french cinema

Léon the Professional

By Luc Besson
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Scott S.
Oct 28, 2017

Léon: The Professional tells the story of a child-like hit man named Léon and his relationship with (and subsequent training of) a 12 year-old named Mathilda who is orphaned at the hands of insane, corrupt New York cop Norman Stansfield. It features that unique French mixture of absurdity and realism: In what world does a 12 year-old boldly shoot a handgun out of a window without consequence? How is that Léon and Mathilda's relationship is simultaneously creepy and sweet? How can a cop so violently corrupt as Stansfield not be in federal prison? This constant contradiction of everyday minutiae

Amour

By Michael Haneke
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Caitlin P
Jan 6, 2014

Tragically beautiful and real, Amour is a profoundly honest depiction of how a stroke can affect both members of a marriage. Though a French film and in subtitles, one hardly needs the translation to follow the emotions—shame, embarrassment, frustration, loss, fear, and above all, love—that both parties go through throughout the movie.

The movie follows the progression of an elderly couple whose lives change when Anne, the wife, has a stroke that leaves half her body paralyzed. Upon returning home from the hospital, Anne asks her husband, Georges, to promise never to take her back to the

La Moustache (DVD)

By Emmanuel Carrere

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Nov 15, 2011

It all started so innocently with a morning shave of a trademark moustache – but, nobody noticed. Nobody.  Neither the wife, nor the boss. All tried to convince him that he never even had a moustache ever before.  All feels like a twilight zone: Is he losing his mind or is it an elaborate group conspiracy against him?  The premise of this movie is rather original and intriguing and one expects this movie to be a comedy, but it turns dark a few fast frames later.  The viewer is kept guessing as the plot is continuously shifting further away from domestic solitude nearing a psychiatric asylum