French faves at this year's film festival

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 04/08/2007 3:04 PM  |  Life

Kenny Santana, Contributor, Jakarta, Qnoy2k@yahoo.com

When it comes to film festivals, there are usually so many movies to choose from; so it is with this year's French Film Festival, which opens this week. More than 30 films will be screened in 10 days.

The Jakarta Post has made selection easier for you by picking the best of the crop: films that have garnered the best reviews, won awards, done well at the box office, have star power or -- what counts the most -- that audiences love, too.

Award winners

Whether from Oscar to Cesar, Golden Globe to Golden Palm, five films have won recognition around the world: 13 Tzameti, Le Petit Lieutenant, Coeurs, Je ne suis pas La Pour Etre Aime and Quand J'etais Chanteur.

One of the strongest is Le Petit Lieutenant (The Little Lieutenant), which won Best Actress in the 2006 Cesar Awards for Nathalie Baye, plus three other nominations including Best Film and Best Director.

The film follows a newly recruited police officer Antoine (Jalil Lespert) being transferred from Normandy to Paris, whose life changes when he finds a dead body in the River Seine.

There are powerful performances throughout, most notably from Nathalie Baye as an alcoholic commandant. Reviews claimed the movie as one of the best-written contemporary cop stories out there.

Critics' darling

Internationally awarded 13 Tzameti is a favorite among critics because of its noir/slash/horror take on social drama. In this directorial debut of a 26-year-old Georgian living in France, Gela Babluani, a young immigrant named Sebastien, finds clues that promise him money but lead him to a world of crime.

The Guardian newspaper said it was ""the kind of film that might have intrigued Kubrick' while the New York Post praised its Hitchcock style. The Los Angeles Times touted it as a ""mind-blowing experience"" and Variety compared it to the work of Tarantino.

To sum up, it's a stylish thriller full of ride and twists: Not to be missed.

Box office winners

Everyone is so concerned with box office performance, and so are we. Asterix et les Vikings (Asterix and the Vikings), arguably France's most famous fictional character, registered over 1.3 million admissions in France alone when it was released in 2006, while Arthur et les Minimoys (Arthur and the Invisibles) directed by Luc Besson held six million French in awe.

The animated version of Asterix focuses on Asterix' and Obelix' adventure to rescue the chief's nephew, Justforkix.

Arthur et les Minimoys uses half animation-half live action, but full talents like Madonna, Robert De Niro and Snoop Dogg to woo the audience.

A boy (played by Freddie Highmore) tries to save his family home by entering the world of half-inch creatures named The Invisibles, found in their garden.

Beside these two titles other champions in the moneymaking business are Azur et Asmar (1.6 million admissions) and Hors de Prix (over two million).

Star quality

Hands down, Paris Je T'aime (Paris I Love You) has the most stars in a single film. Hollywood names like Natalie Portman, Elijah Wood, Steve Buscemi and Maggie Gyllenhall meet French legends Fanny Ardant, Gerard Depardieu and Juliette Binoche in these 18 short stories about love in, of course, Paris.

Chosen for the closing ceremony (audience by invitation only) the film will be screened commercially the following week at Blitz Megaplex.

Besides Paris Je T'aime, catch French sweetheart Audrey Tautou in the charming comedy, Hors de Prix (Priceless) where she acts as a ""working girl"" seducing her new sugar daddy Jean (Gal Elmaleh), who's actually a waiter.

Le Concile de Pierre (The Stone Council) features Monica Belucci and Catherine Deneuve and is about a scientist (Belucci) whose adopted Thai son is kidnapped, thus taking her all the way to Mongolia.

Audience choice

Well-known film portal imdb.com rates a movie based on user reviews; the best vote goes to Azur et Asmar and Comment J'ai fete la fin du monde (The Way I Spent The End of the World).

The animation tale of friendship and brotherhood of a young European and Arab from different social classes in Azur et Asmar has attracted a worldwide film audience.

""Every second of screen time is mind-blowingly beautiful,"" one audience member wrote in praise of the movie. Another said the film was a visual and intellectual tour de force.

The other highly rated film is Comment, which tells of the life of one family and that of their neighbors at the end of Romanian dictator Ceausescu's regime in 1989.

This comedy set within a political situation makes for strong drama. ""A beautiful coming of age ... is strong on mood and feeling,"" said a viewer.

Fresh from the oven

The best thing about the French Film Festival is the films are always the latest, and this year's offering is Molire, released January.

This period piece starring Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini and Ludivine Sagnier is set in 1658 when Molire, France's answer to Shakespeare, is a playwright who's bailed from jail by a wealthy man in return for tutoring him.

Moliere's life during this phase helps him grow from a young man to one of the world's great dramatists.

Full of wit and fun, think of Molire as Shakespeare in Love in French.

The French Film Festival opens April 13 in selected cities nationwide. For more information log on to www.sinemaperancis.com

Comments (0)  |   Post comment
A  |   A  |   A  |   Mail to a friend  |  Printer Friendly Version |  Digg it!  |  Add to Del.icio.us!  |  Add to Reddit!  |  Stumble it!

What's On

more
Not available.
Not available.