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Alain Delon, the French actor most famous for his roles in the films of New Wave director Jean-Pierre Melville, especially “Le Samourai,” has died. He was 88.

“He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family,” according to a statement released to the Afp news agency by his family.

In addition to “Le Samourai,” Delon also appeared in Melville’s brilliant heist film “Le Cercle rouge” and “Un Flic.”

Some of his other significant films were Rene Clement’s “Purple Noon”; Visconti’s “Rocco and His Brothers” and “The Leopard”; Antonioni’s “L’Eclisse”; Jose Giovanni’s “Two Men in Town”; and Joseph Losey’s “Mr. Klein.”

Although he triggered some controversies during the later part of his life due to his public comments on adoption of children by same-sex parents and affinity with far-right politicians, many prominent figures in France and abroad paid...

Germany’s Amusement Park Film is developing an English-language remake of the French-Italian movie “Les Aventuriers,” with Edward Berger on board to direct, and “Next Door,” a Berlin-set dark comedy that will mark the directorial debut of actor Daniel Bruhl.

Berger, who is known for helming “Deutschland 83″ and Benedict Cumberbatch-starrer “Patrick Melrose,” is co-developing the remake of “Les Aventuriers.” Gregory Burke, the BAFTA-nominated writer of “71” and “7 Days in Entebbe,” is writing the screenplay.

“Les Aventuriers” is a 1967 movie directed by ‎Robert Enrico and starring Alain Delon‎ and ‎Lino Ventura‎. Based on a novel by José Giovanni, the story revolves around two likable underachievers who are best friends and set off to go treasure-hunting off the coast of Africa.

Amusement Park, which has offices in Berlin and Hamburg, is set to produce the remake and will be casting some prominent actors in the lead roles, producer Malte Grunert told...

Praised for its realism and intensity, Jacques Becker’s 1960 prison break drama “Le Trou” is now bound for a pristine-looking 4K restoration, thanks to Rialto Pictures and Studio Canal. A nerve-wracking drama based on a true story, the film is adapted from the book “The Break” by ex-con José Giovanni and has been hailed as not just one of French cinema’s best films, but perhaps the best. (Lofty, we know.)

Based on a 1947 escape attempt enacted by five prisoners at France’s La Sante Prison, Becker used a slew of non-actors — including Jean Keraudy, who actually participated in the daring events the film portrays — to tell a gripping story that remains one of cinema’s most unnerving depictions of real-life drama.

Read More: ‘Il Boom’ Trailer: Vittorio De Sica’s Underseen Comedy Bound for Restoration and First-Ever U.S. Release — Watch

The film picks up after four prisoners and...

Jean-Pierre Melville in his own film, Two Men in Manhattan“A man isn't tiny or giant enough to defeat anything”—Yukio MishimaA voracious cinephile in his early youth, Jean-Pierre Grumbach's daily intake of films was interrupted by the Second World War when he enlisted in the Ffl (Forces Français Libres) and adopted the nom de guerre by which he's still known to these days: Jean-Pierre Melville. A tribute to his literary hero, Hermann Melville, and his novel Pierre: or the Ambiguities, the director would have his name officially changed after the war. The latter was to shape and inform many of his films and arguably all of his world-view, characterized by a sort of ethical cynicism where anti-fascism is understood as a moral duty rather than an act of heroic courage. Profoundly anti-rhetoric and filled with a terse dignity, his films about the Resistance, Army of Shadows (1969) above all,...

The Sicilian Clan

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1969 / Color B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 122 min. (French, without exit music); 118 min (American) / Le clan des Siciliens / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Lino Ventura, Irina Demick, Amedeo Nazzari, Danielle Volle, Philippe Baronnet, Karen Blanguernon, Elisa Cegani, Yves Lefebvre, Leopoldo Trieste, Sydney Chaplin.

Cinematography: Henri Decaë

Production design: Jacques Saulnier

Original Music: Ennio Morricone

Written by: Henri Verneuil, José Giovanni, Pierre Pelegri from a novel by Auguste Le Breton

Produced by: Jacques-e. Strauss

Directed by Henri Verneuil

American crime fanatics wary of European imports now have access to a fully Region-a disc of a big-star, big budget French-Italian-American gangster film from 1969, Henri Verneuil’s exciting The Sicilian Clan. It was filmed in two separate versions, a multi-lingual European original and a less exciting, English language cut for America. A huge hit overseas, The Sicilian Clan didn’t...

Director Jose Giovanni was best known as a screenwriter for a number of important French auteurs throughout the 1960’s, having written items like Jacques Becker’s Le Trou (1960), Claude Sautet’s Classe Tous Risques (1960) and the novel upon which Melville’s Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966) was based. Many of his own directorial efforts have faded into obscurity, but his 1973 title Two Men in Town, a political drama documenting the social ills associated with the death penalty, has recently received resurrected interest thanks to Rachid Bouchareb’s 2014 remake, retooled for the American Southwest and predicated on issues of immigration. Starring Alain Delon and Jean Gabin in their last of three on-screen collaborations, it’s an interesting item, though Giovani’s overly protracted first half doesn’t sit well with the finale’s obvious sermonizing.

Social worker Germain Cazeneuve (Gabin) tirelessly works as a bridge between prisoners and authorities, doing the best he...

★★☆☆☆A loose remake of the 1973 José Giovanni film of the same name, Rachid Bouchareb's Two Men in Town (2014) transplants the original's critique of the French judicial system to New Mexico. Starring Forest Whitaker as a Muslim ex-con struggling to carve out an honest life, Bouchareb's latest livens with the occasional moment of clarity but lacks the strength of conviction necessary to articulate its loaded message. After a brief exposition depicting the murder committed by Whitaker's soon-to-be-released convict William Garnett, Bouchareb takes us on a helicopter ride to observes the expansive Mexican border.

In Rachid Bouchareb’s Two Men in Town, a remake of José Giovanni’s 1973 film, William Garnett (Forest Whitaker) is on parole after serving eighteen years for murdering a deputy of Sheriff Agati (Harvey Keitel). Agati is not at all pleased that Garnett is back in his perpetually windy New Mexico municipality, though despite what the title suggests, Two Men in Town is less about the dynamic between the two men than the reformed and newly religious Garnett’s relationship with Agent Smith (Brenda Blethyn), his parole officer. Blethyn is wonderful as an all-too-rare character, a middle-aged woman who holds her own in a position of authority over violent men. Similarly, Ellen Burstyn has a cameo as Whitaker’s mother, and the pictu...

From April 20 to April 28, 2015, filmgoers will celebrate the 19th edition of Colcoa French Film Festival, "9 Days of Film Premieres in Hollywood." The festival has recently unveiled the Focus on a Filmmaker program as well as an exclusive line up of French Classics of predominantly digitally restored films, presented as World, International or North American Premieres. All screenings will take place at the Directors Guild of America. For the first time, the Colcoa Classics Series from Tuesday to Saturday will be free with no reservation, on a first come, first served, basis.

Focus on a Filmmaker: Academy Award-Winner Michel Hazanavicius

Colcoa will honor Academy Award-winning writer-director Michel Hazanavicius on Thursday, April 23 with a special encore presentation of "Oss 117 Cairo Nest of Spies" (2006) (Colcoa Classics), as well as the Los Angeles Premiere of his new film , three years after the triumph of multi-Academy Award- winner, "The Artist." The cast of "The Search" includes Academy Award Nominee Bérénice Bejo and Academy Award nominee AAnnette Bening . "The Search" had its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Hazanavicius joins writer-directors Cedric Klapisch, Bertrand Blier, Costa Gavras, Florent Siri, Julie Delpy and Alain Resnais, whose key body of work has been cited in past festivals. This will be his third film presented at the festival, following "Oss 117 Cairo Nest of Spies" and the International Premiere of "Oss 117, Lost in Rio." Michel Hazanavicius will meet the audience for a Happy Hour Talk panel dedicated to his work. (Colcoa Classics + Panel + Premiere of "The Search.")

30th Anniversary of Palme D'Or Winner "Paris,Texas"

The digitally restored version of French production "Paris,Texas" (1984) will have its West Coast Premiere at Colcoa. The Cannes Palme d'Or winner, co-written by Sam Shepard and L.M. Kit Carson, and directed by Academy Award Nominee Wim Wenders, will be presented in association with Argos Films and Janus Films. The cast includes Nastassja Kinski who will present the film, Harry Dean Stanton and Dean Stockwell. (Colcoa Classics)

  

North American Premiere of Digitally Restored "La Chienne"

Colcoa will present the digitally restored version of "La Chienne" (1931), the second talking movie co-written and directed by Jean Renoir. It stars Michel Simon, Janie Marèse and Georges Flamant. This exclusive new presentation in the U.S. is made possible thanks to the Franco-American Cultural Fund (Facf), Janus Films La Cinémathèque Française and Les Films du Jeudi. (Colcoa Classics)

World Premiere of Digitally Restored "Will It Snow for Christmas?" 

A special 20th anniversary screening of digitally restored "Will It Snow for Christmas?" (1996) will be offered to the Colcoa audience. The film, written and directed by Sandrine Veysset, starring Dominique Reymond, Daniel Duval and Jessica Martinez, will be presented for the first time in advance of a U.S. release by Carlotta Films. (Colcoa Classics)  

First American Presentation Since 1961 "Five Day Lover"

This romantic comedy by the late writer-director Philippe de Broca, starring Jean-Pierre Cassel François Périer, Jean Seberg and Micheline Presle, will be presented in an American theatre for the first time since its opening in 1961. Colcoa will present the digitally restored version of "Five Day Lover" as a World Premiere. The Cohen Media Group will release the film later this year in the U.S.. (Colcoa Classics) World Premiere of Digitally Restored "Two Men in Town"

A classic film noir written and directed by José Giovanni, starring Alain Delon and Jean Gabin, "Two Men in Town"(1973) will be presented for the first time on the big screen in a digitally restored version. The Cohen Media group will release the film later this year (Colcoa Classics). North American Premiere of Digitally Restored "The Last Metro"

Following last year's homage to the universally renowned François Truffaut, Colcoa is proud to offer the North American Premiere of the digitally restored "The Last Metro" (1980), presented in association with the Franco-American Cultural Fund, La Cinématheque Française, MK2 and Janus Films. This masterpiece was also Truffaut's most successful box office success. It stars Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. (Colcoa Classics...

Festival to honour The Artist director with encore presentation of Oss 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies.

Hazanavicius is the subject of Focus On A Filmmaker on April 23, which sees an encore presentation of Oss 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies, the Los Angeles premiere of The Search and a Happy Hour Talk panel.

A digitally restored version of Paris Texas (1984) will get its West Coast premiere, while there are North American premieres of digitally restored versions of Jean Renoir’s La Chienne (1931) and Francois Truffaut’s The Last Metro (1980).

Screenings include world premieres of digitally restored versions of Sandrine Veysset’s Will It Snow For Christmas (1966) and José Giovanni’s Two Men In Town (1973), as well as the first American presentation since 1961 of Philippe de Broca’s Five Day Lover.

Top brass will unveil the competition films on March 31. Colcoa runs from April 20-28.

Forest Whitaker seems to be drifting back into the spotlight. Last year, he led the hit "Lee Daniels' The Butler" and appeared in support in "Out Of The Furnace," and now he has a bonafide arthouse world film with the Berlin International Film Festival-approved “Two Men In Town.” Helmed by “Outside The Law” director Rachid Bouchareb, the film’s French trailer has arrived online ahead of its release in that country and you won’t need to know French to watch it. Despite being an English-language film and being set in New Mexico, the Whitaker-starring film—which includes Harvey Keitel, Ellen Burstyn, Brenda Blethyn and Luis Guzman— will be released by Cohen Media Group later this year. The Bouchareb-helmed film, based on Jose Giovanni’s 1973 film of the same name, falls neatly into the ex-con-trying-to-go-straight subgenre albeit with some stellar cinematography which you can glimpse in the newly released trailer.

(Claude Sautet, 1960; BFI, 12)

Le roman policier and le film policier (now widely known by the reverse slang or verlan term "polar") have been staples of French popular culture for a century. Its soundtrack crackling with underworld argot, its air thick with smoke from Gauloises, its morality pulsating with romantic cynicism, the genre's golden age in the cinema was roughly between 1955 and the mid-70s. That's from the release of Rififi (the 1955 gangster movie directed by blacklisted American exile Jules Dassin, a movie much indebted to John Huston's 1950 The Asphalt Jungle) to the death in 1973 of Jean-Pierre Melville, the Americanophile cineaste and creator of definitive gangster flicks. These two decades encompass the classic polars of Jacques Becker, the best films of Lino Ventura (the French Bogart), the nouvelle vague (informally launched by a Louis Malle policier, Lift to the Scaffold, starring Ventura), and Godard's subversion of the genre in Breathless.

French-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb has lately alternated between sweeping historical dramas (the WWII drama "Days of Glory," the Algerian War portrait "Outside the Law") and sentimental two-handers with quieter approaches ("London River," "Just Like a Woman"). In all cases, however, Bouchareb tends to deal in similar themes of contrasting political and personal relationships. "Two Men In Town," a loose remake of José Giovanni's 1973 tale of a paroled murderer trying to get his life back together, applies this tendency to the least-ideological of Bouchareb's movies, resulting in a thinly executed tale littered with uneven performances. Nevertheless, a committed turn by Forest Whitaker in the lead role, paired with "Holy Motors" and "My Life in Pink" cinematographer Yves Cape's evocative images of the spare western landscape, lead to an intriguing contrast between the half-baked material and a handful of stronger ingredients. It's a movie at war with its deficiencies. "Two Men.

Looking back over the year at what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2013—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2013 to create a unique double feature.

All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2013 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.

How...

French-Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb is close to completing post-production on his upcoming drama Enemy Way, starring Forest Whitaker and Harvey Keitel.

Whitaker plays a former prisoner and Islamic convert who is pursued by a vengeful police officer played by Keitel in the film which is a strong contender for Cannes selection in 2014. The picture was filmed in the Us state of New Mexico for nine weeks this spring.

Algeria’s Agence Algerienne pour le Rayonnement Culturel (Aarc) is also hoping the film will be a contender for the 2015 Academy Awards. Bouchareb’s Outside The Law was among the final five films nominated in the foreign-language category of the 2011 Oscars.

Paris-based Pathe International is handling sales on the film, co-produced by Aarc, Algerian Tassili Films, French Pathe Cinema, France 2 Cinema, Solenzara, Belgian Scope Invest and Taghit LLC and the Cohen Media Group in the Us.

Aarc has become a key player in the Algerian film industry following a 2012 law...

This classic film was largely overlooked when released but has finally been handed a re-release

Lino, José, Claude. Meet the three men, all dead now, who together made Classe Tous Risques; for my money, the greatest of all French gangster movies.

José Giovanni was on death row in Paris in the mid-50s, due to be guillotined for abetting a robbery that left three dead. After a failed escape attempt, he turned the experience into his first novel Le Trou (The Hole, 1957), whose literary success secured his pardon and release. It was filmed by Jacques Becker in 1960.

During his incarceration, Giovanni had one conversation – "perhaps thirty sentences" – with Abel Damos, a vicious gangster associated with the collaborationist Bonny-Lafont gang during the occupation. He was awaiting a death sentence passed in absentia during years spent as a fugitive in Italy with his wife and infant sons in tow. The notion of a bad man,...

Forest Whitaker and Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb are teaming for "Bill's Law", a $20 million remake of Jose Giovanni's 1973 French psychological drama "Two Men In Town" says Shadow and Act.

The original followed a recently released safe cracker attempting to lead an honest life. He's soon pushed to the breaking point by both his ex-gang trying to lure him back, and a vengeful cop stalking him.

The remake changes the locale to contemporary small town Arizona and will deal with American anti-Arab paranoia. Shooting kicks off in the Fall.

The film is the first of a trilogy of English-language films exploring the complex relationship between the West and the Arab world.

Award-wining French film director best known for Tous les Matins du Monde

It is fair to say that the majority of audiences who saw the film Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World, 1991) – directed by Alain Corneau, who has died of lung cancer aged 67 – had previously never heard of (or heard) the music of the baroque composer and viola da gamba virtuoso Marin Marais. However, the lacuna was soon filled after this sensitive, painterly and vivid recreation of 17th-century French musical life had won seven Césars (France's Oscars), become an international success and resulted in a bestselling CD of the soundtrack by Le Concert des Nations ensemble.

Starring Gérard Depardieu as the older Marais, looking back on his reckless younger self (played by Depardieu's son, Guillaume), it remains Corneau's biggest success outside France. In fact, Tous les Matins du Monde, one of the few films...

Optimum continues its mission to release some of the best back catalogue classics on Blu-ray in September with another burst of titles from their Studio Canal Collection. Next up are The Third Man, Delicatessen, Mulholland Drive, The Graduate, Le Cercle Rouge, The Pianist and Breathless. It's a hugely eclectic collection of superb modern and not-so-modern cinema with surely something for anyone who possesses even a hint of filmic discernment.

All include a host of exclusive extras, with input from some serious names from both industry and academic circles which put those filler heavy packages to shame. And, if previous releases from the label are anything to go by, the transfers will be top notch too.

The titles above are released on 13th September 2010 through Optimum Home Entertainment.

Extras and tech specs are as follows - there's a lot, so take a deep breath:

The Third Man

 Extras:

Sd, New or...