Michelle Yeoh is looking back on watching everything in competition at Cannes all at once while serving on the jury under then-president David Lynch in 2002.
Yeoh reflected on the particularly “emotional” year of films, ranging from Gaspar Noé’s jarringly violent sexual thriller “Irréversible” to Michael Moore’s school shooting documentary “Bowling for Columbine” and films like Olivier Assayas’ sex-trafficking mystery “Demonlover” and the Dardennes’ drama “The Son.” The Palme d’Or was eventually awarded to “The Pianist,” the harrowing Holocaust drama starring Adrien Brody and directed by Roman Polanski — who both went on to win Oscars.
Yeoh, who was fresh off of her iconic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” role, served as part of the 2002 Cannes jury at a time when she admitted she may have been “too young” to refrain from getting “too emotional” watching the heavier films back-to-back.
“It is very intense, because you’re watching two or three movies a day,...
Yeoh reflected on the particularly “emotional” year of films, ranging from Gaspar Noé’s jarringly violent sexual thriller “Irréversible” to Michael Moore’s school shooting documentary “Bowling for Columbine” and films like Olivier Assayas’ sex-trafficking mystery “Demonlover” and the Dardennes’ drama “The Son.” The Palme d’Or was eventually awarded to “The Pianist,” the harrowing Holocaust drama starring Adrien Brody and directed by Roman Polanski — who both went on to win Oscars.
Yeoh, who was fresh off of her iconic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” role, served as part of the 2002 Cannes jury at a time when she admitted she may have been “too young” to refrain from getting “too emotional” watching the heavier films back-to-back.
“It is very intense, because you’re watching two or three movies a day,...
- 5/23/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Vladimir and Rosa.“Cinema contains everything. It joins writing, painting, music. It is the most complete art.”—Juliet Berto, Ciné-Bulles, 19861Juliet Berto burst onto the Parisian film scene in the rich late 60s period of experimentation and radicalization, just as the New Wave diverged into competing streams of political and humanist directors. Her biography (what scant details are publicly available) is mythical, and tragically short: Annie Jamet, born and living in southern France, attends a Grenoble film screening where Jean-Luc Godard is present; the director, captivated by 19-year-old Annie, offers her a role in his film 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her. Annie moved to Paris, and by the end 1967, Juliet Berto (as she is credited onscreen) had appeared in three Godard films, a relationship that would deepen over the course of the radical 60s. Berto then worked with Jacques Rivette during the 70s as a key collaborator and...
- 6/1/2022
- MUBI
In the black comedy thriller “Next Door,” the directorial debut of actor Daniel Brühl, the main character, Daniel, is a successful actor living in an old quarter of Berlin. His day is about to be ruined, and his life too. Variety spoke to Brühl – whose upcoming acting credits include “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and Matthew Vaughn’s “The King’s Man” – about the film, which plays in competition this week at the Berlin Film Festival.
Daniel, played by Brühl, seems to be remarkably similar to Brühl in real life – he is of German-Spanish heritage, the hit that launched his career was a “Stasi comedy,” and since then he has acted in Hollywood movies and series. But this is not Brühl, but a “heightened” version of him, the actor-director says.
The film starts with Daniel sitting in his beautiful Berlin apartment, preparing to fly to London to audition for a Hollywood super-hero movie.
Daniel, played by Brühl, seems to be remarkably similar to Brühl in real life – he is of German-Spanish heritage, the hit that launched his career was a “Stasi comedy,” and since then he has acted in Hollywood movies and series. But this is not Brühl, but a “heightened” version of him, the actor-director says.
The film starts with Daniel sitting in his beautiful Berlin apartment, preparing to fly to London to audition for a Hollywood super-hero movie.
- 3/2/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes 2020 label film recently played at Toronto and San Sebastian.
Suzanne Lindon, at just 20 years old, was the youngest filmmaker to make it into Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection this year with her debut feature Spring Blossom.
She both directed and stars in the gentle coming-of-age tale about a Parisian teenager who enters into a platonic love affair with an actor in his 30s.
In the absence of a physical Cannes, the film premiered in Toronto’s Discovery section in early September, before heading to San Sebastian’s New Directors line-up. It is now touring festivals worldwide, stopping off this...
Suzanne Lindon, at just 20 years old, was the youngest filmmaker to make it into Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection this year with her debut feature Spring Blossom.
She both directed and stars in the gentle coming-of-age tale about a Parisian teenager who enters into a platonic love affair with an actor in his 30s.
In the absence of a physical Cannes, the film premiered in Toronto’s Discovery section in early September, before heading to San Sebastian’s New Directors line-up. It is now touring festivals worldwide, stopping off this...
- 9/30/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
In a reaffirmation of its ambitions to hold an on-site event this year, France’s Lumière Festival, run by filmmaker and film historian Bertrand Tavernier and Cannes Festival head Thierry Frémaux, has formally announced dates for its 2020 edition
The Lumière Festival 2020 has also unveiled its first program highlights: Tributes to French screenwriter Michel Audiard and to Clarence Brown, maybe the least known of Hollywood Silent Era “name” directors.
Running Oct. 10-18, the 12th Lumière Festival will take place “in movie theaters and the environs of Lyon, the festival announced Thursday in a written statement.
It could hardly be otherwise. Steered by Tavernier and Frémaux, the president and director of Lyon’s Lumière Institute, the Lumière Festival punched 200,000 admissions in 2019, despite a robust focus on classic film restorations, re-issues and retrospectives.
Key to that has been the presence in cinema theaters and on the streets of Lyon of some of the...
The Lumière Festival 2020 has also unveiled its first program highlights: Tributes to French screenwriter Michel Audiard and to Clarence Brown, maybe the least known of Hollywood Silent Era “name” directors.
Running Oct. 10-18, the 12th Lumière Festival will take place “in movie theaters and the environs of Lyon, the festival announced Thursday in a written statement.
It could hardly be otherwise. Steered by Tavernier and Frémaux, the president and director of Lyon’s Lumière Institute, the Lumière Festival punched 200,000 admissions in 2019, despite a robust focus on classic film restorations, re-issues and retrospectives.
Key to that has been the presence in cinema theaters and on the streets of Lyon of some of the...
- 5/30/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Jean-Pierre Marielle played in more than 100 films Photo: Unifrance
The death of veteran French cinema and theatre actor Jean-Pierre Marielle, at the age of 87, leaves another gap in the group who became known as “the band of the Conservatoire” whose ranks included his late life-long friend Jean Rochefort, as well as Claude Rich and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
He played in more than 100 films, both comic and tragic, with such directors as Michel Audiard, Bértrand Blier, Claude Sautet, Bértrand Tavernier, Claude Miller and Alain Corneau for whom memorably he created the role of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (opposite Gérard Depardieu) as the musician Marin Marais in All The Mornings Of The World (Tous Les Matins Du Monde) in 1991.
With his warmly distinctive deep vocal timbre, imposing stature and pepper and salt beard and moustache, Marielle – who was born in Paris on 12 April, 1932 and died yesterday (24 April) in hospital after a long illness –started his career.
The death of veteran French cinema and theatre actor Jean-Pierre Marielle, at the age of 87, leaves another gap in the group who became known as “the band of the Conservatoire” whose ranks included his late life-long friend Jean Rochefort, as well as Claude Rich and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
He played in more than 100 films, both comic and tragic, with such directors as Michel Audiard, Bértrand Blier, Claude Sautet, Bértrand Tavernier, Claude Miller and Alain Corneau for whom memorably he created the role of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (opposite Gérard Depardieu) as the musician Marin Marais in All The Mornings Of The World (Tous Les Matins Du Monde) in 1991.
With his warmly distinctive deep vocal timbre, imposing stature and pepper and salt beard and moustache, Marielle – who was born in Paris on 12 April, 1932 and died yesterday (24 April) in hospital after a long illness –started his career.
- 4/25/2019
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Bodard worked with iconic directors Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Maurice Pialat, Alain Resnais and Claude Miller.
Legendary French producer Mag Bodard, who worked with iconic directors Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Maurice Pialat, Alain Resnais and Claude Miller, has died at the age of 103-years-old.
Bodard, whose heyday was in the 1960s and 70s, got her first producer credit in 1962 on Norbert Carbonnaux’s comedy The Dance, featuring Françoise Dorléac in her first starring role opposite Jean-Pierre Cassel.
The crew featured production designer Jacques Saulnier, who would go on to work closely with Resnais,...
Legendary French producer Mag Bodard, who worked with iconic directors Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Maurice Pialat, Alain Resnais and Claude Miller, has died at the age of 103-years-old.
Bodard, whose heyday was in the 1960s and 70s, got her first producer credit in 1962 on Norbert Carbonnaux’s comedy The Dance, featuring Françoise Dorléac in her first starring role opposite Jean-Pierre Cassel.
The crew featured production designer Jacques Saulnier, who would go on to work closely with Resnais,...
- 3/1/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Boespflug co-founded Pyramide and was managing director of Warner France.
French producer Francis Boespflug, best known as the co-founder of historic Paris-based production and distribution company Pyramide and the former managing director of Warner France, has died aged of 70.
Boespflug first became involved in cinema in his native city of Strasbourg in north-eastern France, working as a student volunteer at a cinema-club aimed at under-privileged, difficult teenagers.
It was through this volunteer work he met his future wife and life-long collaborator, the late producer Fabienne Vonier, who at the time was the manager of Le Club, the arthouse theatre founded...
French producer Francis Boespflug, best known as the co-founder of historic Paris-based production and distribution company Pyramide and the former managing director of Warner France, has died aged of 70.
Boespflug first became involved in cinema in his native city of Strasbourg in north-eastern France, working as a student volunteer at a cinema-club aimed at under-privileged, difficult teenagers.
It was through this volunteer work he met his future wife and life-long collaborator, the late producer Fabienne Vonier, who at the time was the manager of Le Club, the arthouse theatre founded...
- 11/6/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Bag of Marbles (Un sac de billes) is an autobiographical film about two young brothers in occupied France, Maurice and Joseph, who discover within themselves the courage, the bravery, and the mischief needed to escape the enemy’s invasion and reunite with their lost family.
Thought I missed seeing this three-time Audience Award winning film starring Patrick Bruel, Dorian Le Clech, Batyste Fleurial Palmieri and Elsa Zylberstein when it premiered in U.S. at Colcoa here in L.A., I was able to interview the director Christian Duguay and actor Patrick Bruel before its U.S. release March 23.
See the trailer Here.
Christian Duguay was born in 1957 in Outremont, Québec, Canada. As a dirextor his is known for Human Trafficking (2005), The Art of War (2000) and Red Brazil (2012).
Patrick Bruel was born on May 14, 1959 in Tlemcen, France (Algeria) as Patrick Benguigui. He is one of the most famous French singers and actors in France,...
Thought I missed seeing this three-time Audience Award winning film starring Patrick Bruel, Dorian Le Clech, Batyste Fleurial Palmieri and Elsa Zylberstein when it premiered in U.S. at Colcoa here in L.A., I was able to interview the director Christian Duguay and actor Patrick Bruel before its U.S. release March 23.
See the trailer Here.
Christian Duguay was born in 1957 in Outremont, Québec, Canada. As a dirextor his is known for Human Trafficking (2005), The Art of War (2000) and Red Brazil (2012).
Patrick Bruel was born on May 14, 1959 in Tlemcen, France (Algeria) as Patrick Benguigui. He is one of the most famous French singers and actors in France,...
- 3/13/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Foreplays is a column that explores under-known short films by renowned directors. David Lynch's Premonition Following an Evil Deed (1995) is free to watch below. We’ve heard it often in relation to Twin Peaks: The Return (2017): “David Lynch has pulverized television” (or “dynamited television,” or “dropped a bomb on television”—pick your favorite variation). Despite being somewhat annoying, especially when repeated incessantly as a mantra, these slogan-like statements carry some truth. Every genuine act of innovation starts with a bit of destruction. However, it’s not the medium that Lynch blows up, but the rules and conventions associated with it. He has done this many times throughout his career: with the aesthetics of analogue film and low definition cameras, with serialized narratives, and compact (even ultra-short) durations. For Lynch, exploring the possibilities of a given medium often means turning it upside down in order to shake off the expectations attached to it,...
- 11/7/2017
- MUBI
Michel Serrault, like his co-star here, Isabelle Adjani, used to be in everything. As ubiquitous as Depardieu. La cage aux folles might be his best-known film. Despite his omnipresence, he seems surprising casting as a private eye known only as "the Eye," but then he does have inverted Vs for eyebrows, just like Hammett's description of Sam Spade.The Eye has a class photograph of a group of schoolgirls. He's talking to his ex-wife on the phone. She won't tell him which one is his daughter. He guesses wrong. He'll be allowed another guess in a year. There are about thirty kids to choose from.What a brilliant opening scene! We'll forgive the strutting eighties music and neo-noir Venetian blind shadows. This is a film besotted with movie-ness and wallowing in plot contrivance, but it's also perverse, haunted and romantic. The Eye is warned against letting his new case get too complicated.
- 5/31/2017
- MUBI
City of Lights: City of Angeles. The largest French film festival in the world and one of the largest festivals in L.A.!
Colcoa French Film Festival, “9 Days of Premieres in Hollywood” takes place April 24 to May 2 in the prestigious theaters of the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood (3 theaters (600, 160 and 37 seats), a 210 capacity lounge and a 1,500 capacity lobby).
Colcoa is the acronym of “City of Light, City of Angels” the original name of an event celebrating relationships between filmmakers from two capital cities of cinema. In 2015, the festival’s name was officially changed to Colcoa French Film Festival. Colcoa was founded in 1997 by The Franco-American Cultural Fund, a unique collaborative effort of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, the Writers Guild of America West, and France’s Society of Authors Composers and Publishers of Music (Sacem). Colcoa is also supported by l’Association...
Colcoa French Film Festival, “9 Days of Premieres in Hollywood” takes place April 24 to May 2 in the prestigious theaters of the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood (3 theaters (600, 160 and 37 seats), a 210 capacity lounge and a 1,500 capacity lobby).
Colcoa is the acronym of “City of Light, City of Angels” the original name of an event celebrating relationships between filmmakers from two capital cities of cinema. In 2015, the festival’s name was officially changed to Colcoa French Film Festival. Colcoa was founded in 1997 by The Franco-American Cultural Fund, a unique collaborative effort of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, the Writers Guild of America West, and France’s Society of Authors Composers and Publishers of Music (Sacem). Colcoa is also supported by l’Association...
- 4/20/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
French actress starred in Cannes titles A Self-made Hero and Polisse.
French actress Sandrine Kiberlain has been named president of the Caméra d’or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28).
Kiberlain and jury will award a prize to a director’s first work from the Official Selection, the Directors’ Fortnight or Critics’ Week .
Since 1978 the prize has gone to films including Stranger than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch (1984), Suzaku by Naomi Kawase (1997), The White Balloon by Jafar Panahi (1995), Hunger by Steve McQueen (2008) and Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin (2012).
Last year, Houda Benyamina won the Caméra d’or for her film Divines screened in the Directors’ Fortnight.
In a career spanning 25 years and boasting around 40 films, actress Kiberlain first shot to prominence in The Patriots by Éric Rochant (winner of the Romy-Schneider Prize) and En Avoir (Ou Pas) by Laetitia Masson, for which she won the César for most promising actress.
Subsequent turns have...
French actress Sandrine Kiberlain has been named president of the Caméra d’or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28).
Kiberlain and jury will award a prize to a director’s first work from the Official Selection, the Directors’ Fortnight or Critics’ Week .
Since 1978 the prize has gone to films including Stranger than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch (1984), Suzaku by Naomi Kawase (1997), The White Balloon by Jafar Panahi (1995), Hunger by Steve McQueen (2008) and Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin (2012).
Last year, Houda Benyamina won the Caméra d’or for her film Divines screened in the Directors’ Fortnight.
In a career spanning 25 years and boasting around 40 films, actress Kiberlain first shot to prominence in The Patriots by Éric Rochant (winner of the Romy-Schneider Prize) and En Avoir (Ou Pas) by Laetitia Masson, for which she won the César for most promising actress.
Subsequent turns have...
- 4/11/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Cécile de France stars in Étienne Comar's Django Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
On the opening night of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York, Cécile de France who stars with Reda Kateb (as Django Reinhardt) in Étienne Comar's Django, spoke with me about costume designer Pascaline Chavanne, Man Ray's muse Lee Miller as the inspiration for her character, Lauren Bacall, Edward Hopper and Claude Miller's Un Secret.
Reda Kateb plays Django Reinhardt Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Django, based on the novel by Alexis Salatko, chronicles a crucial time period in world-famous jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt's life and simultaneously sheds light on the hypocrisy and contradictions at the core of Nazi policies. Admired for his musical genius, Reinhard, because of his Romani background, also was a target of the regime. In 1943, Django was a star in Paris and received an invitation by Goebbels to come play in Berlin.
On the opening night of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York, Cécile de France who stars with Reda Kateb (as Django Reinhardt) in Étienne Comar's Django, spoke with me about costume designer Pascaline Chavanne, Man Ray's muse Lee Miller as the inspiration for her character, Lauren Bacall, Edward Hopper and Claude Miller's Un Secret.
Reda Kateb plays Django Reinhardt Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Django, based on the novel by Alexis Salatko, chronicles a crucial time period in world-famous jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt's life and simultaneously sheds light on the hypocrisy and contradictions at the core of Nazi policies. Admired for his musical genius, Reinhard, because of his Romani background, also was a target of the regime. In 1943, Django was a star in Paris and received an invitation by Goebbels to come play in Berlin.
- 3/3/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
After premiering at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival in the Galas Program, via Cohen Media, the double 40th César Award nominated The New Girlfriend received a limited theatrical release a year later for a meager box-office take just under one hundred and fifty thousand. Based on a novel by Ruth Rendell, Francois Ozon’s playful subversion of gender dynamics hinges on camp, recalling a legion of vintage queer classics from decades ago (as well as Ozon’s own darker, challenging early filmography when the auteur was referred to as a terrible enfant). As politically correct agendas continue to be applied to queer characters, engulfing deliberations of appropriate representation, items such as Ozon’s film have become a rarity in the English language market. But there’s a perverse mixture of dark comedy and psychological unrest portrayed here, and Ozon gleefully captures a neglected energy of queer cinema once again relegated to the periphery of good taste.
- 2/2/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Jane Birkin on Jacques Rivette: "I went to see Céline et Julie vont en bateau." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin are being celebrated in New York with 19 films and a series of conversations. After a screening of Agnès Varda's Jane B. Par Agnès V., Birkin spoke about working with Jacques Rivette on L’Amour Par Terre with Geraldine Chaplin, 36 Vues Du Pic Saint Loup, La Belle Noiseuse with Michel Piccoli, and taxidermy.
Claude Miller's L'Effrontée; Michel Gondry's The Science Of Sleep (La Science Des Rêves); Andrew Birkin's The Cement Garden; Yvan Attal's My Wife Is An Actress (Ma Femme Est Une Actrice); Birkin's Boxes (Les Boites); Claude Miller's The Little Thief (La Petite Voleuse); Varda's Kung Fu Master! (Le Petit Amour); Serge Gainsbourg's Charlotte For Ever; Jacques Doillon's The Prodigal Daughter (La Fille Prodigue); Bertrand Tavernier's Daddy Nostalgia...
Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin are being celebrated in New York with 19 films and a series of conversations. After a screening of Agnès Varda's Jane B. Par Agnès V., Birkin spoke about working with Jacques Rivette on L’Amour Par Terre with Geraldine Chaplin, 36 Vues Du Pic Saint Loup, La Belle Noiseuse with Michel Piccoli, and taxidermy.
Claude Miller's L'Effrontée; Michel Gondry's The Science Of Sleep (La Science Des Rêves); Andrew Birkin's The Cement Garden; Yvan Attal's My Wife Is An Actress (Ma Femme Est Une Actrice); Birkin's Boxes (Les Boites); Claude Miller's The Little Thief (La Petite Voleuse); Varda's Kung Fu Master! (Le Petit Amour); Serge Gainsbourg's Charlotte For Ever; Jacques Doillon's The Prodigal Daughter (La Fille Prodigue); Bertrand Tavernier's Daddy Nostalgia...
- 2/2/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Mal de pierres
Director: Nicole Garcia
Writers: Nicole Garcia, Jacques Fieschi
Actress Nicole Garcia, who has starred in unforgettable films from Claude Miller, Alain Resnais, and Jacques Rivette, has managed to become a significant director herself, twice competing in Cannes (2002, 2006) and working with some of France’s other most iconic figures, including Catherine Deneuve in her 1998 film Place Vendome. Garcia’s last feature, 2013’s Going Away didn’t seem to gather much traction, but Cohen Media Group distributed the title in late 2015, though only in one week in New York City. Her latest is project promises to be incredibly high profile, Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon) an adaptation of a novel by Italian author Milena Agus following twenty years in the life of a free-spirited woman after WWII. Oh, and it stars Marion Cotillard and Louis Garrell.
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel, Alex Brendemuehl
Production Co.
Director: Nicole Garcia
Writers: Nicole Garcia, Jacques Fieschi
Actress Nicole Garcia, who has starred in unforgettable films from Claude Miller, Alain Resnais, and Jacques Rivette, has managed to become a significant director herself, twice competing in Cannes (2002, 2006) and working with some of France’s other most iconic figures, including Catherine Deneuve in her 1998 film Place Vendome. Garcia’s last feature, 2013’s Going Away didn’t seem to gather much traction, but Cohen Media Group distributed the title in late 2015, though only in one week in New York City. Her latest is project promises to be incredibly high profile, Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon) an adaptation of a novel by Italian author Milena Agus following twenty years in the life of a free-spirited woman after WWII. Oh, and it stars Marion Cotillard and Louis Garrell.
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel, Alex Brendemuehl
Production Co.
- 1/11/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
François Ozon pays Ruth Rendell a slinky tribute, Pitch Perfect 2 hits all the right notes, while Keanu Reeves sharpens up in a menacing thriller
It is, perhaps, a curious indication of national genre snobbery that Ruth Rendell, surely one of our most silkily brilliant crime writers of any generation, died earlier this year with her oeuvre still largely untouched by British film-makers. Some respectable television adaptation, sure. A B-movie or two in the 80s, fine. But on the continent major film-makers – Claude Chabrol, Claude Miller, Pedro Almodovar – have known how to treat her nasty, needling narratives with the requisite style. To that group we can now add François Ozon, whose slinky, utterly delectable take on The New Girlfriend (Metrodome, 15) is both a liberal, Gallic-as-Gaultier interpretation, and as fitting a Rendell tribute as could have been released in the year of her passing.
Continue reading...
It is, perhaps, a curious indication of national genre snobbery that Ruth Rendell, surely one of our most silkily brilliant crime writers of any generation, died earlier this year with her oeuvre still largely untouched by British film-makers. Some respectable television adaptation, sure. A B-movie or two in the 80s, fine. But on the continent major film-makers – Claude Chabrol, Claude Miller, Pedro Almodovar – have known how to treat her nasty, needling narratives with the requisite style. To that group we can now add François Ozon, whose slinky, utterly delectable take on The New Girlfriend (Metrodome, 15) is both a liberal, Gallic-as-Gaultier interpretation, and as fitting a Rendell tribute as could have been released in the year of her passing.
Continue reading...
- 9/20/2015
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
The Cannes Film festival was an exceptional edition for French films this year. A focus on the rising generation of French actors and directors that have been highlighted in Cannes and will most certainly be the stars of tomorrow was compiled by Unifrance chief Isabelle Giordano.
They are a force to be reckoned with. Unifrance films is ready to bet that you will certainly hear about these ten talented people. They represent the French cinema of today and will soon be on the screens worldwide.
Emmanuelle Bercot
An actress and a director, Emmanuelle Bercot began by enrolling at the Cours Florent drama school and taking dancing lessons after her baccalaureate. She graduated from Femis in 1998, after winning the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for her short film "Les Vacances," in 1997. After her first few roles in the films of Jean-François Richet and Michel Deville, her career as an actress took off when Claude Miller gave her one of the main roles in "La Classe de neige" (1998). The following year, she made the headlines with the medium-length film she directed called "La Puce," presented in the selection of Un Certain Regard at Cannes. This film tells of the love affair between a 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, played by Isild Le Besco.
Her first feature-length film, "Clément" (2001), is about the life of a troubled woman who has one adventure after another with various men until she meets a 14-yearold boy. Her second film, "Backstage" (2004), continues to explore teenage angst through a relationship between a hit singer and a young obsessional fan. She earned her first critical and public acclaim with "On My Way" (2013), the third film written by the director for Catherine Deneuve, in which the star plays a woman who has decided to leave everything behind and hit the road in France.
She was indisputably the most talked about person during the Cannes Film Festival 2015, both as an actress and a director. Thierry Frémaux surprised everyone by announcing that "Standing Tall," Emmanuelle Bercot’s fourth feature-length film would open the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Emmanuelle Bercot says that she has rediscovered the social fiber of her beginnings with this tale of juvenile delinquency. After the enthusiastic and unanimous reception of her film, she won the Best Actress Award for her role as a woman under the influence of love in the film "Mon Roi" by Maïwenn, with whom she co-wrote the script for "Polisse," which won the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012
Thomas Bidegain
Thomas Bidegain may well be one of the best known French screenwriters in the profession today, but it took him ten years to achieve this status. His career path in film is anything but ordinary. He started out in the 1990s by distributing and producing independent American films: "Ice Storm" by Ang Lee and "Chasing Sleep" by Michael Walker. He came back to France and joined MK2 where he became director of distribution. In 1999, he returned to production for "Why Not." In 2007, he told the story of his attempt to stop smoking in "Arrêter de fumer tue," a personal diary that was turned into a documentary, then a book.
In the meantime, he began screenwriting and worked on several projects. In 2009, he wrote the screenplay for Jacques Audiard’s film, "A Prophet," alongside Nicolas Peufaillit and Abdel Raouf Dafri, which won the Grand Prix du Jury in 2009. He participated in Audiard’s next film, "Rust and Bone" and "Our Children" by Joachim Lafosse. He was also the co-writer for "Saint Laurent" by Bertrand Bonello. Winning a César for the best original script and a César for the best adaptation, he presented "Cowboys" at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes this year, his first film as a director. He is also co-writer of "Ni le ciel ni la terre" by Clément Cogitore, presented during the Semaine de la Critique, as well as co-writer of the script for Jacques Audiard’s latest film, "Dheepan," which won the Palme d’Or.
Louise Bourgoin
Louise Bourgoin attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts for five years, during which she began her career as a model. After she graduated from art school in 2004, she radically changed direction and became a presenter on cable TV. She was Miss Météo in Le Grand Journal on Canal + from 2006 to 2008. Her slot became essential viewing and attracted a wide audience, including the attention of the film industry.
She began her acting career in "The Girl from Monaco" by Anne Fontaine, and her performance earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. This recognition led to a whole series of roles and launched her career in film. She headed the bill of several films in 2010 ("White as Snow" by Christophe Blanc, "Sweet Valentine" by Emma Luchini, and "Black Heaven" by Gilles Marchand). The same year, Luc Besson selected her for the leading role in "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec."
Since then, Louise Bourgoin has played in film after film, and has taken her first steps in the international scene with her part in the American film "The Love Punch" by Joel Hopkins. She attracted attention at the Cannes Film Festival this year with her unusual role in Laurent Larivière’s first film, "I Am a Soldier," presented at Un Certain Regard.
Anaïs Demoustier
Her passion for acting started at a very young age and rapidly pushed her to take drama classes. She auditioned, when still a teenager, and got her first role alongside Isabelle Huppert in "Time of the Wolf" by Michael Haneke. After this, her career was launched and she played in a series of films among which "L’Année suivante" by Isabelle Czajka, "Hellphone" by James Huth, "The Beautiful Person" by Christophe Honoré, "Sois sage" by Juliette Garcias, "Sweet Evil" by Olivier Coussemacq, "Dear Prudene" by Rebecca Zlotowski, "Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Robert Guédiguian, "Thérèse Desqueyroux" by Claude Miller, "Quai d’Orsay" by Bertrand Tavernier, "Paris Follies" by Marc Fitoussi, etc.
A filmography rich of 30 films for an actress who isn’t 30 years old yet. In 2014, the press talked about the blooming of Anaïs Demoustier because her face and poise became essential to cinema. Present in "Bird People" by Pascale Ferran, "Caprices" by Emmanuel Mouret, "À trois on y va" by Jérôme Bonnell and "The New Girlfriend" by François Ozon, she is Marguerite in the last Valérie Donzelli’s film, "Marguerite et Julien" screened in Official selection in Cannes.
Louis Garrel
The son of actress Brigitte Sy and the director Philippe Garrel, he began his career in film thanks to his father, who started filming him at the age of six in "Emergency Kisses," alongside his mother and his grandfather, Maurice Garrel. He went onto study drama at the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique. He made his real cinema debut in 2001 in the film "Ceci est mon corps" by Rodolphe Marconi. Two years later, he played opposite Michael Pitt and the future Bond girl, Eva Green, in "The Dreamers" by Bernardo Bertolucci.
He then starred in another of his father’s films, "Regular Lovers". His performance earned him the César for the Most Promising Actor in 2005. Since then, he has played alongside the greatest, such as Isabelle Huppert in "Ma mère" by Christophe Honoré. This marked the beginning of a long collaboration between the filmmaker and the actor. They worked together in the film "In Paris" with Romain Duris, then in 2007 in "Love Songs" with Ludivine Sagnier, in "The Beautiful Person" with Léa Seydoux, in "Making Plans" for Lena with Chiara Mostroianni and, finally, in " Beloved" with Catherine Deneuve. He also topped the bill with Valéria Bruni Tedeschi in "Actresses," whom he worked with again in 2013 in "A Castle in Italy."
In 2010, he directed a short film, "The Little Tailor," in which he directed Léa Seydoux. He performed once again in one of his father’s films, "A Burning Hot Summer," followed by "Jealousy." In 2014, he starred in Bertrand Bonello’s film "Saint Laurent," a role which led to another César nomination, but this time in the best supporting role category. His first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented at a Certain Regard, was applauded by the critics. He also starred in "Mon Roi," Maïwenn’s fourth feature-length film, alongside Emmanuelle and Vincent Cassel, presented as part of the official selection.
Guillaume Gouix
After studying at the Conservatoire in Marseille and the Ecole Régionale d’Acteur de Cannes, Guillaume Gouix began his career in television. He played the male lead in "The Lion Cubs," by Claire Doyon, in 2003. Noted for his performance, especially the highly physical aspect of it and his intense gaze, he then played a series of supporting roles as a young hoodlum in "Les Mauvais joueurs" by Frédéric Balekdjian and in "Chacun sa nuit," by Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold. He featured in the 2007 war film "Intimate Enemies" by Florent Emilio Siri, thus confirming his taste for complex characters.
The following year, he was applauded for his performance in the film "Behind the Walls" by Christian Faure. In 2010, he starred in "22 Bullets" by Richard Berry and in 2011, he established his reputation with roles in "Nobody Else But You" by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu, "Et soudain, tout le monde me manque" by Jennifer Devoldere, and "Jimmy Rivière," Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s film debut.
He also appeared in "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. He more recently starred in "Attila Marcel," by Sylvain Chomet, in which he played the lead role, in "French Women" by Audrey Dana, and "The Connection" by Cédric Jimenez with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lelouche. He performed in three films presented at Cannes this year ("Les Anarchistes" by Elie Wajeman, which opened the Semaine de la Critique, "La Vie en grand" by Mathieu Vadepied, which closed the week, and in "Enragés" by Eric Hannezo, screened at the Cinéma de la Plage). He also directed his first short film "Alexis Ivanovitch, vous êtes mon héros" in 2011 and will soon start on a feature-length film, which is currently being written. He will be topping the bill in 2015 with "Braqueurs," a thriller by Julien Leclercq.
Ariane Labed
Born in Greece to French parents, Ariane Labed has always navigated between her two countries. She studied drama at the University of Provence and began her acting career treading the boards. After setting up a company combining dance and theater, Ariane Labed returned to live in Greece where she played at the National Theater of Athens. 2010 was the year of her first film, "Attenberg," directed by Athiná-Rachél Tsangári. "Alps" by Yorgos Lanthi-mos, the following year, confirmed the talent of this strangely charming actress. Two years later, she starred in "Before Midnight" by Richard Linklater where she played the role of Anna. The follow-up to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," this third part of the saga was a great success, making Labed known to a wider audience.
In 2014, she played a young sailor in "Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey," who is torn between faithfulness and her desire to live her life. Winning the best actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and nominated for a César, the French actress gives a brilliant performance in Lucie Borleteau’s first feature-length film. She joined Yorgos Lanthimos in Cannes in 2015, where he won the Prix du Jury for his film "The Lobster."
Vincent Macaigne
Vincent Macaigne is the leading light in young French cinema. He joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris in 1999, appearing on stage and assuming the role of director. His free adaptations of the great classics of literature and drama earned him public and critical acclaim. He directed "The Idiot" by Dostoïevski and presented "Au moins j’aurai laissé un beau cadavre in Avignon," inspired by Hamlet. He also rapidly made a name for himself in demanding art-house films. In 2001, he was seen for the first time in "Replay" by Catherine Corsini. In 2007, he starred in "On War" by Bertrand Bonello and in 2010, in "A Burning Hot Summer" by Philippe Garrel.
Since 2011, Vincent Macaigne’s presence in short, medium and full-length films has gradually increased. Faithful to his directors, he has starred in several of their films. As is the case with his friend Guillaume Brac, who directed him in "Le Naufragé," "Tonnerre" and "Un monde sans femmes." He was awarded the Grand Prix and the Prix Télérama at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Prix Lutin for Best Actor in this film. Under the direction of Vincent Mariette, he played in "Les Lézards" then "Fool Circle." In 2013, we find the funny and touching thirty-something in "La fille du 14 juillet" by Antonin Peretjatko, "Age of Panic" by Justine Triet, and "2 Autumns, 3 Winters" by Sébastien Betbeder.
He was discovered by the general public at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Considered a figurehead of the revival of French cinema, Vincent has drawn the attention of the Cahiers du Cinéma, and even the British newspaper The Observer, which referred to him as the “new Gérard Depardieu”. In 2011, he directed "What We’ll Leave Behind," a very well-received medium-length film which won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. He also starred in Mia Hansen-løve’s 2014 film "Eden." He plays one of the main roles in the actor Louis Garrel’s first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented during the Semaine de la Critique. He also featured in his 2011 film, La Règle de trois.
Vimala Pons
From the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, where she attended drama classes even though she wanted to be a screenwriter, to circus tents, Vimala Pons is an acrobat in all senses of the word. The 29-year-old actress has established her physical and poetic presence in French art-house films. She began her career in film with Albert Dupontel in "Enfermés dehors" in 2006. She then starred in "Eden Log" by Franck Vestiel in 2007, then in "Granny’s Funeral" by Bruno Podalydès in 2012.
Since then, we have seen her cross France in a little blue dress in "La Fille du 14 juillet," (she plays the girl) by Antonin Peretjatko, and changing into a lioness in "Métamorphoses," by Christophe Honoré. The impetuous muse of French independent film, Vimala Pons played in "Vincent" by Thomas Salvador this year. The actress has made a name for herself in 2015, in particular with "Comme un avion" by Bruno Podalydès, "Je suis à vous tout de suite" by Baya Kasmi, "La vie très privée de Monsieur Sim" by Michel Leclerc, and "L’Ombre des femmes" by Philippe Garrel (presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs this year in Cannes). She has also begun an international career, with a leading role in Paul Verhoeven’s latest film, "Elle."
Alice Winocour
The director Alice Winocour started out at Femis. After going into law, she returned to film and won three prizes for her short film "Kitchen: Prix TV5" for the best French-language short film, best international short film and the Silver Bear at the Festival of Nations (Ebensee). For "Magic Paris," she was awarded the jury prize at the St. Petersburg International Documentary, Short Film and Animated Film Festival.
She continued her career by writing the script for the film "Ordinary," by Vladimir Perisic. At the Cannes Film Festival 2012, Alice Winocour made a marked entry in the international arena with a film by a woman about women and the unchanging way of looking at them. In the film "Augustine," we are told the story of a professor and his patient, played by Vincent Lindon and Soko respectively. In 2015, she brought out her second feature-length film, "Maryland," which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. She is also the co-writer of "Mustang," by Denis Gamze Ergüven, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
They are a force to be reckoned with. Unifrance films is ready to bet that you will certainly hear about these ten talented people. They represent the French cinema of today and will soon be on the screens worldwide.
Emmanuelle Bercot
An actress and a director, Emmanuelle Bercot began by enrolling at the Cours Florent drama school and taking dancing lessons after her baccalaureate. She graduated from Femis in 1998, after winning the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for her short film "Les Vacances," in 1997. After her first few roles in the films of Jean-François Richet and Michel Deville, her career as an actress took off when Claude Miller gave her one of the main roles in "La Classe de neige" (1998). The following year, she made the headlines with the medium-length film she directed called "La Puce," presented in the selection of Un Certain Regard at Cannes. This film tells of the love affair between a 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, played by Isild Le Besco.
Her first feature-length film, "Clément" (2001), is about the life of a troubled woman who has one adventure after another with various men until she meets a 14-yearold boy. Her second film, "Backstage" (2004), continues to explore teenage angst through a relationship between a hit singer and a young obsessional fan. She earned her first critical and public acclaim with "On My Way" (2013), the third film written by the director for Catherine Deneuve, in which the star plays a woman who has decided to leave everything behind and hit the road in France.
She was indisputably the most talked about person during the Cannes Film Festival 2015, both as an actress and a director. Thierry Frémaux surprised everyone by announcing that "Standing Tall," Emmanuelle Bercot’s fourth feature-length film would open the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Emmanuelle Bercot says that she has rediscovered the social fiber of her beginnings with this tale of juvenile delinquency. After the enthusiastic and unanimous reception of her film, she won the Best Actress Award for her role as a woman under the influence of love in the film "Mon Roi" by Maïwenn, with whom she co-wrote the script for "Polisse," which won the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012
Thomas Bidegain
Thomas Bidegain may well be one of the best known French screenwriters in the profession today, but it took him ten years to achieve this status. His career path in film is anything but ordinary. He started out in the 1990s by distributing and producing independent American films: "Ice Storm" by Ang Lee and "Chasing Sleep" by Michael Walker. He came back to France and joined MK2 where he became director of distribution. In 1999, he returned to production for "Why Not." In 2007, he told the story of his attempt to stop smoking in "Arrêter de fumer tue," a personal diary that was turned into a documentary, then a book.
In the meantime, he began screenwriting and worked on several projects. In 2009, he wrote the screenplay for Jacques Audiard’s film, "A Prophet," alongside Nicolas Peufaillit and Abdel Raouf Dafri, which won the Grand Prix du Jury in 2009. He participated in Audiard’s next film, "Rust and Bone" and "Our Children" by Joachim Lafosse. He was also the co-writer for "Saint Laurent" by Bertrand Bonello. Winning a César for the best original script and a César for the best adaptation, he presented "Cowboys" at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes this year, his first film as a director. He is also co-writer of "Ni le ciel ni la terre" by Clément Cogitore, presented during the Semaine de la Critique, as well as co-writer of the script for Jacques Audiard’s latest film, "Dheepan," which won the Palme d’Or.
Louise Bourgoin
Louise Bourgoin attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts for five years, during which she began her career as a model. After she graduated from art school in 2004, she radically changed direction and became a presenter on cable TV. She was Miss Météo in Le Grand Journal on Canal + from 2006 to 2008. Her slot became essential viewing and attracted a wide audience, including the attention of the film industry.
She began her acting career in "The Girl from Monaco" by Anne Fontaine, and her performance earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. This recognition led to a whole series of roles and launched her career in film. She headed the bill of several films in 2010 ("White as Snow" by Christophe Blanc, "Sweet Valentine" by Emma Luchini, and "Black Heaven" by Gilles Marchand). The same year, Luc Besson selected her for the leading role in "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec."
Since then, Louise Bourgoin has played in film after film, and has taken her first steps in the international scene with her part in the American film "The Love Punch" by Joel Hopkins. She attracted attention at the Cannes Film Festival this year with her unusual role in Laurent Larivière’s first film, "I Am a Soldier," presented at Un Certain Regard.
Anaïs Demoustier
Her passion for acting started at a very young age and rapidly pushed her to take drama classes. She auditioned, when still a teenager, and got her first role alongside Isabelle Huppert in "Time of the Wolf" by Michael Haneke. After this, her career was launched and she played in a series of films among which "L’Année suivante" by Isabelle Czajka, "Hellphone" by James Huth, "The Beautiful Person" by Christophe Honoré, "Sois sage" by Juliette Garcias, "Sweet Evil" by Olivier Coussemacq, "Dear Prudene" by Rebecca Zlotowski, "Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Robert Guédiguian, "Thérèse Desqueyroux" by Claude Miller, "Quai d’Orsay" by Bertrand Tavernier, "Paris Follies" by Marc Fitoussi, etc.
A filmography rich of 30 films for an actress who isn’t 30 years old yet. In 2014, the press talked about the blooming of Anaïs Demoustier because her face and poise became essential to cinema. Present in "Bird People" by Pascale Ferran, "Caprices" by Emmanuel Mouret, "À trois on y va" by Jérôme Bonnell and "The New Girlfriend" by François Ozon, she is Marguerite in the last Valérie Donzelli’s film, "Marguerite et Julien" screened in Official selection in Cannes.
Louis Garrel
The son of actress Brigitte Sy and the director Philippe Garrel, he began his career in film thanks to his father, who started filming him at the age of six in "Emergency Kisses," alongside his mother and his grandfather, Maurice Garrel. He went onto study drama at the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique. He made his real cinema debut in 2001 in the film "Ceci est mon corps" by Rodolphe Marconi. Two years later, he played opposite Michael Pitt and the future Bond girl, Eva Green, in "The Dreamers" by Bernardo Bertolucci.
He then starred in another of his father’s films, "Regular Lovers". His performance earned him the César for the Most Promising Actor in 2005. Since then, he has played alongside the greatest, such as Isabelle Huppert in "Ma mère" by Christophe Honoré. This marked the beginning of a long collaboration between the filmmaker and the actor. They worked together in the film "In Paris" with Romain Duris, then in 2007 in "Love Songs" with Ludivine Sagnier, in "The Beautiful Person" with Léa Seydoux, in "Making Plans" for Lena with Chiara Mostroianni and, finally, in " Beloved" with Catherine Deneuve. He also topped the bill with Valéria Bruni Tedeschi in "Actresses," whom he worked with again in 2013 in "A Castle in Italy."
In 2010, he directed a short film, "The Little Tailor," in which he directed Léa Seydoux. He performed once again in one of his father’s films, "A Burning Hot Summer," followed by "Jealousy." In 2014, he starred in Bertrand Bonello’s film "Saint Laurent," a role which led to another César nomination, but this time in the best supporting role category. His first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented at a Certain Regard, was applauded by the critics. He also starred in "Mon Roi," Maïwenn’s fourth feature-length film, alongside Emmanuelle and Vincent Cassel, presented as part of the official selection.
Guillaume Gouix
After studying at the Conservatoire in Marseille and the Ecole Régionale d’Acteur de Cannes, Guillaume Gouix began his career in television. He played the male lead in "The Lion Cubs," by Claire Doyon, in 2003. Noted for his performance, especially the highly physical aspect of it and his intense gaze, he then played a series of supporting roles as a young hoodlum in "Les Mauvais joueurs" by Frédéric Balekdjian and in "Chacun sa nuit," by Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold. He featured in the 2007 war film "Intimate Enemies" by Florent Emilio Siri, thus confirming his taste for complex characters.
The following year, he was applauded for his performance in the film "Behind the Walls" by Christian Faure. In 2010, he starred in "22 Bullets" by Richard Berry and in 2011, he established his reputation with roles in "Nobody Else But You" by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu, "Et soudain, tout le monde me manque" by Jennifer Devoldere, and "Jimmy Rivière," Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s film debut.
He also appeared in "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. He more recently starred in "Attila Marcel," by Sylvain Chomet, in which he played the lead role, in "French Women" by Audrey Dana, and "The Connection" by Cédric Jimenez with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lelouche. He performed in three films presented at Cannes this year ("Les Anarchistes" by Elie Wajeman, which opened the Semaine de la Critique, "La Vie en grand" by Mathieu Vadepied, which closed the week, and in "Enragés" by Eric Hannezo, screened at the Cinéma de la Plage). He also directed his first short film "Alexis Ivanovitch, vous êtes mon héros" in 2011 and will soon start on a feature-length film, which is currently being written. He will be topping the bill in 2015 with "Braqueurs," a thriller by Julien Leclercq.
Ariane Labed
Born in Greece to French parents, Ariane Labed has always navigated between her two countries. She studied drama at the University of Provence and began her acting career treading the boards. After setting up a company combining dance and theater, Ariane Labed returned to live in Greece where she played at the National Theater of Athens. 2010 was the year of her first film, "Attenberg," directed by Athiná-Rachél Tsangári. "Alps" by Yorgos Lanthi-mos, the following year, confirmed the talent of this strangely charming actress. Two years later, she starred in "Before Midnight" by Richard Linklater where she played the role of Anna. The follow-up to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," this third part of the saga was a great success, making Labed known to a wider audience.
In 2014, she played a young sailor in "Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey," who is torn between faithfulness and her desire to live her life. Winning the best actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and nominated for a César, the French actress gives a brilliant performance in Lucie Borleteau’s first feature-length film. She joined Yorgos Lanthimos in Cannes in 2015, where he won the Prix du Jury for his film "The Lobster."
Vincent Macaigne
Vincent Macaigne is the leading light in young French cinema. He joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris in 1999, appearing on stage and assuming the role of director. His free adaptations of the great classics of literature and drama earned him public and critical acclaim. He directed "The Idiot" by Dostoïevski and presented "Au moins j’aurai laissé un beau cadavre in Avignon," inspired by Hamlet. He also rapidly made a name for himself in demanding art-house films. In 2001, he was seen for the first time in "Replay" by Catherine Corsini. In 2007, he starred in "On War" by Bertrand Bonello and in 2010, in "A Burning Hot Summer" by Philippe Garrel.
Since 2011, Vincent Macaigne’s presence in short, medium and full-length films has gradually increased. Faithful to his directors, he has starred in several of their films. As is the case with his friend Guillaume Brac, who directed him in "Le Naufragé," "Tonnerre" and "Un monde sans femmes." He was awarded the Grand Prix and the Prix Télérama at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Prix Lutin for Best Actor in this film. Under the direction of Vincent Mariette, he played in "Les Lézards" then "Fool Circle." In 2013, we find the funny and touching thirty-something in "La fille du 14 juillet" by Antonin Peretjatko, "Age of Panic" by Justine Triet, and "2 Autumns, 3 Winters" by Sébastien Betbeder.
He was discovered by the general public at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Considered a figurehead of the revival of French cinema, Vincent has drawn the attention of the Cahiers du Cinéma, and even the British newspaper The Observer, which referred to him as the “new Gérard Depardieu”. In 2011, he directed "What We’ll Leave Behind," a very well-received medium-length film which won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. He also starred in Mia Hansen-løve’s 2014 film "Eden." He plays one of the main roles in the actor Louis Garrel’s first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented during the Semaine de la Critique. He also featured in his 2011 film, La Règle de trois.
Vimala Pons
From the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, where she attended drama classes even though she wanted to be a screenwriter, to circus tents, Vimala Pons is an acrobat in all senses of the word. The 29-year-old actress has established her physical and poetic presence in French art-house films. She began her career in film with Albert Dupontel in "Enfermés dehors" in 2006. She then starred in "Eden Log" by Franck Vestiel in 2007, then in "Granny’s Funeral" by Bruno Podalydès in 2012.
Since then, we have seen her cross France in a little blue dress in "La Fille du 14 juillet," (she plays the girl) by Antonin Peretjatko, and changing into a lioness in "Métamorphoses," by Christophe Honoré. The impetuous muse of French independent film, Vimala Pons played in "Vincent" by Thomas Salvador this year. The actress has made a name for herself in 2015, in particular with "Comme un avion" by Bruno Podalydès, "Je suis à vous tout de suite" by Baya Kasmi, "La vie très privée de Monsieur Sim" by Michel Leclerc, and "L’Ombre des femmes" by Philippe Garrel (presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs this year in Cannes). She has also begun an international career, with a leading role in Paul Verhoeven’s latest film, "Elle."
Alice Winocour
The director Alice Winocour started out at Femis. After going into law, she returned to film and won three prizes for her short film "Kitchen: Prix TV5" for the best French-language short film, best international short film and the Silver Bear at the Festival of Nations (Ebensee). For "Magic Paris," she was awarded the jury prize at the St. Petersburg International Documentary, Short Film and Animated Film Festival.
She continued her career by writing the script for the film "Ordinary," by Vladimir Perisic. At the Cannes Film Festival 2012, Alice Winocour made a marked entry in the international arena with a film by a woman about women and the unchanging way of looking at them. In the film "Augustine," we are told the story of a professor and his patient, played by Vincent Lindon and Soko respectively. In 2015, she brought out her second feature-length film, "Maryland," which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. She is also the co-writer of "Mustang," by Denis Gamze Ergüven, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
- 7/5/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Birds of a Feather: Camargo’s Debut a Tepid Chekhovian Transplant
Contemporizing classic literature can be a tricky feat, though it more often than not seems unjustified. Actor Christian Camargo has reworked Anton Chekov’s classic play The Seagull for his directorial debut, Days and Nights, curiously setting the Russian tragedy in 1984 New England. With an extremely lucrative cast at hand, Camargo’s fiddling around with the text isn’t completely bereft of ingenious new ways to converse with Chekov’s classic, though more often than not, this is simply another tedious glimpse of familial dysfunction, relocated to the heart of a Wasp’s nest. While it isn’t necessary to be familiar with the material Camargo is in correspondence with, one’s awareness of it may impede rather than enhance this film, which often feels strained or confused upon comparison.
It’s Memorial Day Weekend in 1984, and famous...
Contemporizing classic literature can be a tricky feat, though it more often than not seems unjustified. Actor Christian Camargo has reworked Anton Chekov’s classic play The Seagull for his directorial debut, Days and Nights, curiously setting the Russian tragedy in 1984 New England. With an extremely lucrative cast at hand, Camargo’s fiddling around with the text isn’t completely bereft of ingenious new ways to converse with Chekov’s classic, though more often than not, this is simply another tedious glimpse of familial dysfunction, relocated to the heart of a Wasp’s nest. While it isn’t necessary to be familiar with the material Camargo is in correspondence with, one’s awareness of it may impede rather than enhance this film, which often feels strained or confused upon comparison.
It’s Memorial Day Weekend in 1984, and famous...
- 9/26/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The Skin I Live In: Ozon’s Exquisite New Exploration of Gender Subversion
For his most playful and delightfully creepy film in years, Francois Ozon adapts crime writer Ruth Rendell’s short story for his latest, The New Girlfriend. Rendell has long supplied a bevy of European filmmakers with some of their most memorable titles, including Claude Miller’s Alias Betty (2001), Pedro Almodovar’s Live Flesh (1997), and perhaps, most notably, Claude Chabrol’s La Ceremonie (1994) and The Bridesmaid (2004). An excellent purveyor of strange and complicated relationships that often involve sublimated identities and tendencies that often lead to deadly scenarios, Rendell serves as an excellent template for Ozon with material that recalls the sexually transgressive explorations of his early career.
Claire (Anais Demoustier) and Laura (Isild Le Besco) have been inseparable friends since childhood. They’ve followed nearly the same life trajectory as well, both marrying handsome young men and what not.
For his most playful and delightfully creepy film in years, Francois Ozon adapts crime writer Ruth Rendell’s short story for his latest, The New Girlfriend. Rendell has long supplied a bevy of European filmmakers with some of their most memorable titles, including Claude Miller’s Alias Betty (2001), Pedro Almodovar’s Live Flesh (1997), and perhaps, most notably, Claude Chabrol’s La Ceremonie (1994) and The Bridesmaid (2004). An excellent purveyor of strange and complicated relationships that often involve sublimated identities and tendencies that often lead to deadly scenarios, Rendell serves as an excellent template for Ozon with material that recalls the sexually transgressive explorations of his early career.
Claire (Anais Demoustier) and Laura (Isild Le Besco) have been inseparable friends since childhood. They’ve followed nearly the same life trajectory as well, both marrying handsome young men and what not.
- 9/22/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The seductive mystery fiction of British writer Ruth Rendell has proven highly adaptable source material for a number of non-Anglo European filmmakers, among them Claude Chabrol in La Ceremonie and The Bridesmaid, Claude Miller in Alias Betty and Pedro Almodovar in Live Flesh. Francois Ozon joins the list with The New Girlfriend, spun from a 1985 short story by Rendell into a delectable riff on transformation, desire and sexuality that blends the heightened reality of melodrama with mischievous humor and an understated strain of Hitchcockian suspense. Ozon has carved a career out of scratching beneath the cool surface of the
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- 9/10/2014
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mood Indigo's Audrey Tautou with Michel Gondry at the Tribeca Grand Hotel premiere: "I like the bell. The doorbell that is like an insect." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michel Gondry had a Tin Drum moment on the red carpet for his Mood Indigo*, starring Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris with Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga and Charlotte Le Bon. Boris Vian transformed into Günter Grass with a Volker Schlöndorff image stuck in and out of Gondry's head ending up in Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy? An Animated Conversation With Noam Chomsky and out of a faucet in Mood Indigo. Tautou and Duris walked the red carpet in 2013 at The Paris Theatre - she for Claude Miller's Thérèse Desqueyroux and he for Régis Roinsard's Populaire.
Audrey Tautou at Mood Indigo New York premiere: "I was really intrigued by the imagination and phantasy of this universe." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
David Byrne,...
Michel Gondry had a Tin Drum moment on the red carpet for his Mood Indigo*, starring Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris with Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga and Charlotte Le Bon. Boris Vian transformed into Günter Grass with a Volker Schlöndorff image stuck in and out of Gondry's head ending up in Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy? An Animated Conversation With Noam Chomsky and out of a faucet in Mood Indigo. Tautou and Duris walked the red carpet in 2013 at The Paris Theatre - she for Claude Miller's Thérèse Desqueyroux and he for Régis Roinsard's Populaire.
Audrey Tautou at Mood Indigo New York premiere: "I was really intrigued by the imagination and phantasy of this universe." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
David Byrne,...
- 7/18/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Violette , in French, subtitled in English, follows the strange and compelling story from the World War II years through the 1960s of trailblazing bisexual French feminist novelist Violette Leduc (Emmanuelle Devos, Kings and Queen) and her struggle to find her voice as a writer. Scarred by both a childhood trauma and a loveless marriage, as an adult, she became rather crazy.
Here Violette finds a complex and difficult mentor in her friend and benefactress, Simone de Beauvoir (Sandrine Kiberlain), and gains entry to a world of literary giants after a very difficult literary passage.
A parade of great French writers from Camus to Genet is brought to life by a magnificent ensemble cast.
Director Martin Provost (Séraphine, winner of 7 César Awards) vividly and unsentimentally recreates the heady intellectual atmosphere of Paris from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Devos gives one of the most impassioned, over the top crazy (i.e., good!!) performances of her lauded career in the title role, portraying an uncompromising, though totally confused, female artist’s journey from darkness, confusion, weirdness to light and finally literary success.
Devos won her first César Award for her performance as partially deaf Carla in Jacques Audiard's Read My Lips and her second César for Xavier Giannoli’s In the Beginning. She has been praised for many other performances including Arnaud Desplechins A Christmas Tale, Alain Resnais' Wild Grass and Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped. She will soon begin filming Neil Labute’s The Geography of Hope alongside Vera Farmiga, Ethan Hawke and Ed Harris.
Sandrine Kiberlain is perfect as the famously severe Simone de Beauvoir who is Violette's instructress and mentor.
Sandrine Kiberlain, fresh off her Best Actress win at the 2014 Cesar Awards for 9 Month Stretch, is one of France’s most respected actresses, and has appeared in over fifty films including Alain Resnais' final film Life of Riley, as well as with top French directors such as Jacques Audiard (A Self-Made Hero), Benoît Jacquot (Seventh Heaven, La Fausse Suivante de Marivaux) and Claude Miller (Betty Fisher and Other Stories).
With always interesting sets shot in French period grey tones, Violette is a stunning masterwork that casts an interesting, thought provoking spell.
This is an intimate and powerful true story of the relationship between two extraordinary women in an extraordinary time. If, like me, you thought you “knew” this period, this film will give you much food for thought. It is especially insightful as to the role of French intellectual women and their trials in this most interesting period of French history.
The film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2013 in Official Selection where it was acquired for U.S. by Adopt Films. Its U.S. premiere will be at the Los Angeles Film Festival, will open in New York June 13 and in L.A. June 27 followed by its national rollout.
Its international sales agent, Doc & Film has licensed the film to Adopt for U.S., Madman for Australia and New Zealand. Argentina has sold to Cdi Films, Brazil Imovision, Canada Métropole Films Distribution, Denmark Camera Film A/S, France Universcine and Diaphana, Germany Kool Filmdistribution, Iceland Heimili Kvikmyndanna - Bio Paradis, Italy Movies Inspired, Netherlands Contact Film, Norway As Fidalgo Film Distribution, Poland Aurora Films, Slovak Republic Film Europe Media Company, Sweden Folkets Bio, Switzerland Xenix Filmdistribution Gmbh, Taiwan Swallow Wings Films Co.,Ltd., U.K. Soda Pictures...
Here Violette finds a complex and difficult mentor in her friend and benefactress, Simone de Beauvoir (Sandrine Kiberlain), and gains entry to a world of literary giants after a very difficult literary passage.
A parade of great French writers from Camus to Genet is brought to life by a magnificent ensemble cast.
Director Martin Provost (Séraphine, winner of 7 César Awards) vividly and unsentimentally recreates the heady intellectual atmosphere of Paris from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Devos gives one of the most impassioned, over the top crazy (i.e., good!!) performances of her lauded career in the title role, portraying an uncompromising, though totally confused, female artist’s journey from darkness, confusion, weirdness to light and finally literary success.
Devos won her first César Award for her performance as partially deaf Carla in Jacques Audiard's Read My Lips and her second César for Xavier Giannoli’s In the Beginning. She has been praised for many other performances including Arnaud Desplechins A Christmas Tale, Alain Resnais' Wild Grass and Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped. She will soon begin filming Neil Labute’s The Geography of Hope alongside Vera Farmiga, Ethan Hawke and Ed Harris.
Sandrine Kiberlain is perfect as the famously severe Simone de Beauvoir who is Violette's instructress and mentor.
Sandrine Kiberlain, fresh off her Best Actress win at the 2014 Cesar Awards for 9 Month Stretch, is one of France’s most respected actresses, and has appeared in over fifty films including Alain Resnais' final film Life of Riley, as well as with top French directors such as Jacques Audiard (A Self-Made Hero), Benoît Jacquot (Seventh Heaven, La Fausse Suivante de Marivaux) and Claude Miller (Betty Fisher and Other Stories).
With always interesting sets shot in French period grey tones, Violette is a stunning masterwork that casts an interesting, thought provoking spell.
This is an intimate and powerful true story of the relationship between two extraordinary women in an extraordinary time. If, like me, you thought you “knew” this period, this film will give you much food for thought. It is especially insightful as to the role of French intellectual women and their trials in this most interesting period of French history.
The film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2013 in Official Selection where it was acquired for U.S. by Adopt Films. Its U.S. premiere will be at the Los Angeles Film Festival, will open in New York June 13 and in L.A. June 27 followed by its national rollout.
Its international sales agent, Doc & Film has licensed the film to Adopt for U.S., Madman for Australia and New Zealand. Argentina has sold to Cdi Films, Brazil Imovision, Canada Métropole Films Distribution, Denmark Camera Film A/S, France Universcine and Diaphana, Germany Kool Filmdistribution, Iceland Heimili Kvikmyndanna - Bio Paradis, Italy Movies Inspired, Netherlands Contact Film, Norway As Fidalgo Film Distribution, Poland Aurora Films, Slovak Republic Film Europe Media Company, Sweden Folkets Bio, Switzerland Xenix Filmdistribution Gmbh, Taiwan Swallow Wings Films Co.,Ltd., U.K. Soda Pictures...
- 5/31/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Actress, director and screenwriter Nicole Garcia is to preside over the Jury for this year’s Caméra d’or award for the best debut film at Cannes.
Garcia, who has presented a total of seven films at Cannes as both actress and director, first came to attention in Bertrand Tavernier’s Let Joy Reign Supreme in 1975 and subsequently worked with directors Henri Verneuil (Body of My Enemy, 1976) and Laurent Heynemann (The Question, 1977).
In 1979, her performance in Philippe de Broca’s Practice Makes Perfect earned her popular acclaim and a César award for best supporting actress. She went on to work with the greats of French cinema including Alain Resnais (My American Uncle, 1980), Bertrand Blier (Stepfather, 1981), Claude Lelouch (Bolero: Dance of Life, 1981), Pierre Schoendoerffer (A Captain’s Honor, 1982), Claude Sautet (Waiter!, 1983) and Claude Miller (Little Lili, 2003).
She made her behind-the-camera debut with Every Other Weekend in 1990, followed by The Favorite Son in 1994. She has directed seven films, of...
Garcia, who has presented a total of seven films at Cannes as both actress and director, first came to attention in Bertrand Tavernier’s Let Joy Reign Supreme in 1975 and subsequently worked with directors Henri Verneuil (Body of My Enemy, 1976) and Laurent Heynemann (The Question, 1977).
In 1979, her performance in Philippe de Broca’s Practice Makes Perfect earned her popular acclaim and a César award for best supporting actress. She went on to work with the greats of French cinema including Alain Resnais (My American Uncle, 1980), Bertrand Blier (Stepfather, 1981), Claude Lelouch (Bolero: Dance of Life, 1981), Pierre Schoendoerffer (A Captain’s Honor, 1982), Claude Sautet (Waiter!, 1983) and Claude Miller (Little Lili, 2003).
She made her behind-the-camera debut with Every Other Weekend in 1990, followed by The Favorite Son in 1994. She has directed seven films, of...
- 4/18/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Eôs Films
We French pride ourselves at being great at many things: Cooking elaborate meals, cultivating ridiculously expensive wine, making love while speaking with a thick accent English-speakers find inexplicably sexy, for example. But if there’s one aspect of French culture that’s particularly brag-worthy, it’s our films.
From the invention of the cinematograph by the Lumière Brothers to the New Wave, French cinema has established itself as one of the most revered in the world, perhaps second only to Hollywood in its influence over the rest of the world. Most filmgoers have seen or at least heard of such landmark works as Breathless, The 400 Blows, Grand Illusion or La Femme Nikita. As such, this list will focus on French films that, due to lack of media coverage, poor international distribution or their own unconventional nature, are not as well-known as the aforementioned ones but are just...
We French pride ourselves at being great at many things: Cooking elaborate meals, cultivating ridiculously expensive wine, making love while speaking with a thick accent English-speakers find inexplicably sexy, for example. But if there’s one aspect of French culture that’s particularly brag-worthy, it’s our films.
From the invention of the cinematograph by the Lumière Brothers to the New Wave, French cinema has established itself as one of the most revered in the world, perhaps second only to Hollywood in its influence over the rest of the world. Most filmgoers have seen or at least heard of such landmark works as Breathless, The 400 Blows, Grand Illusion or La Femme Nikita. As such, this list will focus on French films that, due to lack of media coverage, poor international distribution or their own unconventional nature, are not as well-known as the aforementioned ones but are just...
- 3/27/2014
- by Thomas Ricard
- Obsessed with Film
Each Monday we present you with the most up-to-date list of the top 10 (indie) movies in the iTunes store (combining rentals and purchases). "Blackfish" once again tops the indies chart this week and also ranks #1 among documentaries and #13 among movies overall in the iTunes store. New titles making the indie list this week include Claude Miller's "Therese," starring Audrey Tatou, and docs "Bridegroom" and "More Than Honey." The comedy "Coffee Town" rose in the ranks because it's on sale to rent for 99 cents in the iTunes store. Thee top 10 indies in iTunes are listed below (number represents North American gross, where applicable): 1. Blackfish (Magnolia, $2,073,582) 2. The Way, Way Back (Fox Searchlight, $21,502,690) 3. Parkland (Exclusive Media, $653,651) 4. Bridegroom (Virgil Films, N/A) 5. Therese (Mpi Media Group, $101,944) 6. Coffee Town (Film Buff, N/A) 7. More Than Honey (Kino Lorber, $76,005) 8. Stuck in Love (Millenium...
- 11/25/2013
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
Now that the dust has settled and the behemoth Tiff is in our rear-view mirror, the Ioncinema.com team are comparing notes, grading films and looking back at our personal experiences, our rapport with the films we saw and the characters that vividly remain with us. Among our favorite fest recaps, our discerning fivesome (Eric Lavallee, Jordan M. Smith, Nicholas Bell, Leora Heilbronn, Caitlin Coder) have created a Top 20 List of New Faces from the 2013 of up-and-coming actors and actresses (of all age demos) that stole some thunder in lead or supporting player roles. Here they are:
#20. Zoe Levin (Palo Alto, Beneath the Harvest Sky)
Unlike the characters of Emily and Tasha in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto and Aron Gaudet & Gita Pullapilly’s Beneath the Harvest Sky, Zoe Levin‘s future is a a bright one. Respectively playing a teens suffering from suburban and country-setting ennui, in Palo Alto...
#20. Zoe Levin (Palo Alto, Beneath the Harvest Sky)
Unlike the characters of Emily and Tasha in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto and Aron Gaudet & Gita Pullapilly’s Beneath the Harvest Sky, Zoe Levin‘s future is a a bright one. Respectively playing a teens suffering from suburban and country-setting ennui, in Palo Alto...
- 9/19/2013
- by IONCINEMA.com Contributing Writers
- IONCINEMA.com
★★★☆☆ Audrey Tautou has never quite cast off the elfin shadow of her breakout role in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie (2001). Over the past decade, she's taken on her fair share of more austere roles, and few have seen her turn a performance as restrained as in Thérèse Desqueyroux (2012) - out now on DVD and Blu-ray. The second adaptation of one of Françoise Mauriac's most famous novels, the period drama was brought to the screen as the swansong of French director Claude Miller. As a whole, the film resembles its protagonist: a cool, staid veneer and languorous way of life giving way to surprisingly effective tension.
Thérèse (Tautou) is the free-spirited daughter of a wealthy landowner that spends hazy summers in the South of France staying with a doting aunt. She frolics her days away with best-friend, Anne (Anaïs Demoustier), and several years later she finds herself preparing for an arranged marriage to Anne's cloddish brother,...
Thérèse (Tautou) is the free-spirited daughter of a wealthy landowner that spends hazy summers in the South of France staying with a doting aunt. She frolics her days away with best-friend, Anne (Anaïs Demoustier), and several years later she finds herself preparing for an arranged marriage to Anne's cloddish brother,...
- 9/16/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
“My head's too full of ideas, that's what scares me,” sighs Audrey Tautou's enigmatic free-spirit, Therese, who is on the brink of marrying a pompous landowner, Bernard (Gilles Lellouche), in pre-war France. When Therese's best pal and Bernard's sister, Anna (Anaïs Demoustie), has a scandalous affair with a dashing young Jewish man, the title's “heroine” fails to adequately support her. Claude Miller's last film (the veteran director died in 2011) is a solemn but pretty look at propriety, “terrible duty” and frustration in the 1920s.
- 9/6/2013
- The Independent - Film
French director Claude Miller's final ever film, Thérèse Desqueyroux (2012) is anchored by a performance of great subtlety and depth by Audrey Tautou (Amelie) as the titular character, whilst she's also ably matched by Gilles Lellouche as her husband. To celebrate the DVD and Blu-ray release of Thérèse Desqueyroux this coming Monday (9 September), we've been given Three DVD copies of Miller's period drama to give away to our well-read supporters, courtesy of the team at world cinema specialists Artificial Eye. This is an exclusive competition for our Facebook and Twitter fans, so if you haven't already, 'Like' us at facebook.com/CineVueUK or follow us @CineVue before answering the question below.
In the French region of Landes, not far from the city of Bordeaux, marriages are arranged to merge land and unite neighbouring families. Thus, young Thérèse Larroque (Tautou) becomes Mrs. Desqueyroux. However, her avant‐garde ideas quickly clash with local conventions.
In the French region of Landes, not far from the city of Bordeaux, marriages are arranged to merge land and unite neighbouring families. Thus, young Thérèse Larroque (Tautou) becomes Mrs. Desqueyroux. However, her avant‐garde ideas quickly clash with local conventions.
- 9/6/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
While most in America still know Audrey Tautou as "Amélie," in France, the actress has carved out a robust career by playing wildly varied characters in films that couldn't be further removed from Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Parisian fantasy, in hits like "Priceless" and "Coco Before Chanel." In her most recent role in the late Claude Miller's final film "Thérèse," based on the classic 1927 novel by François Mauriac, Tautou proves her formidable range by embodying the titular heroine, a woman stuck in a loveless marriage and dull provincial life after wedding for convenience. With the female oppression of the period and her arrogant husband weighing her down, Thérèse makes a reckless decision that could potentially threaten her social standing for life. Indiewire sat down with Tautou in New York to discuss her turn in the drama which opens today, working with the late director, and her career post "Amélie." Watching this,...
- 8/23/2013
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Most people who know the work of French actress Audrey Tautou first fell in love with her when she starred in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie back in 2001. After that movie, Tautou seemed to be in dozens of French imports, but in recent years she's been more selective, playing more mature roles like Coco Chanel in Coco Before Chanel and starring in fims such as Delicacy and Beautiful Lies that haven't gotten nearly as much attention in the States. Her most recent film and probably most complex role is in Thérèse , based on the 1927 novel "Therese Desqueyroux" by François Mauriac and the final film by Claude Miller, who had been directing French films since the early .70s but who tragically passed away before the film's Cannes Film Festival premiere in 2012. Her...
- 8/23/2013
- Comingsoon.net
The final feature from the recently passed French director Claude Miller (A Secret, Alias Betty) is a blandly handsome adaptation of François Mauriac's bitter 1927 novel Thérèse Desqueyroux—previously filmed 50 years ago, with Amour's Emmanuelle Riva in the title role. Here, it's Audrey Tautou, sullenly shaking off her pixie-cute Amélie whimsy and climbing into the bell jar as a dispassionate Jazz Age aristocrat suffocated by her fiscally beneficial marriage to narrow-minded, provincial landowner Bernard (Gilles Lellouche), brother of her best friend, Anne (Anaïs Demoustier). Unenergetically paced and too tasteful by half, the film tries to get into the troubled yet enlightened headspace of pouty, chain-smoking T...
- 8/21/2013
- Village Voice
"Therese Desqueyroux," the closing night selection of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, is not the nuanced period drama it should be but is rather more like a banal, pseudo-thoughtful and monotonous episode of "Masterpiece Theater." Co-adapted by director Claude Miller ("A Secret," "Class Trip"), the latest adaptation of Francois Mauriac's acclaimed novel reduces the titular heroine's story to a troubled individual's struggle to retain her autonomy as a member of her oppressive husband’s family. The phrase, "For the family" is bludgeoned into viewers' heads to the point where it's very easy to ignore the fact that Therese (Audrey Tautou) is anything more than just a proto-desperate housewife. In fact, she's a fatalist because she's also an atheist, a complex concept that Miller sets up but doesn't follow through on. Ultimately Miller's Therese rebels against her boorish husband Bernard (Gilles Lellouche) and his insensitive family simply because she needs to do.
- 8/19/2013
- by Simon Abrams
- The Playlist
In most of the world, only dedicated cinephiles noted the passing of French actress Bernadette Lafont, but in France, citizens nation-wide are still mourning the loss of one of the country's great cinematic icons. Lafont passed away from a heart problem last Thursday at the age of 74. The actress' filmography, which covers well-over 100 films, reads like a who's who list of the most important French directors of the last fifty years. She made her debut in François Truffaut's first short film, The Mischief Makers, in 1957 and went onto work with directors including Costa Garvas, Louis Malle, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Claude Miller and Julie Delpy. And so, in honor of Lafont's work, let's take a look at seven of her standout...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 7/30/2013
- Screen Anarchy
French actress Bernadette Lafont, the face of France's New Wave cinema in the 1950s and the star of some 120 films, died Thursday aged 74. Lafont debuted in Francois Truffaut's 1957 "Les Mistons," worked with other famed French directors including Claude Chabrol, Louis Malle, Nelly Kaplan and Jean Eustache during a career that spanned more than 50 years. The brunette beauty took the Cesar Award for her role in Claude Miller's 1985 film "L'Effrontee" and received an Honorary Cesar in 2003. Lafont continued to work until recently, including with an appearance in Julie Delpy's 2011 film "Le Skylab." She had been hospitalized in her home town of Nimes on Monday after falling ill and died early Thursday, the hospital...
- 7/29/2013
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
Actor with a natural and rebellious style, she helped to launch the French New Wave
Bernadette Lafont, who has died aged 74, could have claimed to be the first female star of the Nouvelle Vague. François Truffaut chose the sensual, dark-haired, 18-year-old Lafont and her new husband, Gérard Blain, to play lovers in the director's first professional film, Les Mistons (The Mischief-Makers, 1957). In this charming short, shot in Nîmes one summer, a group of pubescent boys spy on Lafont and Blain's lovemaking in the fields. Blain and Lafont were also picked to appear in arguably the first French New Wave feature, Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge (1958). In this film, about a young man returning to his childhood home, Lafont played the "village vamp".
Lafont's fresh look and performance style crystallised the movement's ideological and cinematic ambitions. Truffaut and his colleagues found mainstream stars inadequate to their needs, using instead unknown and non-professional actors,...
Bernadette Lafont, who has died aged 74, could have claimed to be the first female star of the Nouvelle Vague. François Truffaut chose the sensual, dark-haired, 18-year-old Lafont and her new husband, Gérard Blain, to play lovers in the director's first professional film, Les Mistons (The Mischief-Makers, 1957). In this charming short, shot in Nîmes one summer, a group of pubescent boys spy on Lafont and Blain's lovemaking in the fields. Blain and Lafont were also picked to appear in arguably the first French New Wave feature, Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge (1958). In this film, about a young man returning to his childhood home, Lafont played the "village vamp".
Lafont's fresh look and performance style crystallised the movement's ideological and cinematic ambitions. Truffaut and his colleagues found mainstream stars inadequate to their needs, using instead unknown and non-professional actors,...
- 7/26/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
The trailer is in for the Audrey Tautou drama "Thérèse" (not to be confused with the Elizabeth Olsen-fronted period piece of the same name). The film is the late director Claude Miller's last. The French drama is based on the 1927 novel by François Mauriac about a woman cut from the same cloth as Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina, stifled by her loveless marriage and dull provincial life. Thérèse married for convenience, hoping she could feign contentment, but the weight of female repression and social customs coupled with the arrogance of her husband eventually drives her to grab a chance at love where she can find it, even if it means taking reckless action. You can check out Indiewire's exclusive look at the poster here. Watch the trailer below.
- 7/2/2013
- by Madeline Raynor
- Indiewire
Watch the trailer for Therese, also known as Thérèse Desqueyroux, starring Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier. Claude Miller directs as well as adapting the screenplay alongside Natalie Carter, based on the novel by François Mauriac. Mpi Media distributes the French drama which opens in select theaters from August 23rd, 2013. François Mauriac's legendary 1927 novel of French provincial life has been gloriously brought to the screen by the inestimable Claude Miller in his final film. Sumptuously photographed to capture the full beauty of the pine-forested Landes area...
- 7/1/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
What happened to our sweet Amelie? Audrey Tautou, who can usually be relied upon to look adorkable, proceeding to melt you into a puddle with little more than a coy look and a smile, puts away the pixie charm in "Therese" and gets ready to kill. Really. The first trailer for the French film is here, and it promises stuffy period settings and melodramatic stakes. The final film from Claude Miller ("La classe de neige," "Little Lili") is based on the novel by François Mauriac, which tells the tale of a young, intelligent woman in 1920s France who falls into a loveless, abusive marriage of convenience and seeks a way out by poisoning her husband. And that's where the intrigue lies, though when we saw it at Cannes last year, we weren't too thrilled, calling it a movie that "starts out very strong but ends as meekly as its protagonist’s story does.
- 6/28/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Sneak Peek footage from late director Claude Miller's last film, the French drama "Thérèse", adapting author François Mauriac's 1927 novel of the same name, starring Audrey Tautou and Gilles Lellouche:
"...in France, late 1920, Thérèse (Tautou) marries her charming and free spirited neighbor 'Bernard Desqueyroux' (Lellouche), joining their properties to form a vast estate.
"Thérèse becomes quickly stifled by the tedium of provincial life and the intellectual mediocrity of her husband, dreaming of Paris, longing for stimulation and culture, and despite herself, starts looking for a way to escape. Until the day Bernard almost poisons himself with arsenic..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Thérèse"...
"...in France, late 1920, Thérèse (Tautou) marries her charming and free spirited neighbor 'Bernard Desqueyroux' (Lellouche), joining their properties to form a vast estate.
"Thérèse becomes quickly stifled by the tedium of provincial life and the intellectual mediocrity of her husband, dreaming of Paris, longing for stimulation and culture, and despite herself, starts looking for a way to escape. Until the day Bernard almost poisons himself with arsenic..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Thérèse"...
- 6/28/2013
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
A gorgeous new poster for late director Claude Miller's final film "Therese" -- formerly known as "Therese Desqueyroux" when it debuted at Cannes in 2012 -- has been unveiled. Based on the classic novel by Francois Mauriac, this exquisite adaptation stars French darling Audrey Tautou as a provincial 1920s housewife who elects, a la Emma Bovary and Anna Karenina, to flee her suffocating life and marriage, with tragic consequences. Reviews since the film competed for the Palme d'Or have been generally favorable. Philip French of The Observer calls it "a handsome, solidly acted period movie about deliberately dislikable people" and "the swansong of a director who was a longtime assistant to Truffaut" though Time Out says it's "a tad on the stiff side." "Therese" hits select stateside theaters August 23rd. Check out the new poster, and a trailer, below.
- 6/27/2013
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 1920s are still in vogue, thanks to the latest film set in the ’20s, “Thérèse.” The film, starring Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche, Anaïs Demoustier and directed by Claude Mille, tells the story about a housewife who wants to a life filled with the love and fun she feels she’s missing. Here’s more about the film: “Audrey Tautou stars as a provincial housewife in 1920s France, whose suffocating marriage to a boorish landowner inspires her to a fatal bid for freedom, in the late director Claude Miller’s exquisite adaptation of the classic novel by François Mauriac. François Mauriac’s legendary 1927 novel of French provincial life has been gloriously brought to [ Read More ]
The post New Poster for Thérèse Released appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post New Poster for Thérèse Released appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/27/2013
- by monique
- ShockYa
Audrey Tautou is an unhappily married woman who struggles to break free from social pressures? Yes, that’s exactly the thing with Therese Desqueryroux (aka Thérèse), Claude Miller‘s upcoming drama which premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Head inside to check out the latest posters, images and a brand new clip from the movie which is set to hit limited theaters this August! Doesn’t look bad at all… As we previously reported, Therese is an adaption of the François Mauriac novel of the same name, first published in 1927. Unfortunately, it’s the last work of director Claude Miller, who died in April 2012. ...
- 6/27/2013
- by Jeanne Standal
- Filmofilia
Catch the first poster for the late Claude Miller's THÉRÈSE, starring Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier. The film opens nin selecct theaters from August 23, 2013! Miller is also responsible for the exquisite adaptation of the classic novel by François Mauriac wheree Tautou stars as a provincial housewife in 1920s France, whose suffocating marriage to a boorish landowner inspires her to a fatal bid for freedom.
- 6/27/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Opening within a month of each other is the Audrey Tautou starring drama "Thérèse" and the Elizabeth Olsen fronted thriller "Therese." The title (minus the accents on the former) isn't the only thing the two projects have in common: Both are period projects, headlined by recognizable stars and based on famous French novels (Tatou's project is based on "Thérèse Desqueryroux" by François Mauriac; Olsen's, on Emile Zola's scandalous novel, "Thérèse Raquin") centered on repressed women stuck in a loveless marriages. When the Tautou film, which marks the final film of the late Claude Miller, premiered back at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival as the closing night film, it went by the book's title, "Thérèse Desqueryroux," so we called up Mpi Pictures head Marie Therese Guirgis (who's releasing the film) to suss out why they chose to go with a potentially conflicting title instead of sticking with the old one. "Well,...
- 6/26/2013
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Behind The Candelabra | The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone | After Earth | The Iceman | Thérèse Desqueyroux | Come As You Are | The Last Exorcism: Part II | 009 Re: Cyborg | Aguirre, Wrath Of God
Behind The Candelabra (15)
(Steven Soderbergh, 2013, Us) Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd. 118 mins
The fact that Hollywood wasn't interested in backing a story involving celebrity, dictator-style kitsch, cosmetic surgery, rhinestones, signet rings and poodles (oh, and gay people) proves once again that nobody there knows anything. Douglas is terrific as the flamboyant but needy Liberace, and this true-life relationship drama is both hilarious and empathetic, harking back to a pre-Aids era of innocence and excess. Rob Lowe's hair provides excellent support.
The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone (15)
(Shane Meadows, 2013, UK) 96 mins
If the Roses were the greatest band in the world to you, then this is probably the greatest doc in the world. Meadows,...
Behind The Candelabra (15)
(Steven Soderbergh, 2013, Us) Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd. 118 mins
The fact that Hollywood wasn't interested in backing a story involving celebrity, dictator-style kitsch, cosmetic surgery, rhinestones, signet rings and poodles (oh, and gay people) proves once again that nobody there knows anything. Douglas is terrific as the flamboyant but needy Liberace, and this true-life relationship drama is both hilarious and empathetic, harking back to a pre-Aids era of innocence and excess. Rob Lowe's hair provides excellent support.
The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone (15)
(Shane Meadows, 2013, UK) 96 mins
If the Roses were the greatest band in the world to you, then this is probably the greatest doc in the world. Meadows,...
- 6/8/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The French actor tells Catherine Shoard why she swerved away from sweetness to play a gritty, troubled heiress in the 1920s
Meeting Room F in the basement of Toronto's Hyatt Regency hotel has no windows. It has coffee and cookies and the groggy chuckle of an extractor fan. It is 11am at the fag-end of last autumn's film festival. In the corner is a whiteboard in search of a mantra, and a big bin.
And then suddenly Audrey Tautou, too: nose to knees in red satin, eyes like Minstrels, skin like milk. She could be a hologram, a creature from another world – specifically, Cannes, where the film she's talking about today first premiered and where, earlier this year, she hosted the festival's opening and closing ceremonies with perfect grace and maximum gamine.
Yet Tautou is not a person to feel out of place. Rather, she is a fish out of...
Meeting Room F in the basement of Toronto's Hyatt Regency hotel has no windows. It has coffee and cookies and the groggy chuckle of an extractor fan. It is 11am at the fag-end of last autumn's film festival. In the corner is a whiteboard in search of a mantra, and a big bin.
And then suddenly Audrey Tautou, too: nose to knees in red satin, eyes like Minstrels, skin like milk. She could be a hologram, a creature from another world – specifically, Cannes, where the film she's talking about today first premiered and where, earlier this year, she hosted the festival's opening and closing ceremonies with perfect grace and maximum gamine.
Yet Tautou is not a person to feel out of place. Rather, she is a fish out of...
- 6/7/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Audrey Tautou gives an opaque performance as the fatally ambiguous heroine in this intriguingly oppressive drama
This is the last film from Claude Miller, who died last year at the age of 70. François Mauriac's mysterious novel of dark provincial passion (previously filmed by Georges Franju in 1962) has here has been turned into a closely observed, intriguingly oppressive and unventilated drama, whose suspense accumulates as the action proceeds with its heavy, deliberate tread. Audrey Tautou plays Thérèse herself in pre-war France: she's a free thinker and free spirit, but nonetheless someone with a lively appreciation of her family's riches and social standing, and how advantageous it would be to marry the dull, wealthy landowner Bernard Desqueyroux (Gilles Lellouche), the brother of her best friend Anne (Anaïs Demoustier). After this is achieved, Anne scandalises one and all by having an affair with handsome young Jean (Stanley Weber), who is subject to...
This is the last film from Claude Miller, who died last year at the age of 70. François Mauriac's mysterious novel of dark provincial passion (previously filmed by Georges Franju in 1962) has here has been turned into a closely observed, intriguingly oppressive and unventilated drama, whose suspense accumulates as the action proceeds with its heavy, deliberate tread. Audrey Tautou plays Thérèse herself in pre-war France: she's a free thinker and free spirit, but nonetheless someone with a lively appreciation of her family's riches and social standing, and how advantageous it would be to marry the dull, wealthy landowner Bernard Desqueyroux (Gilles Lellouche), the brother of her best friend Anne (Anaïs Demoustier). After this is achieved, Anne scandalises one and all by having an affair with handsome young Jean (Stanley Weber), who is subject to...
- 6/7/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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