What to watch in December
Each month, FrenchFlicks selects the best French films available on Canal+ International and Studiocanal through DIRECTV. In December, you’ll have plenty to choose from, including an intimate story behind the brilliant Marie Curie, the latest Les Bronzés instalment and a Jean-Pierre Melville classic crime thriller.
CANAL+ INTERNATIONAL
FILMS (Tuesdays and Fridays at 8 PM EST)* :
LES PALMES DE MONSIEUR SCHUTZ (1997) on 12/04/2018
A humoristic view of the lives of Marie and Pierre Curie and their discoveries around radioactivity.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it - We can't get enough of Isabelle Huppert, and in all honesty, which other actress would you choose to portray the brilliant, trailblazing turn of the century physicist Marie Curie? This film takes us inside the powerful and influential work that shaped the lives of Pierre and Marie Curie and the science world thereafter.
L'EQUIPIER (2004) on 12/07/2018
Camille arrives at the island Ouessant where she was born, to sell the house of her parents. She finds a book of a certain Antoine and starts reading. A story of a stranger is told who came in 1963 to the island. He wasn't well received and left again after two months.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it - César Award winning Sandrine Bonnaire stars in this swashbuckling adventure and intense romance along with Grégori Dérangère and Philippe Torreton. The beautiful setting of Brittany only adds to the haunting passion of the film.
CHOUCHOU (2003) on 12/11/2018
A North African immigrant to Paris gets work and finds romance despite his scatty character.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it - Sometimes you just need something outrageous. And you can't possibly go wrong with a comic as enigmatic and full of life as Gad Elmaleh. For this role, the comedian was nominated for the César Award for Best Actor.
L'ENTENTE CORDIALE (2006) on 12/14/2018
A former diplomat who doesn't speak a word of English accepts a secret mission in London, but his substitute interpreter does not like him. They are forced to cohabitate as some enemies are there to kill them.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it - A hilarious concept complete with a parody of the slick James Bond style and extremely commited actors. The Monthy Python's John Cleese makes a must-see cameo!
LA FOLLE HISTOIRE DE MAX ET LEON (2016) on 12/18/2018
Max & Leon is the first feature film from the stars of the French TV sensation The Palmashow: the creation of stand-up comedians Grégoire Ludig and David Marsais. In this epic WW2 comedy—in the vein of La Grande Vadrouille (which was for 40 years the most popular French film in the history of France)—our two heroes, Max and Léon, will try by all means possible to avoid going into battle… which leads the duo into a series of demented and wild adventures.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it - The lovable comic duo take pre World War II France by storm in this flick directed by Jonathan Barré. Situational comedy at its finest.
LES BRONZÉS 3 (2006) on 12/21/2018
In this film, six vacationers from France find themselves on the sunny shores of Africa in a vacation village where organized fun is the order of the day. The story focuses on the trials of a married couple who can't quite live up to their ideals of an "open" marriage.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it - For a taste of a true French classic, tune into this final instalment of Les Bronzés, in which the strongest comedians of their hey day reunite for their long awaited skii vacation. A look at what these famous characters have been up to for the past 30 years gives us the warm fuzzies.
LE PETIT POUCET (2001) le 12/28/2018
Genre : Family, Fantasy, Drama
Director: Olivier Dahan
Poucet is a kid from a family of numerous children. The parents, too poor to feed them, decide to abandon them in the forest. There, the brothers try to find their way out making fantastic encounters. This film is based on the French fairy tale "Le petit poucet" by Charles Perrault.
Why FrenchFlicks Likes It – The adventure never stops in Olivier Dahan's depiction of Le Petit Poucet, the old time story of Charles Perrault, the 17th century author who quite literally invented the fairy tale.
STUDIOCANAL
LE DOULOS (1962)
Genre : Crime, Thriller
Director : Jean Pierre Melville
A burglar betraying other criminals, prepares for a big heist with a trusted friend that might be as untrustworthy as he.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it – Before Martin Scorcese there was Jean-Pierre Melville. Dive into the slick and debonair '60s with the brooding and mysterious Silien, played by heartthrob Jean-Paul Belmondo.
LE PÈRE NOËL EST UNE ORDURE (1982)
Genre : Comedy
Director : Jean-Marie Poiré
Two neurotics working for a suicide hotline on the night of Christmas Eve get caught up in a catastrophe when a pregnant woman, her abusive boyfriend and a transvestite visit their office.
Why FrenchFlicks likes it – This holiday cult favorite is truly one of a kind. Raunch and unapologetic, it functions as a vintage style Bad Santa.
LE PETIT BAIGNEUR (1968)
Genre : Comedy
Director: Robert Dhéry
Louis-Philippe Fourchaume, another typical lead-role for French comedy superstar Louis de Funès, is the dictatorial CEO of a French company which designs and produces sail yachts, and fires in yet another tantrum his designer André Castagnier, not realizing that man is his only chance to land a vital contract with the Italian magnate Marcello Cacciaperotti.
Why FrenchFlicks Likes It – Seeing Louis de Funès on screen is like seeing Jerry Lewis or Jim Carrey with his limitless expression and his boisterous physical comedy.
*All films are in French without subtitles.