Francofonia
In 1940, museum director Jacques Jaujard and German officer Count Franz Wolff-Metternich work together to protect Louvre artworks from the Nazis. The film is a dense, enriching meditation on the Louvre, Paris and the role of art as an intrinsic part of the spirit of civilization.
![De cierta manera [Audio: Spanish; Castilian]](https://static.new-fmovies.cam/img/movies/vh_F4mgbbDgsBVISBzqLj0XuDh3t7h42mHuJEiQzdZvklm2Ts5CxPrgDEwuc243GU7dJGssu4vPHxAhnX-NYpbPCq3kECsDm8rKjk8fKCzI.jpg)
1980
1963, Düsseldorf, Germany
22 November 1890, Lille, Nord, France
14 June 1951, Podorvikha, Irkutskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
25 December 1963, Paris, France
24 August 1968, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France
20 April 1889, Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
14 October 1890, Denison, Texas, USA
December 05, 2016
An exhilarating intellectual exercise that packs a ludicrous amount of philosophy into 88 dense minutes.
May 23, 2016
This is disjointed and dreary, its power diluted by Sokurov's constant, self-important narration.
April 28, 2016
"Francofonia," a powerful cinematic essay on how art and war are irrevocably intertwined, has an ideal canvas and time peg for its philosophical musings: the Louvre Museum during the Nazi occupation of France.
November 13, 2016
There's an unlovely self-importance to Sokurov's droning diatribe that rather distracts from the cultural significance of the subject.
March 17, 2017
Highly recommended for people close to art cinema, avid consumers of World War II stories and above all, for those who enjoy art in general. [Full review in Spanish]
June 17, 2016
"Francofonia" is terribly over-directed and seems strange just for the sake of being strange.
May 06, 2016
Francofonia is a brilliant meditation on art, on war - and what happens to art when nations go to war.
January 01, 2017
Using documentary footage and bits and pieces of semi-realist dramatics, [Sokurov] tells of the strange friendship between the Louvre director Jacques Jaujard and the Nazi officer sent to oversee the treasures and possibly relieve France of them.
November 11, 2016
In praise of art, but also a reminder that we need to treasure what we have.
May 05, 2016
Near the one-hour mark, the filmmaker asks, "You aren't tired of listening to me yet?" If you aren't, you will be soon.
November 11, 2016
The Russian director Alexander Sokurov has never been afraid of tackling weighty, often philosophical issues head on, and his latest film Francofonia is as pioneering - and, some might say, unnecessarily uncompromising - as ever.
May 05, 2016
As Sokurov examines a pivotal point in the Louvre's history and gives us a virtual tour of the magnificent museum, he makes larger points about the vital importance of art throughout human history. This is one of the most beautiful films of the year.
