We open with a steady tracking shot that moves through a room of women changing, until the camera settles on one of them. From this deliberate opening, director Sébastien Marnier maintains a careful delivery of information, guiding the viewer through a handsomely staged and often twisty thriller. These twists and reveals make […]
France
Tropic (2022) Sci-Fi as a deeply personal take on Male Pride (Review)
Inside (2007) Body Horror, French Extremity-Style (Review)
New French extremity holds an important place in film history and for film fans. From Baise-Moi to Martyrs to Irreversible and Raw, this movement of boundary-pushing cinema is characterised by aggressive style, graphic violence and somewhat depraved presentations of humanity. Amelie, this ain’t. Inside from 2007 more than lives up […]
High Tension (2003) Loved and Loathed in Equal Measure (Review)
World Noir Vol. 1 (1957-59) Long May These Radiance Boxsets Continue (Review)
It was the French critic Nino Frank who famously first applied the term ‘film noir’ to the series of hardboiled Hollywood crime pictures that finally appeared in France after the Occupation. He was acting under the influence of the acclaimed, and rightfully famous, Gallimard crime fiction imprint Série noire – […]
Paris Memories (2022) Poignant Drama Undercut By Cluttered Screenplay (Review)
Le Mépris (1963): the odd couple Godard and Bardot make a classic (Review)
La Syndicaliste (2022): A Conspiracy Thriller for the #MeToo World (Review)
Born in Ireland, Maureen Kearney was a trade unionist in France’s former state-owned nuclear company, Areva. Hearing of a contract between Areva and the bourgeoning Chinese nuclear industry from a disgruntled insider at EDF, Kearney grew fearful for the job security of her members and the future of the company […]
The Bride Wore Black (1968) – An elegantly constructed tale of vengeance (Review)
Based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich (who published it under the pseudonym William Irish), François Truffaut’s sixth feature as a solo director, The Bride Wore Black, was a dark and influential tale of vengeance. An intriguing opening sees Julie Kohler (Jeanne Moreau) prevented from committing suicide by her mother. […]
Jean Rollin – The Shiver of the Vampires (1971) & Two Orphan Vampires (1997) (Review)
Few directors like Jean Rollin exist in the annuls of film history. A French director who remained almost entirely in obscurity his entire career, despite his work being more readily available he remains perpetually overlooked. Due to the lack of financial success his films achieved; he eventually began directing pornographic […]