Thursday Movie Picks: Non-English Language Movies

A weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves

I've been internet-less since September 2 — not one but two lightings struck my phone wire, the phone company guy showed up only yesterday to fix it and turns out it fried the modem too — which translated in no Netflix. Which forced me to watch stuff I own. Which ended up with me rewatching Linklater's brilliant Before trilogy. And since yesterday I saw Before Sunset not long before working on this, and it's set in Paris, for this week's Thursday Movie Picks I went double theme within a theme with three films in French set in Paris. 

Amélie (2001)

Amélie (Audrey Tautou) is a shy waitress in a Montmartre café. After returning a long-lost childhood treasure to a former occupant of her apartment, and seeing the effect it has on him, she decides to set out on a mission to make others happy and in the meantime pursues a quirky guy (Mathieu Kassovitz) who collects discarded photo booth pictures. | It's a charming, colourful and funny film, well-written and wonderfully performed. 

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Cléo (Corinne Marchand) is a hypochondriac French signer who is afraid of getting the result of a test from her doctor. She thinks she has cancer and that she will die. While waiting for the result, she visits a fortuneteller (Loye Payen) who too says she is dying. This completely affects the way she approaches the day, from her encounters with friends to what she observes in strangers. | It's a terrific character study with superb acting and direction. Please watch it if you haven't already.

Venus in Fur (2013)

A playwright, Thomas Novachek (Mathieu Amalric), is about to leave the theatre after a long day of auditioning for the female lead of his new play which he adapted from the 1870 novel, Venus in Fur by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, when an actress, Wanda Jourdain (Emmanuelle Seigner), arrives soaking wet from the rainstorm outside. She doesn't look like an actress and her name isn't even on the audition list, but eventually, with much persuasion, Novachek agrees to read the part of the play with her, and he's immediately stunned by her. | It's a wonderful film about art, with a story that is both strange and fascinating because of the characters' interactions.