Catherine Rouvel
Quick-witted, well-read cultured types revolve around each other in a delightful potpourri of theatre, romanticism and theft.
In a peaceful little town, three women are murdered. Oddly enough the killer has left a black snail shell on each of the bodies. It takes the unusual talents of Lavardin, assisted by Mario, the local inspector, to solve this mystery.
While watching the others on her TV screen, Louise becomes a rebellious girl.
Adapted from Jules Roy's historical novel of the French presence in North Africa, the TV series follows the destiny of two families, the Bouychous and the Parises, from the conquest of Algiers in 1830 to the Independence in 1962.
The sweet elderly aunt and her two nieces survive the vendetta killing of their whole family because they are out picking flowers at the time. Undaunted, the aunt, a tough old Corsican, tracks down and kills all but one of the men who wiped out her kinfolk.
French colonists in Africa, several months behind in the news, find themselves at war with their German neighbors. Deciding that they must do their proper duty and fight the Germans, they promptly conscript the local native population. Issuing them boots and rifles, the French attempt to make "proper" soldiers out of the Africans. A young, idealistic French geographer seems to be the only rational person in the town, and he takes over control of the "war" after several bungles on the part of the others.
Clement Mastard is the head of a leading journal dedicated to extravagant vaudeville. An unexpected contract requires him to reconnect with his former headliner Celia Bergson part to try to avant-garde theater. It is through this that he met Johann Sebastian Bloch, misunderstood musician who cause the loss but the side which Mastard, the man without scruples, to humanize and eventually produce a real masterpiece, the Missa Solemnis
An important drug lord settled in Marseille is suspected of having ordered the killing of an American agent, but it is impossible to impute him due to his political influences, so the dead agent's boss decides to hire the services of a hitman to kill him.
Marseille. Heaps of flowers and funeral wreaths... "A man who no longer defends his colors is no longer a man."
1930. Adelaide is fed up with Paris and founds a 'retreat' for her women friends in a Breton port. They live well and take their pleasure seriously, until the attractive sailor Thomas arrives and nothing is ever the same again.
When he gets separated from his unit, Laforet (Roger Van Hool) becomes a de facto deserter during 1939 fighting in the French provinces. Most of the story concerns his love affair with a local farmgirl, as he competes for her affection with a refugee from Spain. When he presses her to make a decision between them, the choice doesn't go in his favor. Soon after this he joins up with the Resistance movement.
Set during the reigns of the last five kings of the Capetian dynasty and the first two kings of the House of Valois, Tha Accursed Kings begins as the French King Philip the Fair, already surrounded by scandal and intrigue, brings a curse upon his family when he persecutes the Knights Templar. The succession of monarchs that follows leads France and England to the Hundred Years' War.
One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.
A young couple of burglars, waiting for trial, marry in jail. Annick writes down her observations of the women's ward. When she hears that her lover must serve a twice as long prison sentence, she plans their escape.
A judge investigating police corruption finds that the deeper he digs, the more roadblocks he finds.
In 1930 Marseilles two small-time crooks join forces when they meet brawling over a woman. Starting with fixed horse races and fights, they start to find themselves doing jobs for the local gangster bosses. When they decide to go into the business for themselves, their easy-going approach to crime starts to change.
An innocent woman falls prey to her abusive husband, his wealthy father and a shady family friend.
Because he has seduced Germaine de Boismenil, Georges Dormont is thrown out of the army by the colonel and husband of the beautiful. After the death of the Count of Boismenil, Dormont arrived at the castle of the widow with the firm intention of taking revenge. From the outset, he seduces Pierrette, the servant, revives the heart of Germaine, having gotten an appointment with the widow, he makes her naked, humiliates and leaves her. Witness of the scene, Martha, the proud orphan, throws herself into the arms of Gaston, faithful order of the colonel, to avenge her mother. George soon flouted their feelings. He then forces Germaine to reveal his attachment to Pierrette and causes a beautiful scandal.
A pro-America superhero destroys France to prevent Communists from taking over.
Set in 18th century France, a naive 17-year-old orphan named Benjamin is taken in by his wealthy aunt, the Countess de Valandry. There, he is seduced by a variety of women, including a few flirtatious maidservants and neighboring countesses who all want to be Benjamin's "first".
A young poster artist sees an older married woman in cinema and falls in love.
Seeing an opportunity to make a financial recovery for the family, a nobleman attempts to wed his son to his wealthy friend's daughter. His plan is to send the boy for a cruise on the SS France with the prospective female. Upon arriving to meet the lovely girl, the young man switches places with his valet. Unbeknownst to him, however, is the fact that the girl has pulled a similar deception. Though Jean-Marc Ripert is responsible for much of the cinematography in this New Wave comedy, it is Francois Reichenbach who handled the camera for many of the ocean-liner scenes.
Mose ', a foundling, is raised by the inhabitants of a village and grows good and strong, well-liked by everyone, loved in silence by Agnese, a girl in the same conditions. One day, however, four graceful Parisians come to the village for a short vacation, and with their light-hearted behavior they upset Moses and the villagers, who are quick to make the unwelcome guests return to the capital.
The idyllic life of a beautiful gypsy girl is shattered when she runs away from a pre-arranged marriage to a member of her tribe. Away from the safety of her people, she encounters bigotry against her kind. A little girl feels sorry for the missing gypsy beauty and searches for a magic root that can cure the wandering gypsy from her wanderlust and bring her home again. Music, dance, ancient gypsy rituals, and colorful European scenery highlight this feature which takes a decidedly jaundiced view of the racial indignities suffered by the heroine.
In this French crime drama, two safe-crackers are breaking into a safe when they are caught in the act by the owner. One of the crooks kills him and flees leaving his partner behind. The abandoned accomplice is captured and convicted. One year passes before the convict is able to escape from prison and set out to exact his revenge.
Etienne Alexis, a candidate for president of the new Europe, is a scientist promoting artificial insemination for social betterment and therapy to eliminate passion. To celebrate his engagement to a cousin, he hosts an aseptic picnic, where mother nature asserts herself. A shepherd's flute conjures a windstorm that throws Alexis together with the luscious Nénette, a farm lass who wants to have a baby but is unimpressed with men.
