May 23 - 28, 2008
There's no question, some of the most swooningly romantic cinema is made in Europe and, particularly, in France. Not surprising for a country known as the seat of true romance. This Memorial Day Week, the Brattle features a memorable exploration of some of the best love stories produced "en Français" - including films by François Truffaut, Louis Malle, Marcel Carné, and Jacques Demy! Alas, like many love affairs, this series is all too brief. Don't miss your chance to see these acclaimed romances on the big screen.
FILM DESCRIPTIONS:
Double Feature w/JULES AND JIMTHE LOVERS
(1958) dir Louis Malle w/Jeanne Moreau, Alain Curry, Jose Villalonga, Jean-Marc Bory [90 min]
Louis Malle unveiled the natural beauty of Jeanne Moreau in his breakthrough, Elevator to the Gallows. With his follow-up, the scandalous smash THE LOVERS, he made her a star once and for all. A deeply felt and luxuriously filmed fairy tale for grown-ups, perched on the edge between classical and New Wave cinemas, THE LOVERS presents Moreau as a restless bourgeois wife whose eye wanders from both her husband and her lover to an attractive passing stranger (Bory). Thanks to its frank sexuality, THE LOVERS caused quite a stir, being censored and attacked for obscenity around the world. If today its shock has worn off, its glistening sensuality and seductive storytelling haven't aged a day. - The Criterion Collection
Double
Feature w/THE LOVERS JULES AND JIM
(1962) dir François Truffaut w/Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre [105 min]
One of the many undisputed classics of the French New Wave, Truffaut's JULES AND JIM follows a trio of lovers: Catherine (Moreau) and two friends, Jules (Werner) and Jim (Serre). Despite Catherine's switching back-and-forth between the pair, the love they feel for each other as friends is unaffected, revealing a fresh view of relationships that is truly modern - for the 60s or any other era.
"There is a joy in the filmmaking that feels fresh today and felt audacious at the time." - Roger Ebert
Original Theatrical Trailer (no subtitles)
CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945) dir Marcel Carné w/Jean-Louis Barrault, Arletty [190 min]
Like many of the films made in France during the German occupation, Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert's glorious epic of the early 19th century Parisian theater (and underworld) was profoundly affected by the war. The occupation shadows every frame of this film and doubtlessly gives CHILDREN its remarkable sense of breathless romantic immediacy. And as Peter Cowie points out in his essay for the Criterion DVD, the shoot and lengthy post production "survived power failures, a shortage of film stock, storms, curfews, and the audacious spending of its director." Not to mention the difficulties of having a production designer and a composer in hiding, the perils of working with a leading lady (Arletty) with a Gestapo lover, and German censorship. Carné himself was forced to work without payment for a six-month period and had to sell his parents' house in order to survive. The result, of course, was one of the most enduring and beloved films of all time.
Original Theatrical Trailer
UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964) dir Jacques Demy w/Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel [91 min]
*Schedule Change
In Jacques Demy's bittersweet romance, Deneuve plays Genevieve, the teenage daughter of an umbrella shop owner, who loves Guy, a simple, working-class fella. Her mother disapproves of their desire to marry but, when Guy is called away to war, Genevieve pledges to wait for him. She is pregnant, however, and she believes her baby needs a father. Having little news from Guy, and fearing the worst, she is pressured by her mother to marry a rich man who promises to take care of her. Will her love endure the pressures of reality? Or will necessity be the mother of Genevieve's fate? This quintessential film of star-crossed lovers is made all the more romantic by its dialogue, which is sung to the strains of Michel Le Grand's enchanting score.
DVD Trailer
