Marseille mon amour
Films & series set in or around my favorite French city, that are a far cry from Marcel Pagnol's classic -yet idealized- trilogy.
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- DirectorAbdellatif KechicheStarsHabib BoufaresHafsia HerziFarida BenkhetacheIn southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.This wonderfully human and subtle movie made me laugh, cry and completely immerse in the character's everyday world, all while reflecting on heavy subjects like France's ingrained islamophobia, poverty and class struggle, family disfunction and solidarity... It is truly a gem.
- DirectorCédric JimenezStarsJean DujardinGilles LelloucheCéline SalletteA French police magistrate spends years trying to take down one of the country's most powerful drug rings.A humane thriller with complex characters depicting a pivotal time in Marseille's history. It is well-paced, stylish and entertaining but doesn't fall into unnecessary gore or macho heroism. Instead, it feels intimate, the dialogues are superb and it doesn't underestimate its audience with an easy Manichaeism.
- DirectorRobert GuédiguianStarsAriane AscarideJean-Pierre DarroussinGérard MeylanA union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.A movie that reflects on the moral dilemma of what it means to be good in our contemporary capitalist society without becoming heavy or preachy. Instead, it handles it with subtlety, humanity and a point of humor.
- DirectorLaurent CantetStarsMarina FoïsMatthieu LucciFlorian BeaujeanThe scene is set one Summer in La Ciotat, a town near Marseille which used to be prosperous thanks to its huge dockyard but has been in decline since its closing 25 years before. It is in this context of quiet desperation that a writing workshop has been set up to help a group of seven young people integrate into the world of work. Under the guidance of well-known novelist Olivia Dejazet, the participants are asked to write a noir fiction connected with the industrial past of their hometown. Session after session, one of them, a boy named Antoine, stands out. Provocative and aggressive, he gets noticed by his systematic opposition to all, including Olivia. Even more alarming, the story he has devised and that he reads aloud, the cold description of a mass murder seen through the eyes of its perpetrator, proves very disturbing. Antoine understands the killer too well. At this point, Olivia starts experiencing a feeling of attraction repulsion to Antoine.This interesting film is an introspective ride into some of France's most relevant issues today: racial disparities and extreme right nationalism, youth unemployment and despair, post-industrial cities forgotten by capitalism. The characters are intriguing and the suspense is low-key yet thoroughly maintained.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsClaudia CardinaleOmar SharifNathalie RousselThe saga of an Armenian family that immigrated to France after the break-up of the oppressive Ottoman Empire.
- DirectorZiad DoueiriStarsVahina GiocanteMoa KhouasKarim Ben HaddouTwo inner-city teenagers engage in an obsessive, innocent flirtation fueled by Lila's sexually explicit overtures.This film is both erotic and innocent, sociological and intimate. Great acting and script, it is a beautiful and heartbreaking coming of age story.
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsFranz RogowskiPaula BeerGodehard GieseA man attempting to escape occupied France falls in love with the wife of a dead author whose identity he has assumed.An atemporal reflection on state repression and illegal immigrant realities. It has a surrealist dystopian feel that makes this story more universal and relatable than it would be if it was simply a period piece. Plenty of psychological drama sustained by superb acting.
- DirectorRobert GuédiguianStarsAriane AscarideJean-Pierre DarroussinGérard MeylanA dark tale of working-class life in Marseilles, a city in crisis. Interesting characters include a hard-bitten but compassionate fish market worker with a drug addicted daughter and a moody bartender with a shocking secret life.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsLeonor SilveiraFilipa de AlmeidaJohn MalkovichLisbon, Marseilles, Naples, Athens, Istanbul, Cairo, Aden and Bombay. Along with a university teacher and her little daughter, we embark on a long journey, experiencing different cultures and civilizations.
- StarsJohn GuedjAda TedeschiManon AzemPolicemen with different backgrounds must work together as a team in Marseille.I usually don't find French comedies particularly funny, and while this series is really silly, it is entertaining and it plays with French stereotypes about Marseille.
- DirectorRobert GuédiguianStarsAriane AscarideGérard MeylanPascale RobertsMarius is the keeper of an abandoned cement works staying high above the quarter of l'Estaque in Marseilles. Jeannette is bringing up her two children alone with her poor checkout operator salary. Their meeting won't be without trouble, since besides material difficulties, both of them are wounded by life. They have to learn how to be happy again.
- DirectorJonathan TaiebStarsAlex SkarbekJeremy TaiebSabrina NouchiBetween fear of success and a tricky break-up, Ludovic is beyond all hope as he is getting close to the 30's stage. His unexpected meeting with a sick child, Raphael, shakes up his daily life and his future approach. Together, they go after their dreams...
- DirectorTom McCarthyStarsMatt DamonCamille CottinAbigail BreslinA father travels from Oklahoma to France to help his estranged daughter, who is in prison for a murder she claims she didn't commit.Instead of a typical Hollywood thriller about finding justice for his imprisoned daughter in a foreign land, here we have very poignant character study about a flawed yet caring man. Great acting and overall atmosphere.
- DirectorJan KrügerStarsCorinna HarfouchNico RognerMehdi DehbiSimon, a young German doctor, who is living and working in Marseille, doesn't give any news. His appartment is empty. Valérie, his mother, is desperate. She doesn't understand the reason of his disappearance. Therefore she asks Jens, the former boyfriend of Simon, to come to Marseille and help her out on this research.
- DirectorLucie BorleteauStarsAriane LabedMelvil PoupaudAnders Danielsen LieThirty-year-old Alice's occupation is rather unusual for a woman: she works as an engineer on a freighter. She loves her job and does it competently but even in a greasy blue overall a woman will be a woman, with her heart, her desires and her seduction - In such conditions can an all-male crew really remain totally insensitive to her charms? A situation all the more complicated as not only does Alice leave her fiancé Felix behind but she also discovers on board the Fidélio that the captain is Gaël, her first love.
- DirectorPhilippe PetitStarsSwann ArlaudSarah AdlerGrégoire OestermannMax doesn't dream of making green walls for five-star hotels. Tenacious landscaper, committed but cornered, he fights to create a wild garden, without fence, in the heart of downtown Marseille: a plant area open to all. After years of rejection, his project reached the final stage of an architecture competition. For Max, this is the last chance to offer oxygen to the people who are suffocating in an urban hell, under the beating sun.
- DirectorEmilie AusselStarsAgathe TalrichMarcia FeugeasMatthieu LucciTo live and to love at the age of 18, immersing yourself in the carefree summer days and nights, losing your best friend suddenly, and realizing that nothing lasts forever. It's a time of decisive encounters in order to be reborn.