French Directors - Francois Ozon

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French Directors - Francois Ozon

5x2 Francois Ozon Talented French director Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) structures this intimate chamber drama in reverse chronological order, charting the dissolution of a young couple's marriage from the finalization of their divorce to their initial romantic encounter. The principal characters (excellently played by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Stephane Freiss) experience affection, inertia, anger, and pain as they fumble towards the realization that reconciliation is no longer possible. "It integrates ordinary pleasures, anxiety, joy, doubt and loneliness into a slightly melancholy portrait that's deceptively simple but never dull" (Variety). In French with English subtitles. France, 2005, 90 mins. DVD | $37.95

8 Women Francois Ozon Three generations of fabulous French actresses are featured in Francois Ozon's musical mystery comedy. When a wealthy industrialist is found murdered, eight women close to him become the most likely suspects. Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen, Danielle Darrieux, Ludivine Sagnier, and Firmine Richard are the glamorous leading ladies. "Decked out in full '50s Technicolor, the film marries an Agatha Christie murder mystery to Sirkian melodrama, vintage pop musical numbers, and Ozon's own mischievous wit, which sneaks a few dark twists into an otherwise bubbly affair" (Scott Tobias, The Onion A.V. Club). French with English subtitles. France, 2002, 111 mins. DVD | $37.95

Criminal Lovers Francois Ozon Francois Ozon begins this feature like a mordant comedy of violent, youthful excess, then reveals it as a modern-day, openly sexual fairy tale with satirical underpinnings. A sexy, jealous teenaged girl convinces her naive and sexually ambiguous boyfriend to kill the handsome classmate who has spurned her. Their attempt to hide the body turns disastrous when a primitive and lonely woodsman takes them prisoner. This is Hansel & Gretel on the wild side. Starring Natacha Regnier (The Dreamlife of Angels), Jeremie Renier (La Promesse), and the always enjoyable Miki Manojlovic (Underground, Cabaret Balkan). In French with English subtitles. France, 1999, 90 mins. DVD | $44.95

Francois Ozon: A Curtain Raiser & Other Shorts A Curtain Raiser / X2000 / Bad Scenes / Little Death / Truth or Dare / In A Rose Between / Victor Francois Ozon From the director of Swimming Pool comes seven short films loosely linked by sexual subjects, gay themes, and strange self-discoveries. In A Curtain Raiser (2006, 30 mins.), Bruno (Louis Garrel) is waiting on his girlfriend, Rosette (Vahina Giocante), with some friends and decides that if she makes him wait more than 45 minutes, it's over. X2000 (1998, 5 mins.) offers up the nudity viewers associate with the director's notorious works like Sitcom. In it, three couples wake up, make love, and survey the remains of a millennium party thrown the night before. Bad Scenes (1997, 26 mins.) is a series of seven brief vignettes dealing with, you guessed it, sex. In Little Death (1995, 26 mins.), Paul (Francois Delaive) is a young photographer estranged from his family. When he sister convinces him to visit his father on his deathbed, memories of a loveless childhood push him in a new direction. Truth or Dare (1994, 4 mins.) deals with four adolescent boys and girls playing a seemingly harmless game of truth or dare. An older British woman takes a young hairdresser out for a wild night. In A Rose Between Us (1994, 27 mins.). Lastly, Victor (1993, 14 mins.) is somewhat of a precursor to Ozon's Under the Sand in that Victor (Francois Genty) thinks it's alright to keep the corpses of his dead parents around. In French with English subtitles. France, 1993-2006, 132 mins. DVD | $44.95

See the Sea Francois Ozon A woman vacations with her infant daughter on beautiful, beachfront property, awaiting the return of her husband. A mysterious, brooding backpacker arrives and is reluctantly allowed to camp outside the cottage. The young mother becomes fascinated by her visitor, allowing her into her home and leaving the baby in her care in spite of her odd, increasingly sinister behavior. "It's a voluptuous, heat-of-summer tale that makes the blood run cold" (Amy Taubin, Village Voice). Also included is a 15-minute short from writer-director Francois Ozon, A Summer Dress (1996), a lighter, comic spin on sexual ambiguity. In French with English subtitles. France, 1997, 52 mins. DVD | $44.95

Sitcom Francois Ozon The seemingly normal life of a French family is disrupted when the father brings home a pet rat. Somehow, the presence of the resident rodent awakens repressed, bizarre, sexual and psychological desires in each member of the family, leading to outrageous consequences. "...a sardonic foray into self-loathing and family depravity...Ozon's take on the family isn't kitschy or ironic. It's a portrait that is as menacing as it is visually stunning" (John Petkovic, Cleveland Plain Dealer). In French with English subtitles. The DVD is letterboxed; includes the Ozon shorts, Victor (1993, 14 mins.) and Photo de Famille (1988, 7 mins.), optional English subtitles, cast interviews, and the original theatrical trailer. France, 1998, 80 mins. DVD | $44.95

Swimming Pool Francois Ozon Francois Ozon pairs his favorite leading lady, Charlotte Rampling (Under the Sand), with his ingenue of choice, Ludivine Sagnier, in this hot thriller. Rampling plays a proper English mystery writer who is taking a sabbatical at her editor's French Mediterranean villa. Her summer of peace and solitude is disrupted, though, when the editor's wild, uninhibited daughter (Sagnier) shows up unannounced, leading to a deadly sexual rivalry between the two polar opposite women. "A fine sunlit noir, oozing sensuality and menace" (Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune). The DVD is an unrated version, letterboxed, closed-captioned; includes Spanish and French subtitles, outtakes, deleted scenes, and poster and picture galleries. France, 2003, 102 mins. DVD | $37.95

Time to Leave Francois Ozon Ever the eclectic filmmaker, moving from Criminal Lovers to 8 Women to Swimming Pool, French New New Wave director Francois Ozon tries his hand at tear-jerking drama this time around. Melvil Poupaud stars as Romain, a homosexual fashion photographer who learns he has terminal cancer. Though he puts his lover and family through hell as he grapples with his own mortality, this haunting, restrained film culminates in Romain's poignant acceptance of his fate. And in true Ozon fashion, there's a menage a trois thrown in for good measure. Also known as Le Temps qui Reste. With Jeanne Moreau and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. In French with English subtitles. France, 2005, 85 mins. DVD | $44.95

Under the Sand Francois Ozon Charlotte Rampling gives a subtle performance of enormous emotional depth in this enigmatic feature from Francois Ozon (See the Sea, Water Drops on Burning Rocks). Rampling plays a middle-aged woman in a complacent but seemingly happy marriage. Her life changes dramatically when her husband (Bruno Cremer) disappears without a trace while the couple is on vacation. While the uncertainty of the husband's fate is constantly in the air, the film's central focus is the adjustment of Rampling's character to life alone and her tentative steps toward a new relationship. The DVD is letterboxed; includes director's commentary, interview with Charlotte Rampling, optional Spanish subtitles, and theatrical trailers. In French and English with English subtitles. France, 2001, 95 mins. DVD | $37.95

Water Drops on Burning Rocks Francois Ozon Based on an unproduced play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Francois Ozon's film takes place entirely in the Berlin bachelor pad of a sophisticated, middle-aged man. He manages to seduce the handsome 19-year-old he has just picked up, but their relationship takes some surprising twists as the younger man's fiancee and the older man's former lover arrive on the scene. "...for the duration of this mordant, mischievous film you have no real desire to leave their fastidiously decorated purgatory" (A.O. Scott, New York Times). In French with English subtitles. The DVD is letterboxed; includes Ozon and Fassbinder bios and filmographies, sing-along song lyrics, and theatrical trailers. France, 1999, 82 mins. DVD | $44.95

X2000: The Collected Shorts of Francois Ozon Francois Ozon Four short films from director Francois Ozon (Sitcom, See the Sea), one of the most provocative French directors to emerge from the 1990s. X2000 (1998) is an unusual look at the dawn of the new millennium in which three naked couples sleep and make love in a skyscraper littered with party debris. In Truth or Dare (1994), the harmless children's game becomes a window to the pain and uncertainty of emerging sexuality for four teenagers. Little Death (1995) is a devastating tale of a photographer visiting his estranged father, who is dying in the hospital. Bed Scenes (1997) is a series of comic sketches on sexual behavior following various couples at different levels of passion. In French with English subtitles. France, 1994-1998, 61 mins. DVD | $44.95