Every 15 minutes, according to a title at the end of director Anne Fontaine’s latest film, someone on earth plays Maurice Ravel’s “Boléro.” It’s a largely unprovable statement that is nonetheless borne out anecdotally by the familiarity of the tune, which crops up so frequently in concerts, movies, TV shows, commercials, dance recitals and at least one iconic 1980s ice skating routine, that it’s close to becoming sonic wallpaper. It’s a pleasant surprise then, that “Boléro,” Fontaine’s gently deconstructed Ravel biopic, while running long and never wholly airing out the stuffiness of “tortured genius” genre, does at minimum make us appreciate the music anew — its rustling snare drums, its snake-charmer woodwinds, its revving, roundabout rhythms.
Indeed Fontaine’s screenplay, co-written with Claire Barré, persuasively suggests that whatever ambivalence a modern viewer may feel toward the composition, Ravel, whose quiet peculiarities are sensitively underplayed by Raphaël Personnaz,...
Indeed Fontaine’s screenplay, co-written with Claire Barré, persuasively suggests that whatever ambivalence a modern viewer may feel toward the composition, Ravel, whose quiet peculiarities are sensitively underplayed by Raphaël Personnaz,...
- 2/4/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Film stars Raphael Personnaz and Jeanne Balibar.
Paris-based Snd has boarded Anne Fontaine’s Boléro about the birth of the renowned orchestral work from Maurice Ravel, now shooting in France.
Set in the Roaring 1920s, the film stars Raphael Personnaz, known for Our Brothers, Julia(s) and The French Minister, as the composer. Jeanne Balibar, who has appeared in Lost Illusions, Cold War and Grace Of Monaco, plays the Russian dancer-choreographer Ida Rubinstein who commissioned the now legendary music.
Snd, the film arm of France’s M6 group, is on board as co-producer and French distributor and is launching international sales at Cannes.
Paris-based Snd has boarded Anne Fontaine’s Boléro about the birth of the renowned orchestral work from Maurice Ravel, now shooting in France.
Set in the Roaring 1920s, the film stars Raphael Personnaz, known for Our Brothers, Julia(s) and The French Minister, as the composer. Jeanne Balibar, who has appeared in Lost Illusions, Cold War and Grace Of Monaco, plays the Russian dancer-choreographer Ida Rubinstein who commissioned the now legendary music.
Snd, the film arm of France’s M6 group, is on board as co-producer and French distributor and is launching international sales at Cannes.
- 5/3/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
The woman offscreen at the start of Mathieu Amalric’s “Hold Me Tight” is examining a matrix of face-down Polaroids, turning them over and getting frustrated at what she’s not finding. Or perhaps not remembering?
Her name is Clarisse (Vicky Krieps), and she’s next shown quietly gathering some things in the pinched light of a bluish-orange dawn and slipping out of a house that still holds a sleeping husband, son and daughter. Her actions feel purposeful, but also anguished, maybe even desperate.
The act of leaving — and the prospect of leaving behind — is at the heart of Amalric’s emotional mystery which, as its fragments and enigmas unfold, isn’t necessarily a journey for viewers to solve but rather a state of mind to experience and understand: the bewitchingly poignant story of a woman’s fertile, possibly perilous, coping mechanism.
Also Read:
‘The Worst Ones,’ Vicky Krieps Win...
Her name is Clarisse (Vicky Krieps), and she’s next shown quietly gathering some things in the pinched light of a bluish-orange dawn and slipping out of a house that still holds a sleeping husband, son and daughter. Her actions feel purposeful, but also anguished, maybe even desperate.
The act of leaving — and the prospect of leaving behind — is at the heart of Amalric’s emotional mystery which, as its fragments and enigmas unfold, isn’t necessarily a journey for viewers to solve but rather a state of mind to experience and understand: the bewitchingly poignant story of a woman’s fertile, possibly perilous, coping mechanism.
Also Read:
‘The Worst Ones,’ Vicky Krieps Win...
- 9/8/2022
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
Mathieu Amalric’s penetrating Hold Me Tight (Serre Moi Fort), based on the play Je Reviens De Loin by Claudine Galéa, begins cryptically with a woman, Clarisse, turning over polaroids of her family life displayed on a table in a kind of makeshift memory game. “I’m sick of being little,” says one of her two children. Daughter Lucie (Juliette Benveniste) wants a piano, son Paul (Aurèle Grzesik) wants a treehouse. What could her husband Marc (Arieh Worthalter) want?
Shot by (César Award winner for Xavier Giannoli’s Lost Illusions) Christophe Beaucarne (Amalric’s The Blue Room and Lumière winner for Barbara) the film is tinged in shades of coral - from the tablecloth to Clarisse’s fluffy sweater, to the rust and...
Shot by (César Award winner for Xavier Giannoli’s Lost Illusions) Christophe Beaucarne (Amalric’s The Blue Room and Lumière winner for Barbara) the film is tinged in shades of coral - from the tablecloth to Clarisse’s fluffy sweater, to the rust and...
- 9/2/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Mathieu Amalric on the coat worn by Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People and the one on Vicky Krieps: “That’s the reference. I told that to Caroline Spieth, the costume person.”
Mathieu Amalric’s terrific Hold Me Tight (Serre Moi Fort), based on the play Je Reviens De Loin by Claudine Galéa, shot by Christophe Beaucarne and starring Vicky Krieps and Arieh Worthalter was a highlight of the 74th Cannes Film Festival and New York’s 27th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. In the first instalment with Mathieu we discussed his films on John Zorn, thoughts on Robert Musil, Thomas Bernhard, Jerry Lewis, and going to Rome to film with Nanni Moretti Il Sol Dell'avvenire.
Mathieu Amalric (Je Reviens De Loin by Claudine Galéa) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Vicky Krieps as Clarisse: “As you said, she does the film. Her character is the projectionist,...
Mathieu Amalric’s terrific Hold Me Tight (Serre Moi Fort), based on the play Je Reviens De Loin by Claudine Galéa, shot by Christophe Beaucarne and starring Vicky Krieps and Arieh Worthalter was a highlight of the 74th Cannes Film Festival and New York’s 27th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. In the first instalment with Mathieu we discussed his films on John Zorn, thoughts on Robert Musil, Thomas Bernhard, Jerry Lewis, and going to Rome to film with Nanni Moretti Il Sol Dell'avvenire.
Mathieu Amalric (Je Reviens De Loin by Claudine Galéa) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Vicky Krieps as Clarisse: “As you said, she does the film. Her character is the projectionist,...
- 8/14/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The 46th César Awards took place at L’Olympia Bruno Coquatrix in Paris on Friday, February 25. The ceremony, France’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, honored the best in French cinema from 2021. The star-studded event also featured plenty of American talent, with the likes of Adam Driver and Cate Blanchett attending the ceremony. The show was hosted by French broadcaster Antoine de Caunes, marking his 10th time as emcee.
The night’s big winners were “Annette” and “Lost Illusions.” The former, a musical from director Leos Carax starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard and featuring music by Sparks, is a rock opera about a married couple whose lives change when they have a child, which is portrayed by a marionette puppet. Carax took home the trophy for Best Director, with Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks winning Best Original Score. The film also performed well in the crafts categories, winning Best Sound,...
The night’s big winners were “Annette” and “Lost Illusions.” The former, a musical from director Leos Carax starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard and featuring music by Sparks, is a rock opera about a married couple whose lives change when they have a child, which is portrayed by a marionette puppet. Carax took home the trophy for Best Director, with Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks winning Best Original Score. The film also performed well in the crafts categories, winning Best Sound,...
- 2/25/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Update: Xavier Giannoli’s Illusions Perdues (Lost Illusions) leads nominations for the 2022 César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscar. The Venice premiere scored 15 mentions, followed by Leos Carax’s Annette, which opened the Cannes Film Festival last year and has 11 nominations. They are followed by Valérie Lemercier’s Aline, the musical dramedy inspired by the life of Céline Dion which also debuted in Cannes and has 10 nods. (Scroll down for the full list of nominations.)
Interestingly, the three films that France shortlisted for the International Feature Academy Award race came in on the lower end. Cédric Jiminez’s Bac Nord (The Stronghold) took seven nominations, while Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening settles for four, tying Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane.
The latter was France’s eventual entry to the Oscars, but did not make the shortlist. It was also shut out of the Best Film category at the Césars today.
Interestingly, the three films that France shortlisted for the International Feature Academy Award race came in on the lower end. Cédric Jiminez’s Bac Nord (The Stronghold) took seven nominations, while Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening settles for four, tying Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane.
The latter was France’s eventual entry to the Oscars, but did not make the shortlist. It was also shut out of the Best Film category at the Césars today.
- 1/26/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Venice Golden Lion winner Happening won best film and best actress prizes
Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening won best film at the 27th edition of France’s Lumière Awards on Monday evening, while its star Anamaria Vartolomei was awarded the best actress prize.
Adapted from French writer Annie Ernaux’s 2019 semi-autobiographical work, Happening recounts a gifted literature student’s struggle to get an abortion in 1964, 11 years before abortion was legalised in France in 1975.
It marks a first lead role for Vartolomei, whose previous credits include How To Be A Good Wife and The Royal Exchange. Vartolomei is...
Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening won best film at the 27th edition of France’s Lumière Awards on Monday evening, while its star Anamaria Vartolomei was awarded the best actress prize.
Adapted from French writer Annie Ernaux’s 2019 semi-autobiographical work, Happening recounts a gifted literature student’s struggle to get an abortion in 1964, 11 years before abortion was legalised in France in 1975.
It marks a first lead role for Vartolomei, whose previous credits include How To Be A Good Wife and The Royal Exchange. Vartolomei is...
- 1/18/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The awards are voted on by 95 international correspondents from 36 countries.
Xavier Giannoli’s literary adaptation Lost Illusions leads the nominations of the 27th edition of France’s Lumière awards, followed by Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening and Arthur Harari’s Onoda, 10,000 Nights In The Jungle.
The awards, which are voted on by 95 international correspondents hailing from 36 countries this year, are France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes.
Giannoli’s adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s eponymous 19th-century novel, which premiered in competition in Venice this year, was nominated in five categories including best film, director, screenplay, actor...
Xavier Giannoli’s literary adaptation Lost Illusions leads the nominations of the 27th edition of France’s Lumière awards, followed by Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening and Arthur Harari’s Onoda, 10,000 Nights In The Jungle.
The awards, which are voted on by 95 international correspondents hailing from 36 countries this year, are France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes.
Giannoli’s adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s eponymous 19th-century novel, which premiered in competition in Venice this year, was nominated in five categories including best film, director, screenplay, actor...
- 12/10/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Music Box has acquired Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions,” a sprawling costume drama with Benjamin Voisin (“Summer of 85”) and Xavier Dolan (“Mommy”), that competed at the Venice Film Festival and played at San Sebastian.
A critically acclaimed film adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s literary masterpiece, “Les Illusions perdues,” the movie has now been sold in key markets by Gaumont. The French studio co-produced the film and will give it a wide release in France on Wednesday (Oct. 20).
“Lost Illusions” is one of the biggest budgeted and most anticipated French films this fall. It will have its North American premiere on the closing night of Colcoa, the French film festival in Los Angeles, on Nov. 7.
Cecile de France (“The Young Pope”) and Vincent Lacoste (“Amanda”) complete the lead cast of “Lost Illusions,” with Gerard Depardieu and Jeanne Balibar playing supporting roles.
Voisin stars as Lucien de Rubempré, a young...
A critically acclaimed film adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s literary masterpiece, “Les Illusions perdues,” the movie has now been sold in key markets by Gaumont. The French studio co-produced the film and will give it a wide release in France on Wednesday (Oct. 20).
“Lost Illusions” is one of the biggest budgeted and most anticipated French films this fall. It will have its North American premiere on the closing night of Colcoa, the French film festival in Los Angeles, on Nov. 7.
Cecile de France (“The Young Pope”) and Vincent Lacoste (“Amanda”) complete the lead cast of “Lost Illusions,” with Gerard Depardieu and Jeanne Balibar playing supporting roles.
Voisin stars as Lucien de Rubempré, a young...
- 10/19/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, “Lost Illusions,â€. Xavier Giannoli’s $17.5 million period film, has already lured major buyers in key territories for Gaumont.
Produced by Olivier Delbosc, “Lost Illusionsâ€. is a modern adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s masterpiece starring Benjamin Voisin (“Summer of 85â€.), Cecile de France (“The Young Popeâ€.), Vincent Lacoste (“Victoriaâ€.), Gerard Depardieu, Xavier Dolan and Jeanne Balibar (“Les Miserablesâ€.).
Gaumont, which is co-producing and handling international sales, has pre-sold the movie for Latin America (California), Canada (Les Films d’Opale), Spain (A Contracorriente), Benelux (Cineart), Bulgaria (Cine Libri), China (Huanxi), South Korea (Contents Gate), former Yugoslavia (McF), Israel (Lev), Italy (I Wonder), New Caledonia (Trident), Portugal (Nos Lusomundos), Romania (Independenta), Switzerland (Pathé), Taiwan (Avjet) and Russia/Cie
(White Nights).
“Lost Illusionsâ€. revolves around Lucien de Rubempré (Voisin), a young, lower-class poet who is madly in love with the baroness Louise de Bargeton.
Produced by Olivier Delbosc, “Lost Illusionsâ€. is a modern adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s masterpiece starring Benjamin Voisin (“Summer of 85â€.), Cecile de France (“The Young Popeâ€.), Vincent Lacoste (“Victoriaâ€.), Gerard Depardieu, Xavier Dolan and Jeanne Balibar (“Les Miserablesâ€.).
Gaumont, which is co-producing and handling international sales, has pre-sold the movie for Latin America (California), Canada (Les Films d’Opale), Spain (A Contracorriente), Benelux (Cineart), Bulgaria (Cine Libri), China (Huanxi), South Korea (Contents Gate), former Yugoslavia (McF), Israel (Lev), Italy (I Wonder), New Caledonia (Trident), Portugal (Nos Lusomundos), Romania (Independenta), Switzerland (Pathé), Taiwan (Avjet) and Russia/Cie
(White Nights).
“Lost Illusionsâ€. revolves around Lucien de Rubempré (Voisin), a young, lower-class poet who is madly in love with the baroness Louise de Bargeton.
- 9/3/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The number of films about Giacomo Casanova is legion, which makes the question “why another one?” especially relevant. What insight can be found to kindle enough interest to pour reportedly more than $7.5 million into a retelling of the great diarist’s life? Given Benoît Jacquot’s success with his earlier costume drama “Farewell, My Queen,” based on Chantal Thomas’ novel, perhaps he thought a new angle could be found together with Thomas, this time credited as main scriptwriter. How odd then that their vision imagines a world of predatory hormonally-charged females all throwing themselves at a lackluster, aging roué who shows more gusto wolfing down food than rutting around skirts.
Is this the Casanova for the early 21st century? A man famed among peers for his charisma and broad intelligence, companion of Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin, reduced to a lovesick sad-sack pining after a capricious young prostitute whose physical attributes...
Is this the Casanova for the early 21st century? A man famed among peers for his charisma and broad intelligence, companion of Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin, reduced to a lovesick sad-sack pining after a capricious young prostitute whose physical attributes...
- 7/14/2021
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Illusions perdues
Another project lensed in 2019 held over for a 2021 premiere is the next film from France’s Xavier Giannoli, who scored a sleeper hit with 2018’s supernatural drama The Apparition starring Vincent Lindon (also scoring a Cesar nod for newcomer Galatea Bellugi). He moves towards something a bit more high profile (with a budget north of 15 million) with his adaptation of Balzac’s Lost Illusions, which will star Cecile De France, Xavier Dolan, Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, Vincent Lacoste, Andre Marcon, Benjamin Voison, Jean-Francois Stevenin and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. The title is produced by Olivier Delbosc and lensed by five-time Cesar nominee Christophe Beaucarne (Coco Before Chanel).…...
Another project lensed in 2019 held over for a 2021 premiere is the next film from France’s Xavier Giannoli, who scored a sleeper hit with 2018’s supernatural drama The Apparition starring Vincent Lindon (also scoring a Cesar nod for newcomer Galatea Bellugi). He moves towards something a bit more high profile (with a budget north of 15 million) with his adaptation of Balzac’s Lost Illusions, which will star Cecile De France, Xavier Dolan, Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, Vincent Lacoste, Andre Marcon, Benjamin Voison, Jean-Francois Stevenin and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. The title is produced by Olivier Delbosc and lensed by five-time Cesar nominee Christophe Beaucarne (Coco Before Chanel).…...
- 1/3/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
If adultery was as drab and zestless a business as it’s made to look in “Lovers,” nobody would engage in it — in which case Nicole Garcia’s languid, boilerplate-stylish romantic melodrama would gain at least a measure of the novelty it so sorely lacks. Unspooling in competition at the Venice Film Festival, this French three-hander offers an old-fashioned blend of desire, betrayal, criminal activity and young, naked, attractively entwined bodies. So why is it so plodding and unsexy, and why do the lovers of the title generate nary a matchstick spark between them? A marginal effort for all involved, “Lovers” sees actor-turned-director Garcia failing to regain form after 2016’s turgid Marion Cotillard vehicle “From the Land of the Moon,” and while the star trio of Stacy Martin, Pierre Niney and Benoît Magimel will generate some interest on home turf, few distributors abroad will be seduced.
That Garcia and regular...
That Garcia and regular...
- 9/4/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Comédie humaine
France’s Xavier Giannoli scored a sleeper hit with 2018’s supernatural tinged drama The Apparition starring Vincent Lindon (scoring a Cesar nod for newcomer Galatea Bellugi), but moves towards something a bit more high profile next year with his adaptation of Balzac’s Lost Illusions, which will star Cecile De France, Xavier Dolan, Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, Vincent Lacoste, Andre Marcon, Benjamin Voison, Jean-Francois Stevenin and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. The title is produced by Olivier Delbosc and lensed by five-time Cesar nominee Christophe Beaucarne (Mr. Nobody; Coco Before Chanel). Giannoli has competed twice in Cannes, with 2006’s The Singer (also starring De France and Depardieu) and 2009’s In the Beginning.…...
France’s Xavier Giannoli scored a sleeper hit with 2018’s supernatural tinged drama The Apparition starring Vincent Lindon (scoring a Cesar nod for newcomer Galatea Bellugi), but moves towards something a bit more high profile next year with his adaptation of Balzac’s Lost Illusions, which will star Cecile De France, Xavier Dolan, Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, Vincent Lacoste, Andre Marcon, Benjamin Voison, Jean-Francois Stevenin and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. The title is produced by Olivier Delbosc and lensed by five-time Cesar nominee Christophe Beaucarne (Mr. Nobody; Coco Before Chanel). Giannoli has competed twice in Cannes, with 2006’s The Singer (also starring De France and Depardieu) and 2009’s In the Beginning.…...
- 1/1/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Lisa Redler
Nicole Garcia returned to work with producers David Thion and Philippe Martin for Les Films Pelleas (who produced her 2013 title Going Away / Un beau dimanche) on Lisa Redler – which was co-produced by France 3 Cinema. Garcia returns to work with Dp Christophe Beaucarne and the film’s three main headliners are Pierre Niney, Stacy Martin and Benoit Magimel. Garcia worked as an actress with auteurs such as Bertrand Blier and Alain Resnais in the 70s. Kicking off a directorial career in the 1990s, she competed in Karlovy Vary with 1994’s The Favorite Son and then Venice with her Catherine Deneuve headlined Place Vendome in 1998 (which nabbed Debut the Volpi Cup for Best Actress).…...
Nicole Garcia returned to work with producers David Thion and Philippe Martin for Les Films Pelleas (who produced her 2013 title Going Away / Un beau dimanche) on Lisa Redler – which was co-produced by France 3 Cinema. Garcia returns to work with Dp Christophe Beaucarne and the film’s three main headliners are Pierre Niney, Stacy Martin and Benoit Magimel. Garcia worked as an actress with auteurs such as Bertrand Blier and Alain Resnais in the 70s. Kicking off a directorial career in the 1990s, she competed in Karlovy Vary with 1994’s The Favorite Son and then Venice with her Catherine Deneuve headlined Place Vendome in 1998 (which nabbed Debut the Volpi Cup for Best Actress).…...
- 1/1/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Delphine Lehericey’s “Beyond the Horizon” may be playing the New Directors section at San Sebastian, but the young director is really anything but, having spent the last decade working in live theater and making a number of TV documentaries before, in 2013, making her fiction feature debut with another New Directors player, “Puppylove.”
Based on the book of the same name by Roland Buti, and set during the European continental heatwave of 1976, the film focuses on a provincial farming family in rural Romandy, Switzerland.
Bolstered by performances from standout actresses Laetitia Casta, a French Academy César nominated actress for her work in 2010’s “Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life,” Clémence Poésy, most recognizable from her turn as Fleur Delacour in the “Harry Potter” films, “Beyond the Horizon” also features newcomer Luc Bruchez in the film’s lead role.
A co-production between Switzerland’s Box Productions and Belgium’s Entre Chien et Loup,...
Based on the book of the same name by Roland Buti, and set during the European continental heatwave of 1976, the film focuses on a provincial farming family in rural Romandy, Switzerland.
Bolstered by performances from standout actresses Laetitia Casta, a French Academy César nominated actress for her work in 2010’s “Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life,” Clémence Poésy, most recognizable from her turn as Fleur Delacour in the “Harry Potter” films, “Beyond the Horizon” also features newcomer Luc Bruchez in the film’s lead role.
A co-production between Switzerland’s Box Productions and Belgium’s Entre Chien et Loup,...
- 9/26/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Lisa Redler
Actress/director Nicole Garcia commences her ninth feature with Lisa Redler, returning to work with producers David Thion and Philippe Martin for Les Films Pelleras (who produced her 2013 title Going Away / Un beau dimanche). The title will be co-produced by France 3 Cinema. Garcia returns to work with Dp Christophe Beaucarne (who was nominated for a Cesar on her 2016 title From the Land of the Moon – review). The film’s three main headliners are César winner Pierre Niney, Stacy Martin and Benoit Magimel.
Garcia, who became a renowned actress in the 1970s working with auteurs like Bertrand Blier and Alain Resnais, won a Best Supporting Actress Cesar for 1979’s Le Cavaleur, directed by Philippe de Broca.…...
Actress/director Nicole Garcia commences her ninth feature with Lisa Redler, returning to work with producers David Thion and Philippe Martin for Les Films Pelleras (who produced her 2013 title Going Away / Un beau dimanche). The title will be co-produced by France 3 Cinema. Garcia returns to work with Dp Christophe Beaucarne (who was nominated for a Cesar on her 2016 title From the Land of the Moon – review). The film’s three main headliners are César winner Pierre Niney, Stacy Martin and Benoit Magimel.
Garcia, who became a renowned actress in the 1970s working with auteurs like Bertrand Blier and Alain Resnais, won a Best Supporting Actress Cesar for 1979’s Le Cavaleur, directed by Philippe de Broca.…...
- 1/1/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
“Bpm” triumphed at the César Awards, taking home the prizes for Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Antoine Reinartz), Best Male Newcomer (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), Best Original Score, and Best Editing. Robin Campillo’s drama about AIDS activists in Paris also won the Grand Prix at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, but wasn’t nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film — a snub that was met with some controversy.
Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless,” which is nominated for the Oscar, won the equivalent award. Albert Dupontel’s “Au revoir là-haut” also had a big night, taking Best Director, Best Actress (Jeanne Balibar), and three other prizes. Full list of winners:
Best Film
“Bpm,” Robin Campillo
“Au revoir là-haut,” Albert Dupontel
“Barbara,” Mathieu Amalric
“Le Brio,” Yvan Attal
“Patients,” Grand Corps Malade, Mehdi Idir
“Petit Paysan,” Hubert Charuel
“C’est La Vie,” Eric Tolédano, Olivier Nakache
Best Director
Robin Campillo,...
Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless,” which is nominated for the Oscar, won the equivalent award. Albert Dupontel’s “Au revoir là-haut” also had a big night, taking Best Director, Best Actress (Jeanne Balibar), and three other prizes. Full list of winners:
Best Film
“Bpm,” Robin Campillo
“Au revoir là-haut,” Albert Dupontel
“Barbara,” Mathieu Amalric
“Le Brio,” Yvan Attal
“Patients,” Grand Corps Malade, Mehdi Idir
“Petit Paysan,” Hubert Charuel
“C’est La Vie,” Eric Tolédano, Olivier Nakache
Best Director
Robin Campillo,...
- 3/2/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart was named Best Actor at the Lumière Awards for 120 Bpm (Beats Per Minute) Photo: Unifrance The organisers of France’s answer to Hollywood’s Golden Globes, the Lumière Awards (discerned by members of the international press) have given six awards to 120 Bpm (Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo’s Aids activist drama that has been consistently picking up acclaim and prizes since its Cannes debut (and a Grand Prix award) last May.
The accolades bestowed at the 23rd edition of the Lumières in Paris included prizes for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. Mathieu Amalric who had received four nominations, took away two prizes for Barbara - Best Actress for Jeanne Balibar, who played the iconic singer, and Best Photography for Christophe Beaucarne. Veteran Agnès Varda and her collaborator, simply known as Jr, scooped Best Documentary award for the Oscar-nominated Faces Places.
Monica Bellucci...
The accolades bestowed at the 23rd edition of the Lumières in Paris included prizes for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. Mathieu Amalric who had received four nominations, took away two prizes for Barbara - Best Actress for Jeanne Balibar, who played the iconic singer, and Best Photography for Christophe Beaucarne. Veteran Agnès Varda and her collaborator, simply known as Jr, scooped Best Documentary award for the Oscar-nominated Faces Places.
Monica Bellucci...
- 2/6/2018
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart was named Best Actor at the Lumière Awards for 120 Bpm (Beats Per Minute) Photo: Unifrance The organisers of France’s answer to Hollywood’s Golden Globes, the Lumière Awards (discerned by members of the international press) have given six awards to 120 Bpm (Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo’s Aids activist drama that has been consistently picking up acclaim and prizes since its Cannes debut (and a Grand Prix award) last May.
The accolades bestowed at the 23rd edition of the Lumières in Paris included prizes for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. Mathieu Amalric who had received four nominations, took away two prizes for Barbara - Best Actress for Jeanne Balibar, who played the iconic singer, and Best Photography for Christophe Beaucarne. Veteran Agnès Varda and her collaborator, simply known as Jr, scooped Best Documentary award for the Oscar-nominated Faces Places.
Monica Bellucci...
The accolades bestowed at the 23rd edition of the Lumières in Paris included prizes for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. Mathieu Amalric who had received four nominations, took away two prizes for Barbara - Best Actress for Jeanne Balibar, who played the iconic singer, and Best Photography for Christophe Beaucarne. Veteran Agnès Varda and her collaborator, simply known as Jr, scooped Best Documentary award for the Oscar-nominated Faces Places.
Monica Bellucci...
- 2/6/2018
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
French Aids activism drama earns six top French awards after missing out on Oscar consideration.
Robin Campillo’s Aids activism drama Bpm (Beats Per Minute) triumphed at the 23rd Lumière Awards, France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes, on Monday evening (February 5), winning in all six categories in which it was nominated.
The feature, revolving around the work of the French branch of militant Aids advocacy group Act Up in the early 1990s, won best director, screenplay and film.
Co-star Nahuel Pérez Biscayart clinched best actor for his performance as young activist Sean Delmazo, who battles the illness to the death, while Arnaud Valois picked up best male revelation for his performance as Sean’s loyal partner. Arnaud Rebotini won for best music.
After thanking Campillo, the film’s producers Hugues Charbonneau and Marie-Ange Luciani, as well as the rest of cast and crew, Biscayart also paid tribute to Act Up for its pioneering work to raise awareness...
Robin Campillo’s Aids activism drama Bpm (Beats Per Minute) triumphed at the 23rd Lumière Awards, France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes, on Monday evening (February 5), winning in all six categories in which it was nominated.
The feature, revolving around the work of the French branch of militant Aids advocacy group Act Up in the early 1990s, won best director, screenplay and film.
Co-star Nahuel Pérez Biscayart clinched best actor for his performance as young activist Sean Delmazo, who battles the illness to the death, while Arnaud Valois picked up best male revelation for his performance as Sean’s loyal partner. Arnaud Rebotini won for best music.
After thanking Campillo, the film’s producers Hugues Charbonneau and Marie-Ange Luciani, as well as the rest of cast and crew, Biscayart also paid tribute to Act Up for its pioneering work to raise awareness...
- 2/6/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
It’s one thing to make a movie about an artist and his art; it is a whole other thing to make a movie about an artist mostly just doing his art. That is the central focus of Rodin, a film concerning the famed sculptor Auguste Rodin (Vincent Lindon) that all but sucks away the drama in favor of scenes of the artist creating his work. Some of these sequences do in fact work, especially when director Jacques Doillon is trying to recreate the time period when Rodin was struggling to make the sculpture of Balzac. Authorities aren’t happy that he has painted him as an overweight figure, which he was, and demand a skinnier version. The eureka moment is his ingenious idea of plastering a robe on the statue. It’s the film’s finest scene, making one feel as if they were in the room that day when that time-capsule-worthy moment happened.
- 5/27/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Nicole Garcia to her producer Alain Attal on Milena Agus's novel Mal Di Petra: "Tell me if the rights are free or not!" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
After attending the morning press preview for Agnès Varda's exhibition at Blum & Poe, organized by Olivier Renaud-Clément, I walked over to Le Parker Meridien to meet with Nicole Garcia for a conversation on From The Land Of The Moon (Mal De Pierres), co-written with Jacques Fieschi and starring Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel and Alex Brendemühl. Shot provocatively by Christophe Beaucarne (Étienne Comar's Django, which stars Reda Kateb with Cécile de France; and Jacques Doillon's Rodin, with Vincent Lindon in the title role) with costumes by Catherine Leterrier, Garcia's film carefully chisels out something about women growing up in the 1950s, claiming themselves.
Marion Cotillard as Gabrielle in Mal De Pierres
Gabrielle (Cotillard) lives with her parents and sister in the post-war French countryside.
After attending the morning press preview for Agnès Varda's exhibition at Blum & Poe, organized by Olivier Renaud-Clément, I walked over to Le Parker Meridien to meet with Nicole Garcia for a conversation on From The Land Of The Moon (Mal De Pierres), co-written with Jacques Fieschi and starring Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel and Alex Brendemühl. Shot provocatively by Christophe Beaucarne (Étienne Comar's Django, which stars Reda Kateb with Cécile de France; and Jacques Doillon's Rodin, with Vincent Lindon in the title role) with costumes by Catherine Leterrier, Garcia's film carefully chisels out something about women growing up in the 1950s, claiming themselves.
Marion Cotillard as Gabrielle in Mal De Pierres
Gabrielle (Cotillard) lives with her parents and sister in the post-war French countryside.
- 3/15/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
At lunch with Reda Kateb, who plays Django Reinhardt in Étienne Comar's Django Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Étienne Comar's (co-screenwriter of Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods And Men, producer of Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu) directorial debut, Django, starring Reda Kateb and Cécile de France with Alex Brendemühl (who is also in Nicole Garcia's Mal De Pierres), was the opening night film of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
Django (not to be confused with Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, which starred Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz, or Franco Nero's Django films) is based on the novel by Alexis Salatko, with a score by longtime Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis, costumes by Pascaline Chavanne, and shot by Christophe Beaucarne on the life of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.
Étienne Comar with Cécile de France and Reda Kateb Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Étienne brought up Madeline Fontaine,...
Étienne Comar's (co-screenwriter of Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods And Men, producer of Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu) directorial debut, Django, starring Reda Kateb and Cécile de France with Alex Brendemühl (who is also in Nicole Garcia's Mal De Pierres), was the opening night film of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
Django (not to be confused with Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, which starred Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz, or Franco Nero's Django films) is based on the novel by Alexis Salatko, with a score by longtime Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis, costumes by Pascaline Chavanne, and shot by Christophe Beaucarne on the life of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.
Étienne Comar with Cécile de France and Reda Kateb Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Étienne brought up Madeline Fontaine,...
- 3/5/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Before Hollywood takes the spotlight this weekend, the film world turns its eyes to France for the annual Cesar Awards. Presented by the French Academy, this year’s nominees represent a distinct blend of international favorites, festival standouts and homegrown hits.
Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” led this year’s nominees, scoring 11 nominations for Verhoeven as Best Director, lead actress Isabelle Huppert, Best Adapted Screenplay and a trio of other acting awards.
Read More: ‘Elle,’ Isabelle Huppert, Xavier Dolan Nominated in France’s Cesar Awards
The evening’s winners at Paris’ Salle Pleyel featured a variety of upsets and sure things. Huppert, going into a busy weekend in the States, won her category. In a pair of surprises, Xavier Dolan and Gaspard Ulliel both won their respective categories for Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World.” Houda Benyamina’s debut feature “Divines” also won big, taking home prizes for Best First Film,...
Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” led this year’s nominees, scoring 11 nominations for Verhoeven as Best Director, lead actress Isabelle Huppert, Best Adapted Screenplay and a trio of other acting awards.
Read More: ‘Elle,’ Isabelle Huppert, Xavier Dolan Nominated in France’s Cesar Awards
The evening’s winners at Paris’ Salle Pleyel featured a variety of upsets and sure things. Huppert, going into a busy weekend in the States, won her category. In a pair of surprises, Xavier Dolan and Gaspard Ulliel both won their respective categories for Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World.” Houda Benyamina’s debut feature “Divines” also won big, taking home prizes for Best First Film,...
- 2/24/2017
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
France’s film community congratulated Isabelle Huppert on her Oscar nomination, adding yet another to her growing list of accolades for her performance in “Elle.” The French Academy announced its nominees for what Americans call the “French Oscars” on Wednesday morning. “Elle” received 11 nominations in total, including best film and best director for Paul Verhoeven.
Following in a close send was Francois Ozon’s “Frantz,” which garnered 10 nominations, and Bruno Dumont’s “Slack Bay,” which received nine. Xavier Dolan received a best director nomination for “It’s Only the End of the World.” Actors Vincent Cassel, Gaspard Ulliel, and Nathalie Baye were all nominated for their work in Dolan’s film as well.
Read More: Oscars 2017 Surprises and Snubs: Amy Adams and ‘Weiner’ Out, Mel Gibson and ‘Passengers’ In
The Cesars have little import on the Oscars, though there is often some crossover. The French Academy did recognize Kenneth Lonergan...
Following in a close send was Francois Ozon’s “Frantz,” which garnered 10 nominations, and Bruno Dumont’s “Slack Bay,” which received nine. Xavier Dolan received a best director nomination for “It’s Only the End of the World.” Actors Vincent Cassel, Gaspard Ulliel, and Nathalie Baye were all nominated for their work in Dolan’s film as well.
Read More: Oscars 2017 Surprises and Snubs: Amy Adams and ‘Weiner’ Out, Mel Gibson and ‘Passengers’ In
The Cesars have little import on the Oscars, though there is often some crossover. The French Academy did recognize Kenneth Lonergan...
- 1/25/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
There is a way that you do World War II films. You adapt a well-known book. You pay a lot of attention to locations and period costuming. You send up the bat-signal for Daniel Brühl and/or Sebastian Koch to lend some genuine Germanness, get a respected Dp to lend texture to the mandatory brown/gray palette (with splashes of shocking Nazi red), and secure the services of an Oscar-winning composer known for his neo-classical/orchestral talents. And you cast notable, never-miss non-German thesps as your main leads and have them speak in accented English. "Alone in Berlin," adapted by French actor-turned-director Vincent Perez from the bestselling novel by Hans Fallada with cinematography from Christophe Beaucarne ("Coco Before Chanel," "Beauty and the Beast"), is an English-language film, scored by Alexandre Desplat, starring Brendan Gleeson, Emma Thompson and Brühl—one imagines Koch must have been indisposed. This film adheres...
- 2/15/2016
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Gemma Arterton is a joy to watch but can’t carry this Posy Simmonds-meets-Flaubert caper alone
Mercurial Gemma Arterton provided the spark that sold Tamara Drewe to cinema audiences, and she’s the main attraction again in this latest Posy Simmonds adaptation. Arterton plays Gemma Bovery (the on-screen title initially withholds the “G”), a restless Brit who decamps to bucolic Normandy, where her life imitates that of literature’s most infamously bored housewife. Under the lustful gaze of Flaubert fan Martin (Fabrice Luchini, all startled eyes and hangdog mouth), Gemma is soon bedding the local young buck, unnoticed by husband Charlie (Jason Flemyng), who’s too busy restoring antiques to keep track of his marriage.
Arterton has flirty fun with the title role, and her scenes with Luchini boast a satirical crackle that’s missing elsewhere. Cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne drools over the picturesque landscapes while Bruno Colais’s music...
Mercurial Gemma Arterton provided the spark that sold Tamara Drewe to cinema audiences, and she’s the main attraction again in this latest Posy Simmonds adaptation. Arterton plays Gemma Bovery (the on-screen title initially withholds the “G”), a restless Brit who decamps to bucolic Normandy, where her life imitates that of literature’s most infamously bored housewife. Under the lustful gaze of Flaubert fan Martin (Fabrice Luchini, all startled eyes and hangdog mouth), Gemma is soon bedding the local young buck, unnoticed by husband Charlie (Jason Flemyng), who’s too busy restoring antiques to keep track of his marriage.
Arterton has flirty fun with the title role, and her scenes with Luchini boast a satirical crackle that’s missing elsewhere. Cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne drools over the picturesque landscapes while Bruno Colais’s music...
- 8/23/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Second World War drama will shoot on location in Berlin, Cologne and Görlitz.
The English-language adaptation of Hans Fallada’s classic 1947 novel Alone In Berlin is set to begin shooting in Germany.
Based on the true story of a working class couple who conducted a series of anonymous protests against the Nazi regime during the Second World War, principal photography will begin tomorrow (March 27) on location in Berlin, Cologne and Görlitz.
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) and Brendan Gleeson (Calvary) star as Anna and Otto Quangel, with Daniel Brühl (Rush) playing Gestapo inspector Escherich.
Producers are Stefan Arndt and Uwe Schott for X-Filme, the German production outfit whose credits include Amour, The White Ribbon and Cloud Atlas.
Co-producers are Master Movie’s Marco Pacchioni together with James Schamus and FilmWave’s Christian Grass and Paul Trijbits.
French actor Vincent Perez will direct.
The screenplay was written by Achim von Borries (Good Bye Lenin!) and Vincent...
The English-language adaptation of Hans Fallada’s classic 1947 novel Alone In Berlin is set to begin shooting in Germany.
Based on the true story of a working class couple who conducted a series of anonymous protests against the Nazi regime during the Second World War, principal photography will begin tomorrow (March 27) on location in Berlin, Cologne and Görlitz.
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) and Brendan Gleeson (Calvary) star as Anna and Otto Quangel, with Daniel Brühl (Rush) playing Gestapo inspector Escherich.
Producers are Stefan Arndt and Uwe Schott for X-Filme, the German production outfit whose credits include Amour, The White Ribbon and Cloud Atlas.
Co-producers are Master Movie’s Marco Pacchioni together with James Schamus and FilmWave’s Christian Grass and Paul Trijbits.
French actor Vincent Perez will direct.
The screenplay was written by Achim von Borries (Good Bye Lenin!) and Vincent...
- 3/26/2015
- by [email protected] (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The Town That Dreaded Showdown: Bouchareb Returns to New Mexican Landscape with Mixed Results
French director Rachid Bouchareb’s long celebrated filmography has garnered two of his titles Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film (Dust of Life; Days of Glory), along with a host of other accolades for a body of work that often revolves around either Algerian experiences in France (modern and period), or explorations of race and/or gender within unique narratives. A long-time producer of Bruno Dumont’s work, Bouchareb has been pursuing a variety of international productions. His latest, Two Men in Town, is a morality exercise that happens to take place in roughly the same Us locale as his last effort, 2012’s Just Like a Woman. Despite a notable cast and several rather arresting performances, the end result never elevates beyond a standard dramatic exercise that ends in more or less the same...
French director Rachid Bouchareb’s long celebrated filmography has garnered two of his titles Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film (Dust of Life; Days of Glory), along with a host of other accolades for a body of work that often revolves around either Algerian experiences in France (modern and period), or explorations of race and/or gender within unique narratives. A long-time producer of Bruno Dumont’s work, Bouchareb has been pursuing a variety of international productions. His latest, Two Men in Town, is a morality exercise that happens to take place in roughly the same Us locale as his last effort, 2012’s Just Like a Woman. Despite a notable cast and several rather arresting performances, the end result never elevates beyond a standard dramatic exercise that ends in more or less the same...
- 3/4/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Designer biopic leads the pack with 10 nominations; Kristen Stewart, Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche in the running for actress awards.Scroll down for full list of nominees
Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent and Olivier Assays’ Sils Maria are the hot favourites in France’s 40th annual Cesar awards.
France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for this year’s César Awards at its traditional news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées on Friday morning.
Biopic Saint Laurent - exploring fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s life from 1967 to 1976 - led the pack with 10 nominations including best film, best director for Bonello, best actor for Gaspard Ulliel and best supporting actor for Louis Garrel.
Jalil Lespert’s rival biopic, Yves Saint Laurent, secured seven nominations. While it missed out in the best film and director categories, it scored nods with Pierre Niney for best actor, Charlotte Le Bon for best...
Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent and Olivier Assays’ Sils Maria are the hot favourites in France’s 40th annual Cesar awards.
France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for this year’s César Awards at its traditional news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées on Friday morning.
Biopic Saint Laurent - exploring fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s life from 1967 to 1976 - led the pack with 10 nominations including best film, best director for Bonello, best actor for Gaspard Ulliel and best supporting actor for Louis Garrel.
Jalil Lespert’s rival biopic, Yves Saint Laurent, secured seven nominations. While it missed out in the best film and director categories, it scored nods with Pierre Niney for best actor, Charlotte Le Bon for best...
- 1/28/2015
- ScreenDaily
Blue in the Face: Amalric’s Simenon Adaptation an Exquisite Enigma
Though actor/director Mathieu Amalric’s last directorial effort, On Tour (2010), landed him a Best Director win at the Cannes Film Festival, it never received Us distribution. Thankfully, his latest effort, an adaptation of Georges Simenon’s novel The Blue Room, won’t be subjected to the same neglect, as it’s an elegantly staged exercise of what could have easily been a straightforward nourish tale of adultery and murder. Pared down to a regal running time of barely eighty minutes, Amalric’s film is cinema of sensation, a puzzle of subtlety detailed accents and various, deliberate textures. Swift and intoxicating, by the time its final implications have been announced, what’s left is a sense of paralytic comprehension, a goading motivation for a second viewing. It’s depiction of an adulterous affair is icy, complicated, isolating, but...
Though actor/director Mathieu Amalric’s last directorial effort, On Tour (2010), landed him a Best Director win at the Cannes Film Festival, it never received Us distribution. Thankfully, his latest effort, an adaptation of Georges Simenon’s novel The Blue Room, won’t be subjected to the same neglect, as it’s an elegantly staged exercise of what could have easily been a straightforward nourish tale of adultery and murder. Pared down to a regal running time of barely eighty minutes, Amalric’s film is cinema of sensation, a puzzle of subtlety detailed accents and various, deliberate textures. Swift and intoxicating, by the time its final implications have been announced, what’s left is a sense of paralytic comprehension, a goading motivation for a second viewing. It’s depiction of an adulterous affair is icy, complicated, isolating, but...
- 9/29/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Mathieu Amalric's brisk, agreeably nasty thriller The Blue Room turns on a couple murders -- or does it? -- but rather than corpses, it's time and space and human connection that get most memorably diced, here. Working from Georges Simenon's '64 novel of a wrong man accused -- or is he the right man? -- co-writer/director/proudly nude star Amalric cuts everything to the quick: Most shots have the feel of still photos, the camera firmly planted and the actors not moving much, and the movie always hustles us to the next, back and forward in time, the effect part Resnais and part staccato Kodak slideshow.
The images often even suggest an album of Polaroids. Amalric and Mvp director of photography Christophe Beaucarne composed in the comparatively ...
The images often even suggest an album of Polaroids. Amalric and Mvp director of photography Christophe Beaucarne composed in the comparatively ...
- 9/26/2014
- Village Voice
Exclusive: Catherine Deneuve has joined the cast of Cannes award-winning director Jaco Van Dormael’s surreal comedy in which God lives in Brussels.
The Brand New Testament will star comedian Benoit Poelvoorde as God and Yolande Moreau as God’s wife. Deneuve, the Belle du Jour star who more recently starred in Potiche, also features.
The original story, co-written by Van Dormael and Thomas Gunzig, portrays God as an odious character who is disliked by his family.
His daughter, Ea, decides to run away from home but first hacks her father’s computer and lets everyone in the world know the date when they are going to die. God takes to the streets to find Ea and discovers the horrors of a world he created himself.
Produced by Van Dormael, Olivier Rausin, Daniel Marquet, David Grumbach, and Frank Van Passel, the film is set up as a Belgium, French and Luxembourg coproduction with an $11.4m (€8.3m) budget...
The Brand New Testament will star comedian Benoit Poelvoorde as God and Yolande Moreau as God’s wife. Deneuve, the Belle du Jour star who more recently starred in Potiche, also features.
The original story, co-written by Van Dormael and Thomas Gunzig, portrays God as an odious character who is disliked by his family.
His daughter, Ea, decides to run away from home but first hacks her father’s computer and lets everyone in the world know the date when they are going to die. God takes to the streets to find Ea and discovers the horrors of a world he created himself.
Produced by Van Dormael, Olivier Rausin, Daniel Marquet, David Grumbach, and Frank Van Passel, the film is set up as a Belgium, French and Luxembourg coproduction with an $11.4m (€8.3m) budget...
- 5/14/2014
- by [email protected] (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Sneak Peek the first images from "Brotherhood of The Wolf" director Christophe Gans' latest feature, "Beauty and the Beast" ("La belle & la bête"), to be released through Warner Bros Fine Line Features, February 12, 2014:
Cast includes Vincent Cassel as 'La Bête', Léa Seydoux as 'La Belle', and André Dussollier as 'le père'.
"I will keep to a form of storytelling of this timeless fairy tale that is in keeping with the same pace and characters as the original," said Gans.
"I will surprise the audience by creating a completely new visual universe never experienced before and produce images of an unparalleled quality.
"Every single one of my movies has presented me with a challenge, but this one is, by far, the most exciting and rewarding..."
Music is by Alexandre Desplat with cinematography by Christophe Beaucarne.
Click the images to enlarge...
Cast includes Vincent Cassel as 'La Bête', Léa Seydoux as 'La Belle', and André Dussollier as 'le père'.
"I will keep to a form of storytelling of this timeless fairy tale that is in keeping with the same pace and characters as the original," said Gans.
"I will surprise the audience by creating a completely new visual universe never experienced before and produce images of an unparalleled quality.
"Every single one of my movies has presented me with a challenge, but this one is, by far, the most exciting and rewarding..."
Music is by Alexandre Desplat with cinematography by Christophe Beaucarne.
Click the images to enlarge...
- 9/28/2013
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
M Is For the Many Things You Gave Me: Fontaine’s Cougars and MoFos Fashion Her Striking English Debut
Two parts high trash and one part scintillating case study, Anne Fontaine’s English language debut, the Australian set Adore, based on a novel by Doris Lessing, is awkward, uncomfortable, and sure to provoke reactions. While dismissal and nervous laughter are perhaps the key responses amongst conditioned conservative consumers of English language cinema, Fontaine’s latest is ballsy, to say the least. While it’s not entirely successful on all counts and has a tendency to seem like a bizarrely crafted arthouse soft core fantasy exploring hot topic taboos, especially considered the disarmingly good looking cast, with two mothers that happen to be played by incredibly attractive actresses (which only makes it foolishly palatable), there’s a fascinating depth to this challenging piece, even if you are laughing when you’re not supposed to,...
Two parts high trash and one part scintillating case study, Anne Fontaine’s English language debut, the Australian set Adore, based on a novel by Doris Lessing, is awkward, uncomfortable, and sure to provoke reactions. While dismissal and nervous laughter are perhaps the key responses amongst conditioned conservative consumers of English language cinema, Fontaine’s latest is ballsy, to say the least. While it’s not entirely successful on all counts and has a tendency to seem like a bizarrely crafted arthouse soft core fantasy exploring hot topic taboos, especially considered the disarmingly good looking cast, with two mothers that happen to be played by incredibly attractive actresses (which only makes it foolishly palatable), there’s a fascinating depth to this challenging piece, even if you are laughing when you’re not supposed to,...
- 9/4/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Naomi Watts and Robin Wright deliver riveting performances in Adore, a sensual and provocative drama about two lifelong friends who find unexpected happiness in relationships that cross the bounds of convention. An unpredictable tale of misguided love and a heartfelt celebration of the enduring nature of female friendship, the film is the English-speaking directorial debut of distinguished filmmaker Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel).
It is adapted for the screen by Academy Award-winning writer Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons), from a novella by Nobel Prize winner for Literature Doris Lessing.
Over the course of her career, French writer/director Anne Fontaine has explored the gray areas of emotional desires in acclaimed films such as Dry Cleaning and Nathalie. Each of those films turned on a staid middle-class couple who are unexpectedly pulled off the straight-and-narrow by an alluring young person. With Adore, Fontaine brings her light, sensuous and intelligent touch to a...
It is adapted for the screen by Academy Award-winning writer Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons), from a novella by Nobel Prize winner for Literature Doris Lessing.
Over the course of her career, French writer/director Anne Fontaine has explored the gray areas of emotional desires in acclaimed films such as Dry Cleaning and Nathalie. Each of those films turned on a staid middle-class couple who are unexpectedly pulled off the straight-and-narrow by an alluring young person. With Adore, Fontaine brings her light, sensuous and intelligent touch to a...
- 8/20/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Female Trouble: Bouchareb’s Understated First Chapter in Arab-American Trilogy
Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb, perhaps most widely recognized for his films Outside the Law (2010) and Days of Glory (2006), depicting historical and divisive conflicts between Algeria and France, returns once again to the Us with Just Like a Woman, the first film of a planned trilogy depicting the transforming relationships between the Western and Arab world. A female centric road film born out of severe character conflicts created by their oppressive, male dominated existence ensures that the film will be rampantly compared to Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise (1991), even though it avoids an overtly melodramatic malaise. Shining through its formulaic setup and stereotypical antagonists are a pair of actresses that manage to fit perfectly with Bouchareb’s knack for uniting people despite of their socially constructed differences.
Down and out Chicago receptionist Marilyn (Sienna Miller) is struggling to make ends...
Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb, perhaps most widely recognized for his films Outside the Law (2010) and Days of Glory (2006), depicting historical and divisive conflicts between Algeria and France, returns once again to the Us with Just Like a Woman, the first film of a planned trilogy depicting the transforming relationships between the Western and Arab world. A female centric road film born out of severe character conflicts created by their oppressive, male dominated existence ensures that the film will be rampantly compared to Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise (1991), even though it avoids an overtly melodramatic malaise. Shining through its formulaic setup and stereotypical antagonists are a pair of actresses that manage to fit perfectly with Bouchareb’s knack for uniting people despite of their socially constructed differences.
Down and out Chicago receptionist Marilyn (Sienna Miller) is struggling to make ends...
- 7/5/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
This is a reprint of our review from the Venice Film Festival.
It can be difficult to shift from animation to live-action direction; the processes are very different, and even an accomplished animation helmer can sometimes be undone once they're faced with cameras, actors and the breakneck schedule of a feature film shoot, as opposed to the multi-year process that produces a feature cartoon. Some have managed it, Tim Burton being the most obvious example (at first, anyway...) and Pixar dons Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton are both hoping to make the leap in the next few months. It's got to be even harder to go from working in graphic novels, to animation, to live-action, but that's been the path for Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud in the last few years.
Satrapi is the Iranian-born author of "Persepolis," the best-selling, award-winning graphic novel that was adapted in 2007 into the Oscar-nominated...
It can be difficult to shift from animation to live-action direction; the processes are very different, and even an accomplished animation helmer can sometimes be undone once they're faced with cameras, actors and the breakneck schedule of a feature film shoot, as opposed to the multi-year process that produces a feature cartoon. Some have managed it, Tim Burton being the most obvious example (at first, anyway...) and Pixar dons Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton are both hoping to make the leap in the next few months. It's got to be even harder to go from working in graphic novels, to animation, to live-action, but that's been the path for Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud in the last few years.
Satrapi is the Iranian-born author of "Persepolis," the best-selling, award-winning graphic novel that was adapted in 2007 into the Oscar-nominated...
- 4/24/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
It's been a whole month since SXSW but the next fest is just a day away, with the 11th installment of the Tribeca Film Festival, the New York-based celebration of the movies set up by Robert De Niro and producing partner Jane Rosenthal, kicking off this Wednesday, April 18th.
Running to the end of the month, this year's festival is bookended by a pair of particularly high-profile pictures: opening with "The Five-Year Engagement," the latest Judd Apatow-produced rom-com from Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel (the team behind "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "The Muppets") and closing with Joss Whedon's Marvel superhero team-up "The Avengers." And yesterday, we ran down our most anticipated titles from the fest, many of which are making their world premiere or stateside debuts.
However, a number of films playing Tribeca are highlights from major festivals across the last year, from Cannes to Sundance. We've caught...
Running to the end of the month, this year's festival is bookended by a pair of particularly high-profile pictures: opening with "The Five-Year Engagement," the latest Judd Apatow-produced rom-com from Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel (the team behind "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "The Muppets") and closing with Joss Whedon's Marvel superhero team-up "The Avengers." And yesterday, we ran down our most anticipated titles from the fest, many of which are making their world premiere or stateside debuts.
However, a number of films playing Tribeca are highlights from major festivals across the last year, from Cannes to Sundance. We've caught...
- 4/17/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
"After the freshness and deceptive simplicity of their debut, the 2007 animated feature Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Poulet aux Prunes — or Chicken with Plums — showing in competition here, is something of a disappointment," finds Movieline's Stephanie Zacharek. "The cast isn't the problem: The movie stars Mathieu Amalric as an embittered musician living in late-1950s Tehran, and Maria de Medeiros as his beleaguered but adoring wife; Chiara Mastroianni has a tiny part, and the fine Moroccan-born actor Jamel Debbouze appears in small dual roles. But the material just doesn't resonate, as Persepolis did."
Variety's Jay Weissberg disagrees: "Largely set in 1958 Tehran, the story, adapted from Satrapi's graphic novel, is a fail-safe tale of lost love leavened with panache, incorporating past and present with sweet and sour flavorings…. What Satrapi and Paronnaud have really achieved is an evocation of a lost world, much as they did in Persepolis. They've beautifully re-created the fiercely proud,...
Variety's Jay Weissberg disagrees: "Largely set in 1958 Tehran, the story, adapted from Satrapi's graphic novel, is a fail-safe tale of lost love leavened with panache, incorporating past and present with sweet and sour flavorings…. What Satrapi and Paronnaud have really achieved is an evocation of a lost world, much as they did in Persepolis. They've beautifully re-created the fiercely proud,...
- 9/5/2011
- MUBI
Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" dominated the nominations of the 36th Annual Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. "Of Gods" received 11 nominations total and will compete against Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), Mammuth, Le Nom Des Gens, The Ghost Writer, and On Tour for Best Film.
The Social Network, Invictus, Inception, Illegal, The Secret In Their Eyes, Bright Star, and Les Amours Imaginaires will duke it out for the Best Foreign Film category.
Jodie Foster will preside over the ceremony and Quentin Tarantino will be given an honorary Cesar award. The 36th Annual Cesar Awards will be held on Feb. 25th.
Here is the full list of nominees:
Best Film
Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), dir: Pascal Chaumeil
Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes Et Des Dieu), dir: Xavier Beauvois
Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), dir: Joann Sfar
Mammuth, dir: Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern
Le Nom Des Gens, dir: Michel Leclerc
The Ghost Writer,...
The Social Network, Invictus, Inception, Illegal, The Secret In Their Eyes, Bright Star, and Les Amours Imaginaires will duke it out for the Best Foreign Film category.
Jodie Foster will preside over the ceremony and Quentin Tarantino will be given an honorary Cesar award. The 36th Annual Cesar Awards will be held on Feb. 25th.
Here is the full list of nominees:
Best Film
Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), dir: Pascal Chaumeil
Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes Et Des Dieu), dir: Xavier Beauvois
Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), dir: Joann Sfar
Mammuth, dir: Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern
Le Nom Des Gens, dir: Michel Leclerc
The Ghost Writer,...
- 1/21/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The nominations for this year’s César Awards (France’s Oscar equivalent) has been announced. In addition the awards ceremony has also chosen Quentin Tarantino as the recipient of the ceremony’s honorary award. Alain Terzian, the president of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma announced at a press conference this morning confirmed that the director would be present to ick up his award in person.
It is also worth noting that there are three American movies among the seven nominees for Best Foreign Film: Inception, The Social Network and perhaps the biggest surprise, Invictus.
The 36th edition of the Césars will take place on February 25 in Paris.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Best Movie
L’arnacoeur by Pascal Chaumeil
Le nom des gens by Michel Leclerc
The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski
Tournée by Mathieu Amalric
Des Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois
Gainsbourg...
It is also worth noting that there are three American movies among the seven nominees for Best Foreign Film: Inception, The Social Network and perhaps the biggest surprise, Invictus.
The 36th edition of the Césars will take place on February 25 in Paris.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Best Movie
L’arnacoeur by Pascal Chaumeil
Le nom des gens by Michel Leclerc
The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski
Tournée by Mathieu Amalric
Des Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois
Gainsbourg...
- 1/21/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Three U.S. films are among the seven nominees for best foreign film in this year’s César Awards, France’s version of the Oscars. Meanwhile, American director Quentin Tarantino has been selected to receive an honorary award and will be at the Feb. 25 ceremony in Paris to accept it, it was announced Friday.
The three American films cited by the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema are Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” an Oscar contender in the States last year.
Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods and Men” (“Des hommes et des Dieux”) — not one of the nine films still in contention for the best foreign film Oscar — leads with 10 nominations, while Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg” (“Vie Héroïque”) are also nominated in multiple categories.
Presiding over this year’s awards is American actress and director Jodie Foster.
The three American films cited by the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema are Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” an Oscar contender in the States last year.
Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods and Men” (“Des hommes et des Dieux”) — not one of the nine films still in contention for the best foreign film Oscar — leads with 10 nominations, while Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg” (“Vie Héroïque”) are also nominated in multiple categories.
Presiding over this year’s awards is American actress and director Jodie Foster.
- 1/21/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
I must admit that Mathieu Almaric’s Tournee largely sneaked under my radar prior to my arrival at the festival this week, but would most probably have made it on to my Highlights article in the run-up had I been more aware of it. You see, not only am I a huge admirer of Almaric as an actor: he was exceptional in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and was one of the only highlights of Quantum of Solace (the most ridiculous extended chase movie I have ever watched), I am also an avid fan of the wonderful artistic movement that is burlesque. So to have both on show in one feature, screening In Competition on the Croisette was understandably manna from heaven for the likes of me.
For anyone else who missed the official synopsis, it reads, deliciously, as follows:
Joachim, a former Parisian television producer had left everything behind- his children,...
For anyone else who missed the official synopsis, it reads, deliciously, as follows:
Joachim, a former Parisian television producer had left everything behind- his children,...
- 5/15/2010
- by Simon Gallagher
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Paris – French Academy members got serious on Friday with two politically charged dramas heading the major categories for the 35th annual Cesar Awards that will see Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet" go head to head with Philippe Lioret's "Welcome." The nominees were announced Friday at a press conference in Paris.
While no one can foresee the winners, "A Prophet" looks bound to triumph with Jacques Audiard's prison drama nominated for 13 awards including best film, best director and a best actor and most promising male newcomer nod for the film's breakout star Tahar Rahim.
Academy voters also gave a hearty reception to Phillipe Lioret's "Welcome" with 10 nods and Xavier Giannoli's "In the Beginning" with 11 nominations.
Radu Mihaileanu's "The Concert" was also music to voters' ears with the tragicomedy about a washed-up former conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra who travels to Paris to make his career comeback scoring six nominations.
While no one can foresee the winners, "A Prophet" looks bound to triumph with Jacques Audiard's prison drama nominated for 13 awards including best film, best director and a best actor and most promising male newcomer nod for the film's breakout star Tahar Rahim.
Academy voters also gave a hearty reception to Phillipe Lioret's "Welcome" with 10 nods and Xavier Giannoli's "In the Beginning" with 11 nominations.
Radu Mihaileanu's "The Concert" was also music to voters' ears with the tragicomedy about a washed-up former conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra who travels to Paris to make his career comeback scoring six nominations.
- 1/22/2010
- by By Rebecca Leffler
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stockholm, Sweden -- Sundance faves "Sin Nombre" and "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" scooped the bulk of awards at the 20th Stockholm Film Festival, which wrapped up Sunday.
Mo'Nique won best actress for her powerful turn as an abusive mother in Lee Daniels' "Precious," a performance that has already put the actress on many handicappers' Oscar shortlist.
Cary Fukunaga's "Sin Nombre" picked up three of Stockholm's silver horse trophies: best actor for star Edgar Flores, best first feature film and the Fipresci International Film Critics Prize for best film.
"Now my professors will have to give me a good grade," Fukunaga joked, a reference to the fact that the feature, a story of Honduran immigrants trying to reach the U.S., was his film school graduating thesis.
But the 2009 Golden Horse for best feature film went to "Dogtooth," a surreal look at a dysfunctional family from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos.
Mo'Nique won best actress for her powerful turn as an abusive mother in Lee Daniels' "Precious," a performance that has already put the actress on many handicappers' Oscar shortlist.
Cary Fukunaga's "Sin Nombre" picked up three of Stockholm's silver horse trophies: best actor for star Edgar Flores, best first feature film and the Fipresci International Film Critics Prize for best film.
"Now my professors will have to give me a good grade," Fukunaga joked, a reference to the fact that the feature, a story of Honduran immigrants trying to reach the U.S., was his film school graduating thesis.
But the 2009 Golden Horse for best feature film went to "Dogtooth," a surreal look at a dysfunctional family from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos.
- 11/29/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
2009 Stockholm Film Festival Awards 2009 Stockholm Film Festival: Nov. 18-29, 2009 2009 Stockholm Film Festival Award winners Dogtooth by Giorgos Lanthimos Bronze Horse Awards Best Film: Dogtooth by Giorgos Lanthimos Best First Feature: Sin Nombre by Cory Juji Fukanaga Best Actress Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Best Actor Edgar Flores in Sin Nombre Best Screenplay Eran Creevy for Shifty Best Cinematography Christophe Beaucarne for Mr. Nobody Best Music Krister Linder for Metropia Best Short Film: Logorama by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, Ludovic Houplain Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2009 Susan Sarandon Stockholm Visionary Award Luc Besson L’Oréal Paris Rising Star 2009 Anastasios Soulis Fipresci Jury Prize: Sin Nombre by Cary Joji Fukanaga Honorary Mention: Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire [...]...
- 11/29/2009
- by Massimo David
- Alt Film Guide
Paris is a magical city. Being introduced to the ancient architecture and the thick, rich culture, especially for an American not used to it, can be overwhelming. I was fortunate enough to visit twice. The first time was with a group of three other Americans. We were stationed in England and had to leave base for the weekend. Since we didn’t need visas and because we figured we might not have another opportunity, we pooled our money together and had enough to get us on the ferry ride across the Channel and the train trip from Calais into Paris. We stayed three days two nights as vagrants wandering the streets of Paris, sleeping under the Eiffel Tower or in a subway station or in the nearest McDo, each of us taking shifts ordering a coffee so we wouldn’t get kicked out while the others grabbed a few winks.
- 10/2/2009
- by Marco Duran
- Atomic Popcorn
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