French Postcards

1979 "American students go to Paris...The less they study the more they learn."
5.8| 1h35m| PG| en
Details

French Postcards rings both comic and true. The believable, fresh-faced characters are young naives from American colleges spending their French-English dictionaries, they compulsively seek out hundreds of monuments, romanticize the nomadic artist's life, and look for grown-up love. The French tutor them well, as befits their reputation. Jean Rochefort is the harassed headmaster with a hankering for affairs, and Marie-France Pisier is his very sexy wife. Watch for a newcomer named Debra Winger, and another-Mandy Patinkin.

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Also starring Valérie Quennessen

Reviews

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
msdemos .Ever fall in love with a movie, you know in your heart isn't the greatest of all time, but for whatever reason, you love it anyway ???For me, this is that movie.First saw it a few years after it's 1979 release on an early pay-per-view service (possibly, SelecTV ???), and fell hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with it.I think it was probably because most of the actors in it are my age, and thus, was able to live vicariously through them, in effect, getting to "go" to school in France, even though I've never been there.....Sadly, two of the lovely women starring in it, died before their time, Marie-France Pisier ("Madame Tessier") at 66 (drowning), and Valérie Quennessen ("Toni") at a FAR too young 31 (car accident). And if you've never seen Ms. Quennessen in 1982's "Summer Lovers", do yourself a favor and track it down (again, maybe not the greatest film of all time, but the STUNNING scenes of GORGEOUS Greece (and Ms. Quennessen!), are worth the price of 'admission' alone!).SO pleased too, that this film FINALLY got a dvd release, after so many, MANY years not being available on home video (though it did have a release on VHS, prior to that).To anyone with a little bit of 'romance' left in their heart, give this one a chance......to those who don't, or can't remember the feeling of being young and in love, don't bother......
Todd Yes, I'm another one of those who saw this on cable TV back in 1980 or so. Only it wasn't on HBO, because my family didn't have that. It was probably on Star Channel (Anybody else remember that one? It was the forerunner of The Movie Channel.) And they probably played it way more than every other day. More like every other movie. Back then they would rotate about 2 or 3 movies all day long. I don't know how many times I saw Caddyshack and The Stunt Man.I fell in love with French Postcards as soon as I saw the opening credits. I was really disappointed when I found that the VHS version didn't have the French language "Do You Believe in Magic." I think my brother held his tape recorder up to the TV and has it on a cassette tape somewhere. I wonder if it has held up for 25 years. Unfortunately this was a few years prior to videotape recorders so none of us could tape the actual movie. I had to settle for buying the VHS with the altered opening song.Really charming, sweet movie and I'm impatiently waiting for it to appear on widescreen DVD (with the original soundtrack).
z_crito2001 Where we lived didn't get cable TV until Dec. 1980 and this is the first film I can recall seeing on cable TV. It's funny but I'm pretty sure I've probably only seen this film just once but I remember most of it till this day.Is this the best damn film ever made ? Uh, no. But this is just a sentimental one with me and I think if you see yourself in any or part of the characters in this film then you'll probably like it. And I think I saw myself in about two of them. I was even scheduled to take French 101 the next semester at school.I read the other reviews on this Web page and I vaguely remember what Valérie Quennessen looked like but it's coming back to me (That teeny-tiny picture on this film's main Web page helps too). She was the shorthaired French girl that looks like ‘Trois couleurs: Rouge' (1994) Irène Jacob (or is it the Blue one's Juliette Binoche? I'm not sure it's been a long time.) I did think at the time she was kind of snooty in her initial behavior toward the character that was interested in her. Give the guy a break; he was several thousand miles from home and had difficulty speaking the language !Note: Not only has miss Quennessen passed away but the only song I remember used in it Nicolette Larson's `Lotta Love', it seems she also passed away a couple of years ago.Does this film really deserve its low rating that the 60 or so people who saw it gave it? Heck, I'll give it a 7 or 8 out of 10 and I've never given a film a 10 rating yet.If you want to see this film then good luck. I've never seen it in a video store or for sale for that matter. It must be out of print. If I ever see this thing again I'll write another comment on it. I'm curious if it's aged well.Also, for the few people who've commented on it – thanks. I think I would value the opinion of someone who saw something or anything worthwhile in this film. `A fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry, and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in, and on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on. She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all, but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl.' -- Bernstein [Citizen Kane 1941].
Hermit C-2 This is the kind of movie the term "lighthearted" was made for. A group of American students is attending school in Paris and spending their time running around seeing the sights and finding new loves. The script may not be perfect but it's a fun and enjoyable time.The best thing this movie has going for it is the fine French actress (and stunning beauty) Marie France-Pisier, who plays the school's headmistress and the object of one of the young men's attention and affection. Also good in this film is Blanche Baker, an underappreciated actress.