The latest releases reviewed by Donald Clarkeand Michael Dwyer

The son of Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, Jean Renoir (1894-1979) was a decorated war veteran before he turned director in the mid-1920s. For nearly 50 years he produced an outstanding body of work marked with humanity, social concern and an unshowy style.

Of the seven films digitally restored for this commendable box set, the most famous is Renoir's 1937 antiwar masterpiece, La Grande Illusion, starring Jean Gabin,in which Frenchmen from different classes are thrown together as prisoners of war.

Gabin co-stars with Simone Simon as adulterous lovers in the Émile Zola adaptation, La Bête Humaine (1938), which pursues Renoir's preoccupation with the human condition. The director's brother, Pierre Renoir, plays Louis XVI in La Marseilles (1938), set during the French Revolution.

Completing the set are four films from the later stage of Renoir's career: Elena et les Hommes (1956), starring Ingrid Bergman as a Polish countess; The Testament du Docteur Cordelier (1959) with Jean-Louis Barrault in a spin on the Jekyll and Hyde story; Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe (1959), a visually stylish production inspired by Renoir's father's paintings; and Le Caporal Épinglé (1962), which revisits the prison camp setting of La Grande Illusion.

Extras include two short films directed by Renoir and half-hour documentaries on three of the feature films in the set. MD

Directed by Rachid Bouchareb. Starring Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem 12 cert

This powerful drama commemorates the sacrifices of North African troops during the second World War and angrily illustrates the racism and injustice they faced from their French fighting partners. The remarkable battle sequences are vigorously staged. The film is exclusively available at present for rental at Xtra-vision. MD

Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña, Danny Glover, Kate Mara, Elias Koteas, Ned Beatty 16 cert

Politically uncertain thriller in which Wahlberg's retired sniper gets framed for an assassination. The first act features plenty of fascinating detail about the business of shooting things from a great distance, but it all falls apart in its later stages as the twists become too preposterous. The DVD commentary by Fuqua is dull, but the military advisors are interesting in the featurette. DC

Directed by Nanni Moretti. Starring Silvio Orlando, Margherita Buy, Jasmine Trinca, Michele Placido 12 cert

A producer of low-grade schlock (Orlando) thinks he has found the perfect project to relaunch his career. Sadly the script in question, rather than being a broad thriller, turns out to be a satire on the career of Silvio Berlusconi. The attacks on the Italian politician are somewhat obscure, but this remains a classy entertainment.

Directed by Robert Shaye. Starring Chris O'Neil, Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, Joely Richardson, Timothy Hutton PG cert

Charming, thought- provoking adaptation of a classic sci-fi story concerning two children who happen upon a series of puzzling objects that award them surprising powers. Here for once, we have a decent family film that seeks neither to patronise nor to lecture its audience. The DVD comes packed with extras including - Oh spare us! - a music video from Roger Waters. DC

Directed by Gyorgy Palfi. Starring Csaba Czene, Gero Trocsanyi, Marc Bishoff, Istvan Gyuricza 18 cert

You've never seen anything like this extraordinary Hungarian feature before. When you hear that it involves copious amounts of vomiting, attacks on the genitals by savage pigeons, and sex with dead pigs, you may decide to leave it that way. Be brave. Despite its deliberate vileness, Palfi's film, which follows the degradations of three generations, emerges as a deeply imaginative, properly disconcerting piece of work. DC

Directed by Danny Pang and Oxide Pang. Staring Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett, Evan Turner 15 cert

The Pangs, twin brothers from Hong Kong, make their US debut with a feeble, formulaic picture set in a remote North Dakota farmhouse where the former occupants met with a horrible fate. The film blatantly borrows from superior movies such as The Birds, The Sixth Sense and Dark Water. MD