I am a big fan of the cinema and lucky that my knowledge of French and German allows me to enjoy a wider selection of films. I studied La nouvelle vague in some depth and have seen (and own) many films from the era, made famous by François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol and Eric Rohmer amongst others. France has spawned many great actors, including, in recent years, Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Emmanuelle Béart, Isabelle Hupert, Sandrine Bonnaire etc etc etc. German cinema is less well known in the UK, although everyone will have heard of Das Cabinet des Doktor Caligari (Robert Weine) and Metropolis (Fritz Lang) from the 20s. Germany had its own 'New Wave' (neue Welle) in the 60s, with Wim Wenders, Rainer Maria Fassbinder and Werner Herzog at the forefront..
Recent German cinema has not been awe inspiring, but there have been a few gems, notably Lola rennt, Goodbye Lenin, Sonnenallee and Knockin' on Heaven's Door.

For news and reviews of recent films, see here

 

 

Pericoloso's A-Z of the movies

A is for Alien
B is for Blade Runner
C is for Coen Brothers
D is for Robert De Niro
E is for The Exorcist
F is for Henry Fonda
G is for Jean-Luc Godard
H is for Dustin Hoffman
I is for Indiana Jones
J is Jaws
K is for Stanley Kubrick
L is for Lord of the Rings
M is for Marilyn Monroe
N is for Jack Nicholson
O is for Once Upon a Time in the West
P is for Al Pacino
Q is for Quentin Tarantino :o)
R is for Julia Roberts
S is for Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott
T is for François Truffaut
U is for Un homme et une femme
V is for The Vanishing
W is for Kate Winslet
X is for X-Men
Y is for Yoda
Z is for Zulu

 


 

A small selection of favourite French film stars

 
Isabelle Adjani - from été meutrier and Subway to La reine Margot and Bon voyage
Daniel Auteuil - in almost every French film of the past 20 years! Always excellent.
Juliette Binoche - Les amants, du pont neuf, 3 couleurs 'bleu', Le hussard sur le toit and Alice et Martin are amongst my favourites.
Gérard Depardieu - another almost permanent feature of French cinema since the 1980s. Tenue de soirée, Camille Claudel, Trop belle pour toi, Cyrano de Bergerac, Mon père.ce héros.....the list is endless.  
 
Catherine Deneuve - yet another one who seems to have been around for ever, from Les Collégiens in 1957 to Le héros de la famille in 2006.
Jean Reno - Le grand bleu, Nikita, Les Visiteurs, Léon, Les rivières pourpres and many, many more.
Isabelle Hupert - first film in 1972, still going strong. La dentellière, La séparation, Coup de torchon, Madame Bovary, La cérémonie, 8 femmes, to name but a few.
Philippe Noiret (here with Thierry L'hermitte in Les ripoux), first appeared in Gigi in 1949! Amongst my favourites are La vie et rien d'autre, L'horloger de Saint-Paul and Cinema Paradiso.  
 
Emmanuelle Béart (right, here with Virginie Ledoyen in 8 femmes). La belle noiseuse, Jean de Florette, Manon des sources, Une femme française, Nell & Monsieur Arnaud amongst others. Vincent Cassel - came to prominence in La Haine. See also L'appartement, Le pacte des loups, Sur mes lèvres..... Sophie Marceau - Police, Anna Karenina, La fidélité, Je reste!..... Jean-Paul Belmondo - looking typically menacing! First came to fame in 1960 with A bout de souffle, then Pierrot le fou, Le Doulos and countless others. Still making films in 2000.  

 

Some favourite directors

Jean-Luc Godard
Stanley Kubrick
Ridley Scott
Martin Scorsese
François Truffaut
Steven Spielberg

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