François Simon

The work of legendary actor François Simon, son of Michel Simon.

The lives of the surviving members of the Basileus Quartet, a chamber group that has been playing successfully around the world for more than 30 years, are turned upside down after the death of the leader, Oscar Guarneri. The three aging musicians decide to split up to pursue those pleasures they've denied themselves too long.

7.5/10

Young police inspector Corinne Levasseur interrogated a dealer without the judge's consent. Following an indiscretion of her lover, the substitute Berthot, Corinne is transferred to a small town in the North who lives under the thumb of a rich industrialist and his family. He is given subaltern tasks. Intrigued by the strange death of a teenager, she stubbornly leads an investigation that allows her to trace the chain of a child prostitution network in which are mixed a notable and his son-in-law. A young investigating judge decides to investigate the case, but he is the victim of pressure ...

6.5/10

In the fascist Italy of 1935, a painter trained as a doctor is exiled to a remote region near Eboli. Over time, he learns to appreciate the beauty and wisdom of the peasants, and to overcome his isolation.

7.7/10
8.6%

A theatrical group prepare Voltaire’s play “Alzire”. From this the ideas of Voltaire are examined as they relate to the present day political situation.

7.3/10

Voted for in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll

6.8/10

The film centers on a Dominican monk named Jérôme (played by one actor in colour and another actor in black-and-white) and his interactions with various higher-ups within the French Catholic Church. Ruiz's intention was to reflect the ideological arguments that plagued Latin American left-wing political parties.

6.7/10

When her old resistance buddies come to her looking for someone to helm a financially troubled liberal newspaper, Judith (Simone Signoret) is at first reluctant, but for this old hero of the French anti-Nazi resistance, challenges are hard to ignore. She takes on the job, mortgaging her house to keep the paper solvent. When things take a turn for the worse, because of concerted opposition by conservative forces, she is forced to sell the paper, and she regards this as a personal failure.

6.2/10

Sarah, an actress nearing 40, has invited the woman who has been her best friend for 16 years and two younger women to her vacation retreat in Provence. There are the simple pleasures of lounging in adjacent hammocks, the sun, the food, conversations about men. This is prologue for what happened a year ago in Paris with a man Sarah has long taken for granted as a platonic friend. She had just finished a film, also finishing her liaison with the director, and was about to get an award and start work on a new film and begin a romance with a German writer.

5.6/10

A disturbed young woman is kept prisoner in a castle by her aunt for her money. The game-keeper, her guardian, tries to rape her but she escapes. In her flight she meets a man also running away, from two killers.

5.9/10

Part of a 6-film collection called “Grands Détectives” about famous fictional private detectives.

After the death of his mother, middle-aged insurance employee inherits her small cottage surrounded by a garden. Selling the cottage which is situated on unexploited ground near the center of a big city makes him a rich man and he buys a big house in the countryside. He takes some time off and decides to throw a big garden party at the house and invite all his colleagues from the office. Aided by alcohol, the guests gradually lose all their inhibitions and reveal personality traits and frustrations that they normally keep hidden. Written by Markku Kuoppamäki

7/10

With the help of his assistant Anja, Ottocaro Weiss intends to put the plague on stage: circumstances beyond his control and a lack of fresh talent have forced him to close down his flea circus. For Weiss, the plague means the «extinction of everything that makes life miserable and low and freedom along with it. Unbeknownst to him, he has won the support of a patron who is of the exact opposite opinion: for Johannes Wagner, the plague is an organising principle, and, aided by his agent Moosbrugger, he is able to smuggle a new number onto the programme. Whereas Ottocaro Weiss means to represent the plague theatrically, what appears on stage is the scientific reality of the rat-borne infestation.

7.5/10

An estranged father and son on holiday bond over the beautiful foreign girl they find unconscious on the beach.

6/10

A love story between a teacher, Daniele, 32 years and one of his students Gerard, 17 during the heated atmosphere of May 68. Daniele is a fiery young woman, very involved politically. Gerard's parents accuse Danièle of statutory rape and complain. Danièle is trapped and the drama begins...

6.7/10

George (Francois Simon) takes care of his invalid wife and holds down a full-time job. When an investment firm wipes out his life savings, the middle-aged George is soon forced into retirement for health reasons. George takes up a life of crime when the company turns his back on him and the money is gone overnight. He is soon driven to the brink of insanity over the unfortunate series of events that transpire. - Dan Pavlides

6.8/10

On the 100th anniversary of the founding of a watchmaking company in Geneva, Charles Dé the founder's 50-year-old grandson has had it: he speaks eccentrically to a reporter, recognizing his grandfather as a craftsman and his son as a businessman, but is evasive about himself. He gives his family the slip and moves in with a young couple he meets by chance, doing the cooking, reading, drinking, and engaging in philosophical discussions with them. The young couple comes to love Charles. In secret, he stays in touch with a daughter, and the rest of the family hires a private investigator to find him, setting in motion a business take-over that threatens his Bohemian happiness.

7.2/10

Widowed baker Zürrer has to raise his three children, who all turn out to be disappointments to him in various ways.

7/10

French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (François Simon) lives in 18th-century exile with his mistress (Dominique Labourier).

8.5/10