La peau dure

In the French countryside it's the day for peasants to kill a big fat pig. The slaughter goes on for a great part of the day as they work to store 140kg worth of meat.

The producers of this French film took approximately 100 people, put them on a soundstage and had them improvise this film based on the premise that they are on a spaceship escaping from the dictators of earth and only have a few days to live. Improvisation is a dangerous art-form; unprepared amateurs invariably come up with gross caricatures when challenged to improvise. The actors' choices in this film include an allegorical pageant of the life of Jesus, a marriage, an orgy, and some genuinely affectionate moments. Nonetheless, as an experimental effort in large-group improvisation, the film is instructive. - Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Joseph Galloudec seven years, lives in the eighteenth floor of a building in the Paris suburbs, between his mother Julia and her father Jean-Claude, a computer engineer and communist militant. His parents experiencing marital problems and his mother soon to give birth, he left for the summer holidays with his grandparents and three uncles, turbulent triplets. He discovers the castles of the Loire, Brittany and England. Upon his return, he met his sister Elisa, but her parents and tear her mother eventually left the home.

Fiction based on texts by Baudelaire, Sade, Lovecraft and Lautréamont.