CD-Charts Position 1
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Persepolis [2008]

starring: Catherine Deneuve
directed by: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi

Release Date August 18, 2008
Disappointing. I expected quite a lot of detail about life in Iran and the oppressions forced upon the people following the deposition of the Shah in the late 70's. What followed was really just the most cursory glance at the changing culture, before the 'heroine' Marjane hastily departed for Europe. The subsequent university years were much more about growing up and self-discovery, and told me next to nothing about the impact of the establishment of the islamic republic back home. A watchable film - but not really Oscar material, in my opinion.

CD-Charts Position 2
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The Hunger [1983]

starring: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young, Beth Ehlers
directed by: Tony Scott

Release Date October 18, 2004
I have adored this film since I was a young teenager and having just watched it again, I enjoyed it even more. The combination of Deneuve, Bowie, Sarandon and Bauhaus results in an effortlessly charismatic and other-worldly atmosphere, but just as importantly as the horror story it tells, I think this film beautifully brings the 1980s back to life.

Beautiful and odd, perfect in spite of its faults, this is a hugely enjoyable film.

CD-Charts Position 3
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Luis Bunuel collection [1965]

starring: Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli, Jean Sorel
directed by: Luis Bunuel

Release Date January 22, 2007
Luis Bunuel is probably the most important figure in surrealist cinema history. Yet his spectacularly creepy early shorts (Un Chien Andalou, L'age d'Or), have often masked his reputation as a truly great director. Yes his surrealist, warped imagination was obvious, but often overlooked is his sublime direction of actors and camera work. And this box-set contains irrefutable evidence of Bunuel's genius.

Top of the tree, no question is 'Belle De Jour', for me one of the finest films ever made. The wonderful Catherine Deneuve stars as Severine, a frigid house wife, who fulfills her sexual desires by working in a brothel. She soon attracts the charms of a seedy, flamboyant gangster, whose obsession with her threatens disaster. In spite of the subject, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg [1964]

starring: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel, Ellen Farner
directed by: Jacques Demy

Release Date October 10, 2005
A wonderful musical film from Jacques Demy. Set in a fantasy Cherbourg (a French seaside town famous for its rainy weather) during the late 50s and going on for several years, it consists in three acts. First act: Genevieve (a very young Catherine Deneuve) is a teenager living with her mother, with whom she works in a shop that sells umbrellas. She fells in love with Guy (a car mechanic, played by Nino Castelnuovo), who is only a little older than she is. Her mother opposes the romance, as she sees Genevieve as too young and Guy as too poor. Guy is drafted to the Algerian war for two years, but not before leaving Genevieve pregnant. Act two: Genevieve's mother not only has now an unwed pregnant daughter, but the financial situation of her shop is dire. Fortunately ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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Dancer In The Dark [2000]

starring: Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Udo Kier, Peter Stormare
directed by: Lars Von Trier

Release Date September 17, 2007
I saw a little of this on tv and it made such an impression that I just had to get the dvd. The story is of Selma, a Czech immigrant working in a USA factory, trying to raise enough money to pay for an operation so that her son can be cured of a defective eye condition that they both suffer from. Her condition is at an advanced stage and she is close to being blind - so keeps her spirits up by imagining life around her as a musical - a genre she adores. Unfortunately, her landlord (David Morse) is in financial difficulties and steals Selmas savings - an act which has serious repercussions for them both.

This is one of those 'love or hate' films - and for several reasons. Firstly, it's filmed in a jerky hand held camera way - not as bad as say Cloverfield but it ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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Indochine [1991]

starring: Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh Dan Pham, Jean Yanne, Dominique Blanc
directed by: Régis Wargnier

Release Date July 30, 2001
In its day a casualty of the chaos and confusion surrounding the frequently ridiculous entry qualifications for the Best Foreign Film Oscar - many superior films were ruled ineligible and those it was competing against were scarcely representative of the world's best - Indochine may not be great art, but it is an enjoyable example of the kind of old-fashioned good storytelling that Hollywood rarely produces anymore.

Set against the last days of the French occupation of what was to later become Vietnam, it uses the relationship between Catherine Deneuve's French plantation owner and her adopted Vietnamese daughter (Linh Dan Pham) as a mirror for the relationship between France and Vietnam. Like the American South, for the privileged few, the French IndoChina is a fairy ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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8 Women [2002]

starring: Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart, Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen
directed by: Francois Ozon

Release Date January 21, 2008
Yes it's wonderful, but spoilt to a considerable extent by the compulsory subtitles which intrude upon the visual, and distract from the aural, beauty which make it so special. It's the sort of film that can be watched several times, so even someone who didn't speak French could have enjoyed it "au naturel" after a while. Indeed I would go so far as to say that it cannot be fully appreciated in this state. Whether this extraordinary situation is due to disdain for the English consumer, or an act of sheer philistinism, is a mystery, but 1 or 2 stars have to be subtracted for desecration on this scale.

CD-Charts Position 8
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The Last Metro (Le dernier metro) [1980]

starring: Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Jean Poiret, Heinz Bennent, Andrea Ferreol
directed by: Francois Truffaut

Release Date February 19, 2007
This is a first-class romantic, suspensful and humane movie. The Germans have occupied Paris and there are informers everywhere. Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve), a famous actress, has taken over the management of the theater her husband, Lucas Steiner, an equally famous director, has left. Steiner is a Jew and disappeared shortly after the Germans took over. For the next production Marion Steiner hires a young actor, Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu), who loves women and who gradually comes to love Marion.

There are secrets everywhere. Lucas Steiner is hiding and living in the basement of the theater, protected by his wife. He directs the new play through notes to his wife and discussions in the late evening when she visits him. Granger is an member of the resistance who ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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Belle de Jour - 40th Anniversary [1967]

starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Genevieve Page, Pierre Clementi
directed by: Luis Bunuel

Release Date January 22, 2007
Belle de Jour most definitely belongs to the realm of cinematic classics. It is arguably the most accessible of Bunuel's films and probably the best introduction to his work because it did for me.

Séverine (Deneuve) has everything a young middle class woman is supposed to want. She has a handsome, caring doctor for a husband named Pierre (Sorel), a beautiful home, and plenty of fashionable clothing. But she is not happy. Her bland spouse treats her like a child, so she indulges in dark brutal fantasies filled with guilt, passion, and pain. Already inclined to sadomasochistic fantasies due to some unknown trauma in her past, Severine is increasingly drawn to acting upon her need for degradation. Bored with her life, she works during the afternoons at a brothel which caters to ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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Alain Delon - The Screen Icons Collection

starring: Alain Delon, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Richard Crenna, Catherine Deneuve, Monica Vitti
directed by: Jacques Deray, Jean-Pierre Melville, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alain Jessua

Release Date June 25, 2007
Wish this set contained other Delon movies other than those already released previously in the English market (Plein Soleil, L'Eclisse, Un Flic, and Flic Story have all been released before), however the picture quality in this set is excellent, and it includes some extra materials for L'Eclisse and Traitement de Choc. Not to mention the latter film has never been out on DVD (and available with English subtitle either) before! This set contains Delon's work with some of the most important directors in his career. So buy it!