Jacques Becker (1906 – 1960), too often known only for his role as an assistant director to Jean Renoir, is in fact a consummate, under-known auteur particularly attuned to group dynamics, whether of lovers, artists, gangsters, or convicts. Our double bill includes Antoine et Antoinette, the first of the French director’s postwar comedies, and Montparnasse 19, a moving tale chronicling the late years of ill-fated Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.