#392 – Holy Motors, 2012, Leos Carax
We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man.
#393 – Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, (Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot), 1953, Jacques Tati
Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort, where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s masterpiece of gentle slapstick is a series of effortlessly well-choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers; it was the first entry in the Hulot series and the film that launched its maker to international stardom.
#398 – Three Colours: Red, (Trois couleurs : Rouge), 1994, Krzysztof Kieślowski
Part-time model Valentine meets a retired judge who lives in her neighborhood after she runs over his dog. At first the judge gifts Valentine with the dog, but her possessive boyfriend won’t allow her to keep it. When she returns with the dog to the judge’s house, she discovers him listening in on his neighbors’ phone conversations. At first Valentine is outraged, but her debates with the judge over his behavior soon leads them to form a strange bond.
#400 – Vagabond, (Sans toit ni loi), 1985, Agnès Varda
Mona Bergeron is dead, her frozen body found in a ditch in the French countryside. From this, the film flashes back to the weeks leading up to her death. Through these flashbacks, Mona gradually declines as she travels from place to place, taking odd jobs and staying with whomever will offer her a place to sleep. Mona is fiercely independent, craving freedom over comfort, but it is this desire to be free that will eventually lead to her demise.
#403 – My Night at Maud’s, (Ma nuit chez Maud), 1969, Éric Rohmer
The rigid principles of a devout Catholic man are challenged during a one-night stay with Maud, a divorced woman with an outsize personality.
#408 – Caché, 2005, Michael Haneke
A married couple is terrorized by a series of videotapes planted on their front porch.
#422 – The Mother and the Whore, (La maman et la putain), 1973, Jean Eustache
In this sexually frank French drama, the aimless young Alexandre juggles his relationships with his girlfriend, Marie, and a casual lover named Veronika. The dialogue-heavy film focuses intently on the love triangle, with Marie increasingly jealous of Alexandre’s fling with Veronika. As the trio continues their unsustainable affair, the emotional stakes get higher, leading to conflict and unhappiness.
#427 – Amélie, (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain), 2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie (Audrey Tautou) accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to become the star of her very own love story?
#430 – Casque d’Or, 1952, Jacques Becker
Ex-convict Georges Manda returns to the free world determined to go straight and takes a steady job as a carpenter. Unable to completely shake his connections with the underground, he meets with a former prison mate, older gangster Félix Leca, who introduces him to his mistress, the sweet but guarded Marie “Casque d’Or”. Marie and Georges fall into a passionate relationship, driving Félix to do everything in his power to ruin the couple.
#447 – Paddington 2, 2017, Paul King
Paddington, now happily settled with the Browns, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy, but it is stolen.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 