The Rendez-vous With French Cinema 2008

[Chris Knipp]

THE RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA 2008

This annual Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) series of new French films is coming again to the Walter Reade Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and for the third year in a row I'll be attending the films--fifteen this year--and writing about them in the FESTIVAL COVERAGE section of Filmleaf. The schedule is here. (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19342)

Comments are welcome in this thread.

I'll see if I can find out if there's some explanation why Abdel Kechche's new film La grain et le mulet isn't included in the Rendez-Vous. Oscar has pointed out it and Olivier Assayas' Boarding Gate, are both included in the upcoming Miami Film Festival. Kechiche's first film L'esquive/Games of Law and Chance was an enormous critical success in France, and this new one has gotten very high ratings there too. This Rendez-Vous omission is puzzling given that La grain et le mulet still appears to lack a US distributor--but received some notable awards at Venice and Cannes and raves from French critics.

Assayas' Boarding Pass on the other hand may not be in the Rendez-Vous due to its imminent US release. *

I don't know how many of the Rendez-Vous films will be top quality but I'll be here to let you know about that shortly. There are definitely some interesting titles.

Nicolas Klotz's Heartbeat Director/La Question humaine with Matthieu Amalric has had very solid French reviews from some of the better sources, and I just missed seeing it in Paris last fall. It's subject is like Michael Clayton's--corporate corruption--and it sounds like a devastating indictment that delves into Europe's dubious economic past. Said to be an "ambitious," "wide-ranging," "haunting" film.

Another one that could be cool is Ain't Scared/Regarde-moi (Audrey Estrougo, a drama about life in the banlieu like L'esquive. And then Christophe Honore (with his muse Louis Garrel again) and Cedric Klapisch are always of interest. A great Klapisch regular whose reputation has soared since The Beat My Heart Skipped/De battre mon coeur c'est arrete', Romain Duris, appears in this new one with Juliette Binoche and the lively Fabrice Luchini. Mia Hansen-Love's All Is Forgiven/ Tout est pardonne' is a nice one, a first film. Claude Miller's Un secret/A Secret is to me a dud but probably Unifrance et al. think it could do well here due to its classic wartime content and a whole brace of name French actors, including the busy Matthieu Amalric (whom American viewers will begin to know from his remarkable performance in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, but some of us already know him from Arnaud Desplechin's My Sex Life and Kings and Queen--not to mention Munich! With him are Ludovine Sagnier, Cecile de France (L'Auberge Espagnole) and Ludovine Sagnier. If all else fails, French films never cease to be rich in beautiful women, and they're beginning to have more ravishing young men lately. . .but the French never cease to find older men sexy and interesting, which is cool.

I will be interrested to see Those who Remain/Ceux qui restent due to the presence of the excellent Vincent Lindon and the by now virtually iconic Emmanuelle Devos. Well known actress Sandrine Bonnaire's documentary about her institutionalized autistic sister Her Name Is Sabine/Elle s'appelle Sabine should be a compelling watch. I was not crazy about Noemie Lvovsky's last one Actrices (which was in the NYFF 2007) but maybe she's done something interesting with her good friend Valeria Bruni Tedeschi this time, in a story about an old man with a new lease on life played by Jean-Pierre Marielle, whom you may have seen in something since he's been in over a hundred films. He was in Tous les mains du monde/All the Mornings of the World and Tavernier's Clean Slate/Coup de Torchon.

The opener is Claude (A Man and a Woman) Lelouche's new one, Roman de Gare. A "roman policier" (crime novel), it's said to be a return to form and the best one in a good while from Lelouch, and it stars another French cinematic female icon (with a pretty impressive resume), Fanny Ardant.

*Actually Boarding Gate was included in the FSLC Film Comment Selects series that immediately preceded the Rendez-Vous, along with several other French titles, i.e., Rivettes The Duchess of Langeais (the opening night film), Nolot's Before I Forget, Maury and Pustillo's Inside and Xavier Genes' Frontieres. plus as a retrospective, J'entends plus la guitare. So that increases to twenty-one the actual number of French films introduced by the FSLC in February-March 2008. But still not Kechicne's La grain et le mulet, and I still don't know why (March 2, 2008).

[Chris Knipp]

A French culture blog notes that three new French films are showing in New York in theaters at the moment: Techine's The Witnesses, Caramel, and Live and Become. Caramel is actually Lebanese and I reveiewed it in my Paris "Briefly Noted" thread last fall here (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2146-PARIS-OCTOBER-2007-briefly-noted). On that "French Film Journal" you can find (http://frenchjournal.typepad.com/french_journal/film/index.html) trailers or YouTube excerpts of these new French films. Live and Become is actually a 2005 film about an Ethiopian Jewish boy who seeks refuge in Israel and it was a Fipresci (http://www.fipresci.org/festivals/archive/2005/berlin/live_akettelhack.htm) award winner in Berlin. It's showing at the Paris and Landmark Sunshine theaters in Manhattan.

[oscar jubis]

I've seen two earlier films by Radu Mihailenau, the director of Live and Become. My favorite is his first, Betrayal, which played at several festivals including Miami and swept the awards at Montreal. The other one, Train of Life was distributed relatively wide. It's a better Holocaust farce than Life is Beautiful.

[Chris Knipp]

Radu Mihaileanu is a Romanian Jewish filmmaker whose parents were survivors of Nazi work camps. He emigrated to France in 1980. He has six credits as a director: Les Quatre Saisons (The Four Seasons), 1980;Betrayal/Trahir, 1993; Bonjour Antoine (Hello Antoine), (for TV) 1997; Train of Life/Train de vie, 1998; Les Pygmees de Carlo, (for TV) 2002; and the current Live and Become/Va, vis et deviens, 2005.

Howard Schumann, a former contributor to these pages, wrote an excellent review (http://www.cinescene.com/howard/liveandbecome.htm) of Live and Become published by Cinescene in 2006 and in it he thoroughly explains the film's content and the historical background of Ethiopian Jews who emigrated to Israel. He writes:
The film tells the story of Ethiopian Black Jews known as Falashas who were brought to Israel in Operation Moses in 1984 by the Israeli Mossad. It was an operation that successfully airlifted 8,000 Ethiopean Jews to Israel, but sadly also one in which 4,000 died during a brutal journey on foot to Sudan or later in refugee camps. The details surrounding the life and identity of the main character, however, are a bit particular. He is not a Jew but pretends to be one in order to escape the refugee camps. Adnrew Pulver of Tha Guardian questions this narrative choice:
It's. . . an odd decision to choose to look at [these events from the perspective of an interloper; a starving Ethiopian kid who impersonates a Falasha to get on the rescue plane.. . .And Mihaileanu's film is further watered down by its dewy-eyed attitude towards its protagonist, who grows from mournful kid to sensitively sexy teen while agonising over his imposture. Schumann is more forgiving but notes the film "occasionally slips into cliche."

[Chris Knipp]

The following opening films in the screnings were shown today and reviews will be in the FESTIVAL COVERAGE section shortly:

MONDAY, FEB. 11
10 a.m. - 11:43 a.m.:
Roman de gare
Claude Lelouch, France, 2007; 103m
12 noon - 1:35 p.m.:
Love Songs / Les chansons d’amour
Christophe Honoré, France, 2007; 95m

[Johann]

I LOVE Fanny Ardant.
A veteran gorgeous actress.
An icon indeed.

Watch 8 Femmes if you disagree.
Thinking about it, it's probably my favorite guilty pleasure film.

Looking forward to your reviews Mr. Knipp.

[Chris Knipp]

8 Femmes is a guilty pleasure--that's a good way to look at it--a guiilty pleasue for lovers of French female film icons. Of which Fanny Ardant is one of the most powerful.

This new Lelouch film was a good surprise. It worked for me in every respect. Fanny Ardent is actually the "bad guy" in this one. She is central and anchors the movie but is not in the majority of the scenes. Lelouch said it was essential for the role to be played by an icon, somebody really famous--and the other roles, not.

My review of this one will be up later this evening. I started on the second one I saw, the Christophe Honore Love Songs, because it was fresh in my mind. I didn't realize how complicated it would be to talk about. Both films were easy to watch, but that doesn't mean easy to describe.

[Chris Knipp]

REVIEW OF LELOUCH'S ROMAN DE GARE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2211-Rendez-vous-With-French-Cinema-2008&p=19387#post19387)

You'll find the review of Christophe Honoré's Love Songs/Les Chansons d'amour (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2211-Rendez-vous-With-French-Cinema-2008&p=19388#post19388) right after it in the thread.

[oscar jubis]

Not a fan of Lelouch and I won't judge Honore solely by his unimpressive My Mother so I don't really know him. The fact that I want to watch their latest releases after reading your reviews speaks volumes about their effectiveness. Keep 'em coming.
A couple of typos: it's The Return of Martin Guerre and Dominique Pinon. The Lelouch will be distributed in the US by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

[Chris Knipp]

I'll correct those spellings. That review was written under pressure. The one of Love Songs has been proofread more times and hopefullyis more errror free. I typed "guerre" when I meant "gare" earlier and then I corrected "Martin Guerre" to "Gare" without reading the context. I knos it's Martin Guerre.

I can assure you that I have rarely if ever liked Lelouch and some of his recent ones have been quite a slog to watch. You may not think this one is a great film but it does not drag. It moves.

Honore's La Mere is a stinker. But how about the made for TV Tout contre Léo; you might like that. And I like Dans Paris quite a lot. A good one to watch along with this new one. Have not seen 17 fois Cécile Cassard. He is uneven. I am a fan of Louis Garrel. I love to watch him. I like his frivolity and playfulness, which Honore has brought out. You saw him no doubt in Regular Lovers? Louis Garrel's first appearance also was in a film of his father Philippe's, Les baisers de secours. Too bad it's hard to see anything by Philippe Garrel.

[oscar jubis]

Yes, too bad. I first heard of Philippe Garrel because of his association with Nico. That's when I was a teenager. I didn't get to see any of his films until 2005. Now I've seen three of them and liked them very much. Much yet to explore. I like his son and his dad too.

[Chris Knipp]

REVIEW OF NICOLAS KLOTZ'S HEARTBEAT DETECTOR/LA QUESTION HUMAINE (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19405#post19405) .

[oscar jubis]

Klotz's feature debut was an English-language film starring Hugh Grant as an engineer living in India who falls in love with the teen daughter of his employer. No bonafide reviews available. The dvd was released a couple of years ago. It's called Bengali Night. I'll probably watch it when La Question Humaine gets released here.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the tip. Nobody seemed to know anything about this director.

He made in around 1993 LA NUIT SACREE, a filming of the most famous novel by Tahir ben Jalloun, the Moroccan author who writes in French. A magical book. It would be interesting to do. From the evidence Klotz is very versatile.

[Chris Knipp]

SOPHIE MARCEAU'S LA DISPARUE DE DEAUVILLE (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19414#post19414) (English title to be revealed).

[oscar jubis]

Tell No One nonetheless went quickly to DVD in the US; its bevy of well known French screen actors held no Stateside power to enchant. (Knipp)
Lamentably, Tell No One was released on Region 1 dvd by Seville Canada, a small company that distributes exclusively within our neighbor to the north, and most specifically for the province of Quebec. The dvd is not available for purchase in the US or for rental at places like Blockbuster or Netflix. You can order it from Canadian Amazon here (http://www.amazon.com/Ne-Dis-Personne-Fran%C3%A7ois-Cluzet/dp/B000R55J1I/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1202953643&sr=1-6) for about $28 + shipping..

[Chris Knipp]

I saw this is Paris during its regular un there and posted a review (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2140) of it on this Website. I rewatched it today as part of the FSLC Rendez-Vous screenings. So what I write will for the Rendez-Vous "Festival Coverage" thread will partly be a comment on my previous viewing.

CLAUDE MILLER: A SECRET/UN SECRET (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19424#post19424)

[Chris Knipp]

EMMANUEL MOURET: SHALL WE KISS? (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19434)

(Link to review in Festival Coverage.)

[Chris Knipp]

JEAN-MARC MOUTOUT: THE FEELINGS FACTORY (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19437#post19437) (2008).

(Review in the Festival Coverage section.)

[Chris Knipp]

MIA HANSEN-LOVE: ALL IS FORGIVEN (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19439#post19439) (2007).

In the Festival Coverage section.

[oscar jubis]

I would bet that Un Secret will get distributed in the US. Why? because of the story and the familiarity with veteran Claude Miller. It also simply seems to be a good movie.

Variety calling the new Mouret "less fizzy and more philosophical" than Change of Address gives hope to one who found the earlier film enjoyable but instantly forgettable.

I am curious about the feature debut of Ms. Hansen-Love who went into directing quickly after appearing in supporting roles in two Assayas films.

Not interested in The Feelings Factory after reading your review. And I am a fan of Elsa Zylberstein.

[Chris Knipp]

Emmanuel Mouret. I haven't seen Change of Address so can't comment. It seems to have done very well critically in France though, as far as I can see from reviews excerpted or linked by Allocine'.--better than your comment would suggest. I'd like to see it now. Shall We Kiss? definitely isn't fuzzy.

Jean-Marac Moutout.As for The Feelings Factory, it seems a hodgepodge. It kills your interest by shifting into too many unrelated topics. There is even a women's Turkish bath that pops up now and then and you think maybe Eloise is going to discover lesbianism is the answer for her. And there is a wild bar called Colibri that gives rise to David Lynch-style kinky dream sequences. The movie seems made by a committee who didn't settle on a unified approach.

It was revealing to see The Feelings Factory right after Shall We Kiss? The latter has virtues the former lacks: it makes wonderful use of its material and nothing is wasted. In The Feelings Factory almost everything is wasted. Probably only the speed dating sequences stick in the mind and they could be from some ofhter movie

Mia Hansen-Love. All Is Forgiven is worth watching, as a first film quite accomplished and rather elegant in sytle. Heavy material, but a pretty light touch.

Claude Miller. You're certainly right about A Secret having a US distribution potential with its WWII/Jewish family subject matter and its colorful, clearcut characters. Plus there is a potential tie-in with the book, which seems to have just been published in the US under the title Memory. After two viewings I'd agree that Claude Miller's film is well made for what it is, but I can't get excited about it, even though I like several of the actors very much.

You might find the author's actual identity as a psychiatrist an interesting aspect. He seems to be quite a good writer. There is a focus of the novel -- resentment toward the family for hiding such important things from him growing up -- that may have deserved more emphatic treatment in the film. But the events of the Shoah/Holocaust story in flashback tend to take over. Wonder how it is proportioned in the original book.It seems like the psychological aspect of Francois' experience, the meaning of his inventing an imaginary companion who's a more athletic brother, his feeling he's not quite his parents' real son, the sense of something hidden from him, gave way in the film to what could be more easily dramatized and filmed. The scene at school where the classmate jokes at the concentraton camp film and Francois attacks him violently is central to the book. Strong also in the film, it is however somewhat overwhelmed by the many other scenes. i wonder if we grasp from the film that Louise's revelations, which follow his telling her about the incident at school, are the beginning of Fransois' rediscovering and embracing his Jewish identity. Since the novel is pretty short (160 pp. in the US edition), the proportioning might have seemed up to the adapters to play with.

[Chris Knipp]

ANNE LE NY: THOSE WHO REMAIN (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19462#post19462) (2007).

Review of the film in the Cinema Studies section.

[Chris Knipp]

NOEMIE LVOVSKY: LET'S DANCE! (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19465#post19465) (2007).

Review of the film in the Festival Coverage section.

[Chris Knipp]

CEDRIC KLAPISCH'S PARIS (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19469#post19469) (2008).

It just opened today in Paris. And it was shown today at the Lincoln Center Rendez-Vous with French Cinema press screenings. Click here for a review in the Festival Coverage section.

[Chris Knipp]

AUDREY ESTROUGO: AIN'T SCARED (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19475#post19475) (2007), a first feature about the violence-prone Paris "Banlieue."

Review in the Cinema Studies section of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema film shown at Lincoln Center, New York, February 29-March 9, 2008..

[Chris Knipp]

BLUTCH, MARIE CAILLOU, ET AL.: FEAR(S) OF THE DARK (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19487#post19487) (2008).

Link to the review in the Festival Coverage section. Shown as part of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Lincoln Center, Feb. 29-March 9, 2008.

[Chris Knipp]

The following four 2008 FSLC RENDEZ-VOUS FILMS HAVE SCHEDULED U.S. RELEASES NOW:

1. NICOLAS KLOTZ'S "HEARTBEAT DETECTOR"/ "LA QUESTIONS HUMAINE" (MARCH 14)

2. CHRISTOPHHE HONORE'S "LOVE SONGS"/"LES CHANSONS D'AMOUR" (MARCH 21)

3. CLAUDE LELOUCHE'S "CROSSED TRACKS"/ROMAN DE GARE" (APRIL 25)

4. SANDRINE BONNAIRE'S "HER NAME IS SABINE"/"ELLE S'APPELLE SABINE" (DATE UNKNOWN)

THE FOLLOWING ALSO HAVE U.S. THEATRICAL POTENTIAL:

5. CEDRIC KLAPISCH'S "PARIS"

6. EMMANUEL MOURET'S "SHALL WE KISS?"/"UN BAISER S'IL VOUS PLAIT"

AND, OF COURSE, AS WE'VE MENTIONED, A VERY LIKELY CHOICE IS:

7. CLAUDE MILLER'S "A SECRET"/"UN SECRET"

Perhaps some further pickups will happen during the Rendez-Vous public screenings; filmmakers and artists will be on hand to promote their work. The event will be attended by almost all the directors featured, including Cédric Klapisch for Paris; Sandrine Bonnaire with Her Name Is Sabine; Claude Miller, accompanying Un secret; and Claude Lelouch, who will open the occasion with Crossed Tracks.

The young generation of French filmmakers will be represented by Christophe Honoré (Love Songs), Emmanuel Mouret (Shall We Kiss?), Jean-Marc Moutout (The Feelings Factory), Mia Hansen-Love (All Is Forgiven), Audrey Estrougo (Ain’t Scared) and Éric Guirado (The Grocer’s Son).

The artistic delegation on hand includes actors Louis Garrel and Elsa Zylberstein.

For more details try here. (http://dearcinema.com/new-yorks-rendez-vous-with-french-cinema/)

[Chris Knipp]

Most of the others seem to me worthy of US DVD release, especially Mia Hansen-Love's ALL IS FORGIVEN, Audrey Estrougo's AIN'T SCARED and Éric Guirado's THE GROCER'S SON and (even though I personally didn't like it much) the animation compendium FEAR(S) OF THE DARK.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
The following four 2008 FSLC RENDEZ-VOUS FILMS HAVE SCHEDULED U.S. RELEASES NOW:

SANDRINE BONNAIRE'S "HER NAME IS SABINE"/"ELLE S'APPELLE SABINE" (DATE UNKNOWN)

Film Movement released Her Name is Sabine (http://www.filmmovement.com/filmcatalog/index.asp?MerchandiseID=125) on dvd last November.

[Chris Knipp]

I can understand My Name Is Sabine being thought a tough sell theatrically, but it should do well as a DVD. It is the most unliklely for theatrical release of the list I gave. Your information made me go back and look for the others on my list of those chosen, or hopeful as U.S. releases.

Love Songs/Les chansons d'amour should be showing out here shortly. The dates on IFC's promo card are March 21, IFC Center NY and The Paris Theater on W 58th ST., April 4 in LA, May 2 Seattle, and May 9 Santa Fe. I can't find any more information. There's a poor review of it on FilmCritic.com. This seems a movie that a lot of Americans just don't "get." The French audience walked out singing the songs. It is doing well on YouTube, especially the "boy kisses" song.

I don't know what ha become of Heartbeat Detector, another probably hard sell, other than its NYC release, but it has gotten some respectful US reviews. Despite the movie's pretensions, the down to earth Onion AV Club gave it a B+. The US arthouse audience is beginning to know the name of its star, Matthieu Amalric.

Maybe Klapisch's Paris will just go to DVD, or come lately, as Miller's A Secret still seems likely to do.

[oscar jubis]

I don't know what ha become of Heartbeat Detector, another probably hard sell, other than its NYC release (CK)

It's a New Yorker Films release. The distributor just ain't what it used to be. They used to have decent contracts with theaters across the country. Heartbeat Detector played for one weekend at two Manhattan theaters. It comes out on dvd next tuesday through a partnership with Red Envelope Entertainment, a Netflix company.

[Chris Knipp]

It's easy to know from a review where it was shown, at Cinema Village and Lincoln Plaza. But how do you know how long it ran? Tell me know where you got that information, please, and give a link.

[oscar jubis]

Sure. I've mentioned it before. Box Office Mojo is the best place online to get this type of information. Here's the Heartbeat Detector Page (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=heartbeatdetector.htm).
Chris, you know this but perhaps others don't. I keep finding more and more errors and omissions on IMDb. Everyone should treat this site's information accordingly.

[oscar jubis]

HER NAME IS SABINE (FRANCE/2007)

Famous French actress Sandrine Bonnaire has a sister named Sabine who was born with a mental disability. The 38 year-old woman went undiagnosed and largely untreated until she was hospitalized at age 28. The stay lasted five years, during which her aggressive behavior was managed by means of physical restraints and isolation. Sabine has now been diagnosed as suffering from a combination of autism and infantilism (a term used by Sabine's doctor that has been replaced, at least in America, with "developmental disability"). Partly as a result of her sister's advocacy, Sabine now lives is a house in the country with three other disabled adults and a few trained caretakers.

Her Name is Sabine is a documentary shot and directed by Sandrine that contrasts scenes of the 38 year-old Sabine and footage taken during her late teens and early twenties. The deterioration caused by the course of the disease, the side effects of the multiple medications prescribed, and institutionalization is obvious and striking. The type and quality of care Sabine and her housemates require in order to live in the least restrictive environment is clearly depicted. The bulk of the film concerns Sabine's daily activities. Sister Sandrinne doesn't quite make a statement of purpose in the film. It's only implied that she wants to raise awareness about the needs of people like Sabine and that these needs are largely unmet within France's system of care.

Her Name is Sabine is honest about Sabine's most problematic aspects. Her anti-social behaviors are amply displayed. She tends to scream at random, she is seen greeting a clerk with a "Go fuck yourself" and becomes physically aggressive towards caretakers without any provocation. This raises the question of consent. The film avoids it altogether. It's clear that a person like Sabine is incapable of informed consent and has a legal guardian who make decisions for her. I do wonder if she has any sense that this time what Sandrine shoots will be shown publicly and become a media object. I wonder about how Sandrine feels about this. I wonder about how growing up with Sabine has influenced her_critic Michael Atkinson argues that maybe Sandrine was "channeling" Sabine in her career-making performances in Vagabond and A Nos amours. Sandrine is behind the camera and providing voice-over but she never dwells into her role, or purpose. She concedes that decreased contact between Sabine and her siblings during her 20s had a detrimental effect on her functioning. But that's the extent of any exploration of the relationship between them. Does Sandrine feel any guilt about leaving Sabine behind?

Her Name is Sabine feels constrained by the filmmaker's decision to focus squarely on Sabine. The film would have been much richer if Sandrine had exercised a degree of self-reflexion. Documentaries such as My Mom, Our Journey and the remarkable, award-winning Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter (1994) are proof that there's much to be gained by exploring the role of the filmmaker and her relationship to the subject, particularly when the relationship is familial.

Her Name Is Sabine is now available on dvd courtesy of the folks at FilmMovement (http://www.filmmovement.com/filmcatalog/index.asp?MerchandiseID=125).

[Chris Knipp]

I hadn't thought so much of the points you advance as criticisms, but you may be right that the film would have had more interest if Sandrine had opened it up to include herself more. It wouldn't be irrelevant since after all they are sisters. Maybe that would be getting too close. Atkinson may be right about the "channeling" or maybe there is some of Sabine in Sandrine.

[oscar jubis]

I took a break from Hitchcock films and books on Hitchcock today. I watched the very earnest film Holly, a drama about an American living in Cambodia who attempts to help a 12 year-old Vietnamese girl escape from a prostitution ring. Then, at home, I watched The Heartbeat Detector.

It probably takes longer to watch The Hearbeat Detector than to read the 93-page novel on which it is based. My reaction is mixed. Here's a film bound to be both overrated and underrated depending on the viewer's sensibilities. I think those who appreciate it most are people who are already sold on the idea that prominent aspects of corporate culture at the present are fascist and dehumanizing. It's this thesis that is conveyed clearly and forcefully. Klotz's film is a film of ideas worth examining but, as a dramatic piece, I found it fatally flawed. The characterization of the corporate psychologist Simon (Amalric) is unduly perplexing and unnecessarily enigmatic. This is a problem because the other male characters are largely archetypal and the women, particularly the blonde and the brunette who vie for Simon's attention, register as cyphers. I found some of its eccentricities endearing, including a long sequence involving a (corporation-sanctioned?!) rave and performances of a flamenco "cante" and a fado in a cafe. The presence of Michael Lonsdale, a favorite of mine since my teens, definitely a plus.

Some interesting information excerpted from Acquarello's review:
"In an interstitial episode the occurs halfway through Nicolas Klotz's La Question humaine (Heartbeat Detector), a group of diners at a low rent café are racially profiled and rounded up by the police for a random check of identification papers, the first among them, Papi (Adama Doumbia), the African immigrant whose wife, Blandine (Noëlla Mossaba) was injured during deportation in Klotz's previous film, La Blessure. It is a jarring contrast from the world of indulgence, privilege, ivy league education, and corporate grooming that would define the characters in La Question humaine, the final installment in what Klotz would describe during the film's introductory remarks as the Trilogy of Modern Times (along with Paria and La Blessure), in tribute to Charles Chaplin: an interrogation of society's conscience - its humanity - at the beginning of the 21st century, a millennium after the Industrial Revolution. Adapted from the novel by Belgian author François Emmanuel, the film is set within the fictitious global conglomerate called SC Farb, a thinly veiled reference to the notorious, Nazi-era, German chemical company IG Farben whose dismantled and reacquired industries include the French multinational pharmaceutical corporation Aventi."

[Chris Knipp]

I reviewed (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19405#post19405) this in February as part of the Rendez-Vous in the Festival Coverage section, remember? I liked it--in case you're pressed for time--and linked it with Arnaud des Pallieres' Adieu and Claire Denis' The Intruder/L'intrus. Adieu also features Michael Lonsdale (whom I also like) in a looming father-figure role. I assume you're saying you watched this on DVD. I am re-watching it on DVD myself at the moment.

Of course this, in very limited release in the US earlier in the year, is one you have to make a great effort to like; I don't suppose one is really supposed to like it. Most other people at the FSLC press screenings didn't bother. On re-watching it I tend to agree more with the obvious criticisms, particularly the opacity of Amalric's character Simon.. It is all a little more off-putting and mysterious than it may need to be. If you find the very overextended fados concert "endearing" you do indeed have special tastes. It's unbearable. On the other hand, like des Pallieres' and Denis's films, it's full of interesting ideas and quite intriguing to think about, even as it all remains unresolved and unproven, especially the link between modern industrial capitalism and Nazism. Or is it? What horrors are enacted in our name? What can large international and interlocking corporations not capable of doing? Is it wise to judge this as lacking because of Simon's opacity? It's not after all a film of character. They point is that corporate employees are ciphers.

I wish somebody here could see Adieu for comment and comparison, but it's only available on a French DVD which to order from here costs $50 just for the DVD not including the shipping.

Adieu if anything is even more offputting, but it also has contrasts and counterparts that give it depth and perspective and I find it grand and impressive, richer and more humaine than this newer film (which however was somewhat better received in France). Adieu doesn't have such stereotypical, even clumsy satire of Organization Man life as the opening dark-suits-in-the-men's-room sequence of La question humaine--which is marred locally by that dumb English title. And it, Adieu that is, has a whole layer of narrative about the Third World instead of just a little episode where some bar patrons get rounded up because they're not "ivy leaguers." My Adieu review is here. (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?p=367)

Your passion for Mr. Aquarello continues unabated I see. Oddities in this quote are his use of the term "ivy league" for French "golden boy" graduates of the grandes ecoles and saying the Industrial Revolution occurred a millennium earlier. (?) Am I missing something? The information that SC Farb refers to IG Farben is in the standard blurb for the film supplied by distributors. See the English release website here (http://www.heartbeatdetector.co.uk/press.html) (a set of reviews, including a quite detailed one by Scott Foundas). You'll find a very good more detailed discussion of Heartbeat Detector and Klotz and his partner's work at Filmlinc by Irina Leimbacher here. (http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/ma08/nicolasklotz.htm)

[oscar jubis]

Thanks for the links to sites like filmlinc that amplify on La Question Humaine's intertextual references and its relation to the rest of Klotz's filmography. Material found in Acquarello's review but not on any other reviews available via Imdb.

Arnaud des Pallieres' films seems to be suffering from the (French) distributor's failure to get them exhibited outside France (with few exceptions). Your review of one of his films (Adieu) is one of very few available in English. I would post it on IMdb as a user comment. There aren't any others and the sole review link is to one in German.

[Chris Knipp]

I usually post comments on IMDb but for Adieu I forgot to, so now I will.

There is an interview (http://www.humanite.fr/2004-09-08_Cultures_-J-aimerais-que-mon-film-fasse-parler-de-cinema-Adieu-d-Arnaud) with Arnaud des Pallieres about Adieu from the newspaper L'Humannite' at the time of release. There is an appreciative review (http://www.cairn.info/article_p.php?ID_ARTICLE=ETU_015_0535) on Cairo Cinema by Charlotte Garson. It's hard to access the French newspaper reviews now without paying an archive fee. I have added the Cairn piece and another review (http://www.telerama.fr/cine/film.php?id=141122&onglet=critique) in Telerama by Francois Gorin and yet another by Ostria Vincent (tricky link) http://www.lesinrocks.com/index.php?id=66&tx_critic[notule]=206157&cHash=ecbe5cee10
in Les Inrockuptibles (AKA Les Inrocks) so there isn't just the German one in IMDb External Reviews, if they go through.

[oscar jubis]

Lamentably I don't read French. I just understand some when spoken.

[Chris Knipp]

Earlier in this thread:
REVIEW OF LELOUCH'S ROMAN DE GARE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2211-Rendez-vous-With-French-Cinema-2008&p=19387#post19387)
You'll find the review of Christophe Honoré's Love Songs/Les Chansons d'amour (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2211-Rendez-vous-With-French-Cinema-2008&p=19388#post19388) right after it in the thread.
At this point Honoré's most popular film and the one he seems destined to be known for is Love Songs, but ever since the disastrous and unpleasant Ma Mère (with Huppert and Louis Garrel) he has seemed to be on a roll, working swiftly and economically and transcending the Nouvelle Vague tradition in his own fresh way.
This year from a screening at BAMCinematek I reviewed (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2468-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-2009&postid=21515#post21515) Honoré's next film, LA BELLE PERSONNE.
A new film by Christophe Honoré, Making Plans for Lena/Non, ma fille, tu iras pas danser, was released last September. Allociné shows that it received favorable reviews and I hope to be able to review it myself soon. It is a family reunion drama à la Assayas and Despleshin, starring Chiara Mastroianni, whom J.B. Morain in Les Inrockuptibles describes (http://www.lesinrocks.com/cine/cinema-article/article/non-ma-fille-tu-niras-pas-danser/) as "mature, at the height of her powers" and the film as "strong," "elegant." A Variety review is less favorable, describing the film as "a rather loose-hinged version of 'A Christmas Tale,'" but I've been excited to see Honoré's latest work and found him one of the best of the new French filmmakers ever since Dans Paris.

[Chris Knipp]

New reviews today in the NY Times indicating limited Manhattan releases of three films I've commented on earlier this year: Christophe Honoré's MAKING PLANS FOR LENA, Robert Guédiguian's THE ARMY OF CRIME, and Fatih Akin's SOUL KITCHEN. The Festival coverage review of MAKING PLANS FOR LÉNA I wrote last Feb. is here:

Christophe Honoré: MAKING PLANS FOR LÉNA (2009) (jamais), dir)

Likewise and a "Critic's Pick" by Stephen Holden today, and in NYC theaters:

Robert Guédiguian: THE ARMY OF CRIME (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2792-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-2010-at-Loncoln-Center&p=24007#post24007)

Holden's review. (http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/movies/20army.html)

Another release in NYC today previously reviewed briefly by me on Filmleaf,

Fatih Akim: SOUL KITCHEN (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2819-Paris-report-april-2010&p=24239#post24239)

Also a Critic's Pick of the NY Times, also reviewed by Stephen Holden. His review is here. (http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/movies/20soul.html) He reviewed (http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/movies/20making.html)MAKING PLANS, but doesn't specially recommend it. I would. Many viewers not especially interested in new angles on the French Resistence might find THE ARMY OF CRIME somewhat routine. SOUL KITCHEN's Metactitic rating has miraculously risen from a 49 earlier to an 81.

SOUL KITCHEN was reviewed in my April 2010 Paris Report and now is showing at the IFC Center in Lower Manhattan. So is MAKING PLANS FOR LÉNA. THE ARMY OF CRIME is showing at Quad Cinema, also in Lower Manhattan.