Public Telephone
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67% Critic Match

Public Telephone

6.7 / 10 1980 1h 40mNR French
MusicDocumentary

Storyline

Téléphone is a great success story in French rock: 300,000 albums sold in 1979. The group was born on December 16, 1976, at a surprise concert at the American Center in Paris. Four instrumentalists, four self-taught, four musicians untroubled by the successive waves of fashions from across the Atlantic and the Channel: Jean-Louis Aubert, singer and songwriter; Louis Bertignac, guitarist; Richard Kolinka, drummer; Corinne Marienneau, bassist. From titles: “Métro c'est trop”, “La bombe humaine”, “Crache ton venin”... Portraits and interviews, trances and crowd-pleasers at the Palais des Sports and the Fete de l'Humanité, a look behind the scenes. Jean-Marie Périer, with seven cameras in hand, now captures the phenomenon in a feature-length film. Camera movements, editing on a giant triple screen and Dolby Stereo sound all serve to highlight the quartet's harmony and vitality.

Cast & Crew

Jean-Louis Aubert

Jean-Louis Aubert

Self

Lead
Corine Marienneau

Corine Marienneau

Self

Richard Kolinka

Richard Kolinka

Self

Louis Bertignac

Louis Bertignac

Self

What People Are Saying

4.0
A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Jean-Marie Périer's vision lands with breathtaking precision.
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
3.0
Every frame feels alive. Public Telephone is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker