Claire Denis

Latest Articles

Review: White Material

Claire Denis revisits her themes of the legacy of colonialism and the intricacy of racial relationships
The title refers both to the cheap metal substituted for gold and to the French property owners in an unnamed African country convulsed by civil war.
By PETER KEOUGH | November 23, 2010

Unmitigated Gaul

Rogues and rebels in the Boston French Film Festival
The French pride themselves on their revolutionary spirit, no less in film than in politics.
By PETER KEOUGH | July 05, 2010

Cinema paradisos

As Hollywood's summer fare goes cold, local film festivals heat up
Here's the dilemma: you love movies, but you also love the idea of taking a vacation to one of the many inviting resorts that New England has to offer — the beaches of Cape Cod or the Islands, picturesque towns in Maine or Rhode Island, or even the cultural and historical enclaves of Boston itself.
By PETER KEOUGH | June 16, 2010

Review: 35 Shots of Rum

Claire Denis's film goes down smooth, but with a subtle kick
Most American filmmakers would focus on the multicultural aspect of 35 Shots of Rum — Claire Denis takes it for granted that her characters are immigrants and doesn’t turn her film into a political discussion.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 28, 2009

(10) days of celluloid

From the gridiron to gritty realism at the Maine International Film Festival
Among the many treats at last year's Maine International Film Festival were a future Oscar winner (James Marsh's documentary Man on Wire ) and one of the biggest art-house hits of 2008 (Scandinavian teen-vampire flick Let the Right One In ).
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | July 08, 2009

French disconnections

The new-wavers at the French Film Festival
Last year's Boston French Film Festival featured Claude Chabrol's A Girl Cut in Two , and that, combined with this year's Chris Marker retrospective at the Harvard Film Archive and Agnès Varda's fine new The Beaches of Agnès , made it seem almost plausible that the New Wave might rise again.
By PETER KEOUGH | July 07, 2009

Shock value

The 11th Boston French Film Festival
Moviegoers seeking release from the increasingly unavoidable escapism of superhero movies will find much to enjoy in the 11th Boston French Film Festival.
By A.S. HAMRAH | July 05, 2006

No fooling

Gerry’s Magnificent Seven; Lie with Me
Congratulations, Robert Altman.
By GERALD PEARY | March 21, 2006

All-American?

Lars von Trier at Cannes 2005
Flash back to Cannes, 2003, the press conference for Dogville . Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier leaned toward his superstar lead, Nicole Kidman, and put her on the spot before the international press.
By GERALD PEARY | February 15, 2006

Drifting

Claire Denis’s L’intrus
French filmmaker Claire Denis has acknowledged that a host of sources inspired L’intrus|The Intruder (January 25–February 9 at the MFA), the tale of a sickly, reclusive Frenchman, Louis Trebor (Michel Subor), who after paying hard cash and buying a new heart sails for the South Seas, vaguely in search of a lost illegitimate son.
By GERALD PEARY | January 19, 2006