Duperey, Anny

Bobby Deerfield

Al Pacino's character in the first two Godfather films was a man increasingly drawn into himself, pulling an entire family history and legacy along with him into a personal oblivion. Pacino's performance as the titular race car driver in Sydney Pollack's Bobby Deerfield also suggests a fellow adrift in his own company, his very profession underscoring isolation behind the wheel at top speeds. Living with his French lover (Anny Duperey), Deerfield's solipsism (perfectly captured in a dream sequences in which he appears almost autistic) begins to crack when he meets and falls for a dying woman (Marthe Keller). Emerging from his shell just as she is fading away, both the irony of the situation and Deerfield's first experience with real love wake our hero from his spiritual slumber. Pollack's attempt at a mainstream art-house movie didn't entirely work, and critics have been brutal on both its serious aspirations and Pacino's locked-down performance. But there is something in the film that convincingly suggests a yearning for passion and experience even at the great cost of loss, and Pacino's portrayal of a man who steps out of his car and onto the collective bus of ordinary sorrow is rather moving. --Tom Keogh

A racing car champion falls in love with a freewheeling lady who is suffering from an incurable disease. Based on the novel "Heaven Has No Favorites" by Eric Maria Remarque.

Les Comperes

From Hell to Victory

On August 24 1939 at a small French cafe six friends are about to go their separate ways. They vow to reunite on that day each year at the cafe. The film follows each of their lives: one begins work with the French resistance one joins the French commandos another is forced to join the Nazi army one becomes a flier and the two others are just simple officers.System Requirements:Run Time: 101 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/MILITARY & WAR Rating: PG UPC: 692865160335 Manufacturer No: T-1603

The Blood Rose

When his new bride's face is hideously disfigured in a fire, Frederic Lansac, a famous society painter, is determinded to restore her beauty. He seeks out a notorious plastic surgeon who is on the run from the authorities. Using Lansac's remore castle as a base, the two of the hunt down and imprison a series of young girls. Their skin is to be used in experiments aimed at restoring the face of Lansac's wife.

THE BLOOD ROSE was widely touted as one of the first films to mix sex and horror. Its director went on to make some of the most famous French erotic movies of all time. here, with a cast of France's most beautiful young actresses and genre veteran Howard Vernon (SEVEN WOMEN FOR SATAM, ALPHAVILLE), he weaves a dark and disturbing tale that is one of the most sought-after rarities for the Euro-horror fan!

Les Femmes

Stavisky

Could the true story of the financial scandal that shook France to the brink of civil war in 1933 be more timely? Jean Paul Belmondo is perfectly cast as Serge Alexander (a.k.a. Stavisky), the one-time underworld con man who charms his way to the top of the French financial world with bluff, cunning, and a bankroll of phony vouchers. Screenwriter Jorge Semprún (Z) weaves Stavisky's story through the tapestry of European politics: the rise of fascism, the stain of anti-Semitism, the shadow of impending war. The aloof style of Alain Resnais (Last Year at Marienbad) is warmed by the smiling charisma of Belmondo and by Charles Boyer's poignant turn as a sentimental, nearly bankrupt Baron. Elegantly shot by the great Sacha Vierny and accompanied by a lush Stephen Sondheim score, this multi-faceted gem is one of Resnais's most satisfying and accessible films. --Sean Axmaker

International sensation Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless, Le Professionnel) turns on the charm as Serge Alexandre, known to the world as Stavisky. Working his way from small time cons to high society stings, this rascal ignites a scandal in 1930s France by saturating the country with phony vouchers, causing a whirlwind of governmental and economic destruction shortly before World War II. Groundbreaking director Alain Resnais (Last Year At Marienbad, Hiroshima Mon Amour) guides a dazzling cast headed by screen idol Charles Boyer through this timeless saga of deception, romance, and fallen grace, accompanied by a lyrical score from Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim.

Mille milliards de dollars [Region 2]

Germinal [Region 2]

Emile Zola's novel of a rural mine town and a perilous worker's strike becomes a big-budget film of grit and torment in Germinal. The first half of the movie captures a world just this side of prison where whole families work in the Voreux mines with a daily dose of coal dust covering their skins and clogging their minds. Escapes are rare: a drink at the company bar or a carnival. An outsider provokes talk of a strike, something the failing owners want as well. When the workers revolt, it becomes a monster. While true to Zola's passion for the worker and social change, the movie cannot recover from the operatic drama that turns the action into mere motion, failing to draw in the audience (although this is an impressive-looking film, with Voreux passing as the real thing). Viewers will be moved by the workers' plight, the daily grime that they must rinse away, and their efforts to instill a normal life in this industrial hell--and will surely learn to appreciate their own jobs, whatever the inadequacies. --Doug Thomas

ComDads [Region 2]

Un pique-nique chez Osiris [Region 2]