French drama, Haute Couture is an admittedly sentimental but genuinely charming and at times moving story of second chances and reconciliation. Set amid the highly skilled dressmakers of the elite French fashion house, Dior, the film also reveals a more working class element to the lofty elite world of high fashion that we don’t normally see. The film centres on
Read moreFrench film, After Blue is one of the weirdest movies of the year and one that shows that weirdness alone does not necessarily equal fascinating art or entertainment. In what might be glibly dubbed eco-feminist science fiction, it’s set in a future where humanity has fled an environmentally devastated Earth to the planet, After Blue where only women have survived
Read moreFrench film Ces’t La Vie is supposedly a comedy but works better as a study in workplace chaos. Set amid an elaborate wedding reception in the sprawling gardens of a French chateau, the film sees catering company boss and ring master Max (Jean-Pierre Bacri) desperately try to control an endless stream of disasters. Staff flirt with guests, people suffer food
Read moreWith his latest film, Personal Shopper writer/director Olivier Assayas uses the supernatural horror medium as a way of externalising his lead character’s anxieties. This makes for an occasionally perplexing film but also an intriguing and genuinely spooky one. Kristen Stewart is Maureen, the eponymous shopper who works as a personal assistant to famous French fashion designer, Kyra (Nora von Waldstätten).
Read moreFrench drama The Measure of a Man depicts the existential hell of both unemployment and employment. The film portrays the grim life of retrenched middle-aged factory worker Thierry (Vincent Lindon) as he diligently but unsuccessfully searches for work, enduring constant knock-backs and worthless advice from his employment counsellor. With debts for his disabled son’s care mounting, he takes a job
Read moreThis week on Built For Speed we take a look at two of this year’s most provocative films: Irish religious drama Calvary and Australian documentary All This Mayhem which reveals the tumultuous lives of Aussie skateboard champs Tas and Ben Pappas. Also, with Bastille coming up this Monday, we take a look at our favourite French films and we play
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