CINEMA
As always… French films, English subtitles… and all
welcome till hall is full!
Cine-club
September
September 2
Le diner de cons/ The dinner game
Directed by Francis Veber, 1998
For Pierre Brochant and his friends, Wednesday is the day for the idiots. The principle is simple : each person has to bring along an idiot. The one who brings the most spectacular idiot wins the prize…
September 9
Quartier V.I.P
Directed by Laurent Firode, 2005.
Alex is a prison guard at the Santé prison. His daily life is a routine mix of dealing with inmates’ scams, gang bosses’ bullying tactics and enjoying couch-potato evenings with his wife Louise. It’s a question of habit. But his prison guard uniform masks his unfulfilled dreams of escape and is a sign of his resignation. As though making amends for his petty criminal past, he’s condemned himself to spend his life in jail.
From one day to the next, Alex is transferred to the prison’s VIP cells. He regrets having to leave behind his colleague and friend René. It’s a whole new world: the new area is like a cushy hotel for deviant jet-setters. There industrialists caught with their hands in the till and major forgers benefit from the special privileges that their rank provides. As payoff, the guards readily accept tips on the side. Because he refuses to bend to the established rules, Alex attracts the suspicion of the other guards and sparks the interest of one of the prisoner, a certain Bertrand Fonsac...
September 16
Rue des plaisirs / Love Street
Directed by Patrice Leconte, 2002
One rainy night, three prostitutes pass the time whilst waiting for clients by recalling the story of one of their former acquaintances. In 1945, Petit Louis works as a handyman in the brothel where he was born and grew up. Love comes his way in the form of Marion, a beautiful young woman who finds work in the brothel. Realising that Marion cannot possibly love a man as plain as him, Petit Louis commits himself to making her happy in other ways. He gets her to enter a singing competition on the radio, which she wins, and then contrives to bring her together with her ideal man. Marion’s happiness is short-lived when it turns out that her lover, Dimitri Josco, is a petty crook who is being pursued by some vindictive gangsters...
September 23
Vendredi soir / Friday Night
Directed by Claire Denis, 2004
When Laure leaves her apartment to have dinner with a couple of friends, she unwittingly drives into one of the biggest traffic jams that Paris has ever seen. Once there, she is captive to the Paris night and, with nothing else to do, she listens to the radio and lets her imagination run wild. Soon, the motorists blocking the streets begin offering shelter to pedestrians caught in the rain. Remaining caution, Laure keeps the doors of her car firmly close. But she sees a stranger and impulsively decides to take a chance.
September 30
Partie de campagne/A Day in the Country
Directed by Jean Renoir, 1936
On an idyllic country picnic, a young girl leaves her family and fiancé for a while, and succumbs to an all-too-brief romance. Shot on location on the banks of two small tributaries of the Seine, Renoir’s sensuous tribute to the countryside – and to the river – has seldom been surpassed.
