Music Box Streams French Cinema in July

French Cinema in July 

Streaming on Music Box Direct

Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas

An arresting medieval epic starring Mads Mikkelsen (A Royal Affair, Vahalla RIsing, TV Series Hannibal), Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas explores the high cost of vengeance. With the age of feudalism in decline, Europe rests at a tense crossroads between the old world and the new. Filled with gorgeous widescreen cinematography, Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and stands tall as a powerful cinematic adaptation of a classic of German romanticism.

Antarctica: Ice and Sky 

From Oscar®-winning director Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins) comes a stirring portrait of French glaciologist, Claude Lorius, whose groundbreaking research in Antarctica gave us the first clear evidence of man-made global climate change. Through remarkable archival footage and stunning drone cinematography, Antarctica: Ice and Sky is an epic tale where science and adventure meet, equal parts contemplative memoir and an ardent call to action.

Augustine

The powerful and darkly sensual drama Augustine is based on the true story of the unusual relationship that developed between Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot, the pioneering 19th century French neurologist and mentor to Sigmund Freud, and his star teenage patient. Chronicling one woman’s sexual awakening against the backdrop of Victorian psychology and social repression, director Alice Winocour’s auspicious feature film debut stars young French recording artist Soko in a breakout performance, Vincent Lindon (Mademoiselle Chambon), and Chiara Mastroianni (Prêt-à-Porter, Nowhere).

Back To Burgundy

Three siblings reunite at their home in picturesque Burgundy to save the family vineyard in this tender tale of a new generation finding its own unique blend from acclaimed director Cédric Klapisch (L’Auberge Espagnole). As four seasons and two harvests go by, Jean, Juliette, and Jeremie have to learn to reinvent their relationship and trust in each other as they work to preserve the land that ties them together.

Francofonia

Set against the backdrop of the Louvre Museum’s history and artworks, master director Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) applies his uniquely personal vision onto staged re-enactments and archives for this fascinating portrait of real-life characters Jacques Jaujard and Count Franziskus Wolff-Metternich and their compulsory collaboration at the Louvre Museum under the Nazi Occupation.

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

Taking the best from La Vie En Rose and Amelie renowned comic book artist Joann Sfar’s Gainsbourg: A Heroic LIfe is a completely original take on one of France’s greatest mavericks, the illustrious and infamous Jewish singer-songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino). Employing a witty, surrealistic style and a soundtrack that includes many of the musician’s greatest hits, Gainsbourg: A Heroic LIfe is a quintessential time capsule from 1960s Paris.

Gemma Bovery

In this vibrant seriocomic re-imagining of Flaubert’s literary classic Madame Bovary, life imitates art in uncanny ways when earthy British beauty Gemma Bovery (Gemma Arterton) and her furniture restorer husband Charles (Jason Flemyng) move to a charming ramshackle old farmhouse in the very same Norman village where the novel was written a century earlier. Director Anne Fontaine’s (Coco Before Chanel) clever adaptation of Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel Gemma Bovery is at once a cheeky literary mash-up, a sensuous romance, a witty feminist commentary and a heady celebration of French provincial life.

Largo Winch: The Heir Apparent

When billionaire financier Nerio Winch (Miki Manojlovic) and head of the W Group is murdered, his second in command (Kristin Scott Thomas) must locate his only heir — a heretofore unknown adopted son, Largo (Tomer Sisley). But first the heir — a twentysomething adventurer — must overcome an onslaught of drug traffickers, assassins, corporate raiders and double-dealing insiders to fulfill his destiny in this twisty, fast-paced corporate thriller.

Memoir of War

In Emmanuel Finkiel’s haunting adaptation of Marguerite Duras’s semi- autobiographical novel, The War: A Memoir, the famed author (Mélanie Thierry) recounts an emotionally complex story of love, loss, and perseverance against a backdrop of wartime intrigue. Using subtly expressionistic imagery and voiceover passages of Duras’s writing, Finkiel evokes the inner world of one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary writers.

Mesrine: Killer Instinct

Mesrine: Killer Instinct introduces us to Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel), a loyal son and dedicated soldier back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Mentored by Guido (Gerard Depardieu) Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder. After pulling off an audacious heist he and his lover Jeanne (Cecile de France) flee to Canada where the opportunity of one big payout lures him out of hiding and propels his towards international notoriety. 

Mesrine: Public Enemy #1

Now back in France, Mesrine is finally in police custody and facing justice for his crimes. After escaping a courtroom and kidnapping the judge at gunpoint, Mesrine is declared Public Enemy Number 1 and is eventually condemned to a maximum-security prison where he writes his memoirs, establishing himself as a household name and the anti-hero across France. Mesrine stages another daring escape and disappears into the lawless underworld, taunting the police and reinventing himself as a celebrity criminal through his savvy manipulation of the media. After such a monumental rise, comes the inevitable fall as the police close in, bringing the life of Jacques Mesrine to full bloody circle. 

Potiche

In Potiche, it’s 1977 and women’s liberation is in the air but Suzanne (Catherine Deneuve) is still the self-effacing, elegant housewife of wealthy industrialist Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini). Pujol oversees his umbrella factory with an iron fist and is equally tyrannical with his children and & trophy housewife; When the workers go on strike and take Robert hostage, Suzanne steps in to manage the factory. Her new role throws her back in touch with union leader Gerard Depardieu, a romantic fling from the past that still has sparks. When Robert returns from a restful cruise looking to reassert himself, things get complicated. Directed by François Ozon (“Swimming Pool”) and based on the popular 1970’s French stage play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy (Cactus Flower).

Seasons

After traveling the world alongside migrating birds (Winged Migration) and diving the oceans with whales and manta rays (Oceans), Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud return to more familiar ground: the lush green forests and megafauna that emerged across Europe following the last Ice Age. With its exceptional footage of animals in the wild, Seasons is the awe-inspiring and thought-provoking tale of the long and tumultuous shared history that inextricably binds humankind with the natural world

Shall We Kiss

When Gabriel and Emilie meet by chance, he offers her a ride, and they spend the evening talking, laughing and getting along famously. At the end of the night, Emilie declines Gabriel’s offer of “a kiss without consequences.” Emilie admonishes him that the kiss could have unexpected consequences, and tells him a story, unfolding in flashbacks, about the impossibility of indulging your desires without affecting someone else’s life. 

Tell No One

Tell No One is based on Harlan Coben’s international best selling thriller about pediatrician Alexandre Beck who still grieves the murder of his beloved wife Margot Beck eight years earlier. When two bodies are found near the scene of the crime, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes a suspect again. The mystery deepens when Alex receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video clip that seems to suggest Margot is somehow still alive and a message to Tell No One. 

The Guardians

An affecting human drama of love, loss, and resilience unfolds against the backdrop of World War I. The women of the Paridier farm, under the deft hand of Hortense, the family’s matriarch (Nathalie Baye,) must grapple with the workload while the men, including two sons, are off at the front. New tools allow the women to triumph over the land, newfound independence is acquired, yet emotions are stirred especially when the men return from the front on short leaves. Acclaimed filmmaker Xavier Beauvois (Of Gods and Men) revels in the mysteries and beauties of the French countryside, here unravaged by war, with painterly images bathed in natural light, yet keeps his focus on the intricate drama that plays out against the upheaval of the Great War.

 

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