A scene from It Boy.
Dominic Corry previews the upcoming French Film Festival.
Contemporary French cinema seems to be heading in two opposite directions, and both are well-represented in this year's L'Oreal Paris French Film Festival, kicking off in Auckland next week.
On one hand, the artful adventurousness that defined classic French cinema is in full swing. Simultaneously, it's heading in a more commercial direction, rendering French cinema a little more accessible to international audiences.
Some curious themes emerge when you take a look at this year's festival line-up: there are three films about cycling (one apparently designed to restore faith in the post-Lance Armstrong Tour de France); several that address the conflict between a romantic view of the world and its harsher realities; the experience of second-generation immigrants comes under the spotlight; and one old reliable French trope - the older woman engaging in an affair with a younger man - gets a classy roll-out courtesy of a bravura performance from the stunning Fanny Ardant (8 Women) in Marion Vernoux's Bright Days Ahead.
HIGHLIGHTS
Romance
Opening-night dramedy
Chinese Puzzle
is writer/director Cedric Kaplisch's conclusion to his celebrated trilogy of
The Spanish Apartment
(
L'Auberge Espagnole
) that began with the eponymous 2002 film, then continued with 2005's
Russian Dolls
. But you don't need to have seen the previous two entries to enjoy the star-studded and life-affirming
Chinese Puzzle
, which further chronicles the adventures of writer Xavier (French superstar Romain Duris) and the various loves of his life, played by top French actresses Audrey Tatou (
Amelie
), Cecile de France (
High Tension
) and rising British star Kelly Reilly (
Flight, Sherlock Holmes
). Although it takes place primarily in New York, the film couldn't feel more French - it's superbly romantic, albeit with a clear-eyed perspective on sustained love.
Also of note in this area is the delectable romantic comedy It Boy, which concerns a 40-year-old magazine editor (Belgian actress Virginie Efira) who engages in a fake affair with a much younger man (Pierre Niney) in an effort to show her pretentious boss that she is still edgy enough. It Boy is the kind of breezy, high-concept rom-com that Hollywood has forgotten how to make, and succeeds largely because of the charm of its two leads. Niney in particular is tipped for big things, and will next be seen playing Yves Saint Laurent in the big-screen biopic of the same name.
Comedy
Cycling With Moliere is a fascinating introduction to the celebrated 17th-century French actor/playwright, and a bitingly funny comedy in its own right. Coming across like some sort of French Larry David, Fabrice Luchini (In The House) plays Serge, a cynical, retired actor whose tranquil island existence is interrupted by the arrival of old "friend" Gauthier (Lambert Wilson from The Matrix Reloaded), a gauche, handsome TV star who wants to collaborate with Serge on a staging of Moliere's legendary two-man play The Misanthrope. The succession of subtle mind games and underhanded one-upmanship that follows is rarely less than excruciating, but no less gripping for it. This film is both deeply cynical and deeply hilarious.
Another must-see comedy at this year's festival is Me, Myself and Mum, which rising French star Guillaume Gallienne wrote, directed and plays two separate roles in. The film was inspired by Gallienne's equally hilarious and traumatic upbringing, during which his mother (played by Gallienne in the film) imposed on him a sexual identity he was yet to discover himself.
Legendary French director Bertrand Tavernier's Quai d'Orsay is an adaptation of a graphic novel, but it features no superheroes or grizzled cops. Inspired by a real incident in recent French political history, it follows a young speechwriter who joins the French Foreign Ministry and struggles to keep up with the eccentric foreign minister (The Dinner Game's Thierry Lhermitte, a force of nature). If the idea of a French version of The West Wing intrigues you, don't miss this.
And you probably shouldn't miss Being President, either - it's an observational documentary about current French Head of State Francois Hollande. Just don't expect any of his recent tabloid dramas to feature.
Drama
If uplifting closing-night drama
The Finishers
(from Bertrand Tavernier's son Nils) doesn't have you in tears by the end, then you are truly made of stone. The potentially saccharine set-up (disabled teenager asks distant father to run an Ironman race with him) would probably feel a bit manipulative in an English-language context. But in a post-
The Intouchables
world, this is crowd-pleasing French cinema at its finest.
The subtle, laconic pleasures of Nicole Garcia's Going Away take a little while to make themselves known, but they're something to be relished. And you won't find a more comely pair of lead actors anywhere else in the festival: Pierre Rochefort (son of Garcia and renowned actor Jean Rochefort) and Louise Bourgoin smoulder on the screen like only French people can.
Also on the drama front, Homeland is a particularly compelling exploration of identity in modern France. It follows a French-born man of Algerian descent (Tewfik Jallab) who discovers his roots when he travels to his father's homeland to take care of some family business. The film touches on many pressing contemporary issues with a welcome sense of humour, thanks mainly to French comedy superstar Jamel Debbouze (Angel-A), who plays a supporting role.
Best movie
My pick for the best film of the festival doesn't really fit into any known categories, unless "wrestling movie" is still a genre.
Our Heroes Died Tonight
is an ultra-stylised noir that occurs in a black-and-white Paris, inspired by the films of celebrated French New Wave auteur Jean-Pierre Melville (
Le Samourai
). Denis Menochet (
Inglourious Basterds
) and Jean-Pierre Martins (
La Vie en Rose
) star as two Foreign Legion pals who make money as masked wrestlers. When one of them refuses to take a fall, gangsters enter the picture. This is about as cool as film-making gets - the two leads feel like young versions of Brando and Mitchum, and the film has style to burn. Absolutely unmissable.
The titles I've mentioned here don't even make up half of what's on offer at this year's festival. For information on other screenings (including the kid-friendly Belle and Sebastian and a host of notable documentaries), pick up a programme or visit frenchfilmfestival.co.nz
What: French Film Festival
Where and when: Auckland: Newmarket's Rialto Cinemas and Takapuna's Berkeley Cinemas, from February 27. Also screening in Timaru, Nelson, Tauranga, Wellington, Dunedin, Havelock North, Palmerston North, Hamilton and Arrowtown until April. Pick up a programme or visit frenchfilmfestival.co.nz for venues and dates. Contemporary French cinema seems to be heading in two opposite directions, and both are well-represented in this year's L'Oreal Paris French Film Festival, kicking off in Auckland next week.
- TimeOut
Cryptic posters across Melbourne and Sydney have teased the Australasian tour.