Napoleon
A biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, tracing the Corsican's career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign) to his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797.
Cœur fidèle
The good guys win out in this sweet tale about a young orphan who is abused for much of her life but who eventually finds happiness when she marries an honest man who extricates her from her situation.
The Seashell and the Clergyman
Obsessed with a general's wife, a clergyman has strange visions of death and lust, struggling against his own eroticism.
Dawn of Impressionism: Paris 1874
The Impressionists are the most popular group in art history – millions flock every year to marvel at their masterpieces. But, to begin with, they were scorned, penniless outsiders. 1874 was the year that changed everything; the first Impressionists, “hungry for independence”, broke the mould by holding their own exhibition outside official channels. Impressionism was born and the art world was changed forever. What led to that first groundbreaking show 150 years ago? Who were the maverick personalities that wielded their brushes in such a radical and provocative way? The spectacular Musée d’Orsay exhibition brings fresh eyes to this extraordinary tale of passion and rebellion. The story is told not by historians and curators but in the words of those who witnessed the dawn of Impressionism: the artists, press and people of Paris, 1874.
The Smiling Madame Beudet
An unhappily married woman devises a scheme to get rid of her husband.
The Cinematograph: Birth of an Art
Throughout the 19th century, imaginative and visionary artists and inventors brought about the advent of a new look, absolutely modern and truly cinematographic, long before the revolutionary invention of the Lumière brothers and the arrival of December 28, 1895, the historic day on which the first cinema performance took place.
1874, The Birth of Impressionism
April 15, 1874, boulevard des Capucines, Paris: a group of young feverish painters shunned by the official Salon and mocked by the classical masters, chose to come together to exhibit their paintings freely, in the studio of photographer Nadar. At the end of a teeming century, when modernity was emerging, this group of rebellious artists, revolutionized the world of art.
The Tenth Symphony
Composer Enrid Damor knows nothing of the past life of his new wife Eve Dinant : she lived as a debauchee with an adventurer, Fred Ryce. Fred Ryce meets Damor's daughter, Claire, and tries to marries her. He blackmails Eve. Enric learns something about her and Fred and composes a symphony to express his pain... The Tenth Symphony is considered the first major film of the Impressionist movement.
Fièvre
Militis, a sailor, returns to a bar where he finds Sarah, the girl he once loved and is still attracted to. However, he is now married to an exotic woman who took care of him during an illness.
Toulouse-Lautrec: The Full Story
Art Critic Waldemar Januzczak presents this documentary which details french artist Toulouse-Lautrec's life.
La couleur de l'instant: La série des bassins aux nymphéas
An analysis of the 54 paintings in the Water Lilies series, begun by Monet in 1895 and continued until his death in 1926. A meticulous study of their structure shows that the apparent spontaneity of these works is in fact the result of highly complex labor. The concept of the series, redefined by Monet, would go on to influence all of modern art.