French Bashing

In 1926, Buster Keaton was at the peak of his glory and wealth. By 1933, he had reached rock bottom. How, in the space of a few years, did this uncontested genius of silent films, go from the status of being a widely-worshipped star to an alcoholic and solitary fallen idol? With a spotlight on the 7 years during which his life changed, using extracts of Keaton’s films as magnifying mirrors, the documentary recounts the dramatic life of this creative genius and the Hollywood studios.

Robert De Niro is famous for his award-winning portrayals of gangsters, criminals and socially disturbed men who show surprising traces of vulnerability. By analyzing his astonishing roles in iconic films through the years, the documentary reveal the complex actor behind these extreme characters. Because the public knows little about the man who is largely silent about his own life and emotions, this film tries to unwraps one of the most fascinating and enigmatic American actors of all time for the audience. For this the filmakers use clips from his feature films, archive footage of his sparse interviews and probe into his background to illustrate De Niro’s methods for becoming the characters he plays and the reasons he’s able to do so. All of this culminates in a rare exposé of the genesis of the hidden pain that enables the masterful actor to bring such intensity to the big screen.

A journey through the meteoric rise and tempestuous story of the legendary American actor Al Pacino, from the Bronx of New York to worldwide stardom.

The crazy rise and fall of Jacques Tati, comedy genius, actor, director and athlete of laughter. Or how the inventor of the mythical Mr. Hulot made France laugh, then the world, flying from success to success, rising higher and higher, until he came a little too close to the sun.

François Hollande, François Bayrou, Christiane Taubira, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Arlette Laguiller, Jean-Marie Le Pen... reveal the driving forces behind their strategies, recount their joys and doubts, and talk about the exhilaration of popular jubilation and the harshness of an exhausting marathon—the adrenaline, the staging, the blows that are dealt and received, the hopes of victory and, in the end, more often than not, defeat. Through the testimonies of eighteen former candidates, "big" and "small," who participated in the Elysée competition between 1969 and 2012, this documentary directed by Jean-Baptiste Péretié reveals the human and political comedy of the presidential elections, the great theater of the conquest of power.

This is the story of a man who climbed the Hollywood ladder, one rung at a time, until he reached the top and became the most popular American actor of his era.