The Clockmaker of St. Paul 1973  N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Cast: Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Denis, Yves Afonso, Julien Bertheau, William Sabatier, Jacques Hilling, Clotilde Joano, Andree Tainsy, Sylvain Rougerie, Cecile Vassort, Christine Pascal
Michel Descombes (Philippe Noiret) is a clockmaker who lives with his son. One day when a policeman shows up at his doorstep and states that Michel's son, Bernard (Sylvain Rougerie) has committed murder and is on the lam, he realizes that he doesn't know much about his own son. Michel must reevaluate his life and beliefs after Bernard is captured and expresses no remorse over his actions since the man deserved to be killed. Excellent performance by Noiret.
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 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 1972  PG, 105 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy
Director: Luis Bunuel
Cast: Fernando Rey, Stephane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Delphine Seyrig, Bulle Ogier, Michel Piccoli, Bernard Musson, Paul Frankeur, Julien Bertheau, Milena Vukotic, Maria Gabriella Maione, Claude Pieplu
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, this is a satirical look at the bourgeoisie following the activities of upper-middle-class friends. Don Raphael (Fernando Rey), Francois Thevenot (Paul Frankeur), Simone (Delphine Seyrig), Florence (Bulle Ogier), Henri Senechal (Jean-Pierre Cassel), and Alice (Stephane Audran) try, again and again, to spend an evening together. But, no matter how many times they try, and fail, to have dinner together, their plans are frustrated by events over which they have no control. The obstacles are bizarre–ranging from a mixed- up date for the dinner, to army maneuvers, to a dead body, to a stage play in which they are characters. Good entertainment.
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Love on the Run 1979  PG, 94 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Francois Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Claude Jade, Marie-France Pisier, Dani, Dorothee, Rosy Varte, Marie Henriau, Daniel Mesguich, Julien Bertheau, Jean-Pierre Ducos
This is the final episode (of five) of Truffaut's "Antoine Doinel" series, which started 20 years previously with "The 400 Blows." Antoine, now in his 30s, reflects on his past loves and adds them to his autobiographical novel. Currently, he is taking on a new lover while awaiting a divorce from his current wife. Problems arise with both the divorce and new lover, and he joins a past lover. They reminisce about their past affair, and he also visits with another old friend.
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 The Phantom of Liberty 1974 R, 104 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
aka: The Specter of Freedom
Director: Luis Bunuel
Cast: Jean-Claude Brialy, Monica Vitti, Milena Vukotic, Michael Lonsdale, Anne-Marie Deschott, Michel Piccoli, Claude Pieplu, Paul Frankeur, Julien Bertheau, Adolfo Celi
Talk about bizarre! At age 75, Luis Bunuel still had the knack for innovative filmmaking. This surrealistic comedy is a collection of barely related sketches that include a group of patriots in the Napoleonic era egging on a firing squad to shoot them, a missing girl helping police fill out a missing person report on her, and the well-known scene of an elegantly dressed group sitting on toilets around a dinner table until hunger strikes, when they retire to stalls in a separate room to eat. And that's just a sample.
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That Obscure Object of Desire 1977 R, 100 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
Director: Luis Bunuel
Cast: Fernando Rey, Carole Bouquet, Angela Molina, Julien Bertheau, Andre Weber, Milena Vukotic, Maria Asquerino, Ellen Bahl, Valerie Blanco, Pierre Pieral
Mathieu (Fernando Rey), a middle-aged man, fantasizes about the woman of his dreams: Conchita. Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina alternate in the role of "Conchita." This wryly sophisticated film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
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| 1. The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1973)
2. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
3. Love on the Run (1979)
4. The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
aka: The Specter of Freedom
5. That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
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