ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[southendmd]

France

(The title is apparently a proverb meaning "nothing is certain", but literally means "don't promise/swear anything".)

IMDb:  Paris, 1830. Valentin (Jean Dujardin) loses himself in alcohol, gambling and women. He does not believe in life and especially not in love. His uncle Van Buck (Gerard Jugnot) believes only in the virtues of money and trade. Everything separates them until the day when Van Buck, to improve his public image, wants to make Valentin marry the young and impoverished Baroness Cécile(Melanie Doutey). Valentin, who has absolutely no desire to get married, bets that he can easily seduce her in 24 hours and thus prove that she, like all the others, is not worth loving... But Cécile, who believes in true love, will prove much more difficult to woo than envisaged and Valentin will have to use all possible stratagems to try and win his bet. The game of cat and mouse starts... But who is the cat?

[MaineWriter]

Norway


About this film, Jostein from Lillehammer says: All Norwegians do basically not like Norwegian movies. Except for Flåklypa Grand Prix that everybody have seen. But if you look back into the archives you'll find this pearl. This is usually the only Norwegian movie you'll read about in the film history. It's very unconvential and very modern. The narrator takes our side and asks the actors all the way. Thereby scenes become surreal and you ask yourself, what am I watching?

To make it short, it's great, even greater than the new French wave that came later that year. And I have never seen any movie similar to this. If you're going to see one Norwegian film in your life, see this one.

[MaineWriter]

Aruba
Austria
Belgium
China
France
Israel
Luxembourg (with the UK)
Mexico
Norway
Switzerland

[southendmd]

Norway

Leslie,

Looked what popped up when I searched "Jakten":

[MaineWriter]

Hahahah, yes, I had the same result!

I have deduced that "Jakten" means "Hunt"; the movie is about a hunting trip with Bjorn and Knut. I also found a movie poster for "Jakten på Rød Oktober."

L

[oilgun]

Canada
From IMDb:
A work of Existential art, in "Kabloonak" the desert of ice gleams with fine acting and cinematography
In this film Claude Massot brought to the screen his vision of the first film documentary, Robert Flaherty's "Nanook of the North." From start to finish, this film is a constellation of brilliantly choreographed performances, both by the professional actors and by the Inuit who are cast in native roles. Harsh, frozen vistas are polished to crystalline perfection through cinematography as pure and sharp as Japanese calligraphy. Charles Dance and Adamie Q. Inukpuk bring enormous strength and essential restraint to their roles as Flaherty, the "Kabloonak", or stranger, and Nanook, two utterly unalike men made brothers by their struggle through an arctic lunarscape to film the hunt of a polar bear. Inukpuk's Nanook is not a primitive, but a complex human living in bitterly primitive conditions. Dance turns in one of the finest performances of his screen career as Flaherty, a geologist and former prospector who made the film of his dreams, yet turned down offers to make another such motion picture. Charles Dance, Cinematographers Jacques Loiseleux and François Protat, and Sebastian Regnier's score all have won international gold medals for their work in "Kabloonak."

[Fran]

Poland



From IMDb:

This excellent film follows a company of Polish Ulans (cavalry) and a beautiful Arabian horse that comes into their possession during the collapse of Poland with the German invasion in 1939.  Despite their bravery, the company is decimated in skirmishes with tanks and dive bombers.

[opinionista]

Spain

[oilgun]

Burkina Faso



From IMDb:
Impressive and relevant
The Night of Truth refers to a peace accord between government and rebel troops who are joining at the camp of the rebels to celebrate peace at the end of a civil war. But terrible atrocities have been committed by both sides, and animosity threatens the peace. Taking place in one day, this little gem really engages right from the start and is a terrific tribute to peace and forgiveness, a common theme with Dry Season, also set in Africa.

The film quickly builds tension with a believable sense of mutual mistrust between the parties. The leaders of each side are committed to the peace process and each faces obstacles within their respective ranks who do not share that faith. Some have agendas of their own that threaten to derail the process. This is an impressive debut by Fanta Régina Nacro. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the end was disappointing, but it wasn't quite able to maintain the same level of believability as the first two acts. An excellent story with universal and current themes, good performances and good visuals make this well-worth seeing.


==COMMENT==
PS:  Great poster for Women on the Verge!

[southendmd]

India/Bollywood

IMDb:  In the 1970s, Om, an aspiring actor, is murdered, but is immediately reincarnated into the present day. He attempts to discover the mystery of his demise and find Shanti, the love of his previous life.