The film touches on many contemporary social discontents while building tension between a touchy pupil and his tight-lipped teacher.

Two men’s ill-tempered argument over a broken drainpipe leads to a hurled curse, a savage punch, a vendetta, and a courtroom showdown.

The biopic of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt is given a stifling, low-energy treatment.

Though set shortly after World War I, the film has surprising resonance today.

For brutal emotional impact, there is nothing like this film out now, It’s a highlight at this year’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series.

Directed by Volker Schlöndorff Produced by Marc de Bayser, Frank Le Wita, Sidonie Dumas, and Francis Boespflug Written by Cyril Gely and Schlöndorff, based on the play Diplomatie by Gely Released by Zeitgeist Films Release French and German with English subtitles France. 88 min. Not rated With André Dussollier, Niels Arestrup, Burghart Klaussner and Robert […]

My last screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the 34th in eight days, was a rewarding way to wind down, ending the festival on a rich, resonating note. Director and writer Olivier Assayas smoothly makes his first (mostly) English language foray, buoyed by the strong performance of Juliette Binoche. While Assayas’s new film has […]

Directed by Martin Provost Produced by Miléna Poylo & Gilles Sacuto Written by Provost, Marc Abedelnour and René de Ceccatty Released by Adopt Films French with English subtitles France/Belgium. 138 min. Not rated With Emmanuelle Devos, Sandrine Kiberlain, Olivier Gourmet, Catherine Hiegel, Jacques Bonaffé, and Olivier Py Director Martin Provost calls Violette a diptych with […]

If you’re lucky enough to see only a handful of what the mini-festival Rendez-Vous with French Cinema has to offer, you’re likely to have a sense of déjà vu, or at least left wondering, strange, I’ve seen that face before. One of the resulting pleasure of this annual series—23 features this year—is that in a […]