Jean Gruault

Professor Henri Laborit uses three people's stories to discuss behaviourist theories of survival, combat, rewards and punishment, and anxiety: René is a technical manager at a textile factory and must face the anxiety caused by corporate downsizing; Janine is a self-educated actress/stylist who learns that the wife of her lover is dying and must decide to let them reunite; and Jean is a controversial career-climbing writer/politician at a crossroads in life.

Dir. Alain Resnais · With Gérard Depardieu, Nicole Garcia, Roger Pierre

The true story of Victor of Aveyron. In a French forest circa 1798, an abandoned child — feral, filthy and mentally impaired — is found. Dr Jean Marc Gaspard Itard becomes interested in the case and patiently attempts to civilise the boy.

Dir. François Truffaut · With Jean-Pierre Cargol, François Truffaut, Françoise Seigner

In eighteenth-century France, a girl is forced against her will to take vows as a nun. Three mothers superior treat her in radically different ways, ranging from maternal concern, to sadistic persecution, to lesbian desire.

Dir. Jacques Rivette · With Anna Karina, Liselotte Pulver, Micheline Presle

In the early 20th-century, Frenchman Claude meets Englishwoman Ann in Paris. Ann invites him to her family home, intending him for her sister Muriel. Claude falls for Muriel, but families demand year-long separation before approving marriage.

Dir. François Truffaut · With Jean-Pierre Léaud, Kika Markham, Stacey Tendeter

In the 19th century a mysterious woman named Adele H. crosses the ocean, from Europe to North America, to relentlessly pursue a handsome officer that denies her satisfaction.

Dir. François Truffaut · With Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson, Sylvia Marriott