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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2016

San Sebastian Film Festival 2016

Jacques Becker Retrospective

The 64th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival will dedicate a retrospective to the French director Jacques Becker, including all of Becker’s feature films, half of which were never commercially released in Spain, and also the 40 minute film Le Comissaire est bon enfant, le gendarme est sans pitié / Pitiless Gendarme shooted with Pierre Prévert and La Vie est à nous, by Jean Renoir, on which he worked as an assistant.

Programme

14 films · 5 reviews

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Ali Baba And The 40 Thieves (Ali Baba et les 40 voleurs)

A servant falls for a slave girl in this retelling of the fable.

(Country: France; Year: 1953; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Cesare Zavattini, Jacques Becker, Marc Maurette, Maurice Griffe, André Tabet; Stars: Fernandel, Samia Gamal, Dieter Borsche, Henri Vilbert, Édouard Delmont, Edmond Ardisson, Manuel Gary, Julien Maffre, Leopoldo Francés, Gaston Orbal, Bob Ingarao, Yôko Tani, Fanfan Minucci, José Casa, Abdelhaq Chraibi)

Antoine and Antoinette (Antoine et Antoinette)

Antoine, who works in a printing house, and Antoinette, an employee at Prisunic, buy a winning lottery ticket. When they lose the ticket, their dreams seem to fade away.

(Country: France; Year: 1947; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Jacques Becker, Maurice Griffe, Françoise Giroud; Stars: Roger Pigaut, Claire Mafféi, Noël Roquevert, Gaston Modot, Made Siamé, Pierre Trabaud, Jacques Meyran, François Joux, Gérard Oury, Charles Camus, Émile Drain, Annette Poivre, Nicolas Amato, Brigitte Auber, Odette Barencey)

Casque d'Or

Review preview for Casque d'Or

Becker trusts his actors and their small movements and gestures to portray meaning beyond the dialogue.

Robert Munro · 4 out of 5
In turn of the 20th century France, working girl Marie snubs the affections of the local gangsters for Georges Manda, a reformed hoodlum himself, with unpleasant consequences.

(Country: France; Year: 1952; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Jacques Becker, Jacques Companéez; Stars: Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Claude Dauphin, Raymond Bussières.)

Full review See: Bertrand Tavernier in conversation on Jacques Becker, Claude Sautet, Jean-Pierre Melville, Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français

Dernier Atout

A man is murdered in an imaginary South American city. Two young detectives, Clarence and Montes, investigate.

(Country: France; Year: 1942; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Maurice Aubergé, Louis Chavance, Maurice Aubergé, Pierre Bost; Stars: Mireille Balin, Raymond Rouleau, Pierre Renoir, Noël Roquevert, Catherine Cayret, Gaston Modot, Roger Blin, Jean Didier, Eddy Debray, Pierre Perret, Christian Argentin, René Stern, Henry Darbray, Maxime Fabert, François Joux)

Edward And Caroline (Édouard et Caroline)

Review preview for Edward And Caroline

The plot is as floaty as Caroline's evening gown but the joy is in the minutiae.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Trouble brews for a couple from different classes when the husband is asked to perform for the friends of his wife's rich uncle.

(Country: France; Year: 1951; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Annette Wademant, Jacques Becker, Annette Wademant; Stars: Daniel Gélin, Anne Vernon, Elina Labourdette, Jacques François, Betty Stockfeld, Jean Galland, Jean Marsac, William Tubbs, Jean Toulout, Yette Lucas, Jean Riveyre, Hélène Duc, Micheline Rolla, Edmond Ardisson, Grégoire Gromoff)

Full review See: Bertrand Tavernier in conversation on Jacques Becker, Claude Sautet, Jean-Pierre Melville, Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français

Falbalas (Paris Frills)

Review preview for Falbalas

The detailing, including the flamboyant naming of dresses and the rush to be finished, feels as right as a perfect necklace, so that it sets off the wider fabric of the story without detracting from it.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A fashion designer woos his best friend's fiancee and finds himself in too deep.

(Country: France; Year: 1945; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Maurice Aubergé, Jacques Becker, Maurice Griffe; Stars: Raymond Rouleau, Micheline Presle, Jean Chevrier, Gabrielle Dorziat, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, Françoise Lugagne, Christiane Barry, Rosine Luguet, Yolande Bloin, Eveline Volney, Maria Carld, François Joux, Georges Roullet, Marc Doelnitz, Nicolas Amato)

Full review See: Bertrand Tavernier in conversation on Jacques Becker, Claude Sautet, Jean-Pierre Melville, Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français

It Happened At The Inn (Goupi Mains Rouges)

In a small French village a woman is killed and her money stolen. Several members of her family, the Goupis, are suspected.

(Country: France; Year: 1943; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Pierre Véry, Jacques Becker; Stars: Fernand Ledoux, Georges Rollin, Blanchette Brunoy, Arthur Devère, Germaine Kerjean, Maurice Schutz, Marcel Pérès, Albert Rémy, Marcelle Hainia, Louis Seigner, Pierre Labry, Guy Favières, Line Noro, René Génin, Robert Le Vigan)

Modigliani Of Montparnasse (Les amants de Montparnasse)

The last years of the famous painter.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 1958; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Michel-Georges Michel, Jacques Becker; Stars: Gérard Philipe, Lilli Palmer, Lea Padovani, Gérard Séty, Lino Ventura, Anouk Aimée, Lila Kedrova, Arlette Poirier, Pâquerette, Marianne Oswald, Judith Magre, Denise Vernac, Robert Ripa, Jean Lanier, Carole Sands)

Pitiless Gendarme (Le commissaire est bon enfant, le gendarme est sans pitié)

The police superintendent may be good-natured but he has got a lot on his plate with all the witnesses who come to make a statement before him...

(Country: France; Year: 1935; Director: Jacques Becker, Pierre Prévert; Writer: Jacques Becker, Jean Castanier, Georges Courteline, Georges Lévy, Pierre Prévert; Stars: Antanon, Jacques Becker, Lou Bonin, Etienne Decroux, Marcel Duhamel, Daniel Gilbert, Ginette Leclerc, Fabien Loris, Marcelle Monthil, Palau, Edouard Pignon, Pierre Prévert, Lucien Raimbourg, Louis Seigner, Claude Sterling)

Rendezvous In July (Rendez-Vous de Juillet)

Lucien is a young Parisian boy who dreams of becoming an explorer, but his parents expect him to lead a conventional life. After an argument with his father, Lucien leaves home with his friends - aspiring actors, writers and film directors.

(Country: France; Year: 1949; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Jacques Becker, Maurice Griffe, Sacha Guitry; Stars: Daniel Gélin, Brigitte Auber, Nicole Courcel, Pierre Trabaud, Maurice Ronet, Philippe Mareuil, Henri Belly, Jacques Fabbri, Michel Barbey, Francis Maziére, Robert Lombard, Jean Pommier, María Riquelme, Annie Noël, Claude Luter)

Rue De l'Estrapade

Although Françoise and Henri have a happy marriage, he is caught having an affair... his wife is furious and moves out finding herself won over by the charms of a musician.

(Country: France; Year: 1953; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Jacques Becker, Annette Wademant; Stars: Daniel Gélin, Louis Jourdan, Anne Vernon, Jean Servais, Micheline Dax, Michel Flamme, Jacques Morel, Marcelle Praince, Henri Belly, Pâquerette, Jean Ozenne, Françoise Honorat, Fernand Rauzéna, Claude Larue, Marcel Rouzé)

Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (Hands Off The Loot)

Review preview for Touchez Pas Au Grisbi

There will be plot developments involving kidnap, the loot as ransom and a gunfight but those are really just the action icing on the cake of what is, at heart, a character study and a dissection of friendship.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
After a bullion heist, two gangsters face a test of friendship when one of them is kidnapped.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 1954; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: Albert Simonin, Jacques Becker, Maurice Griffe, based on the novel by Albert Simonin; Stars: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Dora Doll, Vittorio Sanipoli, Marilyn Buferd, Gaby Basset, Paul Barge, Alain Bouvette, Daniel Cauchy, Denise Clair, Angelo Dessy, Lucilla Solivani, Michel Jourdan, Paul Oettly, Jean Riveyre)

Full review See: Bertrand Tavernier in conversation on Jacques Becker, Claude Sautet, Jean-Pierre Melville, Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français

Le Trou (The Hole)

Review preview for Le Trou

The most compelling aspect of the film is it's sheer physicality.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Four inmates try to tunnel out of a prison.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 1960; Director: Jacques Becker; Writer: José Giovanni, Jacques Becker, José Giovanni, Jean Aurel, Jacques Becker, José Giovanni; Stars: Michel Constantin, Jean Keraudy, Philippe Leroy, Raymond Meunier, Marc Michel, Jean-Paul Coquelin, André Bervil, Eddy Rasimi, Raymond Bour, Lucien Camiret, Durieu, Jean Minisini, Marcel Rouzé, Jean Becker, Philippe Dumat)

Full review

La Vie Est À Nous

The film, shot at the initiative of the French Communist Party, mixes documentary with fiction. A Board of Directors is preparing a mass layoff...

(Country: France; Year: 1936; Director: Jacques Becker, Jacques B. Brunius, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jean-Paul Le Chanois, Maurice Lime, Pierre Unik, André Zwoboda, Jean Renoir; Writer: Jacques Becker, Jacques B. Brunius, Jean Renoir, Pierre Unik; Stars: Jean Dasté, Jacques B. Brunius, Simone Guisin, Teddy Michaud, Pierre Unik, Charles Blavette, Gaston Clamamus, Max Dalban, Madeleine Sologne, Émile Drain, Roger Blin, Jean Renoir, Georges Spanelly, Sylvain Itkine, Eddy Debray)