Once upon a Time-French Cinema: Les Enfants du Paradis/Le Mepris (2010)

A Film and it’s Era – Children of Paradise (aka Once Upon a Time – Children of Paradise) Regularly voted as the finest French film ever made, and one of the top three films of all time, “Les Enfants du Paradis” is a magical, yet somewhat black piece of escapism set in nineteenth century Paris, a deeply romantic and theatrical tour-de-force. The film was made by Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert in 1943 during the golden age of French cinema under the occupation. French legends, Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault and and Pierre Brasseur feature through archive interviews along with original contributions from Bertrand Tavernier, Edward Turk and others.

Once Upon a Time – The Contempt At the height of the French New Wave, director Jean-Luc Godard procured Brigitte Bardot for a big-budget film which was not quite what the investors were expecting. Filmed in lavish Cinemascope and Technicolor, but often shot with a handheld camera, the film pushed boundaries and appalled traditionalists.