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The audiences that flocked to the multiplex for the return of Jason Bourne may mean that there’s still a sizeable appetite for more reality-based espionage thrillers, rather than the more fantastic exploits of Bond and Mi’s Hunt. What could be more reality-based than a true story, ripped from the source of some many tales of heroism, World War II? Like Valkyrie, it’s the tale of an assassination plot against a very high-ranking Nazi, but not ole” Adolph once more. We’re talking the third in command, still a nasty despot (the main architect of the “final solution”). It’s a plot engineered by the resistance fighters of an occupied country, much as in the 2009 French docudrama Army Of Crime. For this new film, the setting is not Paris but Prague as we meet the men and woman involved in operation: Anthropoid.

The story begins in late 1941, long...

Hovering around the twenty-one to twenty-four feature film mark with at least a quarter of those films belonging to first time filmmakers, the Quinzaine des Realisateurs (a.k.a Directors’ Fortnight) has in the past couple of years, counted on a healthy supply of French, Spanish and Belgium produced film items, and has been geared towards the offbeat genre items as with last year’s edition curated by Edouard Waintrop and co. To be unveiled on the 22nd, as we attempted with our Critics’ Week predix, Blake Williams, Nicholas Bell and I (Eric Lavallee) are thinking out loud and hedging our bets on what the section might look like or what the programmers might be looking at for 2014. Here is our predictions overview:

Alleluia

Six years after presenting Vinyan at the Venice Film Festival, Fabrice Du Welz finally returns with potentially not one, but a pair of works for the ’14 campaign.

French actor-turned-director Jalil Lespert (whose filmography behind the camera includes the unreleased in the U.S pair of 24 Measures and Headwinds) has nabbed a deal with The Weinstein Company for his bio-pic take on the rise of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent. This will be the second time in just as many years that the Weinsteins grabbed a French film bio portrait that was simultaneously re-made in another shape or form – last year they had one of the two competing The War of the Buttons (“La Guerre des Boutons”) adaptations which had a unique duel showdown in France. We think we could Lespert’s Ysl portrait around the Vogue September issue month.

Gist: Starting as a designer/assistant for Christian Dior, Saint Laurent became one of the biggest names in modern fashion. Today, his name is still synonym with exuberance and class. Nonetheless, as most other geniuses, the designer lived a turbulent life,...

As of Thursday, fans of Kino Lorber’s eclectic catalog can now watch its movies and shorts for free on Hulu. Kino Lorber has made available 35 of its 700-plus titles during limited windows on Hulu or its subscription service Hulu Plus, with plans to expand the number of films in the coming months. Among the films included in this launch are restored editions of “The Blue Angel,” Buster Keaton's “The General” and Fritz Lang's “The Complete Metropolis,” as well as “Le Quattro Volte,” “Momma's Man” and the French thriller “Army of Crime.” The documentaries “Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon,” “Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould,” “Two in the Wave” and “Videocracy” are also included in this first batch, along with 18 of Keaton’s short films. "Our presence on Hulu will allow us to present our selection of classic and art...

In the past four or five years there has been a welcome wave of revisionist accounts of life under the German occupation throughout western Europe, most of them works of some moral complexity. The largest number inevitably are from France, the most notable being Robert Guédiguian's Army of Crime about the anti-fascist refugees from Spain, Hungary, Poland, Armenia, Italy and elsewhere who paid a heavy price for fighting with the French resistance. There has also been Rachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory and Outside the Law about the experience of north African soldiers during and after the second world war. To these should now be added Free Men, a gripping fact-based thriller about events set in and around Paris's Muslim community and most especially the city's principal mosque. Jews and members of the resistance were being hidden in the mosque's cellars, while at ground level this place of worship...

The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 19 - May 3)  will open with this year's Berlinale opener, "Farewell, My Queen," directed by Benoit Jacquot. The period drama -- starring Diane Kruger ("Inglourious Basterds"), Lea Seydoux ("Midnight in Paris") and Virginie Ledoyen ("Army of Crime") -- takes place over the first days of the French Revolution and is told from the perspective of the servants at Versailles. Kruger plays Marie Antoinette. (Go Here for Indiewire's review). Jacquot will be present for a post-screening Q&A.  ...

Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette, Farewell, My Queen The world premiere of Les Adieux à la reine / Farewell, My Queen will open the 2012 Berlin Film Festival next February 9. Directed by Benoît Jacquot (Tosca, Villa Amalia, Deep in the Woods), Farewell, My Queen stars Inglourious Basterds' Diane Kruger (as Marie Antoinette), Midnight in Paris' Léa Seydoux, and Army of Crime's Virginie Ledoyen. Adapted by Jacquot and Gilles Taurand from Chantal Thomas’ novel, Farewell, My Queen is set during the first days of the French Revolution, as seen from the perspective of the servants at Versailles. The synopsis below is from the Berlin Film Festival website: Versailles in July 1789. Unrest is growing in the court of King Louis the XVI (Xavier Beauvois). The people are rebelling — a revolution is imminent. Behind the facades of the royal palaces, everyone is thinking of fleeing, including Queen Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger) and her entourage.

The period drama "Farewell My Queen" starring Diane Kruger ("Inglourious Basterds"), Lea Seydoux ("Midnight in Paris") and Virginie Ledoyen ("Army of Crime") will open the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 9. The film, directed by Benoit Jacquot ("Tosca"), takes place over the first days of the French Revolution and is told from the perspective of the servants at Versailles. Kruger plays Marie Antoinette. In addition to kicking off the event, it will also run in competition for Berlin's Gold and Silver Bears. (Go here to see The Playlist's first look at the film.) Full release below: The 62nd Berlin International Film Festival will open at the Berlinale Palast on February 9, 2012 with the world premiere of the period drama Les Adieux à la reine (Farewell My Queen) that features such international stars as Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), Léa Seydoux (Midnight in...

The 62nd Berlin International Film Festival will open at the Berlinale Palast on February 9, 2012 with the world premiere of the period drama Les Adieux à la reine (Farewell My Queen) that features such international stars as Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), Léa Seydoux (Midnig

ht in Paris) and Virginie Ledoyen (Army of Crime).

In a screen adaptation of Chantal Thomas’ prize-winning novel of the same name, French Director Benoît Jacquot (Tosca, Villa Amalia, Deep in the Woods, among others) portrays the first days of the French Revolution from the perspective of the servants at Versailles. With ironic overtones, a historical drama unfolds that also draws parallels to the present.

Versailles in July 1789. Unrest is growing in the court of King Louis the XVI. The people are rebelling – a revolution is imminent. Behind the facades of the royal palaces, everyone is thinking of fleeing, including Queen Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger) and her entourage.

Cologne, Germany - Farewell My Queen, a period drama from director Benoit Jacquot (The Untouchable) starring Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette, will open the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 9. Story: 'Iron Lady' Meryl Streep To Receive Berlin Golden Bear The film, an adaptation of Chantal Thomas’ prize-winning novel of the same name, is set in the early days of the French revolution as people begin to revolt against the court of King Louis the XVI. The film co-stars Lea Seydoux (Midnight in Paris) and Virginie Ledoyen (Army of Crime). In a rarity for

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French production company Studio Canal has announced from Berlin that its film, director Robert Guediguian's "Army of Crime" ("L'armée du crime"), has been picked up by Lorber Films, an arm of Kino Lorber, Inc., for U.S. distribution. "Army of Crime" is the rarely told story of immigrant French Resistance fighters in Paris. It was Out of Competition at Cannes last year, and has been selected for Film Society of Lincoln Center ...

Paris -- Lorber Films has snagged U.S. distribution rights to French director Robert Guediguian's World War II drama "Army of Crime," the film's sales agent Studiocanal said Wednesday.

The film, which screened in Official Selection Out of Competition at this year's Festival de Cannes, tells the story of immigrant French Resistance fighters in Paris and stars Virginie Ledoyen, Simon Abkarian and Jean-Pierre Darroussin.

"Army of Crime" will screen in New York in March as part of Unifrance's Rendez-vous with French Cinema at Lincoln Center.

Lorber, a releasing arm of Kino Lorber Inc., is planning a spring/summer opening in New York for the title before going wide across the United States.

"One of my personal favorites from this year's Cannes, we believe 'Army of Crime' will resonate strongly with American theatre audiences, both for its sweeping cinematic mise en scene and the compelling moral dilemmas posed in its brilliant character driven true story,...

Jumping back into the FiLM BiTCH Awards now. They're my long running personal awards for best of any given year. I usually try to wrap up the exact-correlative Oscar categories before the Academy's nominations but obviously that didn't happen this year. Oops.

Herewith the next couple of awards: Best Original Score and Best Adapted/Mix or Song Score.

I have two categories since so many films these days use a mix of original and previously recorded material for their soundscapes. You'll find that animated films are well represented in one category or another. Mr. Fox is Fantastic, everyone agrees. Coraline and Up are not just eye candy but ear candy, too. And then there's Karen O's work on Where the Wild Things Are which I like to think of as a hipster remembrance of the mysteries of childhood rather than a child-like score. Even with all the kiddies singing.

You'll...

• Traditionally, the spots in the Out of Competition, Midnight and Special Screenings are reserved to Hollywood Studios looking to promote a soon-to-be-released summer title, socially relevant documentary film or some genre film from South Korea. I'm surprised that neither Angels & Demons, nor Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins took up a spot. Out of the trio of titles in the Out of Comp section, the film journalists will be flocking to see Heath Ledger's last perf, but I'll be more interested in how Terry Gilliam changes horses mid-stream with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Alejandro Amenabar's Agora is one more heavyweight production grabbing a slot, and thus makes this Cannes edition a great one for Spanish film. A well liked filmmaker in France, Robert Guediguian (Marius et Jeannette) hasn't visited with Cannes often, so The Army of Crime which was tapped for a possible spot in the Competition, will

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