World Language Resources

One of the most influential films in the history of political cinema, Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers focuses on the harrowing events of 1957, a key year in Algeria’s struggle for independence from France. Shot in the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film vividly recreates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, the French torture prisoners for information and the Algerians resort to terrorism in their quest for independence. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés. The French win the battle, but ultimately lose the war as the Algerian people demonstrate that they will no longer be suppressed. The Criterion Collection is proud present Gillo Pontecorvo’s tour de force—a film with astonishing relevance today.

The fourth installment in François Truffaut’s chronicle of the ardent, anachronistic Antoine Doinel, “Bed and Board (Domicile conjuga)l”, finds our hapless hero once again in crisis. Expecting his first child and still struggling to find steady employment, Doinel involves himself in a relationship with a beautiful Japanese woman that threatens to destroy his marriage. Lightly comic, with a touch of burlesque, “Bed and Board” is a bittersweet look at the travails of young married life and the fine line between adolescence and adulthood.

"This surreal and erotic late-sixties daydream from provocateur for the ages Luis Buñuel (Viridiana) is an examination of desire and fetishistic pleasure (its characters’ and its viewers’), as well as a gently absurdist take on contemporary social mores and class divisions. Fantasy and reality commingle in this burst of cinematic transgression, which was one of Buñuel’s biggest hits." - Amazon.com.

In 1968, a group of revolutionary hippie students led by Catherine and Yves start a commune devoted to “free love”, nudism, and anarchy. “Born in 68” takes its characters on a journey of rebellion, enlightenment, and change, providing a rare glimpse into the history of those who revolted against the main stream. The need for freedom and personal accomplishment compels them to take actions that push them in separate directions. In 1989, Catherine and Yves children are young adults confronting a world that has changed profoundly. The end of communism and the explosion of the AIDS virus call into question the militant legacy of the preceding generation.

International screen star Isabelle Adjani (The Story Of Adele H., Ishtar) is the creative prodigy Camille Claudel. GÃ(c)rard Depardieu (Green Card, Cyrano de Bergerac) is thelegendary sculptor Rodin. This is the true story of their passionate obsession with artand with each other. Both an inspiring saga of artistic vision and the haunting portrayal of a doomed romance, Camille Claudel is a beautiful and stirring cinematic masterpiece. A historically accurate depiction of one of the most important collaborations in the history of modern art, Camille Claudel was nominated for the 1989 Academy AwardÂ(r) for Best Foreign Language Film,and Adjani was nominated for the 1989 OscarÂ(r) for Best Actress for her riveting portrayalof the beautiful young woman who sacrifices her talents to flames of passion.

L'enfant, a groundbreaking drama from award-winning filmmakers Jean Paul and Luc Dardenne, takes us deep into the life of Bruno (J‚r‚mie Renier), a down-and-out petty thief who reaches rock bottom when he sells his newborn son on the black market. In a bid to redeem himself in the eyes of his girlfriend Sonia, the baby's mother (D‚borah Fran‡ois), Bruno goes against all odds to bring their baby home. Stunning audiences and winning the coveted Palm d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, L'Enfant is a gritty, modern day fairy tale critics are calling "a masterpiece" (Time Out New York) that will grab hold of your heart.

A mysterious writer of poison-pen letters, known only as “Le Corbeau” (the Raven), plagues a French provincial town, exposing the collective suspicion and rancor seething beneath the community’s calm surface. Made during the Nazi occupation of France, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Le Corbeau” was attacked by the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, the left-wing Resistance press, and the Catholic Church, and was banned after liberation. But some, including Jean Cocteau and Jean-Paul Satre, recognized the powerful subtext of Clouzot’s anti-Gestapo fable, and worked to rehabilitate his directorial reputation after the war. “Le Corbeau” brilliantly captures a spirit of paranoid pettiness and self-loathing that turns an occupied Frenchtown into a twentieth-century Salem.

"Cyrano ([Gérard] Depardieu), a master swordsman and poet, feels he cannot woo his beloved Roxane (Anne Brochet) due to an unfortunate physical flaw: his grotesquely large nose. Resigning himself to helping another suitor, the dashing yet tongue-tied Christian (Vincent Perez), Cyrano uses his mastery of words to win Roxane forhim. But when Roxane finds that she has fallen for Christian's mindand not for his beautywhich of her two suitors will finally possess her heart?" -- Amazon.com.

The leading lady is recovering from a nervous breakdown, another performer is soused on the set, unions threaten to walk, shooting must finish before the insurance lapses and a cat can't hit its mark. Is this any way to make a film? Mais oui! François Truffaut sly, humorous Oscar-winning Best Foreign Language Film that speaks the language of everyone who loves movies.

An acknowledged influence on Psycho, Henri-Georges Clouzot's horror classic is the story of a sadistic headmaster who brutalizes his fragile wife and his headstrong mistress. The two women murder him and dump his body in a swimming pool; when the pool is drained, no corpse is found.

From acclaimed director Julian Schnabel, and the screenwriter of Australia and The Pianist, comes a remarkable and inspiring true story about the awesome power of imagination.
Experience the triumphant tale of renowned Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, a man whose love of life and soaring vision shaped his will to achieve a life without boundaries. Paralyzed after a stroke except for the use of his left eye, Bauby eloquently shared his story with the world by blinking the words he could no longer speak. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is truly ""nothing less than the rebirth of the cinema."" (The New Yorker)

At a tough inner-city middle school in Paris, a dedicated teacher named Mr. Marin (François Bégaudeau)begins the new term. Taking on a class comprised of a melting pot of modern-day French society, he pushes and prods his pupils while striving to gain their respect. And as each side changes the other over issues both academic and personal, Mr. Marin and his students are about to get an education they’ll never forget. The winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, “The Class” is both powerful and provocative. Based on Bégaudeau’s best-selling autobiographical novel.