French

Barbet Schroeder

22 May 2008

‘I don’t like being called an auteur’, explains the 67-year-old maverick filmmaker Barbet Schroeder. ‘I just like jumping between different projects.’ Certainly the Iranian-born Schroeder has enjoyed a richly varied cinematic career, starting out in the…

Playlist

22 May 2008

The latest PlayList invites you to investigate the past, present and future through the remarkable reality tunnels detailed in the work of French film artist Chris Marker. Marker is due to celebrate his 87th birthday this year. If you recognise the…

Change of Address

22 May 2008

French horn teacher David (Emmanuel Mouret) is improbably picked up by impulsive Anne (Frédérique Bel). She convinces him to come and live in her small Parisian flat. These oddballs are obviously perfect for each other but in denial of this fact they…

Heartbeat Detector

8 May 2008

DRAMA (12A) 135min Visually spare, leisurely in pace, wordy and featuring an eclectic, occasionally jarring soundtrack, this French corporate thriller is demanding and rewarding in equal measure. Adapted from François Emmanuel’s novel La Question…

Mathieu Amalric

8 May 2008

It’s quite fitting that on the seat next to Mathieu Amalric is his motorbike helmet. Having dashed across London from Pinewood Studios, where he is currently shooting the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace, the French actor knows that come the autumn…

The Last Mistress

8 May 2008

DRAMA (15) 114min Despite suffering a cerebral haemorrhage in 2004, the French filmmaker Catherine Breillat has returned with her most entertaining and accessible work to date. Based on the 19th century novel by the controversial writer Jules-Amédée…

Welcome to the Sticks

8 May 2008

COMEDY (12A) 106min Dany Boon’s box-office hit is the most successful French movie of all time. In just seven weeks on release, it broke 1966 comedy La Grande Vadrouille’s record for the highest ever attendance for a French film on home soil with 17…

La Vallée Blanche

27 Mar 2008

When rationalising business-speak began to creep into the way things were run at étain restaurant in Princes Square a couple of years back, chef Neil Clark knew it was time to pack up his pans. Not one to compromise on his creativity, he left the…

Coup De Torchon

27 Mar 2008

THRILLER (15) 123min (Optimum DVD retail) Adapted from a Jim Thompson novel by Bertrand Tavernier, this loose adaptation shows local police officer Lucien Cordier (Philippe Noiret) in an African colony in 1938 inefficiently doing his job while being…

French Flm Festival Round-up

11 Apr 2007

It’s that time of year again when the great and the good who coordinate the national French Film festival unleash their wares on those Francophiles among us. Taking in four Scottish cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen) this three week…

Justice

PROFILE

1 Sep 2006

Name Justice Occupation Your summer-soundtracking ‘Friends’. Who are they? French duo Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, who toiled in electro-producing obscurity until getting their big break as remixers/cut-up auteurs with one of the summer’s…