I'll try and keep my criticisms of the festival machinations limited to blog title this time. Instead let's talk about some good and bad celluloid.
Day 2
Towards Zero (2007) -- I do not have the ability to convey how excited I was to see this Pascal Thomas film as part of the film festival. I do not know that anything Thomas has done has ever made it overseas from France, and he has worked several times with a favorite comedian of mine, Catherine Frot. She doesn't appear in this film, but Towards Zero is based on a novel by Agatha Christie, much like Thomas' outings with Frot (By the Pricking of My Thumbs - 2005; Crime Is Our Business - 2008). Starring French film favorites Melvil Poupaud, Chiara Mastroianni and Danielle Darrieux, Towards Zero is a comedic murder mystery that starts out with several seemingly unrelated story lines (a man attempting suicide; a policeman's daughter fessing up to a crime she did not commit) before our main characters are introduced in a seaside mansion for a less than desirable reunion. Darrieux plays the old spinster owning the mansion and she has invited her nephew, his new sex-pot wife that no one likes and her nephew's ex-wife, Mastroianni. You can only imagine the ensuing tensions, building up to a cresendo that ends in Darrieux's murder and an entertaining romp of twists and tangles. Laura Smet as Poupaud's volatile vixen of a wife puts in an entertaining turn here, stealing nearly every scene she is in (much like her presence as an extremely mentally unbalanced young woman in Claude Chabrol's interesting thriller, The Bridesmaid - 2004). I suppose I will acquiesce -- no matter what mistakes I experienced at the film festival, I am truly appreciative that I had the opportunity to see this in a theater. Beautiful cinematography, a bustling script and some expert French players make this entertaining fare. If you like Poupaud, be sure to catch him in Broken Flowers (2007) and Time to Leave (2005); Darrieux's old as dirt (and a French film staple by now), but check her out in 8 Women (2002), and the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni, Chiara, be sure to catch her in Les Chansons D'Amour (2007) and A Christmas Tale (2008), the latter also stars Poupaud.
Day 3
The Girl From Monaco (2008) -- I had the opportunity to see Anne Fontaine's newest effort in Toronto, but due to quite a few lackluster reviews I avoided it, thinking I would have a different opportunity to see the film. As chance would have it, I caught it here and am glad that I had avoided it in Toronto. I've been meaning to sit down and watch Fontaine's 2003 film Nathalie... due to my love for Fanny Ardant, so this was my first experience with her. What starts off as a light-hearted comedy turns strangely dark and unhumorous, but not in any intriguing sort of way. Starring Fabrice Luchini as Bertrand, a lawyer defending his client Edith Lassalle (played by the once gorgeous Stephane Audran, who isn't given room to do much of anything) who has committed the vicious murder of a young gigolo. (Let me mention here that Luchini is either engaged or married to Fontaine). Enter Bertrand's bodyguard, (the always entertaining Roschdy Zem) sent in to guard Bertrand due to the Russian mob's involvement in the case (apparently the slain gigolo was Russian). The best parts of the film are in the first half between these two characters. Then enter the titular girl, Audrey (newcomer Louise Bourgoin), who, from the moment she steps on screen as the local weather girl in Monaco, I knew I would hate. Louise is, most refreshingly, an uncompromising slut. I found little else to like about her (though she's gorgeous) and was continually flabbergasted and disgusted at her sexcapades with the very aged and homely Luchini. Anyhow, Audrey ends up becoming obsessed with Bertrand, so much so that it's jeopardizing his current high profile case. Needless, to say, things don't end well, but there's really no reason for them to end the way they do. Thankfully, the Grace Kelly references are kept to a minimum (though Audrey has a strange fascination with Princess Di) but the conclusion will leave you scratching your head, as I felt more of a strange bros before hos type of vibe from the whole thing. Interestingly, the director's a woman, but that doesn't make me want to say this is great cinema. I suppose I was most intrigued by this film's similarities to Chabrol's 2007 offering, A Girl Cut In Two, which centers around the sexploits of a French weather girl, played by Ludivine Sagnier. See that instead.
Helen (2008) -- Yes, one of three films from 2007-2008 named Helen, Minneapolis received one of those three. Once I discovered what the actual screening was going to be about, I was intrigued by the plot, which concerns the disappearance of a girl named Joy and the police reenactment that casts a slightly disturbed girl named Helen as the missing girl. Some interesting themes concerning identity surface throughout the film, but it seems to reach only one hypnotic note that eventually becomes mind-numbing and repetitive. Helen meets Joy's boyfriend and her parents, etc, and as Helen resembles Joy (and lives in a sort of girls' home as her parents gave her up for adoption) it's easy to conclude that Helen is still discovering who she is exactly, etc. Nice atmospheric music and an interesting but extremely subtle (read this as borderline dull) performance by newcomer Annie Townsend make this an intriguing, though not entirely compelling feature.
Day 4
Rumba (2008) --- The second feature from Belgian couple Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon (who I am guessing are playing variations of themselves, as their characters are Dom and Fiona), are also the stars of their new film as married teachers that happen to have a passion for the Rumba, competing at various competitions. Late one night after a successful competition, the couple are involved in an accident as they veer off the road to avoid hitting a man attempting suicide. Fiona loses her leg and Dom his memory. Major hijinks ensue, and with a film driven by physical comedy with hardly any dialogue (though a scene where the two sing "Sea of Love" to each other right before their house burns down is quite touching) it becomes a bit tedious even with a running time of 77 minutes. Aiming for a Jacques Tati experience is a feat indeed, and I suppose I feel like Dom & Fiona aren't quite that entertaining. As a couple they are extremely strange looking, indeed. Dom looks like some sort of wiry, hungry creature (maybe a lemur) that escaped from a zoo, while Fiona looks like the chinless, special-needs cousin of Tilda Swinton. That's not to say that they weren't strangely endearing---they made me feel like I should be less critical of them than I would be under normal circumstances.
Day 2
Towards Zero (2007) -- I do not have the ability to convey how excited I was to see this Pascal Thomas film as part of the film festival. I do not know that anything Thomas has done has ever made it overseas from France, and he has worked several times with a favorite comedian of mine, Catherine Frot. She doesn't appear in this film, but Towards Zero is based on a novel by Agatha Christie, much like Thomas' outings with Frot (By the Pricking of My Thumbs - 2005; Crime Is Our Business - 2008). Starring French film favorites Melvil Poupaud, Chiara Mastroianni and Danielle Darrieux, Towards Zero is a comedic murder mystery that starts out with several seemingly unrelated story lines (a man attempting suicide; a policeman's daughter fessing up to a crime she did not commit) before our main characters are introduced in a seaside mansion for a less than desirable reunion. Darrieux plays the old spinster owning the mansion and she has invited her nephew, his new sex-pot wife that no one likes and her nephew's ex-wife, Mastroianni. You can only imagine the ensuing tensions, building up to a cresendo that ends in Darrieux's murder and an entertaining romp of twists and tangles. Laura Smet as Poupaud's volatile vixen of a wife puts in an entertaining turn here, stealing nearly every scene she is in (much like her presence as an extremely mentally unbalanced young woman in Claude Chabrol's interesting thriller, The Bridesmaid - 2004). I suppose I will acquiesce -- no matter what mistakes I experienced at the film festival, I am truly appreciative that I had the opportunity to see this in a theater. Beautiful cinematography, a bustling script and some expert French players make this entertaining fare. If you like Poupaud, be sure to catch him in Broken Flowers (2007) and Time to Leave (2005); Darrieux's old as dirt (and a French film staple by now), but check her out in 8 Women (2002), and the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni, Chiara, be sure to catch her in Les Chansons D'Amour (2007) and A Christmas Tale (2008), the latter also stars Poupaud.
Day 3
The Girl From Monaco (2008) -- I had the opportunity to see Anne Fontaine's newest effort in Toronto, but due to quite a few lackluster reviews I avoided it, thinking I would have a different opportunity to see the film. As chance would have it, I caught it here and am glad that I had avoided it in Toronto. I've been meaning to sit down and watch Fontaine's 2003 film Nathalie... due to my love for Fanny Ardant, so this was my first experience with her. What starts off as a light-hearted comedy turns strangely dark and unhumorous, but not in any intriguing sort of way. Starring Fabrice Luchini as Bertrand, a lawyer defending his client Edith Lassalle (played by the once gorgeous Stephane Audran, who isn't given room to do much of anything) who has committed the vicious murder of a young gigolo. (Let me mention here that Luchini is either engaged or married to Fontaine). Enter Bertrand's bodyguard, (the always entertaining Roschdy Zem) sent in to guard Bertrand due to the Russian mob's involvement in the case (apparently the slain gigolo was Russian). The best parts of the film are in the first half between these two characters. Then enter the titular girl, Audrey (newcomer Louise Bourgoin), who, from the moment she steps on screen as the local weather girl in Monaco, I knew I would hate. Louise is, most refreshingly, an uncompromising slut. I found little else to like about her (though she's gorgeous) and was continually flabbergasted and disgusted at her sexcapades with the very aged and homely Luchini. Anyhow, Audrey ends up becoming obsessed with Bertrand, so much so that it's jeopardizing his current high profile case. Needless, to say, things don't end well, but there's really no reason for them to end the way they do. Thankfully, the Grace Kelly references are kept to a minimum (though Audrey has a strange fascination with Princess Di) but the conclusion will leave you scratching your head, as I felt more of a strange bros before hos type of vibe from the whole thing. Interestingly, the director's a woman, but that doesn't make me want to say this is great cinema. I suppose I was most intrigued by this film's similarities to Chabrol's 2007 offering, A Girl Cut In Two, which centers around the sexploits of a French weather girl, played by Ludivine Sagnier. See that instead.
Helen (2008) -- Yes, one of three films from 2007-2008 named Helen, Minneapolis received one of those three. Once I discovered what the actual screening was going to be about, I was intrigued by the plot, which concerns the disappearance of a girl named Joy and the police reenactment that casts a slightly disturbed girl named Helen as the missing girl. Some interesting themes concerning identity surface throughout the film, but it seems to reach only one hypnotic note that eventually becomes mind-numbing and repetitive. Helen meets Joy's boyfriend and her parents, etc, and as Helen resembles Joy (and lives in a sort of girls' home as her parents gave her up for adoption) it's easy to conclude that Helen is still discovering who she is exactly, etc. Nice atmospheric music and an interesting but extremely subtle (read this as borderline dull) performance by newcomer Annie Townsend make this an intriguing, though not entirely compelling feature.
Day 4
Rumba (2008) --- The second feature from Belgian couple Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon (who I am guessing are playing variations of themselves, as their characters are Dom and Fiona), are also the stars of their new film as married teachers that happen to have a passion for the Rumba, competing at various competitions. Late one night after a successful competition, the couple are involved in an accident as they veer off the road to avoid hitting a man attempting suicide. Fiona loses her leg and Dom his memory. Major hijinks ensue, and with a film driven by physical comedy with hardly any dialogue (though a scene where the two sing "Sea of Love" to each other right before their house burns down is quite touching) it becomes a bit tedious even with a running time of 77 minutes. Aiming for a Jacques Tati experience is a feat indeed, and I suppose I feel like Dom & Fiona aren't quite that entertaining. As a couple they are extremely strange looking, indeed. Dom looks like some sort of wiry, hungry creature (maybe a lemur) that escaped from a zoo, while Fiona looks like the chinless, special-needs cousin of Tilda Swinton. That's not to say that they weren't strangely endearing---they made me feel like I should be less critical of them than I would be under normal circumstances.
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