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A Secret (2007) More at IMDbPro »Un secret (original title)

5 items from 2012

6 December 2012 4:00 PM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

Sagnier had acted since infancy and was touted as 'the new Bardot'. Yet nine years ago, when her big moment came, she shunned it. The French actor talks about staying grounded, her latest film Love Crime – and why she's now finally ready for her breakthrough movie

It is a chill December day when I meet Ludivine Sagnier at her local cafe, in a grungy neck of eastern Paris. No press minders or lavish hotel suite for Ms Sagnier. I'm sitting inside, fretting that I must have the wrong venue, when I spot her through the greasy window. She has her wool hat pulled low; she's sucking on a cigarette, stamping her feet to keep warm. She might be an office worker on lunch break or a student idling between lectures. Sometimes the lack of a statement can be the most eloquent statement of all.

Nearly a decade ago, Sagnier arrived at a crossroads. »

- Xan Brooks

26 May 2012 12:45 PM, PDT | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »

"Therese Desqueyroux," the closing night selection for this year's main competition lineup at the Cannes Film Festival, is not the nuanced period drama it should be but rather a banal, pseudo-thoughtful and monotonous episode of "Masterpiece Theater." Co-adapted by director Claude Miller ("A Secret," "Class Trip"), the latest adaptation of Francois Mauriac's acclaimed novel reduces the titular heroine's story to a troubled individual's struggle to remain autonomous as a member of her oppressive husband’s family. The phrase, "For the family" is bludgeoned into viewers' heads to the point where it's very easy to ignore the fact that Therese (Audrey Tautou) is more than just a proto-desperate housewife. In fact, she's a fatalist because she's also an atheist, a complex concept that Miller sets up but doesn't follow through on.

Ultimately, Miller's Therese rebels against her boorish husband Bernard (Gilles Lellouche) and his insensitive family simply because she needs to do something--anything, »

- Simon Abrams

6 April 2012 7:19 AM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

French film director and close associate of François Truffaut

The film director Claude Miller, who has died aged 70 after a long illness, was continually dogged by comparisons to his friend and mentor François Truffaut. Hardly a review of his films failed to mention Truffaut in some way or another. This came about for various reasons. Miller was Truffaut's production manager on several occasions and made subtle references to the older director's work in many of his own films, almost always mentioning him in interviews. He had a small role in Truffaut's L'Enfant Sauvage (The Wild Child, 1970) and adapted La Petite Voleuse (The Little Thief, 1988) from a 30-page screenplay that Truffaut had written a few years before his death.

When Truffaut was once asked whether he had started a school of directors, he denied it. "These people are more influenced by other directors than myself. If Claude Miller has points in common with me, »

- Ronald Bergan

5 April 2012 11:48 AM, PDT | MUBI | See recent MUBI news »

"French film director, producer and screenwriter Claude Miller, whose works include The Best Way to Walk [Le meilleur facon de marcher, 1976] and Class Trip [La classe de neige, 1998], has died aged 70," reports the Afp. "'A sad day, Claude Miller is dead,' tweeted the Cannes Film Festival, at which Miller was awarded the special jury prize in 1998 for Class Trip. Among other renowed works by the filmmaker are La Petite Voleuse (The Little Thief [1988]) which starred Charlotte Gainsbourg; Garde a Vue (Custody) in 1981; and Mortelle Randonnee (Mortal Circuit) in 1983."

Just a couple of weeks ago, Jonathan Rosenbaum posted his 1994 review of The Accompanist (1992): "Miller started out promisingly as an assistant to some key French filmmakers during the 60s, including Robert Bresson (Au hasard Balthazar), Jacques Demy (Les demoiselles de Rochefort), and Jean-Luc Godard (Weekend). He then served as production manager or production supervisor on Godard's Two or Three Things I Know About Her and La chinoise and no »

5 April 2012 5:51 AM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

Film-maker best known for film starring a young Charlotte Gainsbourg as a teenage serial thief has died

The French film director Claude Miller, best known for L'Effrontée and La Petite Voleuse, both featuring a young Charlotte Gainsbourg, has died aged 70.

Before becoming a director himself, Miller worked for a number of noted new wave directors: he acted as assistant director on Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar, Jacques Demy's Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, and Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend, before becoming production manager for a string of films by François Truffaut, including Bed and Board, Day for Night and The Story of Adele H.

With Truffaut's encouragement, Miller moved into a higher profile role, making his directorial debut in 1976 with The Best Way to Walk. His first significant success, however, was the multi-award-winning police procedural thriller Garde à Vue, with Lino Ventura and Michel Serrault.

In the mid-80s, Miller »

- Andrew Pulver

5 items from 2012