September 24, 2009

The Class
by Laurent Cantet (2008)

Trailer | Review

The winner of the 2008 Palme d’Or at Cannes was Laurent Cantet’s unsparing, unsentimental film about a teacher and his students at a diverse Parisian junior high school. In an unusual example of art imitating life, the film was based on the best-selling book by real-life teacher François Bégaudeau, who also wrote the screenplay and stars in the movie as himself. Working with a cast of non-professional actors, Cantet filmed his “class” for over a year; the result is a hybrid documentary/narrative work that is wholly convincing. The Class is alive with spirited performances; viewers are also treated to a privileged perspective on discussions between teachers and parents, as well as among the teachers in their private meetings and amongst themselves. The Class raises deep, disturbing questions about the motives and prospects of its characters. As François attempts to teach the French language to his multi-ethnic students, many of whom hail from former colonized countries, he offers both the opportunity and the threat of modern cultural assimilation. (Drama, 128 minutes)

AWARDS: Palme d’Or, Cannes Films Festival (2008); Best Writing Adaptation, César Awards (2009); Best Foreign Film, Independent Spirit Awards (2009; Best Film, Lumière Awards (2009)

October 22, 2009

Roman de gare
by Claude Lelouch (2007)

Trailer | Review

Judith Ralitzer is a successful crime novelist in search of inspiration for her next bestseller. The mysterious disappearance of a university professor coincides with the escape from prison of a notorious serial killer known as the Magician. Huguette, a hairdresser in a swanky Parisian salon, finds herself abandoned on the side of a motorway by her fiancé. Pierre, a passer-by, offers to help her and she accepts, insisting that he pretend to be her future husband when she goes to visit her parents. Is there anything to link these apparently unconnected events...? Pierre turns out to be Judith's ghost-writer. For the next novel he gets inspiration from Huguette's life and the Magician's story. He decides that the book will be published under his own name this time. Furious at first, Judith finally accepts and offers to help in getting it published. Pierre quickly understands that she has a sinister plot in mind to get rid of him. He pulls a few tricks of his own and catches her at her own game. Deceptively layered and intriguingly misleading, Roman de gare is an homage to the French genre of the same name, a genre that refers to popular, easy-to-read novels. (Drama, 103 minutes)

November 19, 2009

The Beaches of Agnes
by Agnès Varda (2008)

Trailer | Review

On the eve of her 80th birthday, Agnès Varda, often referred to as “the godmother of the French New Wave,” decided to make the autobiographical The Beaches of Agnes, guiding us through her extraordinary 55-year career and poignantly reminiscing about her husband, the filmmaker Jacques Demy (best known for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), who died of AIDS in 1990—information that Varda makes public here for the first time. Raising two children—costume designer Rosalie Varda and actor Mathieu Demy—and making some of France’s greatest movies from the 1960s, Varda and Demy traveled the world but appeared to have been most at home in the septième art. Or, as Varda puts it: “Cinema—I feel like I’ve always lived in it.” As Varda explains how a relatively shy, awkward young woman from Brussels first taught herself how to be a photographer and then a filmmaker, we marvel at her drive, determination, and endless curiosity about the world. Richly illustrating her documentary with clips from her (and Demy’s) films, Varda remains a constant, lively presence (much as she did in her documentary, The Gleaners and I), remarking of her on-screen persona, “I’m playing the role of a little old lady, plump and talkative.” (documentary, 110 minutes)

January 28, 2009

Eldorado
by Bouli Lanners (2008)

Trailer | Review

When gruff, unsuspecting Belgian car dealer Yvan comes back from work one evening, his home has been ransacked and a series of clues indicate that the burglar is still on the premises. Yvan lumbers through the rooms of his house armed only with a flimsy hockey stick, seeking the intruder’s whereabouts. Where could someone stay to be out of sight? How about under the bed! Yvan waits until late into the night to flush his mysterious visitor out of hiding, eventually dozing off in his watchman’s chair. Eldorado’s suspenseful, absurdist plot thickens when Yvan finally catches his nemesis in a hilarious confrontation and meets Elie, the skittish young heroin addict who has tried to rob him. The two form an unlikely duo and set out together in Yvan’s vintage Chevrolet to bring Elie back to his parents, encountering an outlandish cast of characters over the course of their road trip. Beautifully photographed by Jean-Paul de Zaetijd, the film makes excellent use of wide vistas, subtle colors and strong visual compositions. Eldorado was written and directed with intelligence and a wonderfully modern, absurdist sense of humor by its star actor. (Comedy, 80 minutes)

February 18, 2009

Being Jewish in France
by Yves Jeuland (2007)

Trailer | Review

Yves Jeuland's sweeping documentary explores the rich and complex history of Jews in France - the first country to grant Jews citizenship. The film investigates the complex relationship that French Jews have had with the French Republic and, in turns, the multiple ways in which French society has dealt with its Jewish population over the course of history. Beginning with Revolutionary cries of Vive la France in Yiddish, the film explores well-known events, such as the explosive Dreyfus Affair and Vichy's murderous betrayal during WWII, as well as periods of history that have received less attention, such as the absorption into French society of Sephardic Jews from Arab countries in the 1960s. The film boldly continues into the 21st century, discussing charges of rising anti-Semitism and the country's complex attitudes toward Israel. Being Jewish in France includes interviews with leading French politicians, intellectuals and artists, who speak extensively of their own experience as Jews and their family’s history in France. The film is beautifully presented and lushly illustrated with rare photographs, film clips and memorable music. At a time when France is often portrayed as one of the most anti-Semitic nations in Europe, Being Jewish in France represents a unique opportunity to better understand the history of Jews in that country. (Documentary, 185 minutes with an intermission: the first part of the film will be showed at 6:15, the second at 8:15)

AWARDS: Jewish Experience Award, Jerusalem International Film Festival (2007); International Focal Award for Best Use of Footage in a Factual Production Category, European Documentary Network (2008)

March 18, 2009

The Grocer's Son
by Eric Guirado

Trailer | Review

When his father has a sudden heart attack, it’s up to jaded and distant Antoine Sforza, a young man who has distanced himself from his roots, to take over the family business at the age of 30. Leaving behind his dead-end job as a waiter and his tiny apartment in Paris, he grudgingly moves home to Provence, in the south of France, to run a small mobile grocery store. His family’s food truck is integral to the daily shopping of the feisty elderly French neighbors who inhabit the local countryside and emerge from their homes to purchase his vegetables. Although Antoine is curt and surly with his customers (as well as with most of the people he meets), he succeeds in bringing to Provence his favorite aspect of Paris: his beautiful, confident neighbor, Claire, upon whom he harbors a secret crush. Antoine and Claire both move into his mother’s home, where Claire studies for an exam and Antoine slowly begins to get to know the community and himself a little bit better. This subtle, closely-observed film was directed and co-written by Eric Guirado, who has a sharp eye for detail and dialogue. (Drama, 96 minutes)