Your Favourite Foreign Language Films

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La Fausse Suivante aka The False Servant 2000 France. Directed by Benoit Jacquot. Isabelle Huppert Mathieu Amalric Sandrine Kiberlain. Filmed in a theatre stage. Adapted comedy from the 18th century by Marivaux. A real special treatment,interesting ,not for everybody,worth a look. 95 minutes. 6/10.

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César et Rosalie 1972 France. Directed by Claude Sautet. Yves Montand Romy Schneider Sami Frey . Very good film about a similar situation or very close to Jules &  Jim.Huppert has a support role as Schneider's sister. A huge success then. 111minutes. 7.25/10.

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Docteur Francoise Gailland 1976 . France. Directed by Jean Louis Bertuccelli . Annie Girardot Jean Pierre Cassel Isabelle Huppert. A doctor faces a cancer diagnosis,good drama and acting, Huppert is her pregnant daughter. 100 minutes. 6.25/10.

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Le Juge et L'Assassin 1976 France.Directed by Bertrand Tavernier.Philippe Noiret Michel Galabru Isabelle Huppert. A judge is confronted by the problems created by a serial killer. This is the  second  film by Tavernier,now a classic,excellent acting,Galabru won a Cesar for best actor.128 minutes. 7.75/10.

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Saint Cyr 2000 France. Directed by Patricia Mazuy. Isabelle Huppert Jean Pierre Kalfon. The longtime love & wife of Louis XIV,creates a large school for poor  young girls whom lost their fathers during wars,they are offered litterature,linguage,manners,and  learning various trades. Good period piece, Huppert is very good,nice costumes. 118 minutes 6.25/10.

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Elle 2016 France .Directed by Paul Verhoeven.Isabelle Huppert Laurent Lafitte. A drama about a rape victim looking for her agressor,she has also her own inner demons being the daughter of a serial killer. There is more than this as the character has some behavior and fantasies. which I will not reveal here.The film got numerous international awards including a Golden Globe for Huppert,she finally received a (long time) deserved Oscar nomination.Unfortunately  Emma Stone got it for La La Land....Huppert is probably the best actress in the movie world for at least 30 years.she is a daring,adventurous actress.Her performance in this film is amazing,the best org asmic acting done by a major actress on film.Huppert gives Oscar worthy performances every year. 130 minutes.8.75/10.

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La Pianiste aka The Piano Teacher.2001. France Austria.  Directed by Michael Haneke.Isabelle Huppert Benoit Magimel Annie Girardot, A sexually repressed piano teacher still living with her mother, is attracted to a younger student, the woman never opened herself to any man,she has her own fantasies,she is scared of abandoning herself and be the victim of being seduced,she wants real love. You must watch this film several times to analyse the extraordinary acting of Huppert in the film. The way she displays  her  s &m paraphernalia ,-while they both sit on the floor- between the young man and her,means it could be a problem. Her final scene took 52 takes to film the expression Huppert & Haneke wanted,her character will never open herself again. An extraordinary film. The last film to win the 3 top awards at Cannes,a rare feat,it cannot be done again as Cannes changed the rules. The leads won as best actors,the film won numerous prizes around the world,the film did not get a nod at the Oscars because the USA rights holder for distribution,Don Krim, forgot to fill the necessary papers for the film to be eligible,,,what an incredible mistake. Huppert's performance is according to many critics one of the best ones in the last 20 years. The Criterion dvd edition is a 2 discs set, the extras are very good. 131 minutes. 9.50/10.

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So this is the end of my Isabelle Huppert European films that I have seen,I have not seen them all and she is very prolific.Strangely enough her american films are either very average  and sometime she has a thankless part,a good one is the 3 versions of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby by Neil Jordan with Jessica Chastain,she is not a lead in it but the film is pretty good. I must add this as I was planning to do  it but forgot. Hupert started on the 25th of November a month long run in a Paris theatre a version of The Glass Menagerie,she performed it in Amsterdam,and she played several performances in Japan as well. She is working all the time, 5 films in 2022, she is doing 2 more already for 2023. She will be 70 next March ,she looks easily 20 years younger. There was a very good retrospective of some of her films -29 -at the Film Forum in New York during  October.Here is 2 links  : https://www.google.ca queerforty.comisabelle-huppert-retrospective-at-film-forum .

https://www.google.ca/www.wmagazine.comcultureisabelle-huppert-film-forum-retrospective-interview-2022

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This is a unplanned addition,I was planning to end but I will add this film which I have seen last week not expecting much from it.

La Reine Blanche aka The White Queen. 1991 France.  Directed by Jean Loup Hubert. Catherine Deneuve Richard Bohringer Bernard Giraudeau Jean Carmet, Set in 1960 in a  suburb village of the coastal city of Nantes in France. A man who took off 20 years before on a boat comes back with his family to resettle there. His childhood friend-(they were always at each other's throat !)  is married with 4 kids of various age, the wife was the great love of the 2 younger men in their early 20's. A lot of things that happened in the past had to be settled. A very pleasant film,an old fashioned style French film with nice vintage cars,clothes etc. Excellent cinematography and acting by the 4 leads. Deneuve at 48 then is incredibly beautiful in a very simplistic way,and if somebody doubts of her acting talents,she is excellent,very real in several dramatic scenes,she is also very credible as a mother of 4 kids,you would not expect this from a Deneuve movie,a very good film. 118 minutes, 7/10.