My first list of films we're not allowed to see in UK cinemas included films released until 2012, the second one from 2012 to 2020, and I was tempted to let matters rest, but in the post-pandemic harvest of films there were a couple of no-shows that shocked me into launching a third instalment, and a trawl through my tumblr "french cinema" tag brought up enough material to launch a new, post-plague list.
As in the second instalment, there will be just one list of films running chronologically forward, so starting with the earliest ones. I’ll start with films produced in 2021. Within each year, the films that I actually managed to see are listed first. Oh, and female directors are now also highlighted in bold font.
So, here we go again:
Les meilleures (Besties) - France 2021, Marion Desseigne-Ravel, starring Lina El Arabi and lots of unknown young talents. A bit like Westside Story in the Paris banlieue, oh and the rival gangs are all girls. Much as I object to the gang stupidity turbocharged by smartphones, the forbidden love story is really engaging.
Ma nuit (My night) - France 2021, Antoinette Boulat, starring Lou Lampros. A random night-time walk through the city, what's not to like. Don't go looking for a plot though. Caught this one on TV5 Monde
Une histoire d'amour et de désir - France 2021, Leyla Bouzid, starring Sami Outalbali, Zbeida Belhajamor - lovely little boy meets girl story driven by the very energetic girl, although the boy's hangups and tribulations are arguably the main topic. I was lucky to catch it on TV5 Monde. It was also shown at the BFI London Film Festival, apparently.
Fragile - France 2021, Emma Benestan, starring Yasin Houicha and Oulaya Amamra. Again, like in the previous one, a pretty but hopeless boy has to be rescued by an energetic girl, this time on the Mediterranean coast (Sete) rather than in Paris. A cute fairytale with a lot of dancing.
Vous ne désirez que moi (I want to talk about Duras) - France 2021, Claire Simon, starring Emmanuelle Devos. Film about the writer Marguerite Duras.
Une jeune fille qui va bien (A radiant girl) - France 2021, Sandrine Kiberlain, starring Rebecca Marder.
La grande magie (The great magic) - France 2022, Noémie Lvovsky. Nice as an absurd fairy tale from the Belle Epoque. I wouldn't normally approve of the musical bits, but as it's all absurd anyway, people breaking into song at random times just goes with the spirit. For a film coming from a female writer/director, it's a shame that the female cast (other than herself as the magician's wife) are rather marginalised, specifically Judith Chemla and Rebecca Marder whose characters disappear in different ways. Ultimately, this boils down to a film about two blokes, of which there are too many already.
Stella est amoureuse - France 2022, Sylvie Verheyde, starring Flavie Delangle. After Stella, a second film based on Verheyde's own youth, now covering the year when Stella turns 18 in the mid-80s (almost contemporary to my growing up as Verheyde was born in 1967). Delangle is suitably gloomy and enigmatic filling almost every screen and smoking way too much. Not very convincing as a hetero lover though, I kept thinking she should try one of her gang of "copines". And that was before I found out what she did before ...
Divertimento - France 2022, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, starring Lina El Arabi, Oulaya Amamra
Un beau matin (one fine morning) - France 2022, Mia Hansen-Love starring Lea Seydoux.
Coup de chance - France 2023, Woody Allen, starring Lou de Laage - managed to catch this in Dusseldorf in a (rare for Germany) subtitled screening. May yet write up some thoughts about it.
La fille de son père (No love lost) - France 2023, Erwan Le Duc, shown at the Maison Francaise d'Oxford. Much like in the director's first feature film, Perdrix (2019), I am loving the sense for the absurdity of life here.
Le théorème de Marguerite - France 2023, Anna Novion, starring Ella Rumpf.
Le ravissement (The rapture) - France 2023, Iris Kaltenbäck starring Hafsia Herzi.
Je verrai toujours vos visages (All your faces) - France 2023, Jeanne Herry, starring Leila Bekhti.
A la joie (Cheers to joy) - France 2023, Jérôme Bonnell. A lockdown chamber piece on love in the times of Covid, apparently. Now available on DVD eg in Germany.
Münter & Kandinsky - Germany 2024, Marcus O. Rosenmüller, starring Vanessa Loibl. A biopic of the star artists of the Blauer Reiter. Managed to catch this in the cinema in Germany, read my review here.
In Liebe, Eure Hilde (From Hilde, with love) - Germany 2024, Andreas Dresen, starring Liv Lisa Fries. Managed to catch this in the cinema in Germany, and it left me rather stirred and shaken. Read my review here. Might still get a UK release, seeing that films with Nazis are inexplicably popular in the UK.
Die Herrlichkeit des Lebens - Germany 2024, Judith Kaufmann, starring Henriette Konfurius. Released in Germany ahead of the centenary of Kafka's death, this film covers the last year of his life and his relationship with Dora Diamant.
Langue Étrangère - France 2024, Claire Burger - supposedly released in Germany on October 24, but haven't been able to find it ... German title:
Tandem - In welcher Sprache träumst du? It had a 5/5 review in epd-film, so not sure why it disappeared without a trace within two weeks.
Pauline grandeur nature - Switzerland 2024, Nadège de Benoit-Luthy, starring Déborah François. I've decided I want to see more of Déborah François, so adding her work systematically.
Everybody loves Touda - Morocco 2024, Nabil Ayouch, starring Nisrin Erradi
to be continued ... - last updated 17.12.2024
One of our lovely independent cinemas here, not their fault that they're not getting all these films. (Own photo) I used this photo in the second instalment already, so will replace it here as soon as I have a better idea.
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