If you missed the recent online French film festival or the visit by acclaimed director Patrice Leconte to Costa Rica, the Alianza Francesa (French Alliance) wants you to know two things: 1) c’est la vie! and 2) you still have three more chances to catch great films directed by Monsieur Leconte in February. The best part about this news is that these cinematic goodies will be shown gratuit, which means that they are free for you to enjoy.

Voir la mer (2011)

(See the Ocean) Nicolas and Clément, two brothers from Montbard, Burgundy, decide to spend their summer holidays with their mother at Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Once they have acquired a second-hand campervan, they take to the road in a mood of fraternal bonhomie. The last thing the two brothers expected was to come across an attractive young woman named Prudence who would inflame their passions and get them to change their itinerary. As the trio head for the coast, they savor the adventures that lie ahead. Who says pleasures cannot be shared?

Synopsis: Films de France

Showing on Friday, February 21^st at 6:00 pm at the French Alliance in Barrio Amon, San Jose.

Le magasin des suicides (2012)

(The Suicide Shop)  A family-run shop that sells everything you need to take your own life finds it hard to focus on business after a new baby — one who makes everyone around him happy — is born into the family.

Synopsis: IMDB

Showing on Friday, February 28^th at 6:00 pm at the French Alliance in Barrio Amon, San Jose.

Le mari de la coiffeuse (1990)

(The Hairdresser’s Husband) The film begins in a flashback from the titular character, Antoine. We are introduced to his fixation with female hairdressers which began at a young age. The film uses flashbacks throughout and there are frequent parallels drawn with the past. Though Antoine tells Mathilde that ‘the past is dead’, his life is evidence that on some level the past repeats itself. As a young boy he fantasized about a hairdresser who committed suicide and as a man in his 50s he begins an affair with a hairdresser which ends after ten years in her suicide. However there are differences, Mathilde commits suicide because she is so happy she is afraid of the happiness she has found with Antoine.

Synopsis: Wikipedia

Showing on Friday, February 28^th at 6:00 pm at the French Alliance in Heredia.

For more information on the films above, please visit the French Alliance website or call them at 2257-2327.

Remember that these films are shown for free, so be sure to say “Merci!” after the presentation.