Pierre Cardin: A Career in Movies

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 7, 2011

Categories | French Cinema, Costume Design, Fashion & Film, Movie Morlocks, TCM

Today Pierre Cardin is celebrating his 89th birthday. The French designer has had a surprisingly rich and varied career that’s included creating costumes for many films and television programs such as Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast (1946), Anthony Asquith‘s The V.I.P.s (1963) and The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), Louis Malle’s Viva Maria! (1965), Roger Vadim‘s The Game Is Over (1966), Orson Welles’ The Immortal Story (1968), Vittorio De Sica‘s Woman Times Seven (1967), Anthony Mann’s A Dandy In Aspic (1968) and The Avengers (1961-1969). Many beautiful and talented actresses including Jeanne Moreau, Elizabeth Taylor, Joanne Woodward, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda and Mia Farrow have modeled his designs.

I decided to shine a light on his impressive filmography over at the Movie Morlocks this week so if you appreciate ’60s fashion and want to see more stunning photos of Cardin’s creations please follow the link below:
- Pierre Cardin: A Career in Movies @ @ TCM’s Classic Movie Blog

I’ve also created a Pierre Cardin Gallery at Flickr especially for Cinebeats’ readers that you can find here. It’s filled with lots of colorful and eye-catching images featuring some of Cardin’s best designs from the 1950s - 1979. Here’s a small sampling of what you’ll find in the gallery…

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Comic Book of the Week: Angelique (1978)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | March 22, 2011

Categories | Movie Reviews, French Cinema, Comic Books, Michele Mercier

Toshie Kihara’s Angelique series was originally published in 1978 by Princess Comics. Angelique is a Japanese manga (comic book) based on the historical novels by Anne and Serge Golon published between 1957 and 1976. These historic novels focus on the romantic adventures of Angelique de Sancé de Monteloup as she braves misfortune and tragedy in 17th century France. The novels were also turned into a series of films in the ’60s starring the lovely Michele Mercier who appeared in some great Italian horror films including Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath (1963) and Antonio Margheriti’s Web of the Spider (1971).

Toshie Kihara is one of my favorite manga artists and Angelique is one of her most popular creations. Kihara took great liberties with Golon’s original novels but her work is exceptional. Her page layouts, bold lines and dramatic framing really bring Golon’s action packed drama to life. I actually prefer early Japanese manga to American comics because the work of my favorite mangakas (comic artists) is so stylized and cinematic. Manga appeals to me for a variety of reasons including the mature nature of the storylines, which were often light years ahead of their American counterparts. Angelique features lots of murder and mayhem as well as witchcraft and romance between straight and gay characters. This talented artist and writer doesn’t shy away from anything and I appreciate her fearless creativity.

Unfortunately none of Toshie Kihara’s manga have been published in English. English speaking readers have had to rely on fan translations of her work, which aren’t easy to come by and the quality can be questionable. Kihara recently celebrated her 63 birthday and many of her manga stories are considered classics but her work is relatively unknown outside of Japan. I thought I’d share some pages from Angelique because if you’ve read the original novels or seen the films you can enjoy Kihara’s manga without a translation. Just remember that unlike American comics, you have to read the pages from right to left. Following the manga pages is a poster and clip from the first Angelique (1964) film featuring Michele Mercier.

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Monsieur Hulot vs. The Modern World

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 15, 2010

Categories | Movie Reviews, French Cinema, Comedies, Criterion, Movie Morlocks, TCM

Images from Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle (1958)

I recently caught up with Jacques Tati’s delightful French comedy Mon Oncle (aka My Uncle; 1958). I had previously only seen one Tati film, Les Vacances de M. Hulot (aka Mr. Hulot’s Holiday; 1953) and frankly it didn’t engage me as much as I wished it had so I put off watching other Tati films, but that was a mistake. Mon Oncle completely won me over thanks to the brilliant color cinematography, incredible set design, wonderful performances and sentimental storyline involving a unconventional uncle who has trouble finding his footing in the modern world. The film is really a feast for the senses and a whole lot of fun to watch. You can read my further thoughts about Tati’s Mon Oncle at TCM’s Movie Morlocks Blog.

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A Belmondo Birthday Salute

by Kimberly Lindbergs | April 8, 2010

Categories | Movie Reviews, Actors, French Cinema, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Movie Morlocks, TCM

Tomorrow Jean-Paul Belmondo will be celebrating his 77th birthday. He’s one of my favorite actors but I haven’t had the opportunity to write about him very much so I decided to rectify that over at the Movie Morlocks Blog. I watched Breathless (À bout de souffle; 1960) for the sixth or seventh time yesterday and I seem to appreciate it more every time I see it. It’s easy to take Jean-Luc Godard’s film for granted since it has been borrowed from so greedily over the years. But it changed the way we view movies and Belmondo is really the iconic representation of that change. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating Jean-Paul Belmondo’s birthday and his memorable role in Breathless over at TCM.

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Blood and Roses: The Soundtrack

by Kimberly Lindbergs | March 16, 2010

Categories | Soundtracks, Composers, Horror, French Cinema, Roger Vadim

I recently learned that portions of Jean Prodromidès’ sweeping score for Roger Vadim’s Blood & Roses (Et Mourir de Plaisir; 1960) will be released on CD from Disques Cinémusique on March 20th. I’ve written about my appreciation for this fantastic vampire film at length before in a piece simply called Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses (1960) but at the time I neglected to mention Jean Prodromidès’ soundtrack. His classical and somewhat traditional score for the film is impressive for its scope and beauty. I’m happy that segments of it have finally been made available on CD but it would be nice to see the soundtrack for Blood and Roses released in its entirety along with a restored print of the film made available on DVD. I can’t think of a classic horror movie that I’d like to see restored and released on DVD more than Vadim’s Blood and Roses.

Disques Cinémusique has made the soundtrack for Blood And Roses available as part of their release of Prodromidès’ score for Andrzej Wajda’s 1983 film Danton. Besides portions of Blood and Roses, the CD also contains bits & pieces of Jean Prodromidès’ music for This Special Friendship (Les Amitiés Particulières; 19604). You can currently purchase the CD at the official Disques Cinémusique site. They’ve also made sound clips available that showcase Jean Prodromidès’s impressive talents as a composer.

- JEAN PRODROMIDES: Danton, Les Amities Particulieres, Et Mourir de Plaisir

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Art Film As Fashion Trend

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 17, 2009

Categories | French Cinema, Actresses, Delphine Seyrig, Fashion & Film

In 1962 Alain Resnais’ film Last Year at Marienbad aka L’année dernière à Marienbad (1961) debuted in America and made quite a splash with film critics as well as fashionistas. As the following fashion article from ‘62 makes clear, women were obviously inspired by the lovely Delphine Seyrig and attempted to mimic her look including fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt and American actress Elizabeth Ashley. Today actresses in popular films seem to dictate many fashion trends but I found this fashion piece about Last Year at Marienbad really surprising and a fun read so I thought I’d share it here. Delphine Seyrig’s one of my favorite actresses and I love the idea of her as a smart trendsetting ’60s style icon in the same league as Jean Seberg and Audrey Hepburn. Make way ladies! Here comes Delphine Seyrig…

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Modern Mondays: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 9, 2009

Categories | Movie Reviews, French Cinema, Spies & Secret Agents, Comedies, Modern Mondays

If you’ve been reading Cinebeats for awhile you’re probably well aware of my fascination and fondness for spies. From the smart and exceptional Prisoner to the ridiculously silly Last of the Secret Agents?, I never seem to get tired of watching spy movies or television shows as long as they have a good soundtrack accompanying them. So it should come as no surprise that I think the recent French spy spoof OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies aka OSS 117: Le Caire, Nid d’Espions (2006) is one of the funniest films of the last decade.

The movie was directed and co-written by Michel Hazanavicius who based it on the original OSS 117 spy novels by the prolific French author Jean Bruce. The original books featured an American born spy with French roots named Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath who worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). OSS 117 predated Ian Flemming’s more well-known spy James Bond, alias 007, by 4 years, but both characters seem to share a lot of similarities. I haven’t read any of the original Jean Bruce novels myself or seen the early French films based on the books but according to director Michel Hazanavicius OSS 117 isn’t as ironic or clever as James Bond.

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117, is played brilliantly by the handsome and very funny French actor Jean Dujardin. Dujardin has clearly based his character on Sean Connery’s Bond from the early ’60s as well as other self-assured male spies from the same period and he does a terrific job of mimicking their best and worst qualities. In the film agent OSS 117 is sent to Cairo to investigate the disappearance of his close friend and fellow OSS operative Jack Jefferson (Philippe Lefebvre). Finding his friend won’t be easy and over the course of the film OSS 117 becomes entangled in a web of international espionage involving Nazis, a fundamentalist uprising and two beautiful but dangerous women played by the lovely Bérénice Bejo and Aure Atika.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies takes place in 1955 and the film beautifully replicates the decade it’s boldly taking a jab at. Director Michel Hazanavicius clearly loves the movies he’s emulating and OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies comes across as a thoughtful homage as well as a clever parody. From the detailed set designs, to the stylized fashions and incredible soundtrack, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is a film that knows exactly what it’s doing while delivering a lot of laughs. The humor in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is slightly more sophisticated than the Austin Power films but the movie should appeal to Pink Panther fans and anyone who enjoys television shows like Get Smart.

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Modern Mondays: Innocence (2004)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | August 24, 2009

Categories | Movie Reviews, Horror, French Cinema, Modern Mondays

Part horror film, part fairytale and pure allegory. Nothing in Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s 2004 film is as it seems. Much like her artistic partner, filmmaker Gaspar Noé, Hadzihalilovic is obviously interested in making films that push past expectations and delve into the unconscious mind. Innocence isn’t simply a film about what’s on the screen. It is a film that reflects what the audience chooses to see when they watch it. The movie takes place in the dream-like surroundings of a gated school for young women where imagery is much more important than story. Characters speak very little and what they do say is often less important than what they don’t say.

Throughout Innocence Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s direction is flawless and once you’ve entered the world she’s created it’s impossible to forget it. Much like Peter Weir’s excellent 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock, Innocence uses the sterile and beautiful world of a girl’s boarding school as a backdrop for exploring ideas about society, power, control and gender. How we respond to these films often illustrates the way in which we see the world. But there’s no denying that Innocence is a film intended to shake up its audience and make them think. At times watching Innocence is an uncomfortable experience and it should make viewers squirm. It’s a horror film without shocks. It’s a fairytale for adults. Innocence is anything but forgettable entertainment. It will crawl under your skin and stick there.

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Modern Mondays: Love Songs (2007)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | June 22, 2009

Categories | Movie Reviews, French Cinema, Musicals, Romance, Modern Mondays, Gay Interest, Louis Garrel

When I first mentioned that I was going to start “Modern Mondays” at Cinebeats I briefly discussed how much I liked musicals so I thought I’d share a few thoughts about the best musical I’ve seen in recent years, Love Songs (aka Les chansons d’amour; 2007).

Love Songs was directed by the talented French filmmaker and writer Christophe Honore (Ma mère; 2004, Dan Paris; 2006) and features an original musical score by composer Alex Beaupain. It also stars one of my favorite working actors, the incredibly handsome and charismatic Louis Garrel (The Dreamers; 2003, Regular Lovers; 2005, Dans Paris; 2006). The film tells a rather simple and bittersweet story about three young lovers living in Paris who are torn apart physically and emotionally after one of them unexpectedly dies. Romantic films featuring bisexual threesomes instead of typical “boy meets girl” couples are rare enough, but I’m pretty sure that Love Songs is one of the first full-length musical involving a ménage à trois.

The film’s unconventional take on love and loss is refreshing and beautifully handled by director Christophe Honore. In many ways Love Songs is the director’s love letter to French cinema from the ’60s. Fans of classic French films such as Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Francois Truffaut’s Jules and Jim (1962) and Jean-Luc Godard’s A Woman Is a Woman (1961) will easily spot their influence on Honore’s film, but like the nouvelle vague artists that he celebrates here, director Christophe Honore is clearly interested in breaking new ground. He sidesteps much of the ambiguity that was often a trademark of ’60s French cinema to unabashedly deal in honest human anguish, passion and desire.

Love Songs is a sentimental film and I appreciated its sweetness and romanticism, but it’s also a thoughtful meditation on loss and the painful grieving process that occurs after we loose someone we deeply care about. There’s nothing more agonizing than the sudden and unexpected death of a loved one and I think Love Songs greatest achievement besides it’s wonderful score, smart script and beautiful cinematography is the way in which it expertly conveys that overwhelming sense of unexplainable sorrow that can become paralyzing after you suffer a great loss.

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