Aspects of French Cinema

The Barbican Centre is having a short season of French films from 29 June-8 July under the heading Aspects of French Cinema. Its divided into three sections, Paris at the Movies where the French capital is the setting for the films, The Comical World of Jacques Tati features of the French comdian and The Films of Robert Guédiguian is a weekend of films by the Marseille-based filmmaker who’ll be on hand for a ScreenTalk at the Barbican. Here’s the lineup.

Paris at the Movies
29 June - Les 400 coups (The 400 Blows) 1959 French New Wave classic from director Francois Truffaut.
30 June - Amelie Audrey Tautou stars as a Montmarte waitress trying to do good.
1 July - Lift to the Scaffold (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud) Director Louis Malle’s first feature is a film noir thriller starring Jeanne Moreau.
2 July - Cléo de 5 à 7 Two hours in the life of singer Cléo and the people she meets.
3 July - La Haine Gritty 1995 black and white film looking at the violent French under class.
4 July - A bout de souffle (Breathless) Jean-Luc Godard’s debut as a director with Jean-Paul Belmondo on the run for killinmg a policeman.

The Comical World of Jacques Tati
30 June - Jour de Fête (The Big Day) Tati’s 1949 directorial debut.
30 June - Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (Les Vacances de M. Hulot) Tati’s most famous character makes his first appearance.
1 July - Mon Oncle (My Uncle)
1 July - Playtime M. Hulot along with a group of American tourists in search of the ‘real’ Paris.

The Films of Robert Guediguian
5 July - Le Voyage en Arménie 2206 film set in Armenia.
7 July - Marius et Jeanette Award winning romantic comedy from 1997.
7 July - A La Place Du Coeur (Where the Heart is) Guediguian’s adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel If Beale Street Could Talk.
8 July - La Ville est Tranquille (The Town is Quiet) A tale of urban lives set against a backdrop of industrial decline.
8 July - The Last Mitterrand (Le Promeneur Du Champ De Mars) A biography of the former French President.