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French film reviews
French Film Log
French Movies on New Zealand screens – English subtitles August 2008 Paris An A+ movie for lovers of Paris. The movie incorporates glorious sweeping views of this beautiful city, while linking the stories of several individuals and families from different backgrounds to Pierre, a cabaret dancer waiting for a much needed heart transplant. A very French experience of apartment living, street and business life, includes the day to day activities of a colourful local market. Lovely Juliette Binoche is Elise, the sister of Pierre, (Romain Duris). 4.5 / 5 comment on this movie August 2008 2008 Auckland Film Festival Flight of the Red Balloon Like the regular appearance of a red balloon, the storyline floats to no real conclusion as we share the daily pattern of life of a mother and her child living in a Bohemian area of Paris. Juliette Binoche is puppeteer Suzanne and Simon is her son. Song Fang, as Song, a Chinese film student, is the Nanny, whose gentle impact on the household contrasts strongly against the fast pace and complexity of Suzanne’s life. Some lovely Paris scenery in this artistic film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien for the Musee d’Orsay’s 20th anniversary, inspired by 1950s “The Red Balloon”. 3.5 / 5 comment on this movie August 2008 2008 Auckland Film Festival Welcome to the Sticks Delightful, endearing comedy, set in Pas-de-Calais, north of Paris, considered to be a French back-water, with freezing temperatures, retarded inhabitants and odd customs. Postal worker, Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) evokes monumental sympathy from friends and family when posted there from charming Provence. Of course, it’s nothing of the sort and Philippe is warmly received, making new friends and becoming a part of the community. Convincing his wife is another story. Jokes in local dialect are a highlight. 4.5 / 5 comment on this movie What If (Notre Univers impitoyable) February, 2009 French Film Festival Auckland Staring vivacious Alice Taglioni as Margot and charming Jocelyn Quivrin as Victor, a romantically linked couple who work as lawyers for the same company. Like the 1998 movie, ‘Sliding Doors’, this bright, amusing, well paced comedy gives us more than one outcome, when one of the firm’s partners dies suddenly and Margot and Victor are both up for the position. This one is lots of fun. 4.5/5 comment on this movie Love Me No More (Deux jours à tuer) February, 2009 French Film Festival Auckland Antoine (Albert Dupontel) and Cecile (Marie-Josee Croze) are married with two gorgeous children. The close knit, caring family is split apart when successful publicist Antoine seriously insults a client and arranges to sell his shares to his partner. After also insulting and treating his family and close friends abominably, he leaves for Ireland to visit his estranged father, (Pierre Vaneck), where the reason for his radical change in behaviour is revealed. A touching, well acted story with depth. 4.5/5 comment on this movie Daddy Cool (Quinz ans et demi) February 2009 French Film Festival Auckland An often funny and generally spot on look at the difficulties the generation gap poses for parents and their children. Philippe (Daniel Auteuil) a celebrated scientist takes leave from his work in the USA to return to France after fifteen years to look after his enchanting fifteen and a half year old daughter Eglantine (Juliete Lamboley). As a ‘new’ father, he has a lot to learn. Philippe’s imaginary friend ‘Albert Einstein’ sometimes gets in the way of an otherwise delightful movie. 4/5 comment on this movie The Grocer's Son April, 2009 Set in lightly populated Provence country-side, this delightful slice of French life comes with a love story. Nicolas Cazale is 30 year old, Antoine, who returns home begrudgingly to run the family’s grocery van business when his father falls ill. He brings friend Clare (Clotilde Hesne), whom he secretly loves. We meet the eccentric, elderly isolated clientele as Antoine travels selling his wares, gradually unwinding to become their friends. 4.5/5 comment on this movie The Class June 2009 Intense conversation filled depiction of classroom life in a multi-racial lower-income Paris school. Set in the classroom, playground and teacher’s staff room, the film centres round a particular class of 15 and 16 year olds taught by Francois (François Bégodeau who also wrote the autobiography this film is based on). Francois does his best to teach with honesty and flexibility, but is dogged by frustrated and ‘off the subject’ comments from his mainly street-wise pupils. 4/5 comment on this movie I’ve Loved You So Long June 2009 Thought provoking drama, packed with interesting characters. Kristin Scott Thomas is Juliette, who moves in to live with her sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) following release from prison after fifteen years for committing murder. As Juliette tries to settle back into a normal life and interacts with her family and sister’s friends, we learn who she killed and why. 4.5/5 comment on this movie New Zealand '09 International film festival The Artist's Life - La Vie d'artiste July 2009 An absolute delight, as the storyline follows the worlds of three separate ‘artists’ wrestling with where they would like to be in life. Set in today’s Paris, Sandrine Kiberlain is actress Alice working in Japanese animation dubbing, Emilie Decenne is aspiring singer Cora and teacher and novel writer Betrand is Denis Podalydes. Insightful, humourous and totally satisfying. 5/5 comment on this movie Cléo from 5 to 7 – Cléo de 5 á 7 July 2009 Filmed in Paris in 1962, Cléo’s story begins with a touch of colour, but then it’s all in black and white. Corinne Marchard plays Florence/Cléo, a beautiful spoilt singer we follow from 5pm to 7pm as she wanders the streets of Paris, while waiting for medical test results. Cleo interacts with friends and strangers, pondering the meaning of her life and finding ‘herself’. Plenty of Paris to be seen. 3/5 comment on this movie Shall We Kiss? Un baiser s’il vous plait August 2009 The film, a story within a story, opens in Nantes, where Parisian fabric designer Emilie (Julie Gavet) meets up with local Gabriel (Michael Cohen) by chance. When Gabriel wants to end their evening together with a simple kiss, Emile tells a story about the repercussions of a similar suggestion on Paris based friends Judith (Virginie Ledoven) and Nicolas ( Emmanuel Mouret), Judith’s husband Claudio (Stefano Accorsi) and Nicolas’s partner Caline ( Frederique Bell). An amusing and very watchable tale with a surprise at the end. 4/5 comment on this movie |