August 8, 1996

For Ever Mozart (1996) ***

La Vie de Marianne (1996) ***

Chloe (1996) ***

Comment je me suis dispute ma vie sexuelle (1996) ***

Mon homme (1996) ***

Les Voleurs (1996) ***

Microcosmos (1996) **

La vie secrete des insectes.

Chacun cherche son chat (1996) **

Charming little film about a young woman looking for her missing cat.

Capitaine Conan (1996) *

World War I as seen by French soldiers fighting in Bulgaria and Romania.

L'Appartement (1996) **

Ingeniously plotted film about a young man searching for a woman of his dreams. It's a neat mixture of romantic comedy and film noir thriller, with a hefty dose of "Cinderella" and "Vertigo" added in for good measure. Everything is so complicated that at least two viewings are required to fully understand the story.

Enfants de salaud (1996) **

Story of three half-sisters and one half-brother, children of a murderer.

Le Cri de la soie (1996) **

Marie Trintignant's finely nuanced performance earned her a Cesar (i.e. Gallic Oscar) nomination as best actress for playing a young woman obsessed by fine fabrics, especially silk. Her psychiatrist, also a fetishist, falls in love with her. The film is set in France during World War I. The pacing is sluggish and the erotic obessions strangely unarousing. The best erotic films usually eschew textile industry products.

Le Huitieme jour (1996) **

A divorced businessman (Daniel Auteuil) befriends a mentally-challenged man (Pascal Duquenne). Sentimental, often ridiculous film. Also quite funny, profoundly moving and sad.

Un Heros tres discret (1996) **

Un jeune Francais se fait passer pour un heros de la Resistance.

Encore (1996) **

Mademoiselle Moreau (1996) **

Often amusing, nice film about the career of Jeanne Moreau.

Visiblement je vous aime (1996) *

French film set in an insane asylum.

Pedale douce (1996) *

A bizarre love triangle involving a woman (Fanny Ardant), a straight man (Richard Berry) and a gay man.

Love etc (1996) *

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charles Berling and Yvan Attal star in this rather boring film loosely inspired by "Jules et Jim".

Hommes femmes mode d'emploi (1996) *

A Claude Lelouch film with a typically far-fetched narrative.

L'Eleve (1996) *

A young man is hired as a tutor.

Bernie (1996) *

It might well be the meanest and most disgusting French film ever made.

La Promesse (1996) **

Belgian film about illegal immigrants and people who exploit them.

La Bouche de Jean-Pierre (1996) **

Disturbing film about suicide and child abuse.

Les Aveux de l'Innocent (1996) *

Un jeune homme s'accuse d'un meurtre dont il n'a pas commit.