Our November Selection of French Films on TV5MONDE Cinema on Demand
This month we are presenting a six-film lineup in celebration Isabelle Huppert, one of France's most talented actresses with over 100 acting credits and honors from the Cannes Film Festival, the César Awards, the Lumière Awards, and much more.
In French with English subtitles. Available beginning November 2
Neuroticism is taken to a whole other level with Serge Bozon's hilarious Tip Top. Two strong and talented actresses complement one another as Huppert's fierce and direct nature collides with Kiberlain's witty and adorkable comedic timing. Add thrilling plot twists and you have one delicious adventure.
After a police informant is murdered, two unconventional detectives from Internal Affairs are brought in to investigate potential police involvement.
“Serge Bozon's smart, surprising, marvelously realized French crime-and-sex police drama/comedy distinguishes itself with trenchant plotting, inspired framing, and performances that honor true human feeling even as they lunge into the screwball". - Village Voice
Directed by: Serge Bozon
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain, François Damiens
Genre: Comedy
In French with English subtitles. Available beginning November 2
Adapted from a novel by Yukio Mishima.Tune into this option if you're up for the ice and fire sexual tension that Huppert is known for in this red hot 90's classic. It's one of the first times you see our leading lady in her signature cougar roles.
Dominique, the successful head of a fashion house, becomes romantically entangled with an attractive but unstable younger man named Quentin.
“Completely believable and emotionally true from beginning to end." Film Journal International
Directed by: Benoit Jacquot
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Vincent Martinez, Vincent Lindon
Genre: Drama
Marvin ou la belle éducation (2016)
In French with English subtitles. Available beginning November 9
Fast forward to a more modern and familial look at Huppert's work, enjoy Anne Fontaine's picture from last year. With a Billy Elliot feel, Finnegan Oldfield demonstrates the glimmer of hope we all feel when pursuing the unexpected.
Fed up with his life, Marvin decides to change his name and flee to Paris to pursue his passion for theater, the only thing that gave him solace while living with his dysfunctional family in a small, bigoted village.
“Best by a mile are newcomer Jules Porier as the young Marvin, a pale boy with gamin grace, and Grégory Gadebois as his father, a phlegmy walrus of a man forever exposing expanses of flesh in sleeveless denim and distended briefs." - Financial Times
Directed by: Anne Fontaine
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Finnegan Oldfield, Grégory Gadebois
Genre: Drama
In French with English subtitles. Available beginning November 9
Josiane Bolasko perfects the brutal and surprising comedy in Sac de noeuds. Huppert pushes herself into a dark and complicated role of the vamp on the run, coming to the aid of a suicidal bag lady.
Anita, feeling hopeless after the death of her son, is taken by surprise when her neighbor, Rose-Marie, burst into Anita's apartment to escape an abusive husband.
Directed by: Josiane Balasko
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Josiane Balasko, Farid Chopel
Genre: Comedy
In French with English subtitles. Available beginning November 16
An eerie narrative, reminiscent of the sixth sense, Raoul Ruiz depicts a peculiar and one of a kind story, based on the acclaimed Italian novel, The Boy with Two Mothers.
A mother struggles to handle her 9-year-old son, Camille, after he starts claiming to be Paul, the lost son of a troubled woman named Isabella.
"Ruiz, co-scripting with Francoise Dumas, draws out the story’s ambiguous, inexplicable dimension, aided by the disquieting perfs of Huppert and Balibar." - Variety
Directed by: Raoul Ruiz
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Balibar, Charles Berling
Genre: Drama
Un barrage contre le Pacifique (2007)
In French with English subtitles. Available beginning November 16
Un barrage contre le Pacifique is a breath of fresh air, both because of its naturally beautiful on location sets and its raw and wholesome story.
Based on the novel by Marguerite Duras, a widow living in French Indochina in 1931 desperately tries to support her two children with a farm that is uncultivable due to constant flooding.
"On-location lensing in Prey Nup, Cambodia, along with realistic period production design and costumes, effectively evoke the era while also showing the literal and figurative rot caused by the tropical clime." - Variety
Directed by: Rithy Panh
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Gaspard Ulliel, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey
Genre: Drama