Renan Pollès

Movies

Tous les hommes sont des romans
Director
Le peloton d'exécution
Director of Photography
Based on the controversial case of Pvt. Joseph Pringle, a Canadian soldier convicted of murder in Italy in 1945 and executed by firing squad.
The Husbands, the Wives, the Lovers
Director of Photography
In the summer holidays, a group of women stay behind in Paris whilst their husbands and children take a vacation on the sunny Island of Ré. The women – wives, frustrated spinsters and adolescents – profit from their new-found freedom to sort out their love lives and the men indulge their earthy passions with no less enthusiasm. Only the children seems capable of rising above this infantile summer madness...
Blessure
Director of Photography
A young rock singer, Morgan, falls in love with the pretty Julie. But Dimitri, Julie's "ex", doesn't see it that way.
Jesus Cola
Cinematography
Le voyage
Director of Photography
The emotional interplay between an arguing couple, in love but not happy with their relationship, is meant to be the sustaining force in this crime drama with little other action. Thomas (Christophe Malavoy) has been blackmailed into carrying a shipment of explosives in his Peugeot to Egypt, where the devices will be forwarded to guerrillas on Cyprus. He brings his lover Veronique (Victoria Abril) along for the dangerous ride from Switzerland to the south, knowing the explosives can be easily detonated by accident and enemy agents as well as government agents are out to capture him. Both protagonists have a short fuse themselves, and as they separate and then come back together, their final destination looms ever closer in more ways than one.
Half a Life
Cinematography
Michel Recanati was a militant leader in the May, 1968 riots in Paris, organizing many groups to meet, discuss, and act on leftist principles both before and after the disturbances. He was imprisoned for a short while in 1973. Disillusioned after the failure of the demonstrations and the death of the only woman he had loved, his life seems to have changed from a period of hope and activism to one of bottomless despair. His friend, Romain Goupil wrote and directed this biographical documentary. Death at 30 received the 1982 Cannes Film Festival's Golden Camera Award for "Best First Feature-Length Film."
Bastien, Bastienne
Cinematography
Catherine (Juliet Berto) is the temporary head of the family while her husband, whom she loathes, is away fighting in the war. Her widowed sister-in-law Suzanne (Anna Prucnal) lives with her, and after awhile it becomes apparent that Catherine loathes her as well. The children in the house are all boys -- Catherine has two sons, twelve and thirteen, and Suzanne also has a twelve-year old. While the relationship between Suzanne and Catherine is coming to a head, Catherine is having an affair with an army officer, and the boys in the family are planning a musical performance for everyone. The crescendo may be barely audible at the beginning, but it builds up to a tragedy at the end.
The Pig
Director of Photography
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.
Dérive 'Le naufrage de Vénus'
Cinematography
Botticelli's Venus emerges from the waters, that of Yvan Lagrange, is she shipwrecked?...
The Vertical Smile
Director of Photography
A kaleidoscope of images from history populate this skillfully animated French feature. The story concerns a history professor whose ideas about human history cause him distress. Amid a flurry of newsreel-type images, Joan of Arc's trial is shown. Another theme which emerges is of two ages (in the far past and far future) in which naked humans fight one another with animalistic aggression.
The Year 01
Director of Photography
The film narrates a utopian abandonment, consensual and festive of the market economy and high productivity. The population decides on a number of resolutions beginning with "We stop everything" and the second "After a total downtime will be revived-reluctantly-that the services and products including lack will prove intolerable. Probably: water to drink, electricity for reading at night, the TSF to say "This is not the end of the world, this is an 01, and now a page of Celestial Mechanics". The implementation of these resolutions is the first day of a new era, Year 01. The Year 01 is emblematic of the challenge of the 1970s and covers such diverse topics as ecology, negation of authority, free love, communal living, rejection of private property and labor.
Quelques larmes de sang
Cinematography
Family, religion, food, sex, death. All the obsessions of Yvan Lagrange in one film.
What a Flash!
Cinematography
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
Requiem for a Vampire
Director of Photography
Two girls on the run get lost in the French countryside, and wind up in a haunted chateau occupied by an ailing vampire and his servants.
The Shiver of the Vampires
Camera Operator
A young honeymooning couple stop for the night at an ancient castle. Unbeknownst to them, the castle is home to a horde of vampires, who have their own plans for the couple.
La Peau dure
Cinematography
Cérémonie pour une victoire
Director of Photography
From the sculpture of Jean-Robert Ipoustéguy.
Le maître du monde
Director