Denis, Claire

Chocolat

"Erotic, sophisticated, and distinctive" (L.A. Weekly), this enthralling depiction of a family's struggle during the final years of French colonialism in Africa takes a profound look at the intricate nature of relationships in a racist society. A story of exclusions, betrayals and agonizing compromises, this "remarkable and quietly devastating" (The Boston Globe) film is truly "extraordinary" (Interview). Curious and observant seven-year-old France spends her days amidst the paradise of her family's estate. But behind the household's exterior beauty lies growing hostility brought on by France's always-traveling father, her bored, frustrated mother Â- and ProtÃ(c)e, the noble, intelligent house "boy" who suffers the indignities of his status in silence. But when a plane makes an emergency landing nearby, bringing a motley collection of characters to the house, the heavenly façade soon begins to unravel. And a shocking explosion of rage, racism and forbidden passion threatens tear apart the family forever!

Beau Travail

The movies of French director Claire Denis (I Can't Sleep, Trouble Every Day) are magical to some viewers and maddening to others because of the indirect way she tells her stories. Plot and character are revealed through what feel like inconsequential moments, while the important events seem to happen between the scenes. Beau Travail is more accessible than most, partly because of the simplicity of its plot (a jealous Foreign Legion sergeant ruins his own career when his beloved commander becomes fond of a young recruit) but mostly because of the vividness of its imagery, particularly sensuous shots of muscular men sweating in the sun or swimming in the ocean. It's unabashedly homoerotic, but it's also a compelling portrait of the basic emotional drives felt by men in extreme circumstances. --Bret Fetzer

Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Beau Travail is the most provocative and accomplished film yet by French director Claire Denis (Chocolat, I Can't Sleep, Nenette and Boni). Set against the stunning East African enclave of Djibouti, Beau Travail follows a troupe of men in a small French Foreign Legion outpost. Exercising their muscular torsos under the blaring sun, each day the Legionnaires engage in a hypnotically choreographed routine of drills, chores, and mock battles. Sergeant Galoup (Denis Lavant) seems the ideal Legionnaire: a brooding loner, cut off from his past. He runs the troupe like a well-oiled machine, until his jealously for a promising young recruit, Sentain, threatens the delicate balance of his life. With the haunting suspense of a Greek tragedy, Galoup's uncontrollable urge to destroy Sentain ultimately leads to his own downfall.

The Intruder

Louis lives alone in the mountains on the French-Swiss border. He remains emotionally and geographically distant to his wife and son retaining human contact only with a shopkeeper and dog breeder. A heart condition forces him to undertake an operation on the black market and once he has recovered the former sailor undertakes a journey from Korea to Tahiti in search of the lost son he fathered years before.The Intruder continues to demonstrate the visual poetry of Claire Denis s work. It s a beguiling dreamlike study of memory and alienation which reunites her with actors such as Beatrice Dalle and Michel Subor. Told with minimal dialogue and multi-layered visual language it proof that Denis is one of the few directors who works with pure cinema.System Requirements:Running Time: 130 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 720917548722 Manufacturer No: FLV5487

I Can't Sleep

new to DVD: Directed by Claire Denis, A provocative drama looking at urban alienation, based on the true story of Thierry Paulin, a homosexual "grammy killer" who terrorized Paris in the 1980's.

Friday Night

Like the other films of French director Claire Denis, Friday Night exists in a realm of glances, skin, and dreams. Working with basic elements, Denis (whose previous films were the hypnotic Beau Travail and the scary Trouble Every Day) fashions an often-wordless liaison between a woman caught in a huge Paris traffic jam (there's a transportation strike going on) and the stranger she picks up in her car. Their brief encounter is the simplest of situations, but Denis grounds it in the exactly realized locations of their courtship: car interior, hotel room, late-night restaurant. And, of course, in the expressive faces of the two actors: Valerie Lemercier, best known for her comic roles, and Vincent Lindon (late of Chaos). The dreamlike rhythms of the piece will undoubtedly defeat some viewers, but if you give yourself over to the movie's spell, it will come alive. --Robert Horton

Claire Denis' visually stunning and sensual film explores a chance encounter between two strangers who meet in the middle of a transit strike and wind up changing their lives forever.

Beau travail [Region 2]

The movies of French director Claire Denis (I Can't Sleep, Trouble Every Day) are magical to some viewers and maddening to others because of the indirect way she tells her stories. Plot and character are revealed through what feel like inconsequential moments, while the important events seem to happen between the scenes. Beau Travail is more accessible than most, partly because of the simplicity of its plot (a jealous Foreign Legion sergeant ruins his own career when his beloved commander becomes fond of a young recruit) but mostly because of the vividness of its imagery, particularly sensuous shots of muscular men sweating in the sun or swimming in the ocean. It's unabashedly homoerotic, but it's also a compelling portrait of the basic emotional drives felt by men in extreme circumstances. --Bret Fetzer

Beau travail [Region 2]

The movies of French director Claire Denis (I Can't Sleep, Trouble Every Day) are magical to some viewers and maddening to others because of the indirect way she tells her stories. Plot and character are revealed through what feel like inconsequential moments, while the important events seem to happen between the scenes. Beau Travail is more accessible than most, partly because of the simplicity of its plot (a jealous Foreign Legion sergeant ruins his own career when his beloved commander becomes fond of a young recruit) but mostly because of the vividness of its imagery, particularly sensuous shots of muscular men sweating in the sun or swimming in the ocean. It's unabashedly homoerotic, but it's also a compelling portrait of the basic emotional drives felt by men in extreme circumstances. --Bret Fetzer

Friday Night

Like the other films of French director Claire Denis, Friday Night exists in a realm of glances, skin, and dreams. Working with basic elements, Denis (whose previous films were the hypnotic Beau Travail and the scary Trouble Every Day) fashions an often-wordless liaison between a woman caught in a huge Paris traffic jam (there's a transportation strike going on) and the stranger she picks up in her car. Their brief encounter is the simplest of situations, but Denis grounds it in the exactly realized locations of their courtship: car interior, hotel room, late-night restaurant. And, of course, in the expressive faces of the two actors: Valerie Lemercier, best known for her comic roles, and Vincent Lindon (late of Chaos). The dreamlike rhythms of the piece will undoubtedly defeat some viewers, but if you give yourself over to the movie's spell, it will come alive. --Robert Horton

Trouble Every Day