The 2010 Rendez-vous with French Cinema

The 15th annual Rendez-vous with French Cinema, presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and UniFrance, was announced recently, though the line-up isn't much to get excited over. Rendez-vous with French Cinema usually highlights the previous year's Gallic offerings that hadn't already premiered at the New York Film Festival. Last year's series screened the new films from Claire Denis, Agnès Godard, Claude Chabrol, Costa-Gavras, André Téchiné and Benoît Jacquot. While there are some big(-ish) names represented this year like François Ozon, Michel Gondry, Christophe Honoré and Claude Miller, the line-up as a whole doesn't read as "thrilling" by any stretch (keep in mind I haven't actually seen any of the films yet). On the bright side, Alain Guiraudie's Le roi de l'évasion [The King of Escape] will make its US premiere at the festival (and, really, I am quite anxious to see the new Ozon and a couple of the others).

Jules Dassin's The Law [La loi], a French/Italian co-production from 1959 with Gina Lollobrigida, Marcello Mastroianni, Melina Mercouri and Yves Montand, is the only feature more than a year old that screens this year. Recently remastered in a new 35mm print, The Law will make the rounds theatrically and on DVD later this year from Oscilloscope Pictures. Thierry Frémaux, artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival, will also bring a collection of newly restored shorts from the Lumière brothers. The selection of short films will include a film called The Girls, the directorial debut of actress Anna Mouglalis. Of the 2009 features, four currently have US distribution (with Lorber Films announcing their acquisition of L'armée du crime earlier today). The complete line-up is below, but click here for short synopses, screening dates and online ticketing.

- À l'origine [In the Beginning], d. Xavier Giannoli, w. François Cluzet, Emmanuelle Devos, Gérard Depardieu
- L'affaire Farewell [Farewell], d. Christian Carion, w. Emir Kusturica, Guillaume Canet, Alexandra Maria Lara, Fred Ward, Willem Dafoe, Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann
- L'armée du crime [The Army of Crime], d. Robert Guédiguian, Lorber Films, w. Simon Abkarian, Virginie Ledoyen, Robinson Stévenin, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Yann Trégouët, Adrien Jolivet
- Les beaux gosses [The French Kissers], d. Riad Sattouf, w. Noémie Lvovsky, Valeria Golino, Irène Jacob, Emmanuelle Devos, Marjane Satrapi, Christophe Vandevelde
- Le bel âge [Restless / L'insurgée], d. Laurent Perreau, w. Michel Piccoli, Pauline Etienne, Eric Caravaca
- L'épine dans le cœur [The Thorn in the Heart], d. Michel Gondry, Oscilloscope Pictures
- La famille Wolberg [The Wolberg Family], d. Axelle Ropert, w. Serge Bozon
- Le hérisson [The Hedgehog], d. Mona Achache, w. Josiane Balasko
- Huit fois debout [8 Times Up], d. Xabi Molia, w. Julie Gayet, Denis Podalydès, Frédéric Bocquet
- Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante [I'm Glad That My Mother Is Alive], d. Claude Miller, Nathan Miller
- La loi [The Law], d. Jules Dassin, Oscilloscope Pictures, w. Gina Lollobrigida, Yves Montand, Marcello Mastroianni, Melina Mercouri, Pierre Brasseur
- Mademoiselle Chambon, d. Stéphane Brizé, w. Vincent Lindon, Sandrine Kiberlain
- Non ma fille, tu n'iras pas danser [Making Plans for Lena], d. Christophe Honoré, w. Chiarra Mastroianni, Marina Foïs, Jean-Marc Barr, Louis Garrel, Julien Honoré
- OSS 117: Rio de répond plus [OSS 117: Lost in Rio], d. Michel Hazanavicius, w. Jean Dujardin, Louise Monot, Rüdiger Vogler
- Rapt, d. Lucas Belvaux, w. Yvan Attal, Anne Consigny, Alex Descas
- Le refuge [The Refuge], d. François Ozon, Strand Releasing, w. Isabelle Carré, Melvil Poupaud
- Les regrets, d. Cédric Kahn, w. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Yvan Attal
- Le roi de l'évasion [The King of Escape], d. Alain Guiraudie, w. Ludovic Berthillot, Hafsia Herzi
- Welcome, d. Philippe Lioret, Film Movement, w. Vincent Lindon

Another Quick DVD Update

I didn't notice anything worth mentioning on the Blu-ray horizon (as usual), so here are some newly announced titles, three noir box sets and a couple of new titles in the Warner Archive.

- The Films of Amos Gitai [ Kadosh / Kippur / Kedma / Alila / Devarim / Yom Yom], 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 1995, 1998, d. Amos Gitai, Kino, 23 February
- The Informant!, 2009, d. Steven Soderbergh, also on Blu-ray, Warner, 23 February
- Soo, 2007, d. Sai Yoichi, Virgil Films, 23 February
- The Baby Formula, 2008, d. Alison Reid, Wolfe, 9 March
- Breaking Bad, Season 2, 2009, also on Blu-ray, Sony, 9 March
- Wonderful World, 2009, d. Joshua Goldin, also on Blu-ray, Magnolia, 16 March, w. Matthew Broderick, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Kenneth Williams, Philip Baker Hall
- Heinrich Himmler: Anatomy of a Mass Murderer [Heinrich Himmler: Aus dem Leben eines Massenmörders], 2008, d. Michael Kloft, First Run, 23 March
- The Statue, 1971, d. Rodney Amateau, Code Red, 23 March
- Ex Drummer, 2007, d. Koen Mortier, Palisades Tartan, 20 April
- Disgrace, 2008, d. Steve Jacobs, also on Blu-ray, Image, 27 April
- Veronica Decides to Die, 2009, d. Emily Young, First Look, 27 April, w. Sarah Michelle Gellar

Bad Girls of Film Noir, Vol. 1, Sony, 9 February

- The Killer That Stalked New York [aka Frightened City], 1950, d. Earl McEvoy
- Two of a Kind, 1951, d. Henry Levin
- Bad for Each Other, 1953, d. Irving Rapper, w. Charlton Heston
- The Glass Wall, 1953, d. Maxwell Shane, w. Vittorio Gassman

Bad Girls of Film Noir, Vol. 2, Sony, 9 February

- Night Editor, 1946, d. Henry Levin
- One Girl's Confession, 1953, d. Hugo Haas
- Women's Prison, 1955, d. Lewis Seiler, w. Ida Lupino
- Over-Exposed, 1956, d. Lewis Seiler, w. Richard Crenna

British Film Noir Double Feature, VCI, 23 February

- Twilight Women [aka Women of Twilight], 1952, d. Gordon Parry
- The Slasher [aka Cosh Boy], 1953, d. Lewis Gilbert, w. Joan Collins

New Additions to the Warner Archive

- The Boy with Green Hair, 1948, d. Joseph Losey
- The Canterville Ghost, 1944, d. Jules Dassin, Norman Z. McLeod, w. Charles Laughton
- The Enchanted Cottage, 1945, d. John Cromwell
- The Happy Years, 1950, d. William A. Wellman, w. Dean Stockwell
- Hard, Fast and Beautiful, 1951, d. Ida Lupino
- The Hollywood Revue of 1929, 1929, d. Charles Reisner, w. Buster Keaton, Joan Crawford, John Gilbert, Marion Davies, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
- Sally, 1929, d. John Francis Dillon
- Show Girl in Hollywood, 1930, d. Mervyn LeRoy
- The Strange Love of Molly Louvain, 1932, d. Michael Curtiz
- Untamed Youth, 1957, d. Howard W. Koch, w. Mamie Van Doren

Zombie Jules Dassin

Oh those strange coincidences. Richard Widmark died just a week before his Night and the City director Jules Dassin. Dassin had an amazingly rounded career, born in Connecticut, became a master of the film noir, blacklisted from Hollywood, moved to France, celebrated a career resurgence, moved to Greece, and continued to work there in his later years. He was famously married to actress Melina Mercouri, whom he directed into a Best Actress prize at Cannes for Never on Sunday. He was 96.

Notable Filmography

The Canterville Ghost (1944)
Brute Force (1947)
The Naked City (1948)
Thieves' Highway (1949)
Night and the City (195o)
Rififi (1955)
Never on Sunday (1960)
10:30 P.M. Summer (1966)