A man regains consciousness in an area of wasteland. He has no
recollection of the previous night but he notices a scar on his lower
back. A surgeon who was once a mistress of his tells him that one
of his kidneys has been stolen. The crime so obsesses the man
that, in his determination to find the organ thief he risks losing
everything, including his job and his family...
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.
With so many great films to choose from, it's nigh on impossible to compile a short-list of the best 15 French films of all time - but here's our feeble attempt to do just that.