French films are in favour at Riverside Studios in May and June. Check out the programme!

Tuesday 5 May: Agnes Jaoui Double Bill

The Taste of Others (15) 6.30pm

(Le Gout des Autres)

Agnes Jaoui, France, 2000, 113m subtitles

Anne Alvaro, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Alain Chabat

An industrialist's life changes when he goes to the theatre;  he falls
for the leading actress and finds a new world of philosophy and beauty
in which his wife's materialism doesn't fit.  A touching and unusual
love story.

Let's Talk About the Rain (12A) 8.45pm

(Parlez-moi de la pluie)

Agnes Jaoui, France, 2007, 110m subtitles

Agnes Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jamel Debbouze

Agathe (Jaoui) is a feminist author who returns to her childhood home to
deal with her mother's death.  While there she is approached by two
amateur filmmakers who want to make a documentary on her with unexpected
consequences.  A witty, comic fable.

Sunday 17 May: Steven Soderbergh Double Bill

Che: Part 1 (15) 1.00pm

Steven Soderbergh, France/Spain/USA, 126m some subtitles

Benico Del Toro, Edgar Ramirez, Julia Ormond

A chronicle of the successful uprising in Cuba tracking Che's rise from
doctor to commander to revolutionary hero.  It follows Fidel Castro, Che
and their comrades during the years 1956 to 1959.

Che: Part 2 (15) 3.25pm

Steven Soderbergh, Spain/France/USA, 2008, 131m some subtitles

Benicio Del Toro, Franka Potente, Carlos Bardem

Ernesto Che Guevara (Del Toro) has abandoned his post as a bureaucrat
in Cuba in order to start an even more daunting revolution in the
Bolivian jungle.  This time around, however, the odds are stacked much
higher against him.

Monday 18 May: Kristin Scott Thomas Double Bill

Tell No One (15) 6.15pm

(Ne le dis a personne)

Guillaume Canet, France, 2006, 130m subtitles

Kristin Scott Thomas, Francois Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze

Alex, devastated since his wife Margot was savagely murdered in the
early days of their marriage eight years before, receives an anonymous
email. When he clicks on the link indicated he sees a woman's face
standing in a crowd and being filmed in real time. Margot's face ...

I've Loved You So Long (12A) 8.45pm

(Il y a longtemps que je t'aime)

Philippe Claudel, France, 2008, 115m subtitles

Kristen Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius

When Juliette (Scott Thomas) is released after fifteen years in prison
for a mysterious crime, she is taken in by her younger sister and family
where they slowly, and sometimes painfully, resurrect their childhood
relationship.

Sunday 24 May: Three Colours Trilogy

 

  Three Colours: Blue (15) 5.00pm

Krzysztof Kieslowski, France, 1993, 97m subtitles

Juliette Binoche, Benoir Regent, Florence Demel

The film movingly recounts the story of a woman's reaction to the death
of her husband and child in a car crash.

  Three Colours: White (15) 7.00pm

Krzysztof Kieslowski, France, 1993, 92m subtitles

Julie Delpy, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Janusz Gajos

A Polish hairdresser is unable to cope with life in Paris.  Smuggled
back to Poland he rebuilds his life there in an attempt to win back his
estranged French wife.

  Three Colours: Red (18) 9.00pm

Krzysztof Kieslowski, France, 1994, 99m subtitles

Irene Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Frederique Feder

A young woman runs over a dog.  This sets off a chain of events which
are devastating to all concerned.  Kieslowski's final romantic salute.

Sunday 31 May: Jean-Luc Godard Double Bill

A bout de souffle (PG) 7.00pm

(Breathless)

Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1959, 89m subtitles black and white

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seaberg, Daniel Boulanger

Godard's debut feature is as fresh today as when it first dazzled
audiences with its sly homage to American B-movies.

Bande a Part (15) 8.50pm

(The Outsiders)

Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1964, 95m subtitles black and white

Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur, Jami Frey

Two young men and a woman plan to steal a great deal of money hidden in
the house where she works.  A touching, refreshing and illuminating
film.

Wednesday 3 June: Double Bill

El Bano del Papa (15) 7.00pm

(The Pope's Toilet)

Cesar Charlone/Enrique Fernandez, Uruguay, 2005, 97m subtitles

Cesar Troncoso, Virginia Mendez, Mario Silva

This award-winning, bitter sweet comedy is a tale of honesty, friendship
and family values based on the true events surrounding the Pope's 1988
visit to a small Uruguayan border town.

Modern Life (PG) 9.00pm

Raymond Depardon, France, 2008, 88m subtitles documentary

Raymond Depardon has spent twenty years making friends with a dying
breed of farmers who are defiantly old school, treating newcomers and
women with equal suspicion.  With a warm irreverent eye Depardon
presents a rural community and the legacies that bind them to land and
family.

Sunday 14 June: Francois Truffaut Double Bill

 

  Jules et Jim (PG) 1.20pm

Francois Truffaut, France, 1961, 105m subtitles

Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre

Based on a novel by Henri-Pierre Roche, it recounts the love of a
Frenchman and a German for the beautiful Jeanne Moreau.  The result is
wistful, lyrical and exhilarating.

The 400 Blows (15) 3.25pm

(Le Quatre Cents Coups)

Francois Truffaut, France, 1959, 94m subtitles

Jean-Pierre Leaud, Albert Remy, Claire Maurier

Truffaut's first feature was based on his own deprived childhood.  A
twelve year old boy, neglected by his mother and stepfather, plays
truant and takes to crime.  The film was awarded the Best Director prize
at Cannes in 1959 and helped launch the "nouvelle vague".  Revived in a
new print.

Thursday 25 June: Double Bill

The Edge of Heaven (15) 6.30pm

(Auf der anderen Seite)

Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey, 2007, 122m subtitles

Baki Davrak, Hanna Schygulla, Nursel Kose

Najat seems disapproving about his widower father's choice of
prostitute, Yeter, for a live-in girlfriend.  Yeter dies suddenly and
Najat travels to Istanbul to search for her daughter.  A keenly observed
story of two families whose lives become intertwined.

The Grocer's Son (12A) 8.55pm

(Le fils de l'epicier)

Eric Guirado, France, 2007, 96m subtitles

Nicolas Cazale, Clotilde Hesme, Daniel Duval

Thirty-year-old Antoine leaves Paris and reluctantly returns to his
village to look after the family mobile grocery van while his father
recovers from a stroke.  He gradually warms to his experience in the
hills, in the process rediscovering life and love in the countryside.
"Triumphant!  A gem of a film."  New York Times