Le Père Noël est une ordure ("Santa Claus is a bastard") was a cult French comedy play created in 1979 by the troupe Le Splendid and turned into a film directed by Jean-Marie Poiré in 1982. Pierre a stuffy, self-righteous volunteer at a telephone helpline for depressed people and his well-meaning but naïve co-worker Thérèse, are stuck with the Christmas Eve shift in the Paris office, much to their displeasure.     The building's lift is malfunctioning, and they receive visits from unwanted callers: Katia, a depressed transvestite who tries to hit on Pierre, M. Preskovic who lives in the same building and always turns up unexepectedly to offer them various unappetizing pastries and Josette, a heavily pregnant woman on the run from her violent fiancé Félix. Félix is working as a Santa Claus during the season and turns up on her trail in costume and brandishing a gun. Félix and Josette, a caricature trailer trash couple, end up struggling over the gun and accidentally shooting dead the lift repairman, whom they then butcher and feed to zoo animals.   Clasificación [ CM DVD 01015 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

An awkward and naive Québec police must team up with a French secret service agent, presented to him as his assistant. He ignores it serves bait bandits caliber. Director: Yves Simoneau Writers: William Reymond, Yves Simoneau Stars: Guy A. Lepage, Rachid Badouri, Serge Dupire | See full cast & crew »   Mohammed Choukroune aka Ventura, member of the French special services, and Prudent Poirier, unbalanced Lieutenant Metropolitan Police are forced to team up to find out who killed the godfather of organized Guido Carboni crime day.   Using unwittingly, Poirier as bait Choukroune's investigation, dating back some tracks and risking his life several times, mainly because of the nonsense that continually commits his Quebec colleague. Despite their ethnic and moral differences and diametrically opposed to work, the two men joined their forces to capture the culprits and foil their plot.   Clasificación [ CM DVD 01014 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)  

L'Aîné des Ferchaux est un film français réalisé par Jean-Pierre Melville, sorti en 1963, adaptation du roman éponyme de Georges Simenon. Contraint de renoncer à une carrière de boxeur qu'il avait un temps envisagée, un jeune homme se fait engager comme secrétaire d'un vieux banquier, Dieudonné Ferchaux, contraint de quitter précipitamment la France pour fuir la justice. À New York puis à La Nouvelle-Orléans, les deux hommes apprendront à mieux se connaître tout en jouant au chat et à la souris.   First, I understand that other people don't appreciate this remake of the Jean-Pierre Melville's terrific picture, forty years earlier. The 1962 film will remain an outstanding piece of work, and forever. But the Melville's movie was not accurate at all from the George Simenon's novel, and this remake is far closer to it, especially the ending, which Melville was totally against about. I would never imagine such an ending in a Melville's film, especially in the sixties…   The directing is OK, no more. The face to face between Belmondo and Naceri interesting, although the one Belmondo had with Anconina in ITINERAIRE D'UN Infant GATE, back in 1988, was far better. An interesting TV movie, very unusual, surprising for those who had not read the Simenon's novel.    Clasificación [ CM DVD 01013 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

Un singe en hiver est un film français, une comédie dramatique, réalisé par Henri Verneuil, adapté du roman éponyme d'Antoine Blondin, interprété notamment par Jean Gabin et Jean-Paul Belmondo, sorti en 1962. En juin 1944, Albert Quentin, ancien fusilier-marin en Chine, tient, avec sa femme Suzanne rencontrée à La Bourboule, l'hôtel Stella dans le village de Tigreville, sur la côte normande aux environs de Deauville.   Il se laisse souvent aller à trop boire, ce qui le porte à la nostalgie de sa jeunesse militaire vécue sur le Yang-Tsé-Kiang. Lors d'un bombardement en juin 1944, il promet à Suzanne de ne plus boire si l'hôtel échappe à la destruction ; promesse tenue.   Un soir, quinze ans plus tard, débarque Gabriel Fouquet, homme jeune et remuant, publicitaire de son état. Fouquet boit pour effacer l'échec de sa vie sentimentale avec Claire qui vit à Madrid, « voyager » en Espagne grâce à l'alcool, et rêver de tauromachie. Il vient voir sa fille Marie pensionnaire à Tigreville, dans une pension dont Mme Victoria, la directrice pourtant française, ne parle qu'anglais.   Les deux hommes, qui n'ont pas « le vin petit ni la cuite mesquine », vont connaître deux jours d'évasion grâce à l'ivresse, l'un en Espagne et l'autre en Chine. Ce sera l'occasion d'un duo a cappella sur la fameuse chanson Nuits de Chine. L'apothéose de cette soûlographie est atteinte avec un feu d'artifice « dantesque » sur la plage. Le lendemain, la vie sépare les deux amis en gare de Lisieux : Gabriel part avec sa fille, qu'il a sortie de sa pension, alors qu'Albert se dirige vers l'hiver de sa vie.   Clasificación [ CM DVD 01012 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

Rosalie is amicably divorced, dividing her time between her mother's house, with her siblings and small daughter, and César's. He's self made, a scrap iron king, outgoing, amiable, in love with her. Enter David, an artist and Rosalie's flame before her marriage. In a quiet, brooding way, he seeks to reclaim Rosalie. César's jealous outbursts and attempts at cunning backfire and send Rosalie into David's arms. César keeps trying: he buys Rosalie's childhood seaside vacation home as a gift, wins her back, then must ask David to join them so Rosalie will be happy. When Rosalie discovers César and David's complicity, she again asserts her freedom, leaving the men alone together.     Clasificación [ CM DVD 01011 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

From August 1-9 this summer, The Film Society of Lincoln Center hosted a long overdue retrospective of the films of Claude Sautet (1924-2000). Probably best known to younger, more contemporary audiences for his late flowering of 1990s films Un Coeur en Hiver (A Heart in Winter) and Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (Nelly and Mr. Arnaud), Sautet established his reputation during a 1970s peak – with semi-regular actors such as Romy Schneider, Yves Montand, and Michel Piccoli – that included such films as Le choses de la vie (The Things of Life, 1970),Vincent, François Paul et les autres… (Vincent, François, Paul and the Others, 1974), and Une histoire simple (A Simple Story, 1978). My consideration of Sautet’s aesthetic and themes appears in the September issue of Senses of Cinema. Clasificación [ CM DVD 01010 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

Coup de torchon (también conocidia como Más allá de la justicia y Corrupción-1280 almas) es una película francesa dirigida por Bertrand Tavernier, estrenada en 1981. La cinta se rodó en la primavera de 1981 en el noroeste de Senegal, en particular en Saint-Louis y en los alredores de Louga. La cinta está basada en la novela 1280 almas del escritor estadounidense Jim Thompson. A diferencia de la novela negra de Thompson, Tavernier ubica la historia en África Occidental, tomando elementos de la novela Viaje al fin de la noche del escritor francés Louis-Ferdinand Céline. El año es 1938 y el escenario el África Occidental Francesa. Lucien Cordier es el único policía de una pequeña ciudad colonial. Cuando un oficial le hace tomar conciencia de su mediocridad, se transforma en un justiciero inspirado por Dios.   Clasificación [ CM DVD 01009 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

Le Magnifique (literally The Magnificent) is a French movie released in 1973, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Le Magnifique is a slapstick spoof of B-series espionage movies and novels.   François Merlin (Belmondo) is a Jean Bruce type writer of pulp espionage novels (he has written 42 so far) and about half of the film plays in his imagination, where he is the world-renowned superspy "Bob Sinclar" (The name of the character is never seen written in the movie, while some people write his name "Saint-Clar" the way it is pronounced in French sounds like Sinclar.)   Christine (Jacqueline Bisset) is a sociology student who lives in Merlin's building and is interested in the novels, but in the writer's imagination she becomes Tatiana, his paramour, while the pompous and rich publisher of his novels, Pierre Charron (Vittorio Caprioli), doubles as the great villain of the spy novels, the Albanian secret services head Karpov, who in a memorable scene of the film threatens to cut off one of Tatiana's breasts..   Clasificación [ CM DVD 01008 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

Le Chat (English: The Cat) is a 1971 French-language drama film directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre and based on Georges Simenon's 1967 novel The Cat.[2]It tells a story of an elderly married couple, Julien Bouin, a former typographist, and his wife Clemence, who used to perform in a circus, who have been loathing each other for years. They hardly talk to each other in their small house, soon to be demolished. Their only form of communication being occasional notes on scraps of paper. Greffier's cat being the only one he still gives affection to, the cat becomes the object of Clemence's anger. However, they are soon to understand that they cannot live without each other. The storyline of The Cat is speculated to have originated from the author's, Georges Simenon, difficult relationship with his mother.   Clasificación [ CM DVD 01007 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)

The Grand Maneuver (French: Les Grandes Manœuvres) is a 1955 French drama film written and directed by René Clair, and starring Michèle Morgan and Gérard Philipe. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Summer Manoeuvres, and in the United States under the title The Grand Maneuver. It is a romantic comedy-drama set in a French provincial town just before World War I, and it was René Clair's first film to be made in colour. Armand de la Verne, a lieutenant in the French cavalry and a notorious seducer, undertakes a bet that he will "obtain the favours" of a woman selected secretly by lot, before his company departs for its summer manoeuvres in a month's time. His target turns out to be Marie-Louise Rivière, a Parisian divorcée who runs a milliner's shop, and who is also being courted by the serious and respectable Victor Duverger. Marie Louise's growing attraction towards Armand is tempered by her discoveries about his reputation, while Armand's calculated strategy become undermined by his genuine emotions. A subplot follows the parallel but simpler courtship of Armand's friend and fellow officer Félix and Lucie, the young daughter of a photographer. Clasificación [ CM DVD 01006 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)