20 Nov 2019 Director: Vincent Pérez France, Germany, UK 2016 101 mins Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson play an ordinary working-class German couple who quietly wage a personal campaign of anti-Nazi resistance. Uninterested in politics and content to keep to themselves, factory foreman Otto and his dutiful wife Anna are unlikely dissidents. When their son… Continue reading Alone in Berlin
Tag: France
The Guardians
04 Mar 2020 Director: Xavier Beauvois France, Switzerland 2018 138 min A quietly affecting human drama of love, loss, and resilience unfolds against the backdrop of World War I in this outstanding film from director Xavier Beauvois (Of Gods and Men). Set in rural France in 1916, The Guardians details the lives of women and… Continue reading The Guardians
In the Fade
24 Oct 2018 Director: Fatih Akin Germany, France 2017 106 min Diane Kruger gives an astonishing performance as Katja, a loving, unconventional wife and mother, in this riveting thriller by Turkish director Fatih Akin. Katja’s life falls apart when a bomb attack in her home city of Hamburg robs her of everything she holds dear.… Continue reading In the Fade
Custody
21 Nov 2018 Director: Xavier Legrand France 2017 94 mins Carefully and sensitively directed with intense, restrained performances throughout, Xavier Legrand’s debut feature is an explosive family drama that is as gripping as it is authentic. Fans of the Dardenne brothers or the work of Maurice Pialat will recognise this film’s unsentimental realism in its… Continue reading Custody
Jeune femme
10 Oct 2018 Director: Léonor Serraille France, Belgium 2017 98 min In Léonor Serraille’s livewire character study and sensational feature debut, Laetitia Dosch explodes onto the screen as Paula, a chaotic, impulsive thirty one-year-old Parisienne. Without money and nothing but a cat to her name, Paula finds that doors close in her face now that… Continue reading Jeune femme
Welcome to the Sticks
18 Dec 2019 Director: Dany Boon France 2008 106 min Philippe Abrams is a post office director in Salon-de-Provence. His wife, Julie, makes his life unbearable and, in order to please her, Philippe tries to arrange a transfer to the Côte d’Azur. However, his plan backfires and he is transferred to a small town in… Continue reading Welcome to the Sticks
Redoubtable
20 Feb 2019 Director: Michael Hazanavicius Italy, France, Myanmar 2017 108 min Adapted from the autobiographical novel Un An Après by actor Anne Wiazemsky, Redoubtable portrays her tumultuous relationship with Godard, from its start on a film set to its eventual unravelling in the midst of his spectacular philosophical and artistic meltdown during the political… Continue reading Redoubtable
C’est la vie
09 Jan 2019 Director: Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache France 2017 117 min In this deliciously deapan comic soufflé, a wedding threatens to erupt into an utter nightmare for the party’s cantankerous planner. Pierre and Héléna are holding their capacious wedding in a sumptuous 17th century castle. To choreograph the event they have secured the… Continue reading C’est la vie
Aquarius
06 Feb 2019 Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho Brazil, France 2016 146 min Neighbouring Sounds director Kleber Mendonça Filho returns with another intriguing insight into the state of modern Brazil that also provides a magnificent central role for Sonia Braga, so fondly remembered for Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Braga plays Clara, a retired music critic, who… Continue reading Aquarius
Clash
21 Mar 2018 Director: Mohamed Diab Egypt, France, Germany 2016 97 min Clash is a tense, harrowing, state-of-the-nation drama. Set in 2013, it pitches the audience into the turmoil of the mass protests in Egypt that toppled the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. In the crushing heat of an already fraught day, rival demonstrators, innocent bystanders, allies… Continue reading Clash