Young love, old love, tender love, passionate love, confusing love, true love, emerging love, lost love — it’s an emotion that weaves a broad and varied tapestry over time. Who better than French filmmakers to explore and represent the range of feelings that we call love?

From September 2024 to May 2025, the Film Club will meet once each month to discuss a film in our theme “Love in French Film.”

The films selected for the program are drawn from the mid 60’s French New Wave to the present and constitute a broad range stylistically as well as thematically, within the theme of love. Love is “a many-splendored thing,” and so is its cinematic depiction. Within the theme, the main criterion for selection was film excellence, along with narrative variety, critical and popular reputation, and the potential for interesting discussion. The selection also reflects a balance of well-known and newer filmmakers.

Group members will watch each film independently before the Zoom discussion. In advance of each meeting, the facilitator will distribute a one-page set of observations and questions to prompt independent thinking about the film, as well as a selection of short reviews. Following each discussion, film club members will have the voluntary opportunity to write a short essay about some aspect of the film; the facilitator will organize all the essays and distribute them to all members.

This group meets on the first Wednesday of the month (except in January, when the group meets on the second Wednesday) virtually via Zoom, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Group members will receive Zoom meeting invitations on the day of each meeting.

Film Club members will watch the selected film independently in advance of each month’s meeting. Members have options for viewing the films: online streaming, or borrowing, renting, or purchasing DVDs. Please see the section on “Access to Films.”

Please note that there is a viewing assignment for the first meeting. The film selections may be subject to change in the course of the year. All discussions are in English.

Wed, September 4
Agnès Varda, Le Bonheur [Happiness] (1965), 80 minutes. Criterion, Max.

Wed, October 2
Jacques Demy, Les Demoiselles de Rochefort [The Young Girls of Rochefort] (1967), 126 minutes. With Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. Criterion, Max, Amazon, Apple TV, others.

Wed, November 6
Jacques Deray, La Piscine [The Swimming Pool] (1969) 123 minutes. With Romy Schneider, Alain Delon, and Jane Birkin. Criterion, Max, Apple TV, others.

Wed, December 4
Jean Eustache, La maman et la putain [The Mother and the Whore] (1973), 219 minutes. With Jean-Pierre Léaud and Bernadette Lafont. Criterion.

Wed, January 8 *note this is the second Wednesday*
Diane Kurys, Diabolo menthe [Peppermint Soda] (1977), 101 minutes. Kanopy, Apple TV, Amazon, others.

Wed, February 5
Éric Rohmer, Le Rayon vert [The Green Ray] (1986), 98 minutes. With Marie Rivière. Criterion.

Wed, March 5
Jean-Jacques Beineix, 37° 2 le matin [Betty Blue] (1986), 178 minutes. With Béatrice Dalle. Criterion, Mubi, Apple TV, Amazon, others.

Wed, April 2
Michael Haneke, Amour (2012), 127 minutes. With Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva. Apple TV, Amazon, others.

Wed, May 7
Céline Sciamma, Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire] (2019), 122 minutes. With Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant. Kanopy, Apple TV, Hulu, others.

Every film in the schedule should be readily accessible to any member with access to on-demand video services or to a DVD player.

Most members will have multiple options available to them, whether they prefer streaming or DVD. If you have a preferred streaming service, be sure to check whether a particular film is offered. Note that some streaming services make a film available for a set period of time and then withdraw it when they offer other films in rotation. This means that for certain streaming services, a particular film may not be available in the month when the Film Club will discuss it. As of this writing, the information provided in the viewing schedule is correct.

An excellent resource to identify streaming platforms for specific films is the free app JustWatch.

If you prefer streaming, a subscription to the Criterion Channel is highly recommended. This subscription service, associated with the Criterion Collection, provides access to a very large number of foreign and domestic films of excellence, as well as to a rotating film offering. Six of the nine films in the program this year are accessible on the Criterion Channel. Two are only available currently on Criterion. It is an excellent, economical choice. You may watch any film as often as you like; it is not “pay-per-view.” There are many extra features (interviews, versions with commentary, essays) that are not available elsewhere. Highly recommended!

Hoopla is an on-demand video streaming platform available free with your Athenaeum membership. Athenaeum staff can advise you on accessing Hoopla. None of the films in this year’s program are accessible on Hoopla.

Kanopy is another streaming service with access to films provided free with a library card or with borrowing privileges from a college or university. Kanopy is not accessible through Athenaeum membership. Access to specific films varies by the individual library or educational institution. Kanopy may offer two of the nine films in the program this year (Peppermint Soda and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.)

Streaming caveat: you may find (on YouTube and elsewhere) other versions of these films. Be wary of “bootleg” copies that may have been reproduced without authorization. Unauthorized copies may have viruses or other malware. A “free” viewing may end up being very expensive if your computer, phone, or TV gets hacked as a result.

If you prefer to watch using DVDs, there are several options. Films may be available for borrowing from the Athenaeum or the RISD Library or both. Your local public library may also have films in their DVD collections. These are good options, but with demand from many Film Club members at the same time, you may not be able to borrow the DVD when you prefer. Another option is to purchase DVDs, from the usual sources, including the Criterion Collection.

Many notable French film directors have made films on the theme of love. There are simply too many to include in a one-year program. Those who wish to expand their viewing within this theme are directed to the following filmmakers and films (listed by date of release), which were also considered specifically for this year’s program. To identify access to films, the app JustWatch is recommended.

François Truffaut, Jules et Jim [Jules and Jim], 1962. With Jeanne Moreau and Oskar Werner.

Jean-Luc Godard, Pierrot le Fou, 1965. With Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina.

Claude Lelouch, Un homme et une femme [A Man and a Woman], 1966. With Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée.

Claude Sautet, César et Rosalie [César and Rosalie], 1972. With Romy Schneider and Yves Montand.

Maurice Pialat, A Nos Amours, 1983. With Sandrine Bonnaire.

Leos Carax, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf [The Lovers on the Bridge], 1991. With Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant.

Catherine Breillat, Une vieille maîtresse [The Last Mistress], 2007. With Asia Argento.

Jacques Rivette, Ne touchez pas la hache [The Duchess of Langeais], 2007. With Jeanne Balibar and Guillaume Depardieu.

Claire Denis, Un beau soleil intérieur [Let the Sunshine In], 2017. With Juliette Binoche.

Tran Anh Hung, La Passion de Dodin Bouffant [The Taste of Things], 2023. With Juliette Binoche.

Written materials:
The French Cinema Book (Second Edition), edited by Michael Temple and Michael Witt, The British Film Institute. Scholarly, erudite, comprehensive. A set of well-informed and well-written essays on multiple aspects of French cinema to the present. For those wanting to take a deep dive.

Books on the filmmakers (in order of our viewing schedule):
Kelly Conway, Agnès Varda. Contemporary Film Directors Series. University of Illinois Press

Alison Smith, Agnès Varda. French Film Directors Series. British Film Institute.

Darren Waldron, Jacques Demy. French Film Directors Series. British Film Institute.

Carrie Tarr, Diane Kurys. French Film Directors Series. British Film Institute.

Vittorio Hösle, Éric Rohmer, Filmmaker and Philosopher. Bloomsbury Academic.

Derek Schilling, Éric Rohmer. French Film Directors Series. British Film Institute.

Phil Powrie, Jean-Jacques Beineix. French Film Directors Series. British Film Institute.

Peter Brunette, Michael Haneke. Contemporary Film Directors Series. University of Illinois Press

Emma Wilson. Céline Sciamma: Portraits. Edinburgh University Press.

Athenæum member Steve Coon leads the Film Club as facilitator. Steve earned a Ph.D. from Brown University in Comparative Literature in 1976. Since 2012, he has led reading and discussion groups at the Athenæum. He has led the Film Club since 2021-22, with topics of “Paris in French Film,” “London in British Film,” and “French Film Beyond Paris.” Steve emphasizes that the “Love in French Film” Film Club is not a “class,” but rather an opportunity for cinephiles of all backgrounds to experience and discuss great achievements in French cinema around this theme of universal interest.