Favourite DVDs - French Movies

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FRENCH MOVIES

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Code 1	Belle de Jour	Code 1
	Belle de jour stars the eternally elegant Catherine Deneuve. In this, one of her younger roles, she is a housewife with an air of prim innocence and frigidity about her. In actual fact she takes up an afternoon job working in a brothel as a prostitute. It takes her a while to overcome her reserve, especially since not all users of such services are god's gift to women. Please note that at the time of writing this, amazon.co.uk were only offering it in NTSC Code 1 (US) format.

Code 1	Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources	Code 2
	Brilliant scenery and acting. Jean de Florette (played by Gerard Depardieu) is a city man, who moves with his wife and Manon his daughter, to a farm he has inherited. He has read copious books on agriculture and has great plans to be a successful farmer, thereby intending to escape the rat race. His new neighbours, the unsavoury Soubeyrans (Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil) have other plans however. Manon des Sources is the sequel to Jean de Florette. Emmanuelle Beart plays Manon, who has grown up into a beautiful young woman. She wreaks her revenge on the Soubeyrans for the wrongs they did her father in the first film.

Code 1	My Mother's Castle / My Father's Glory	Code 2
	Both of the movies "My Mother's Castle" & "My Father's Glory" are about the same family living and vacationing in southern France. I was always particularly taken with "My Mother's Castle", because of the tension created when the family trespass on other peoples property, while taking a short cut to their holiday home. This is the sort of material that can haunt your dreams. Please note that the Code 2 version retains it's French title "Le Chateau De Ma Mere" as does the companion movie "La Gloire De Mon Pere".

Code 1	Betty Blue	Code 1
	A sexy if rather weird and sometime violent story. I guess part of the appeal for me, was that I have taken vacations in Gruissan, Narbonne and Marvejols, all of which are used for location shooting. The beach houses at Gruissan being particularly distinctive. I also love the Betty Blue theme music by Gabriel Yared. Betty is played by Beatrice Dalle. Please note that at the time of writing this, amazon.co.uk were only offering it in NTSC Code 1 (US) format.

Code 1	The Hairdresser's Husband	Code 2
	You would think that this movie would be quite boring, since most of the action (or lack of it) takes place in a hairdresser's shop. In fact it is quite enthralling and sexy. It draws you into a world which consists of little more than two people. The "husband's" choice of music to dance to, is interesting too. At the time of writing this, it was waiting for release on Code 1 DVD at amazon.com, although a VHS tape version was already available.

Code 1	Leon	Code 2
	Luc Besson movies tend to contain a lot more action, than standard French cinematographic fare. So it is good to have a few of his movies around for when the action mood grips you. Jean Reno appeared in earlier Besson movies including "The Big Blue" and "La Femme Nikita", he stars in this one as an assassin.

Code 1	Chocolat	Code 2
	I guess this is not really a French movie, since the author of the book on which the film is based is English, and although he lives in France, Johnny Depp was not born French. However the story is most certainly set in France and the pace and characters are all that you would expect to find in a French movie. Juliette Binoche (an authentic French person) who opens a village Chocolate shop plays her part perfectly, as does Johnny Depp. According to his biography, Alfred Molina (who plays the part of the village Mayor) was born in 1953, in London, UK, of a Spanish father and an Italian mother. He makes a great Frenchman too!!!

Code 1	Amelie	Code 2
	This movie is so much fun. Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a totally lovable character who spends her time changing people lives for the better. Her father likes to stay at home tending his garden gnomes. Despite Amelie's best efforts he refuses to get out and enjoy himself. However when one of his gnomes decides to go on a world tour without him (sending back proof through travel photographs from exotic places), all that changes. Other excellent movies starring Audrey Tautou include "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" and "Dirty Pretty Things", although Amelie is the one with the best feel good factor.