It's hot in Paris ! - Sexy International Paris Film Festival / 24-27 June 2010

At last, an erotic movie festival in the city of love !

 

http://www.sexyfilmfestparis.fr/ 

 

 

Enter The Void - Gaspard noé - New French Trailer

Le Locataire aka The Tenant - Roman Polanski - France - (1976)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074811/

Plot from Imdb: "In Paris, the shy bureaucrat Trelkovsky rents an old apartment without bathroom where the previous tenant, the Egyptologist Simone Choule, committed suicide. The unfriendly concierge (Shelley Winters) and the tough landlord Mr. Zy establish stringent rules of behavior and Trekovsky feels ridden by his neighbors. Meanwhile he visits Simone in the hospital and befriends her girlfriend Stella. After the death of Simone, Trekovsky feels obsessed for her and believes his landlord and neighbors are plotting a scheme to force him to also commit suicide."

Forget "Gai Paris" and welcome to "Grey Paris". For all the naive fans of the french capital of Love, this movie is a supreme antidote. Based on a novel by Roland Topor (an amazing illustrator and writer, also from polish origins, he collaborated on the great 1973's animated feature "Fantastic Planet" from René Laloux),  set in a classic historical building of Paris,  under the constant watch and disapprobation of his neighbors, the main character of this movie reflects very well the paranoia of Roman Polanski himself., at that time of his life (just after he flew from the US to avoid being jailed again). Apparently, I read somewhere that Polanski hates this movie now, because it became somehow of a "art movie". I don't see it that way. I think it's a mesmerizing tale of "estrangement", that anybody who had lived in a foreign place or country can related to. The oppressive mental disturbance of Trelkovsky is amazingly shown by subtle techniques (the "off scale" sets of the flat that make Trelkovky smaller or that create forced perspectives) and by the great acting of Polanski himself. The erotic tension of Isabelle Adjani character, the supporting roles of Terklosky co-workers and neighbors are really adding to the feeling of being lost. Some very dark moments of humor helps breathing a little but it comes with tremendous violence and finally gets you even deeper into the darkness. Sucked into identification and depression, the main character has no choice but to close the infernal circle of a doomed destiny.  Great masterpiece from a great director. Another must-see.

Trailer:

A l'intérieur - Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury - France - (2007)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0856288/

Plot from Imdb: "Four months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby."

That's what I call a hardcore old-school horror movie ! Well done and so brutal that some scenes might be  unbearable to watch for some unwarned viewers, this bloody french flix is good news: way better than its predecessors ("Frontières", "Sheitan", etc...), it shows that simple genre movie can be done in France and done efficiently, by fans of the genre (one of the co-director used to work for Mad Movies, THE genre movies magazine in the country).  The movie revolves around a simple plot with a simple mission: oppress you with it claustrophobic atmosphere and then make you shivers from fright with it crude and brutal violence.  And it does well its job, even if there's nothing new for the horror fan. Apart some minor flaws (some supporting actors are lame (the cops) as usual in French film, some scene are so full of references that it's difficult to judge them impartially), this is a good gory movie and you should consider it. Avoid at all cost if you're pregnant, it might result in a huge trauma. Bon appétit.

Trailer:

Amer - Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani - Trailer - (2010)

Neo Giallo made by two French directors, Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani... Looks interesting.

Themroc - Claude Faraldo - France - (1973)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069369/ 

Plot: "An working-class man turns into a modern caveman."

Very enjoyable "revolutionary" and "arty" movie from Claude Faraldo and a bunch of cult actors from the 70's (Café de la Gare crew, Miou-miou, Patrick Dewaere, Coluche, etc...). You can watch it even if you don't understand french as there is no dialogues as such: everybody is speaking an invented/mumbled language, except Michel Piccoli, the main character that use the world "Themroc" during the entire movie, for everything. After an incident at the factory, Piccoli locks himself in his flat and brakes the wall, to make it more like a cave, the neighbors are mysteriously attracted to his regresive way of life and begin to join him. A group of policemen and some workers from the factory are joining below his flat to try to force them out of their asocial behavior. Doesn't really works as Piccoli goes hunting at night and comes back with a policeman that they'll use for diner ! Wonderfully free and hilarious at time, "Themroc" shows that another way of making movies is possible.

Extract: