Films by François Ozon
As much a disciple of Maurice Pialat as Max Ophuls and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, François Ozon has established himself, since his breakthrough kooky crime comedy "8 Women" (2002) and erotic thriller "Swimming Pool" (2003), as one of contemporary French cinema’s most stylish, sensual, and refreshingly versatile voices. This trio of films captures something of that range: savour the delicate emotions captured in "Frantz" (2016), a post-World War I drama modeled on a neglected Lubitsch film, before plunging into the heady queer romance of "Summer of 85" (2021) and, finally, revelling in the sapphic, 1930s screwball caper "The Crime Is Mine" (2023), featuring Isabelle Huppert in fine, frizzy-haired comic form.
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Frantz
Directed by François Ozon | 114 mins | 2016
Based on Ernst Lubitsch’s sole dramatic talkie, "Broken Lullaby" (1932), Ozon’s finely wrought period piece unfolds in Quedlinburg, Germany, where Anna (Paula Beer) is mourning the death of her fiance, a soldier killed in the Great War. When a stranger—... -
Summer of 85
Directed by François Ozon | 101 mins | 2021
Shot on Super 16 and set on the French Riviera, Ozon’s hot and thorny tale of summer lovin’, with its soundtrack of sunny ’80s hits, is nevertheless tugged along by an undercurrent of tragedy. Aspiring writer Alexis, 16, meets David, two years his senio... -
The Crime is Mine
Directed by François Ozon | 103 mins | 2023
Who says crime doesn’t pay? For Madeleine Verdier (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), the struggling actress at the center of Ozon’s fizzy, screwball-channeling caper, confessing to a murder she didn’t commit proves to be a canny career move. When she lands a plum r...
