Notícias

We are back today with another exciting movie recommendation from auteur creator Guillermo del Toro. Today’s pick is a classic actioner that del Toro previously praised via Twitter (it will absolutely never be X to me). The Crimson Peak director has nothing but love for this one. You can scope a quote from the post in question directly below.

While del Toro is surely an enthusiastic fan of the film, he’s far from the only one. The Train has a stellar Rotten Tomatoes critical approval rating of 94% with 18 reviews tallied. Additionally, the flick sits at a very respectable 89% audience approval score on the site.

Critics praised the film for delivering astute commentary on the evils of war and for serving up breakneck action sequences from start to finish.

If you have yet to experience the picture and find yourself eager to do so, make your way over to...

John Frankenheimer’s The Train opens with a heist of masterpieces of modern art from a Parisian museum. The operation, supervised by Wehrmacht colonel and aristocratic aesthete Franz Von Waldheim (Paul Scofield), is a desperate assertion of the Nazis’ supremacist ideologies during the final days of the German occupation of France. As such, it’s easy to perceive the museum curator’s (Suzanne Flon) appeals to the sense of national pride felt by the Résistance-Fer—a group of rail workers who were part of the French Resistance—as an attempt to fight fire with fire, specifically when she requests help from railway manager Labiche (Burt Lancaster). Which makes it all the more fitting that it’s not Labiche who jumpstarts the workers’ efforts to stop the train that’s moving the stolen paintings from leaving France, but tenacious train conductor Papa Boule, who’s played with curmudgeonly brio by one...

Expatriate blacklistee Joseph Losey is the perfect director for this excellent, strange tale, a big award winner in France. The terrible Occupation-era victimization of the Jewish citizens of Paris is told tangentially from the viewpoint of a jackal-like opportunist who buys art and valuables cheaply from Jews desperate for cash. But Klein has a little ‘doppelgänger’ problem straight out of Franz Kafka . . . and finds himself in an existential nightmare that’s strangely . . . appropriate. This original, superior thriller arrives in a new special edition.

Mr. Klein

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1123

1976 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 123 min. / Monsieur Klein / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 10, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: Alain Delon, Jeanne Moreau, Francine Bergé, Michael Lonsdale, Juliet Berto, Suzanne Flon, Massimo Girotti, Jean Champion, Francine Racette, Louis Seigner.

Cinematography: Gerry Fisher

Production Designer: Alexandre Trauner

Film Editors: Marie Castro-Vasquez, Henri Lanoë, Michèle Neny

Original Music: Egisto Macchi, Pierre Porte

Written by Franco Solinas, collaborator...

The Train is back, now at popular prices! The fan base for John Frankenheimer’s incredibly elaborate Occupation thriller is growing exponentially. The railroad and military hardware on view is 100% real, something that CGI-jaded moviegoers appreciate more than ever. Great acting and a terrific storyline propel a tale of sabotage into the top level of suspense thriller-dom. Starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, Wolfgang Preiss. A hundred tons of French steam locomotives and running stock are shot at, burned, blown up and smashed to smithereens. Oh, the movie’s about saving French art treasures, too.

The Train

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1964 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 133 min. / Street Date January 5, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Rémy, Charles Millot, Jacques Marin, Howard Vernon, Bernard Fresson.

Cinematography: Jean Tournier, Walter Wottitz

Film Editors: David Bretherton,...

"You're not going to talk to anybody about this, are you?" Cohen Media Group has debuted a brand new official trailer for their re-release of the classic romantic drama Quartet, set in Paris in the 1920s. This was the 11th feature film directed by James Ivory, adapted from Jean Rhys's 1928 autobiographical novel of the same name. It originally premiered at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and opened in theaters later that year. The film has been restored and remastered for this re-release, and will play in a few theaters again starting soon. Marya, as played by Isabelle Adjani, finds herself penniless after her art dealer husband, Stephan, is convicted of theft. She accepts the hospitality of a strange couple, H.J. and Lois Heidler, as played by Alan Bates and Maggie Smith, who let her live in their house. The cast also includes Anthony Higgins, Sebastien Floche, and Suzanne Flon.

Danièle Delorme and Jean Gabin in 'Deadlier Than the Male.' Danièle Delorme movies (See previous post: “Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 Actress Became Rare Woman Director's Muse.”) “Every actor would like to make a movie with Charles Chaplin or René Clair,” Danièle Delorme explains in the filmed interview (ca. 1960) embedded further below, adding that oftentimes it wasn't up to them to decide with whom they would get to work. Yet, although frequently beyond her control, Delorme managed to collaborate with a number of major (mostly French) filmmakers throughout her six-decade movie career. Aside from her Jacqueline Audry films discussed in the previous Danièle Delorme article, below are a few of her most notable efforts – usually playing naive-looking young women of modest means and deceptively inconspicuous sexuality, whose inner character may or may not match their external appearance. Ouvert pour cause d'inventaire (“Open for Inventory Causes,” 1946), an unreleased, no-budget comedy notable...

Stars: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Rémy, Charles Millot, Richard Münch, Jacques Marin, Paul Bonifas, Jean Bouchaud, Donald O’Brien, Jean-Pierre Zola, Arthur Brauss | Written by Franklin Coen, Frank Davis | Directed by John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn (uncredited)

What is more precious, art or human life? Your first reaction is probably to say human life and that would be the most logical answer, but for cultural worth the answer may not be so easy. During World War 2 precious works of art were stolen and still to this day are found and become big news. Arrow Academy’s latest Burt Lancaster release The Train creates a story loosely based on real life events, looking at the protection of French masterpieces, and the human cost of war.

In 1944 during the last gasps of Germany’s occupation of France, art lover and fanatical Nazi Colonel...

Presenting the Return of Stinky Lulu's Supporting Actress Smackdown now in its new home at The Film Experience. The Year is... 1952 and our panelists are allowed 52 words per actress!

The Nominees

Gloria Grahame, Jean Hagen, Colette Marchand, Terry Moore, and the perennial Thelma Ritter!

The Panelists

Matt Mazur (Pop Matters) is a New York-based publicist who works on campaigns for independent, foreign language, and documentary films. His vast archive of actress interviews (including Sissy Spacek and Courtney Love) can be found here. Follow him @Matt_Mazur

Nathaniel R (The Film Experience) is the founder of The Film Experience, a Gurus of Gold and CNN International Oscar pundit, and the internet's actressexual ringleader. Also loves cats. Follow him @NathanielR

Nick Davis (Nicks Flick Picks) tweets, blogs, and writes reviews and is a professor of film, literature, and gender studies at Northwestern University. His first book "The Desiring Image" was recently published.

Joyeux NOËL / Merry Christmas (2005) Direction and screenplay: Christian Carion Cast: Guillaume Canet, Daniel Brühl, Benno Fürmann, Diane Kruger, Alex Ferns, Gary Lewis, Dany Boon, Lucas Belvaux, Steven Robertson, Ian Richardson, Michel Serrault, Suzanne Flon Oscar Movies Recommended with Reservations Alex Ferns, Daniel Brühl, Guillaume Canet, Merry Christmas Inspired by an actual World War I ceasefire that took place around Christmastime 1914, director-screenwriter Christian Carion's Merry Christmas is a tad more conventional and old-fashioned than it should have been. The film even features a troop idiot akin to those of countless other war movies as (unfunny) comic relief. Compounding matters, most of the performances are disappointingly below par, the chief exceptions being Guillaume Canet's French officer and Steven Robertson as a low-key Scot whose very essence is destroyed by what he experiences in the trenches. Yet, despite its not inconsiderable flaws Merry Christmas is a mostly effective — and ever timely...

Daniele Thompson, who wrote the screenplay for Fauteuils d'orchestre with her son, actor Christopher Thompson, directs the multicharacter comedy with such smooth assurance that the movie glows with infectious cheerfulness. The film moves effortlessly among three story lines and locations, all within easy walking distance in an upscale Paris neighborhood at the intersection of Life, Love and Art.

This French charmer could do well in North American art houses, especially with older audiences who will appreciate the old-fashioned -- in the best sense of that phrase -- approach to story, characters and themes. It certainly proved to be one of the hits of the French film series in Los Angeles.

Our entree into these competing though complementary worlds is Jessica (Cecile de France), a young woman so recently arrived in Paris she doesn't even have a place to live. She takes a waitressing job at the Bar des Theatres on the chic Avenue Montaigne, a venerable establishment that traditionally never hires women, yet the manager is desperate.

Two waiters are sick, and three major events will occur simultaneously on the street: Soap opera star Catherine Versen (Cesar-nominated Valerie Lemercier) will open in a Feydeau farce at the theater next door; celebrated pianist Jean-Francois Lefort (Albert Dupontel) will perform a Beethoven concert; and aging financier Jacques Grumberg (Claude Brasseur) will auction off his renowned art collection.

The bar is the kind of joint where management willingly accepts orders from around the quarter. So Jessica finds herself drawn into the people and preparations for each of these events. And each event represents a severe personal crisis.

Catherine makes a fortune on the soap yet longs for cinematic glory. Run physically ragged by a schedule of night shoots and day rehearsals, the actress is desperate to land an interview with visiting American director Brian Sobinski (played with knowing glee by famed director Sydney Pollack), who is casting for a film about Simone de Beauvoir.

At the peak of his musical abilities, Jean-Francois is nevertheless a burnt-out case. Exhausted by his concert schedule, he longs to get off the merry-go-round to teach and perform for charity. His manager-wife Valentine (Italian actress Laura Morante) can't fathom what role that would leave for her in their partnership. So a midlife crisis has precipitated a martial one.

Grumberg's decision to sell off the art he and his late wife spent a lifetime collecting has caused a rift with his son Frederic (Christopher Thompson). A glum academic, he disapproves of his dad's relationship with a beautiful gold digger (Annelise Hesme), which is exacerbated by the fact that Valerie was once his mistress.

Jessica, who has a Candide-like optimism about life, floats through these three sets of characters, becoming a part of everyone's life even as she searches unsuccessfully for living quarters while finding ingenious solutions for temporary beds. The film's other observer is Claudie (Dani), the theater's retiring concierge who, talentless herself, has lived her life in happy proximity to people loaded with talent.

The film is neither profound nor deep but does lightly touch on serious issues revolving around the temporal nature of life. All crises get neatly and happily resolved by fadeout, and the film approvingly views all its bourgeois glamour. No, existence is never quite so tidy, but that's why we go to movies such as Orchestra Seats.

Bookending the film is the relationship between Jessica and the grandmother who raised her. This role is delightfully played by Suzanne Flon, who recently died at age 87. The film is dedicated to the veteran actress.

ORCHESTRA SEATS

Thelma Films

Credits:

Director: Daniele Thompson

Screenwriters: Daniele Thompson, Christopher Thompson

Producer: Christine Gozlan

Director of photography: Jean-Marc Fabre

Production designer: Michele Abbe-Vannier

Music: Nicola Piovani

Costume designer: Catherine Leterrier

Editor: Sylvie Landra

Cast:

Jessica: Cecile de France

Catherine: Valerie Lemercier

Jean-Francois: Albert Dupontel

Valentine: Laura Morante

Jacques Grumberg: Claude Brasseur

Frederic: Christopher Thompson

Claudie: Dani

Brian

Sydney Pollack

Valerie: Annelise Hesme

No MPAA rating

Running time -- 105 minutes...

Berlin International Film Festival

BERLIN -- "La Fleur du Mal" (The Flower of Evil) takes place deep in Claude Chabrol territory. Here, the veteran French director stalks his usual prey -- the bourgeoisie with all their foibles, insularity, pettiness and self-obsession. There is, of course, a crime. We see a corpse during the opening credits, but the victim does not meet his fate until the third act. Thus, we wait for nearly 90 minutes of pitiless probing into rather ordinary if not dull lives before anything dramatic happens.

Chabrol has been making and remaking this film for six decades now. He seemingly will never tire of explaining how tired he is of the petit bourgeoisie. In his best films, this theme gets entangled in Hitchcockian tales of crime and infidelity, where the suspense makes his obsessions with class more than tolerable. But "La Fleur du Mal" is no such film. It has been drained of dramatic tension, leaving only an arid examination of manners and mores. One can never rule out North American distribution for a Chabrol film, but the best audiences for this "evil flower" live in Western European territories.

Three generations of a wealthy Bordeaux family find themselves in the family home over several days. Its gracefully aging matriarch, Aunt Line (Suzanne Flon), is the one link to scandal, having been acquitted of murdering her father, a Nazi sympathizer and collaborator, after the war. The film hints broadly that her acquittal came at the expense of true justice.

Her niece Anne (Nathalie Baye) is in the midst of a campaign for mayor despite the objections of her pharmacist husband, Gerard Bernard Le Coq). The couple each lost a first spouse in a tragic accident, then married each other. Their grown children, Francois (Benoit Magimel), son of Gerard who has just returned from a three-year stay in the United States, and Michele (Melanie Doutey), Anne's daughter, are in love with each other.

A vile political pamphlet makes the rounds in the small town, dredging up the old murder scandal and alleging several others. No one, it seems, likes Gerard, so both children and even Aunt Line think he may have authored the pamphlet himself.

For most of the film, characters talk to one another in cars, at receptions and in various tasteful rooms.

The actors bring enough subtlety and dramatic instinct to these chats to keep them vaguely interesting. But nothing about the characters engages the viewer, and the dialogue is burdened with so much exposition and back story that one can be excused for inattentiveness.

Occasionally, a camera movement or ominous chord of music reminds us that we are in Chabrol territory: Beware, emotions lurk beneath the surface that will inevitably lead to a dramatic rupture. Alas, the story never really pays off either as thriller or drama. Its well-upholstered art direction and understated cinematography only underscore how anemic the drama is.

LA FLEUR DU MAL

An MK2 SA/France 3 Cinema co-production with the participation of Canal Plus and the Aquitaine Regional Council

Credits:

Director: Claude Chabrol

Screenwriters: Caroline Eliacheff, Louise Llambrichs, Claude Chabrol

Producer: Marin Karmitz

Director of photography: Eduardo Serra

Production designer: Francoise Benoit-Fresco

Music: Matthieu Chabrol

Costume designer: Mic Cheminal

Editor: Monique Fardoulis

Cast:

Anne: Nathalie Baye

Francois: Benoit Magimel

Aunt Line: Suzanne Flon

Gerard: Bernard Le Coq

Michele: Melanie Doutey

Matthieu: Thomas Chabrol

Running time -- 104 minutes

No MPAA rating...