French label Gaumont has revealed its next batch of classic titles to be released in June and July. Amongst them are Louis Malle's
Lacombe, Lucien (1974), Volker Schlöndorff's
Young Torless (1966), Gérard Krawczyk's
Héroïnes (1997), Roland Joffé's
Vatel (2000), and Luigi Comencini's
Eugenio (1980).
Vatel
Starring Uma Thurman (The Avengers, Pulp Fiction), Gerard Depardieu (The Man In The Iron Mask) and Tim Roth (Rob Roy), Vatel is based on the true story of an ordinary man, a decadent king and the woman caught between them! In the west of France, Prince de Conde has a scheme to save his bankrupt province: he'll regain the favor of King Louis XIV with a weekend of spectacle and merriment. The plan's success rests with Vatal (Depardieu), the one man who can deliver the sumptuous food, elaborate amusements and all-out decadence fit for this king! But in the midst of it all, Vatel catches the eye of the beautiful Anne (Thurman)...and places himself in direct competition with the King! Visually stunning and grandly entertaining, it's a motion picture you must see to believe! STREET DATE: JUNE 10.
Eugenio
The film opens with 14-year-old Eugenio lost in the countryside. We find out that he has run away from his grandparents' home outside Rome and after an argument with a friend called Moustache, was left by himself to make the last part of the journey to see his father in the city. After finding this out, his father Giancario frantically searches for him. During the journey we are told through a series of flashbacks the relationship between him, his Mother, and the reason he feels so unwanted. STREET DATE: JUNE 10.
Les Patates
Directed by Claude Autant-Lara (
The Story of the Count of Monte Cristo) and starring Pierre Perret, Henri Virlojeux, and Bérangère Dautun. STREET DATE: JUNE 10.
Zazie dans le metro
A brash and precocious eleven-year-old (Catherine Demongeot) comes to Paris for a whirlwind weekend with her rakish uncle (Philippe Noiret); he and the viewer get more than they bargained for in this anarchic comedy from Louis Malle, which treats the City of Light as though it were a pleasure island just waiting to be destroyed. Based on a popular novel by Raymond Queneau that had been considered unadaptable, Malle's audacious hit Zazie dans le métro is a bit of stream-of-conscious slapstick, wall-to-wall with visual gags, editing tricks, and effects, and made with flair on the cusp of the French New Wave. STREET DATE: JUNE 10.
Lacombe Lucien
One of the first French films to address the issue of collaboration during the German Occupation, Louis Malle's brave and controversial Lacombe, Lucien traces a young peasant's journey from potential Resistance member to Gestapo recruit. At once the story of a nation and one troubled boy's horrific coming of age, the film is a disquieting portrait of lost innocence and guilt. STREET DATE: JUNE 10.
Héroïnes
Two best friends, Johanna and Jeanne, live in the small town of Decazeville, a mining town in France. One year at the Miners' Ball, the music group The Sirens perform, of which Johanna and Jeanne are members. In a spontaneous moment, a new friend of Johanna's (named Luc) discovers Johanna and Jeanne's incredible musical talent and singing ability when they sing a duet together without musical accompaniment. The two girls begin practicing and recording in a studio together with the help of Luc and an arranger, Jasper, and finally manage to record a tape with a few songs. A co-worker of Jeanne's joins their team as Jasper's assistant. Just after Luc leaves for Paris to take the tape around to various record companies, the others spot posters for a music contest, but only single artists may enter, and Johanna is chosen by the group to enter. She appears on live TV and is an instant hit, but with only one problem: as she begins to perform before the cameras, Jasper cuts out her mike and inserts a recording of Jeanne's voice instead. Everyone except for this small group of insiders believes it's really Johanna singing, and their lives snowball from there. STREET DATE: JUNE 10.
Les Aristocrates
The Aristocrats (1955), directed by Denys de La Patellière and starring Pierre Fresnay, Brigitte Auber, François Guérin. STREET DATE: JULY 8.
Marie-Antoinette
Jean Delannoy's
Marie-Antoinette reine de Franc a.k.a.
Shadow of the Guillotine (1956), starring Michèle Morgan, Richard Todd, and Jacques Morel. Though nearly as lavish as the 1938 MGM film of the same name, the 1955 French historical epic Marie Antoinette is not nearly as coherent or entertaining. Michele Morgan stars as the Austrian princess who becomes the last Queen of France in waning years of the 18th century. Jacques Morel costars as King Louis XVIII, Antoinette's slow-witted, ineffectual husband, while Richard Todd is the dashing European ambassador who briefly brings romance into the heroine's life. The episodic screenplay seldom sticks to the point long enough to detail the reasons behind the fall of the French aristocracy and the ultimate execution of the royal family. In addition, Michele Morgan is a bit too frosty and distant to warrant audience sympathy. Marie Antoinette was filmed simulatenously in French- and English-language versions. (Synopsis courtesy of letterboxd). STREET DATE: JULY 8.
Young Torless
At an Austrian boys' boarding school in the early 1900s, intelligent Torless observes the sadistic behavior of his fellow students, doing nothing to help a victimized classmate-until the torture goes too far. Adapted from Robert Musil's acclaimed novel, Young Torless launched the New German Cinema movement and garnered the 1966 Cannes Film Festival International Critics' Prize for first-time director Volker Schlondorff. STREET DATE: JULY 8.