Directed by Jacques Rozier • 1962 • France
Starring Jean-Claude Aimini, Daniel Descamps, Stefania Sabatini
In his bold yet playful feature debut—an overlooked gem of the French New Wave—Jacques Rozier satirizes several major cultural currents of early-sixties France: political myopia, romantic escapism, and commercial corruption. Young Michel (Jean-Claude Aimini) works as a camera technician for a television studio, where he meets two would-be actresses, Liliane (Yveline Céry) and Juliette (Stefania Sabatini). The duo’s demeaning work in advertising allows them to connect Michel with an unscrupulous director (Vittorio Caprioli), who subsequently stiffs him on a job. Fed up with their exploitative industry, Michel, Liliane, and Juliette head to Corsica for a holiday—and to track down the director—all while a developing love triangle strains the girls’ friendship. With confidence and panache, Rozier expertly employs documentary-style shooting, improvisational acting (among a mostly nonprofessional cast), and kinetic montage sequences to capture the disparity between blithe youth and the societal pressures—especially Michel’s imminent military service in Algeria—that threaten its innocence.
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Near Orouët
Directed by Jacques Rozier • 1971 • France
Starring Caroline Cartier, Françoise Guégan, Danièle CroisyIn early September, three young Parisians—Caroline (Caroline Cartier), her cousin Kareen (Françoise Guégan), and Joëlle (Danièle Croisy)—travel to the sparsely populated shorefront town of Oro...
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The Castaways of Turtle Island
Directed by Jacques Rozier • 1976 • France
Starring Pierre Richard, Maurice Risch, Jacques VilleretHaving set his first two features on seaside holidays, Jacques Rozier used the third, THE CASTAWAYS OF TURTLE ISLAND, to mock the tourist industry and the “going native” movement that was then inc...
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Maine-Océan Express
Directed by Jacques Rozier • 1986 • France
Starring Bernard Ménez, Yves Afonso, Luis RegoBy land, by sea, by air . . . In Jacques Rozier’s quirkiest comedy, a Brazilian dancer’s (Rosa-Maria Gomes) invalid train ticket for a journey from Paris to Saint-Nazaire sparks a shaggy-dog story that enco...