FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL 2010
The 21st Annual Alliance Française Film Festival 2010, showcasing over 40 new films, will take place at Palace and Dendy Cinemas at these locations and dates:
Sydney: 2-21 March
Melbourne: 4-21 March
Brisbane and Perth: 17-31 March
Canberra and Adelaide: 18-31 March
RICKY
NB: Not screening in Melbourne as part of the French Film Festival, but instead has an extended run at ACMI Cinemas
François Ozon is a filmmaker who is not afraid to explore difficult or sensitive issues in a somewhat unusual and occasionally challenging way. With films ranging from the confronting tale of a dying man Time to Leave, to the satiric musical 8 Women, to the twisting tale of Swimming Pool, and the reverse chronology of a failed relationship 5 X 2; all films of significance and rich in narrative ideas. Ricky is a surprise, as its gentle tone belies a deeper exploration of love, loss and existential existence. Alexandra Lamy is a woman with a young daughter who discovers she is pregnant after a quick liaison with a fellow factory worker (Sergi Lopez). The child she gives birth to, develops into something angelic and ethereal. How do they all cope with this bizarre development? Notions of frailty of life, fractured relationships, and personal growth all play a part in this film that provides a firm narrative structure, but no real resolution. What is the role of the medical profession and the media in these developments? A film to savour and discuss, reminiscent of some of Bresson's films. Highly recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
THE ARMY OF CRIME
The role of the underground resistance fighters in World War II France is explored in tenacious detail by Robert Guédiguian in this compelling film which centres on an Armenian poet (Simon Abkarian) who escaped the hideous murders perpetrated by the Turks (see also Atom Egoyan's exploration of this issue: Ararat.). He forms a team of underground rebels comprising Jews, Communists and others who fight against the Nazi invasion of France, leading to a series of well staged insurgencies culminating in the inevitable tragic outcomes. Although the theme has been explored in other films, Guédiguian uses his ensemble of actors (some of whom have appeared in a number of his other films) to demonstrate the humanity and political concerns redolent at the time. Notable too in this epic tale is the superb music score by Alexandre Desplat, and the effective use of locations. Highly recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
MAKING PLANS FOR LENA
Audiences may remember two of the most challenging films from previous French Film Festivals, Christophe Honoré's tale of two brothers and their father In Paris and the dramatic musical Love Songs, plus his script for Catherine Deneuve's obsessive character in After Him. In this film, Honoré plays a single woman with two children whose life seems chaotic and unfulfilled, and is not helped by family and friends around her advising an array of solutions. The deeper, psychological nuances of her character, occasionally disturbing, highlight the fragility of her life and her tenuous hold on normality. This is another finely observed tale by Honoré, whose incisive filmmaking style captures the complex components of contemporary life. Highly recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
SKIRT DAY
A teacher affronted by the violence, racist hatred and sexual exploits of her students adopts a personal response when she discovers a gun and then takes a group of students hostage in a French public school. Isabelle Adjani (almost unrecognizable, and winner of the César this year for best actress in this role) plays the teacher confronted by racism, sexism, and the impotent school authorities, plus the police trying to resolve the situation, the parents concerned at the event, and of course the way the media covers this situation. Many issues and concerns are raised in this economically structured narrative, with a twist in the tale reminiscent of the German film The Wave which was also set in a school. This film is an interesting counterpoint to last year's The Class which evoked similar territory. The title refers to a negotiating point that the teacher uses to highlight negative attitudes to women harboured by some young men. Occasionally the film threatens to veer into melodrama, but on the whole, this is a startling experience and a revelation about contemporary French cultural enmities. Recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
OSS117: Rio ne répond plus (Lost in Rio)
OSS117 is a film to take your breath away. Not for any special effects or brilliant stroytelling, but for the sheer glorious politically incorrectness of it all. I gasped out loud when Hubert (Jean Dujardin) the French secret agent started talking about Jews. But it works because it is not malicious and sometimes there is a kernel of truth in what he says.
But it's not just the Jews Hubert doesn't understand; he has incredibly arrogant thoughts about Asians, hippies, and women as well.
Director Michel Hazanavicius's film is like 'The Simpsons' in that it nakedly shows us reactionary and offensive attitudes in an attempt to push them in our faces and see how crazy they are, and just how the kernel of truth can be distorted. It basically sends up the attitudes rather than the Jews, or women or Asians.
The film could also have a subversive message, showing us that the world is set up for dumb white men to succeed. But maybe I'm reading too much into it; it's not a documentary.
More outrageous and over the top than Inspector Clouseau, Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath is the French version of Agent Maxwell Smart and funnier than Mike Myers' 'yeah, baby' Austin Powers , and also set in the sixties. That must have been a funny decade for spies.
Hubert is sent on a mission to Rio de Janeiro to find an exiled Nazi in South America so he can get a list of French collaborators during World War II. Mossad contacts Hubert to offer help. The Jews want the Nazi, and the French want the list.
Dujardin displays a rare sense of comic timing. He sends up the idea of a suave swinging bachelor secret agent perfectly. How many episodes of 'Get Smart' did he watch, I'd like to know.
This is the second OSS117 film. The first film, OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions (Cairo, Nest of Spies), is just as funny, with the same comic themes; but I'm not tired of them yet. The end is ridiculous; but why break the pattern?
The music from the sixties is the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the pink in the paisley, for a delightfully wacky film.
(Cynthia Karena)
MICMACS
Micmacs is the first film from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, Delicatessen, etc) after a five-year absence. This is a wonderfully enjoyable and visually inventive comic crime caper. Dany Boon plays Bazil, a video shop employee who was accidentally shot in the head. He still has a bullet lodged dangerously close to his brain. He sets out to bring down the unscrupulous billionaire arms manufacturers he blames for his wounding. With the help of a group of eccentric misfits he sets the two rivals against each other with the aim of having them destroy the other's business. The film is steeped in the rich lore of cinema, and its opening credits sequence is reminiscent of the Warner Bros film noir of the ‘40's. The film is brimming with imagination and quirky humour, and is full of Jeunet's signature visual style, his idiosyncratic approach to narrative, his eye for casting unusual looking characters, and his visual contrasts. It is a strong film with which to open this year's French Film Festival.
(Greg King)
EVERY JACK HAS A JILL
Every Jack Has A Jill is a pleasant enough romance with an international flavour. It stars Melanie Laurent (from Tarantino's fabulous Inglorious Basterds, etc) and Justin Bartha (from The Hangover and the National Treasure series). Jack is an American who wins a holiday to Paris, but on arrival loses his luggage at the airport. Chloe is a reporter for a small paper who takes his luggage home by mistake. Curious, she opens it and fantasises about a connection between herself and the owner of the suitcase. She takes a series of photographs and leaves them in the suitcase, which she returns to his hotel. Directed by first time film maker Jennifer Devoldere, low key film develops a bit of tension with the old will they get together or not scenario, sort of like a Gallic Sleepless In Seattle. This gently paced film makes for pleasant enough viewing, and offers some great scenery of Paris. The two leads are quite charming.
(Greg King)
OSS 117: LOST IN RIO.
One of the constants of the French Film Festival over the years has been the presence of the bumbling secret agent OSS 117 and his misadventures in keeping the world free of the spectre of communism and Nazis. This time he finds himself in Rio, on the trail of a former Nazi who is blackmailing the French Government with a microfilm list of wartime collaborators. 'It must be a very short list,' our hero remarks. He is aided and abetted by a beautiful Mossad agent who has her own agenda to follow. Jean Dujardin has stamped his own style on the role of the arrogant, sexist, racist, misogynistic, politically incorrect globe trotting spy Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath. The film is a blatant spoof of the'60's cycle of spy films, such as James Bond and Matt Helm, etc, and is shot in glorious retro style reminiscent of the era. Michel Hazanavicius' direction lacks subtlety and the broad humour sometimes misses its mark. However, OSS 117: Lost In Rio is low brow fun and full of in-jokes and references to classic films of the genre.
(Greg King)
The opening night film of this year's French Film Festival turns out to be an enjoyably daffy comedy by Jean Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, Delicatessen, Very Long Engagement, Alien Resurrection, City of Lost Children). Set amidst a heightened reality in France, the film is stylishly, if somewhat mechanically directed as a revenge story where Dany Boon, after an unfortunate accident where a bullet lodges in his brain, sets out on a journey to discover the origins of that bullet. His encounters with an underground group of rag-tag bohemians including the increasingly ubiquitous Andre Dussollier, the accrual of a variety of clever machines and dextrous individuals, and the discovery of two rival arms manufacturers turns the film into a 'Delicatessen' like narrative with plenty of visual treats along the way. The use of a number of billboards labelled 'MicMacs', which really means 'shenanigans' according to Jeunet when he introduced the film in Melbourne, add to the chain of visual events that permeate this amusing film. There is also some pertinent commentary about the arms trade and terrorism, which eventually leads to an enjoyable conclusion. There is no real substance to this film, but as a clever piece of cinematic terpsichory, Jeunet's film is quite entertaining. Recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
I'M GLAD MY MOTHER IS ALIVE
An adopted teenage boy determinedly attempts to track down his birth mother, and discovers that he, and his mother, have a number of unresolved issues to face. Based on a true event discovered by producer Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) , the film follows the travails of Vincent Rottiers whose desire to establish a relationship with his birth mother (Sophie Cattani) turns into a series of dramatic and explosive events, leading to a startling conclusion. As directed by Claude and Nathan Miller (The Accompanist, Un Secret), the film becomes a tense and at times un-nerving exploration of psychological attachment, emotional detachment, and cathartic consequences, with a final scene that will leave the audience discussing the motivations of the key characters. Stories relating to adoptions and later consequences form a key part of a number of French filmmakers' concerns this year, as does the role the family has in evoking dramatic conflict. Highly recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
TOMORROW AT DAWN
The Page Turner, directed by Denis Dercourt, was a subtly made slow-burn thriller about a young woman who seeks revenge for an earlier slight perpetrated by a music teacher. In this tale of brotherly love and the fantasy escape that becomes more of a reality, Dercourt presents a narrative that bristles with anger, revenge and immersion in a presumed psychological head-space. Vincent Perez plays a concert pianist and music teacher whose marriage is in a state of flux. Meanwhile, his brother, played by Jeremie Renier is caught up in weekend war-games where he participates in duels as part of the re-staged Napoleonic conflicts of the 19th Century, where heroism, saving face, and honour are key aspects of survival. The transcendent issues of this game playing enmeshed in the reality of contemporary existence are cleverly evoked here, to the point of dramatic catharsis. Dercourt continues his use of music in this film, especially as a counterpoint to the prevailing psychological games being played. Recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
ANYTHING FOR HER
If you are prepared to go along with the narrative structure of this lively thriller, and suspend all disbelief, then you will enjoy this bizarre film by Fred Cavayé. Echoes of Law Abiding Citizen permeate this story, as Vincent Lindon plays a school teacher whose wife (Diane Kruger) has been arrested and jailed for a murder she did not commit. After the court appeals dismiss any retrial (and the narrative clearly indicates early in the film that she is innocent) Lindon decides to spring his wife from jail and escape the iniquitous judicial system of France and settle in another country. It is the process of this occurring that forms the backbone of this well directed but implausible film, with his child and his parents forming a key part of the storyline. His encounter with a drug-dealer, and more particularly with an ex-crim author who advises him on how to 'get away with it' are well integrated into the plot. A well-executed, far-fetched thriller. Recommended
(Peter Krausz)
IN YOUR ARMS
Another film dealing with adoption and its ramifications, Hubert Gillet's film based on his personal experiences being adopted, is a satisfyingly directed drama about a 16 year old boy's (played convincingly by Martin Loizillon) determination to find his birth mother (Michele Laroque) despite protestations from his adoptive parents. The teenage boy's angst at discovering that his birth mother deliberately rejected him (for a reason developed in the narrative) combined with his encounter of first love, make for a well constructed film with a sentimental, but appropriate, denouement. The film demonstrates the power of narrative over big-budget films where the story receives scant attention. The use of bright locations near the French seaside assists with the finer development of the story and the key characters. A charming, lovingly made film. Recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
LUCKY LUKE
Based on a popular comic strip about a fearless gunfighter seeking justice in the old West, James Huth's elaborately directed homage to Western films (filmed in the US but spoken totally in French) is so over-the-top and campy in tone that you would be hard-pressed not to be entertained with the non-sequiters dotted throughout the script. Jean Dujardin (OSS 117) plays the eponymous hero who meets up with Calamity Jane, Billy the Kid, and other historical characters in the old West, including a fictional US President who is keen to forge a new railway route through Luke's home town of Daisytown! The film is filled with references to other Westerns, including Spaghetti Westerns, and also has plenty of funny anachronisms and bits of dialogue that are quite amusing, if at times obviously hysterical. The cast includes Alexandra Lamy, Sylvie Testud and Melvil Poupaud, the latter enjoying a comedic role as Wyatt Earp after his dramatic turn as the dying photographer in Ozon's Time to Leave. The final sequences are set in an incredibly elaborate slot machine building, reflecting the origins of the story, and the fun Huth is having with this film. Recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
OSS 117, LOST IN RIO
The satiric James Bond send-up spy from the original film last year, returns in this even more amusing 'Austin Powers' like comedy about a super-spy (Jean Dujardin) whose latest quest is to navigate his way through Brazil and discover a horde of Nazis and 'Chinamen' who are into international blackmail and terrorism. Director Michel Hazanavicius has a lot of fun with the character, sending his (OSS-117) old-fashioned and politically incorrect attitudes to all cultures up as often as possible, leading to some very funny sequences. His sympathy to the Nazi cause, very politically incorrect, is tested when he meets Jewish agent Louise Monot, engendering a lot of amusing banter. Serving as a satire of French 60s colonialism above all, the film is ridiculously amusing and culturally astute in its observations of entrenched attitudes and mindless expansion. Quite enjoyable, recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY
The Chanel estate approved the script for this beautifully imaged, but relentlessly frigid, account of the short affair between Russian composer Stravinsky (played by Mads Mikkelsen) and Coco Chanel (Anna Mouglailis). Beginning with a glorious opening sequence set in a Paris theatre in 1913 with the infamous performance by the Ballet Russes of a challenging American Indian Stravinsky composition, the camera weaves its way backstage, onstage and into the audience to portray the hatred that the audience had for this revolutionary work. In the audience is Chanel who 7 years later becomes Stravinsky's benefactor, inviting him, his wife and children to her country estate to ensure he continues composing challenging music. Up to that point, the narrative is clear and compelling, but then begins to fall apart when Chanel and Stravinsky begin an affair that affects his work, his marriage and his future. The cold, repetitive nature of the narrative in this significant section of the two hour film is very disappointing, with only a few pieces of music, and Chanel's quest for her famous perfume to alleviate the dreariness of the story.
What is surprising is that Jan Kounen's direction is so elaborately exquisite in its widescreen tonings, yet it is Chris Greenhalgh's story and screenplay that make the film such a plodding chore. There are elements in the film not properly explored: Chanel's early infatuation with an American: 'Boy' who is quickly despatched early in the film; a wonderful sequence of archival footage of the Russian Revolution and the formative aspects to Russia before 1920, summarily dismissed by the rest of the narrative; the overbearing black and white stylings of the production design which seem suffocating and banal; the predictably melodramatic, yet dismissive treatment of Stravinsky's ill wife and their children; the seemingly tacked-on sequence after the credits have finished rolling; the curiously unpleasant treatment of Chanel (although as a counter-point to Coco Avant Chanel it does have some impact); and finally the occasionally over-elaborate music score from Gabriel Yared, sometimes used at inappropriate times, and sometimes over-orchestrated to the point of satire.
Some very odd choices have been made by the writer and by Kounen in this film, leading to an overall feeling that the whole film should have gone through another script draft before the eventual production began. If only the whole film could have been as mesmerizing as the brilliant opening sequence.
(Peter Krausz)
LEAVING
It does have to happen on occasion: star power cannot always over-ride a weak story and script. Catherine Corsini has directed a ludicrously out-dated (by at least 50 years) pot-boiler about a married woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) married to controlling doctor husband (Yvan Attal), who falls in love with a Spanish builder (Sergi Lopez). Caught in the middle of the tempestuous situation are their two children and Lopez's daughter, while Thomas tries to work in the building adjoining their house as a physiotherapist. The plot thickens, and sickens, when a tragic event occurs (at the start of the film and the film flashes back to the events leading up to them) and much hand-wringing, sex scenes and screamed dialogue occurs in-between. There is no contemporary subtlety or original exploration of the choices being made by the three leads, only confrontation followed by revenge. I was surprised at how badly Thomas' role was written, as if she is a naïve young woman who has no choices to make after her husband exerts his control. A ludicrous piece of ersatz drama with nowhere to go. Avoid.
(Peter Krausz)
WILD GRASS
At age 87, Alain Resnais continues to make films using a variety of genres and styles, and never disappointing with his idiosyncratic takes on life. With films ranging from Hiroshoma Mon Amour, Last Year at Marienbad, to the more recent Not On the Lips, Coeurs, Same Old Song, Resnais crafts his films delicately with a whimsical touch, always reflecting the human condition and its multi-faceted situations. Wild Grass is no exception in this amusingly heightened reality narrative about an encounter between a dentist who wants to fly a plane, and a single man looking for romance. Sabine Azema and Andre Dussollier play the pair who meet when he retrieves a stolen pocket-book, hands it into the police, and tracks down its owner. Mathieu Amalric is a delight as the somewhat befuddled police officer who intervenes in the couple's story. Beautifully shot in wide-screen with a remarkably fluid use of camera, the film is very enjoyable and illuminates the lives of people who do not easily fit into predictable categories or emotions. Notable too is the exquisite music score by Mark Snow. I hope there are more films in Resnais. Highly recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
WHITE MATERIAL
Claire Denis' films are often angry and insightful explorations of cultural difference and racial stereotyping. Films such as Chocolate; Good Work; Friday Night focus on the tensions of human existence, the similarities and differences between us, and the way we should exercise our conscience when faced with a fraught situation. Her latest film is set in Northern Africa, in an un-named country in the middle of civil conflict where the rebels and the Government soldiers are involved in murderous events to achieve power and control. Isabelle Huppert is the white manager of a coffee plantation whose existence is threatened by these terrible events, while her ex-husband Christophe Lambert tries to keep everyone calm and her son and father try to stay alive. Into the mix, a rebel officer 'The Boxer' appears, to lend his support for the overthrow of the Government. Denis allows Huppert to evoke another superb performance (reminiscent of The Piano Teacher) as she is caught trying to appease the soldiers and rebels, while maintaining a quickly eroding plantation workforce, and the psychological meanderings of her family. Indeed the cultural conflict, white vs black, at the heart of the film is quite uncomfortable and eventually extremely disconcerting for everyone. Another superb film from Denis; highly recommended.
(Peter Krausz)
SKIRT DAY
This provocative drama looks at the problems of multi-culturalism in contemporary France and the failings of the public school system as it struggles to deal with overcrowding, bullying and racism. Returning to the screen after a five-year absence Isabelle Adjani is riveting as a drama teacher who is frustrated by her indolent students and their indifference. When a student brings a gun into the classroom one day, she confiscates it and holds her students captive. Outside the school the impotent officials, police, journalists and parents gather to criticise and urge action. Inside meanwhile the balance of power continually shifts as both the teacher and some students make their opinions known. Skirt Day is a rather tense film that has been efficiently directed by Jean-Paul Lilienfield.
(Greg King)
COCO CHANEL AND IGOR STRAVINSKY
Following on from Coco Avant Chanel, the recent biopic exploring the early years of one of the last century’s most iconic figures comes this fictionalised account of the relationship that developed between Chanel and noted Russian composer Igor Stravinsky in Paris in 1920. Chanel agrees to let the exiled composer and his family share her fabulous new villa while he works on a new symphony that will see him take his rightful place on the world stage. A torrid affair between the two develops. Not only does Jan Kounen’s film give us insights into the personalities of these two legendary figures, but it is also an exploration of the creative forces that inspired and drove them. Anna Mouglalis is ravishing as Chanel, while Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (from the Pusher trilogy and Casino Royale, etc) is earnest as Stravinsky. The film is sumptuously staged, with gorgeous period detail, including costumes from the house of Chanel itself. Kounen’s direction is stylish and creates beautiful images. However, to be honest, I found the film rather dull.
(Greg King)