of
unconventional characters who complicate their lives with intrigue and
misdaventures. Four cassette deluxe boxed set.
CALL NUMBER: DC 611 .P961 M38 Parts 1-4
Zero de Conduite. 1993, 50 minutes, French, black and white.
Two boys return from their holidays to a repressive school
environment. They lead a student revolt against the school authorities.
A wonderful study of adolescence and the strength of human spirit.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1997 .Z47 1994
About Cinema
America's First Women
Filmmakers. 1993, 114 Minutes, English; Smithsonian Video and
Library of Congress Video Collection.
Alice Guy-Blaché was probably the first person (of either
sex) to direct a narrative film. Her first film as she remembered it
was an 1896 minute-long tale called "La Fée aux Choux" ("The
Cabbage Fairy"); Lois Weber made films that looked deeply into society
and behavior. For a time in the mid-1910s, she was both the most distinctive
of auteurs and the highest-salaried director in Hollywood.
CALL NUMBER: PN1995.9.W6 A43
Cinema in Senegal.
1978, color, 27 mins.
Senegalese film director Ousmane Sembene discusses filmmaking
in Senegal, and by extension
filmmaking in sub-Saharan Africa with associates. Excerpts are shown
from his film “Ceddo” and from “Et La Neige N’était Plus” by Ababacar
Samb-Makharam, and “ReouhTakh” by Mahama Johnson Traore. The conversation
is in French with voice over translation. The topics discussed with some
passion on this program concern art in a post-colonial society, censorship
and self-censorship, how Senegalese films track the underlying concerns
of society (including the conflict between Christianity and Islam and
both with old indigenous religions), and the role of educated Senegalese
who return to a country in which they can no longer relate so comfortably
to older traditions.
CALL NUMBER: DN1993.5 .S38 C56
Critical Spirit. 1997, 64 minutes.
Francois Truffaut, ou l’esprit critique.
CALL NUMBER: PN 1998 .A3 T75
Plays
Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Le. 1999, 97 minutes.
A screen adaptation of Molière’s comedy, this is a lively
satire on the pretensions of a rich but silly man to the snobberies of
the aristocracy.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1829 .A3 W7 1999
Don Juan. 1989, 106 minutes, French, no subtitles
By transforming the character of Don Juan from unscrupulous
seducer into a man of overweening pride, cynicism, and disdain, Molière
turned a Spanish theme into a thoroughly French play and offended so
many that the play was withdrawn. Posterity has judged more kindly.
CALL NUMBER: VIDEO PQ 1831.A37 B3 1989
Endgame. 1992, 96 Minutes, English, Color; by Samuel Beckett.
The San Quentin Drama Workshop presents an English version
of Beckett's play Fin de partie.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2603.E378 F59
Fantaisie.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2369 .A19 M3
Femmes Savantes, Les. 1978/1990, 115 Minutes, French, no subtitiles,
Color; A play in five acts, by Molière, with François Chaumette.
Armande, the eldest daughter of Philaminte and Chrysale,
and her sister, Henriette, are rivals for the affections of Clitandre
and each one believes that he loves them in return, but in truth he favors
Henriette. To win the approval of Henriette's mother, Clitandre enlists
the support of Belise, Henriette's aunt, who interprets Clitandre's friendship
as love, leading to a situation of great confusion.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1833.A3 F6
Guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu, La. 1991, 110 Minutes,
French with English subtitles, Color; A play written by Jean Giraudoux.
An inspired production of Giraudoux' famous play about the
conflict between those who see war as the greatest risk of all and the
ultimate folly, and those who speak of patriotism, manliness, and glory. Like
any great work, it has been read to provide different messages on different
occasions: when it was written, as a commentary on the growing menace
of Nazi Germany; and post-war, as a warning to each new threat of the
cold war.
Il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermée. 20 Minutes, French,
no subtitles, Black and White.
A presentation of the play of the same name by Musset, performed
by the Madeleine Renaud-Jean-Louis Barrault Company.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2369 .A19 M3
Lorenzaccio. 1990, 2 videocassettes (120 and 27 minutes), in
French; A play by Alfred de Musset.
Historical drama about the psychological voyage of the young
Lorenzo de Medici who, to gain the confidence of the ruling despot, adopts,
and soon discovers he enjoys the excesses for which the Medici are famous.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2369 .L3 1993
Misanthrope, Le. French with English subtitles, 120 minutes,
color
Perhaps Molière's greatest play and as close to tragedy
as comedy can come. Alceste begins as a man who loves mankind so much
that he cannot brook flattery or hypocrisy and winds up withdrawing from
society in defeat.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1837.A3 D89 1989
On ne badine pas avec l’amour.
CALL NUMBER: PQ2369 .A19 M3
Phèdre. 1982, 93 Minutes, French with English subtitles.
Racine's adaptation of the legend of Thesus, kind of Athens,
his wife, Phedre, and his son, Hippolyte. Written in 1677. (Video release
of the 1968 motion picture.)
CALL NUMBER: PN1997 .P5
Tartuffe, or, The Imposter. 1984, 110 Minutes; Royal Shakespeare
Company's production of Molière's Tartuffe, with Antony Sher, Nipel Hawthorne,
and Alison Steadman.
Clutching ever-present rosary beads, shifting uncomfortably
within the hairshirt he wears as continual penance--and always eyeing
the women as they pass--Tartuffe, Molière's master of unctuous evil,
insinuates himself into a wealthy Parisian household in this indictment
of religious hypocrisy. Posing as a holy man, the wily Tartuffe entrances
Orgon, a credulous well-to-do merchant, bent on bestowing his worldly
goods, social position, and nubile daughter on the perfidious fraud. Tartuffe
delights in accepting it all--and also arranges a little depraved dalliance
with Orgon's young wife, Elmire.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1842.A4 H2
About
Theater
Avignon Theater Festival (New Edition). 17 Minutes. Welcome
to this world-famous festival, held annually, which attracts some of
the greatest actors from the theater.
Beckett Directs Beckett: A Trilogy. 1990, 4 Video set, 279 Minutes,
English; Smithsonian Video Library, A Presentation of the San Quentin
Drama Workshop.
"The spirit of the play, to the extent which it has
one, is that nothing is more grotesque than the tragic." --Samuel
Beckett. Contents include: 1)Waiting for Godot Act I--77 Min.; 2)Waiting
for Godot Act II--60 Min.; 3)Krapp's Last Tape--46 Min.; 4)Endgame--96
Min.
CALL NUMBER: PR6003.E282 B42 (v.1-3)
PQ2603.E378 F59 (v.4)
Molière. 1982, 35 Minutes, English, Color and black and white;
University of Leeds.
Portrays Molière's life story and presents a view of the
theatre, styles, and customs of 17th century France.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1852.A13
Nouvelle expérience: Cirque du Soleil. 1991, 72 Minutes, French
,no subtitles.
A TV special by Jacques Payette.
CALL NUMBER: GV1821.C578 N68
Racine. 1993, 35 Minutes, English, Color and black and white;
University of Leeds.
Contains brief biographical details and an analysis of Racine's
work.
CALL NUMBER: PQ1904 .A13
Opera
Après-midi d'un faune, L'. 1912, 25 minutes. Music by Claude
Debussy.
Shows two performances of the Juilliard School production
of Nijinsky's L'apres-midi d'un faune; the first is shown in long-shot,
the second in close-up.
CALL NUMBER: GV1580 .C47
Boheme, La. 1982, 141 Minutes, Italian with English
Subtitles.
Metropolitan Opera Productions.
CALL NUMBER: M1500.P82 B6 (Music Library)
Carmen. 1985, 151 Minutes, French with English Subtitles; By
Bizet.
In 19th century Seville, the lusty, tempestuous Carmen seduces
a naive Army corporal, Don Jose. Jose abandons his career, his fiancee,
and even his dying mother for the love of this sultry gypsy. But soon
she spurns him for the love of a toreador, Escamillo. Crazed with jealousy,
Jose begs Carmen to return to him, but her taunting declaration of independence
results in tragedy.
CALL NUMBER: M1500.B5 C3 (Music Library)
Fille Mal gardée, La. 1985, 98 Minutes; Royal Opera House
(Ballet).
Lise, the only daughter of Simone, a widow and owner of
a prosperous farm, is in love with Colas, a young farmer, but her mother
has far more ambitious plans.
CALL NUMBER: GV1790 .F54
Orfeo, L’. 1988, 102 Minutes, Italian with English subtitles.
An opera in 5 acts.
CALL NUMBER: M1500.M65 O7 (Music Library)
Ballet
Enfant et les sortileges, L'. 1986, 50 Minutes; By Maurice Ravel;
World of Dance series, With Nederlands Dans Theater and Choeur et la
Maîtrise de la RTF.
A young boy who doesn't want to study has a tantrum and
wrecks his room. Animated by his naughtiness, objects come to life and
begin to sing and dance, drawing the boy into their enchanted world. (Ballet)
CALL NUMBER: GV1790 .E53
Gaîté Parisienne. 1986, 38 Minutes, Black and white; Performed
by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
For ten years, Jessen followed the Ballet Russe around America filming
Gaîté Parisienne, whenever Danilova, Franklin, and Danielian were dancing
the principal roles. He edited this film from thirty-second "takes" filmed
in various locations in many different theatres.
CALL NUMBER: GV1786.B3 G33
Oiseau de feu, L' (The Firebird). 1987, 48 Minutes.
An adaptation of the original work by Stravinsky. Considered
to be one of the masterpieces of modern ballet.
CALL NUMBER: GV1790 .O5
Paris Dances Diaghilev. 1992, 84 Minutes.
From the Opera de Paris Garnier.
CALL NUMBER: GV1785.D5 P37
Paris Opera Ballet, The: Six Ballets. 1987, 58 Minutes,
Color; VIEW video dance series, Directed by Rudolf Nurevev.
A special selection of works, including the Tchaikovsky
Ballet, Delta T, Ephemera, Paillettes, The Ice Skaters, and The Black
Swan; choreographed especially for the stars of the Paris Opera Ballet.
CALL NUMBER: GV1790.A1 P37
Sylphides, Les. 1980, 34 Minutes; A Ballet Choreogaphed by Mikhael
Fokine.
Inspired by the 1905 visit of Isadora Duncan to Russia,
Fokine took the timeless music of Frederic Chopin and created Chopiniana (later
renamed Les Sylphides). This ballaet celebrates the lyrical and
poetic qualities of Romantic ballet blanc to express the sublime
nature of dance. Les Sylphides is one of the revolutionary ballets
of the 20th Century. Firstly, to choreograph to the works of the great
masters, such as Chopin, was unheard of. Secondly, there were virtually
no abstract, plotless works in the Russian repertoir, which was characterized
by Petipa's large scale full-length productions. Les Sylphides was
premiered for the 1909 Paris season by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and
featured Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. Of the many innovative works
presented by this great impressario, this was his favorite.
CALL NUMBER: GV1790.S92 A3
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