Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2009

[Chris Knipp]

Watch this new thread (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2468) in the "Festival Coverage" section for my reports and reviews about the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 2009 RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA. Press screenings have begun. There will be eighteen new French films on view.

Links to the reviews:

35 SHOTS OF RUM (CLAIRE DENIS 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21357#post21357)
APPRENTICE, THE (SAMUEL COLLARDEY 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21356#post21356)
BEACHES OF AGNES, THE (AGNES VARDA 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21352#post21352)
BELLAMY (CLAUDE CHABROL 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21414#post21414)
CHANGE OF PLANS (DANIELLE THOMPSON 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21417#post21417)
EDEN IS WEST (COSTA-GAVRAS (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21404#post21404)
GIRL FROM MONACO, THE (ANNE FONTAINE 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21361#post21361)
GIRL ON THE TRAIN, THE (ANDRE TECHINE 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21416#post21416)
JOY OF SINGING,THE (ILAN DURAN COHEN 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21396#post21396)
MESRINE, PART 1 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21371#post21371)
MESRINE, PART 2 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21372#post21372)
OTHER ONE, THE (PATRICK MARIO BERNARD, PIERRE TRIVIDIC 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21477#post21477)
PARIS 36 (CHRISTOPHE BARRATIER 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21349#post21349)
SERAPHINE (MARTIN PROVOST 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21397#post21397)
STELLA (SYLVIE VERHEYDE 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21398#post21398)
VERSAILLES (PIERRE SCHOELLER 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21476#post21476)
VILLA AMALIA (BENOIT JACQUOT 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21415#post21415)
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (FRANCOIS DUPEYRON 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21360#post21360)
Extra, BAM Cinematek:
BELLE PERSONNE, LA (CHRISTOPHE HONORE 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21515#post21515)


Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2009, March 5-15

At Lincoln Center, NYC

Press Screening Schedule

Wednesday, Feb. 11
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.:
Paris 36 / Faubourg 36
Christophe Barratier, France/Germany/Czech Republic, 2008; 120m

Thursday, Feb. 12
10:00 a.m. - 11:42 a.m.:
Versailles
Pierre Schoeller, France, 2008; 102m

12:00 Noon - 1:37 p.m.:
The Other One / L'Autre
Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic, France, 2008; 97m
PLEASE NOTE: This film will be press screened on Digibeta. It will be shown to the public on a 35mm print.

Tuesday, Feb. 17
11:00 a.m. - 12:50 p.m.:
The Beaches of Agnes / Les Plages d'Agnes
Agnes Varda, France, 2008; 110m

Wednesday, Feb. 18
10:00 a.m. - 11:22 a.m.:
The Apprentice / L'apprenti
Samuel Collardey, France, 2008; 82m

12:00 Noon - 1:40 p.m.:
35 Shots of Rum / 35 Rhums
Claire Denis, France/Germany, 2008; 100m

Thursday, Feb. 19
10:00 a.m. - 11:34 a.m.:
With a Little Help from Myself / Aide-toi, le ciel t;aidera
Francois Dupeyron, France, 2008; 94m

12:00 Noon -1:35 p.m.:
The Girl from Monaco / La Fille de Monaco
Anne Fontaine, France, 2008; 95m

Friday, Feb. 20
10:00 a.m. - 11:53 a.m.:
Mesrine Part 1 / Mesrine, L'instinct de mort
Jean-Francois Richet, France/Canada/Italy, 2008; 113m

12:45 p.m. - 2:57 p.m.:
Mesrine Part 2 / Mesrine, L'ennemi public no. 1
Jean-Francois Richet, France/Canada, 2008; 132m

Monday, Feb. 23
10:00 a.m. - 11:39 a.m.:
The Joy of Singing / Le Plaisir de chanter
Ilan Duran Cohen, France, 2008; 99m

12:00 Noon - 2:05 p.m.:
Seraphine
Martin Provost, France/Belgium, 2008; 125m

3:00 p.m. - 4:43 p.m.:
Stella
Sylvie Verheyde, France, 2008; 103m
PLEASE NOTE: This film will be press screened on Digibeta. It will be shown to the public on a 35mm print.

Tuesday, Feb. 24
10:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.:
Eden Is West / Eden a l'ouest
Costa-Gavras, France/Greece/Italy, 2009; 110m

12:00 Noon - 1:50 p.m.:
Bellamy
Claude Chabrol, France, 2009; 110m

3:00 p.m. - 4:34 p.m.:
Villa Amalia
Benoit Jacquot, France, 2009; 94m

Wednesday, Feb. 25
10:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.:
The Girl on the Train / La Fille du RER
Andre Techine, France, 2009; 110m

12:00 Noon - 1:40 p.m.:
Change of Plans / Le code a change'
Daniele Thompson, France, 2009; 100m

[Chris Knipp]

The opening night gala film for the series. See Festival Coverage section review here:

Christophe Barratier: PARIS 36/FAUBOURG 36 (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21349#post21349).

An atmospheric crowd-pleaser from Barratier, whose 2004 The Chorus did well in art houses in the US and was a hit in France. This one is set 12 years earlier, in 1936, during the time of the Popular Front in France when worker-owner conflicts were inflamed. Focus is on a working class music hall struggling to stay afloat when the crew takes it over, with a few colorful personalities, socio-political overtones, a romance, multiple plot lines, and a mystery. If you like period French musicals, this is your movie. But it's somewhat short on originality and runs out of momentum for much of the last third.

[Chris Knipp]

Another bit of introduction to give you a thumbnail note on what the series offers this year.

The eighteen titles include a lot of famous French film names, including Claude Chabrol, Claire Denis, Costa-Gavras, Benoit Jacquot, Anne Fontaine, and the 80-year-old but still vigorous French film icon Agnes Varda. Andre Techine's "social drama" (I'll figure out what that means later) The Girl on the Train and Jean-Francois Richet's multiple prizewinning Mesrine (biopic of a French arch criminal) will have their world premiers. Jacques Mesrine. Techine's name is familiar to us. Richet is a young ghetto-bred director who first got notieced with Ma 6-T va crack-er ("My see-tay ['hood] is down the tubes"), which mashed together a B-actioner and social revolt. Then he went Hollywood mainstream with the John Carpenter remake Assault on Precinct 13. This is a return to native sources, and may be interesting. Or not; we'll see.

I'm always excited to see new work by Techine, Varda, Jacquot, Denis, Fontaine, even Chabrol; but I'm especially hoping that some of the newcomers will be revelations. The lineup looks solid, anyway.

The public screenings will return to the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall, home of the New York Film Festival. Filmmakers and guests attending screenings (not sure about press ones) include Claire Denis, Samuel Collardey, Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic, Daniele Thompson, Costa-Gavras, Anne Fontaine, Jean-Francois Richet, Ilan Duran Cohen, Agnes Varda, Sylvie Verheyde, Martin Provost, Pierre Schoeller, and Benoit Jacquot, and prizewinning thespian newcomer Felicite Wouassi.

[oscar jubis]

Looking forward to your coverage of this excellent series. I've written brief reviews of Richet's previous Assault on Precinct 13 (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=8937#post8937) and My 6-T va Crack-er (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=9224&highlight=richet#post9224)

[Chris Knipp]

I hope you and all Filmleaf readers and contributors enjoy this year's Rendez-Vous coverage and I also hope that some of the films turn out to have legs in this country and the rest of the world. I also have reviewed Assault on District 13 (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?t=607) and have talked about Ma 6-T va craquer in various places including in response to your brief review and explanation of how you got hold of it, but still haven't seen it myself. Hey, "6-T' doesn't mean gun. It's sort of ghetto spelling--6-T in French pronunciation sounds like="cite'"=ghetto district, AKA banlieue in France, esp. outside Paris. Pierre ("Taken") Morel had a similar interest with his 2004 DISTRICT B-13 (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?t=607) , and I was really interested to learn about Parkour. The 4-hour 2-part Richet twofor is in the running for the Best Film Cesar, Cesars coming up in ten days. I've so far posted two reviews:

Christophe Barratier: PARIS 36/FAUBOURG 36 (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21349#post21349).

Agnes Varda: THE BEACHES OF AGNES (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21352#post21352)

[Chris Knipp]

Samuel Collardey: THE APPRENTICE (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21356#post21356)

Collardey won prizes for this first feature. He takes the paintings of Courbet as his model in using big cameras to treat small subjects with dignity and some grandeur in a humanistic study of a young boy learning agriculture and bonding with a farmer near the French Alps.

[Chris Knipp]

Claire Denis: 35 SHOTS OF RUM (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21357#post21357)

Denis at her best, subtle and deceptively simple this time, a film about a group of people indissolubly bound up with each other, who must part, or join. A rainstorm or the death of a cat can tip the scale.

[Chris Knipp]

Fransois Dupeyron: WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21360#post21360)

Yellow-tinted turbulence and hope from the French urban ghetto. Star Felicite Wouassi, Best Actress at the Tokyo Film Festival, is a discovery, a whirlwind of energy and a force of nature.

[Chris Knipp]

Anne Fontaine: THE GIRL FROM MONACO (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21361#post21361)

An entertaining, bright romantic comedy-cum-buddy picture set on the Riviera released by Magnolia Pictures in July 2009. Not Fontaine's most interesting work.

[Chris Knipp]

Coming today or tomorrow: reviews of the two parts of MESSINE, the Richet gangster biopic that has been compared to Soderbergh's CHE.

[Chris Knipp]

MESRINE PART 1/MESRINE, L'INSTINCT DE MORT

A real-life French gangster superstar who died in 1979 at the age of 43. He became famous for his skillfully planned bank robberies and spectacular escapes from prison and at the end of this first half of the two-part biopic, has been decalred "Public Enemy No. 1" in Canada. Vincent Cassel goes for broke in the title role.

Jean-Francois Richet: MESRINE PART 1 (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21371#post21371)

[Chris Knipp]

MESRINE PART 2/MESRINE, PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1

Mesrine continues his life of spectacular crime, more and more conscious of his public image as a media star. In the time of the Red Brigades and Bader-Meinhof, he starts to call himself a "revolutionary." French police form a special unit just to track him down and he comes to the eventual violent end.

Jean-Francois Richet: MESRINE, PART 2 (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21372#post21372)

[Chris Knipp]

Ilan Duran Cohen: THE JOY OF SINGING (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21396#post21396)

A droll spy comedy about lovers, uranium dealing, and a singing class. Jeanne Balibar shines.

[Chris Knipp]

Martin Provost: SERAPHINE (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21398#post21398)

A visionary artist, her sometime mentor, and her sad decline. Restrained, beautifully photographed biopic.

125 minutes.

[Chris Knipp]

Sylvie Verheyde: STELLA (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21398#post21398)

A very fine autobiographical film about an 11-year-old girl from a working-class district whose home is a noisy cafe, who in 1977 gets the chance to attend a posh and famous lycee in the center of Paris.

[Chris Knipp]

Costa-Gavras: EDEN IS WEST (2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21404#post21404)

Not-so-good serio-comic Odyssey of a young illegal of unspecified nationality struggling to evade authorities, reach Paris, and find employment. Elias, the lead, is charismatically played by the rather wasted young Italian heartthrob, Ricardo Scarmarcio (The Best of Youth, My Brother Is an Only Child).

[Chris Knipp]

Also coming soon, reviews of:

Chabrol's BELLAMY
Jacquot's VILLA AMALIA
Techine's THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Daniele Thompson's CHANGE OF PLANS
which I have seen at the press screenings, which are now over (Feb. 25, 2009).

In a week or so I will catch up on the remaining ones in the RENDEZ-VOUS series at the public screenings:

Pierre Schoeller's VERSAILLES (with Guillaume Depardieu, and highly spoken of by all who saw it)
Bernard and Trividic's THE OTHER ONE

I will also have seen from FILM COMMENT SELECTS:

Philippe Garrel's THE FRONTIER OF DAWN
Fernando Eimbcke's LAKE TAHOE

and I just saw at Anthology Film Archives:

Albert Serra's BIRDSONG/EL CANTS DELS OCELLS

I'll have full reviews of all the Rendez-Vous films and try to post some comments on the others. THE FRONTIER OF DAWN is just as important as any of the Rendez-Vous films or more so--that's why it's in the Film Comment Selects series instead; FCS includes a bolder (than the R-V series) French film,

Brisseau's A L'AVENTURE

but I don't expect to see that one at this time.

[oscar jubis]

I'm enjoying these reviews very much. Thanks Chris. The Times called this series "the best in years"; particularly significant since, according to Mr. Holden, last year's was not good at all. I'm particularly interested in the new Denis, Jacquot, and Varda films.

[Chris Knipp]

Those by Denis, Jacquot and Varda are indeed good ones, particularly Denis'.

I also liked Collardey's and would recommend Verheyde's. And for me, Richet's two-part MESRINE did not disappoint at all.

Yes, this is better than last year's. As Stephen Holden said, there are none this year to warn people to avoid. Last year there might have been. Holden's NYTimes run-down of today was a good job.

I have a couple more of the R-V series to see (VERSAILLES and THE OTHER) and several others to review that I have seen.

[Chris Knipp]

Claude Chabrol: BELLAMY (2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21414#post21414)

For the Chabrol/Depardieu crowd, this Chabrol/Depardieu collaboration is a crowd-pleaser, and it's also good if you're a fan of the two Georges, Brassens and Simenon. Bellamy is a reincarnation of Simenon's immortal police inspector Maigret, and he's also Chabrol's portrait of Depardieu himself. There's also clever use of Grassens' music and lyrics. Not a great Chabrol film, but one with sure-fire commercial prospects, though not yet with a US release announced.

[Chris Knipp]

The 2008 French annual film awards, the Cesars, were given out February 28, 2009. The biggest winners were part of the Rendesz-Vous series reviewed on Filmleaf.

Mesrine, Jean-Francois Richet's spectacular two-part gangster biopic, had been expected to sweep the awards. In the event, the film won big but another film won bigger. Both are part of Lincoln Center's Rendez-Vous series for 2009.

Mesrine Parts 1 and 2 won three awards. Vincent Cassel was awarded the César for best actor, Richet for best director, and a team of six sound engineers won the César for best sound.

However the sweep of the year went instead to Seraphine, Martin Prevost's sensitive and beautiful story of outsider artinst Seraphone de Senlis. The film won seven Césars at the February 28, 2009 ceremony--best film, best actress, best screenplay, best photography, best music, best decor, and best costumes.

The Best Documentary award went to Agnes Varda's remarkable The Beaches of Agnes.

The Cesar for Best Adaptation went to the top winner at Cannes, Laurent Cantet's The Class, reviewed (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=20709#post20709) on Filmleaf as part of the New York Film Festival last September.

Waltz with Bachir won Best Foreign Film, Dustin Hoffman was given a special award, I've Loved You So Long received several awards, and Sean Penn was present because his Into the Wild was nominated. Charlotte Gainsbourg was head of the jury.

[Chris Knipp]

Andre Techine: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21416#post21416)

A world premiere of this film about a young woman's lie, opening in France March 19. It has much to recommend it, not least a fine cast, but the "issue" element seems a little contrived.

[cinemabon]

I read (read: scanned through) the majority of your reviews. This is probably the most ambitious posting on the site. I applaud your efforts. Outstanding! How I envy your experience. Great work (s) Chris.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks!

Pierre Schoeller: VERSAILLES (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21476#post21476)

The mythic and the sociological blend in this treatment of homelessness, the directorial debut of long-time screenwriter Schoeller. With this role (as well as Rivette's Duchess of Langeais and Verheyde's Stella, just to name recent appearances), it's clear that with Guillaume's passing we lost greatness.

[Chris Knipp]

Christophe Honore: LA BELLE PERSONNE (200) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21515#post21515)

NOT a Rendez-Vous film, but it could have been one. This debuted this week at the BAM Cinematek and is slated for US ditribution by IFC.

For TV, with elegance and many of his familiar faces (Louis Garrel, Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet; cameos by Clotilde Hesme and Chiara Mastroianni), Honore gets ever more urbane and Parisian by transposing the 17th-century novel of court intrigue and tragic romance La Princesse de Cleves to a snooty French lycee.

[Chris Knipp]

Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre TrIvidic: THE OTHER ONE (2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21477#post21477)

Though beautiful to look at and well received in France (apparently for its thematic unity and revival of the "double" idea), it's not so hard to see why the Times critic called this film the series' "most problematic." Its jealous and obsessed heroine, played by French veteran Dominique Blanc, is hard to sympathize with after a while. There is too much about the alienating ambiance and not enough about the inner (or even outer) life of the protagonist.

[Chris Knipp]

Links to the reviews:

35 SHOTS OF RUM (CLAIRE DENIS 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21357#post21357)
APPRENTICE, THE (SAMUEL COLLARDEY 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21356#post21356)
BEACHES OF AGNES, THE (AGNES VARDA 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21352#post21352)
BELLAMY (CLAUDE CHABROL 2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21414#post21414)
CHANGE OF PLANS (DANIELLE THOMPSON 2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21417#post21417)
EDEN IS WEST (COSTA-GAVRAS (2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21404#post21404)
GIRL FROM MONACO, THE (ANNE FONTAINE 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21361#post21361)
GIRL ON THE TRAIN, THE (ANDRE TECHINE 2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21416#post21416)
JOY OF SINGING,THE (ILAN DURAN COHEN 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21396#post21396)
MESRINE, PART 1 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21371#post21371)
MESRINE, PART 2 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21372#post21372)
OTHER ONE, THE (PATRICK MARIO BERNARD, PIERRE TRIVIDIC 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21477#post21477)
PARIS 36 (CHRISTOPHE BARRATIER 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21349#post21349)
SERAPHINE (MARTIN PROVOST 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21397#post21397)
STELLA (SYLVIE VERHEYDE 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21398#post21398)
VERSAILLES (PIERRE SCHOELLER 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21476#post21476)
VILLA AMALIA (BENOIT JACQUOT 2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21415#post21415)
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (FRANCOIS DUPEYRON 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21360#post21360)

Extra, BAM Cinematek:
BELLE PERSONNE, LA (CHRISTOPHE HONORE 2008) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21515#post21515)

[Chris Knipp]

FRENCH (> ALLOCINE') RANKINGS OF THIS YEAR'S SERIES FILMS--AND MINE

The French film website ALLOCINE' (http://www.allocine.fr) summarizes film reviews like Metacritic or Rottentomatoes. Below are the French critical rankings of the Rendez-Vous 2009 films as based on their Allocine' totals:

THE BEACHES OF AGNES (AGNES VARDA 2008) 94
MESRINE, PART 1 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) 81
MESRINE, PART 2 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) 72
STELLA (SYLVIE VERHEYDE 2008) 70
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (FRANCOIS DUPEYRON 2008) 67
OTHER ONE, THE (PATRICK MARIO BERNARD, PIERRE TRIVIDIC 2008) 67
BELLAMY (CLAUDE CHABROL 2009) 65
PARIS 36 (CHRISTOPHE BARRATIER 2008) 62
THE JOY OF SINGING (ILAN DURAN COHEN 2008)62
35 SHOTS OF RUM (CLAIRE DENIS 2008) 59
SERAPHINE (MARTIN PROVOST 2008) 56
APPRENTICE, THE (SAMUEL COLLARDEY 2008) 53
GIRL ON THE TRAIN, THE (ANDRE TECHINE 2009) [March 18 release] 52
VERSAILLES (PIERRE SCHOELLER 2008) 51
GIRL FROM MONACO, THE (ANNE FONTAINE 2008) 47
CHANGE OF PLANS (DANIELLE THOMPSON 2009) 46
EDEN IS WEST (COSTA-GAVRAS (2009) 39

Not yet ranked:
VILLA AMALIA (BENOIT JACQUOT 2009) (Release coming April 8)

OTHER RECENT ALLOCINE' RATINGS:
(Current top 3, March 2009):
GRAN TORINO 104
THE WRESTLER 94
MILK 93

LA BELLE PERSONNE (CHRISTOPHE HONORE 2008) 62

CK COMMENTS:

Techine's The Girl on the Train was released today: the reviews are out in France. And so all but one of the FSLC Rendez-Vous 2009 French film series are out and have rankings in by local reviewers.

I wouldn't take issue with the top and bottom rankings here. I'd personally place 35 Shots of Rum and Versailles higher. I'm guessing American critics, like Stephen Holden of the NYTimes, would rate The Other One lower. The major anomoly is the middling Allocine' rating for Seraphine, because it deserves better and in fact was the biggest single winner at the Cesar awards this year (seven awards, Best Actress, Best French Film, Best Original Scenario, Decor, Costumes, Photography, Music). Mesrine won in three categories, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Sound. Only these two Rendez-Vous film won Cesars, but they were the top winners. I would not rank the conventional Paris 36 so high, or at least not rank it and The Joy of Singing above Claire Denis' mature and very satisfying work in 35 Shots of Rum. Paris 36's director, Christophe Barratier, has a sense of how to appeal to the broad French public: his first film The Chrous was a relatively huge French box office hit (and did very well abroad). It's some consolation that at least Honore's La Belle Personne, which I prefer, ranks as high. With a Little Help from Myself is an appeal to popular tastes. It softens the often edgy theme of life in the outlying Paris ghettos of the banlieue.

Of course there's no reason we would expect to agree with the French critics, but they tend to understand what's going on in French films better than we do. Famously they have different tastes in some things; we don't see Jerry Lewis as a brilliant auteur as they do. Following them as closely as I can, though, I have found that I tend to agree with them more often than I agree with American critics on French films. There are certain French film styles and viewpoints and subjects that just don't "play" well here, though there are happy surprises.

As people have been saying, this was an excellent year for the FSLC Rendez-Vous, obviously with some high-powered directorial talent and without the usual dead wood. Even the fluff (Paris 36, Change of Plans, Girl from Monaco, Joy of Singing) was good fluff. Much adventurous material was lacking, but that is the nature of the series, which is a collaboration with Unifrance, the French government's media promotional arm, and focuses on recent mostly mainstream releases with assumed foreign distribution potential. In the early years of the Rendez-Vous series FSLC's collaborator was not Unifrance but Cahiers du Cinema, and then things were different. Even if they give more and more ground to America, witness the current supremacy in Paris of Gran Torino, The Wrestler, and Milk, the French truly love film and support their own industry. Hence the support given to a small, serious film like The Apprentice, with its handsome 35 mm look--to my mind the sleeper of the series.

[oscar jubis]

Very helpful post. Obviously one wouldn't want to miss the Varda and Richet films. I'm glad both have a US distributor. Hope distribution includes Miami. Others are obviously also worth seeing. I wouldn't miss anything by Techine and Denis either, no matter what critics say.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks. Actually despite Allocine' Denis' films got some very admiring reviews in French too I think. Definitely it was appreciated by US critics who saw it at Lincoln Center. As a fan of" Generation Garrel" I was very lucky to catch LA BELLE PERSONNE and LA FRONTIERE DE L'AUBE. It was as good as being in Paris! (But not as pretty, and without the real crossants and baguettes.)

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks to French 'User' Julien on IMDb, I've corrected the opening paragraph of my review of Villa Amalia. It's not Huppert's seccond collaboration with Jacquot but her fifth, but the other three besides School of Flesh were films I have not been able to see, due to their being scarce over here. Here's the revision:
Huppert, twice a Best Actress winner there, has been elected president of 2009's Cannes festival jury. This is is her fifth gig for Jacquot, the previous ones being Les ailes de la colombe (1981), L'école de la chair (1998), Pas de scandale (1999), and La fausse suivante (2000). L'école de la chair is the adaptation of a Yukio Mishima story 'The School of Flesh,' a dry yet passionate tale of pride and power in love involving a wealthy woman's affair with an unpredictable young bisexual hustler (Vincent Martinez). Huppert was as remarkable as she's ever been in the underrated School of Flesh, a haughty, elegant beauty often drenched in tears

[Chris Knipp]

Daniele Thompson: CHANGE OF PLANS/LE CODE A CHANGE' (2009) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21417#post21417)

Note that this was the second-lowest rated film on Allocine' of the whole Rendez-Vous 2009 series. Daniele Thompson can entertain, as she did in her previous three films, La Buche (1999), Jet Lag/Decolage horaire (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=126) (2002), and her 2006 Avenue Montaigne/Fauteuils d'orchestre (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14807), which was part of a previous Lincoln Center Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series. Occar commented on Thompson's "flawless execution," while also slightly holding his nose ("I'm not inclined to overpraise this type of pleasant middlebrow confection"), and found Avenue Montaigne reminded him of Klapisch's Russian Dolls (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1693) -- another film of the 2006 Rendez-Vous, Well, I might point out that Russian Dolls contains characters of multiple nationalities who are considerably poorer and youger. I have a definite weakness for Klapisch and lack of ability to respond to Thompson's glossy ensemble pieces. But Klapisch veered somewhat more into Thompson territory in his recent (and not much remembered?) Paris (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19469#post19469) (part of the 2008 Rendez-Vous), with less success, but still with a younger and arguably more lively cast -- including Romain Duris, Melanie Laurent, Juliette Binoche, Francois Cluzet, Fabrice Luchini, Albert Dupontel, Karin Viard, lovely almost-newcomer. There is a difference. Anyway, click here (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=21417#post21417) for my somewhat belated final 2009 Rendez-Vous review, of CHANGE OF PLANS/LE CODE A CHANGE'.

[Johann]

Tremendous threads, these Rendez-Vous are.
I'm jealous that you got to attend such showcases.
Huge thanks for writing about them, letting us in on what you saw.

I'll comment more later, but I just wanted to talk about Agnes Varda for a minute. She is more important to me than Godard.
She's like the Queen Mother of cinema to me.
I learned about her by reading up on Jim Morrison, whose funeral Agnes was basically responsible for (with considerable help from Alain Ronay as well). She arranged for him to be buried in Pere Lachaise on Pam's behalf because Pam didn't speak French. She was there when Jim's casket was wheeled up the cobblestones on a motorized cart. Apparently the funeral was only a few minutes, and was described as "pitiful" by an old old woman who was at another grave who watched the group of five that were there to "pay their respects". The old lady said that there was no priest, no words spoken. They just watched the white casket be placed on the grave, laid some flowers and they all walked away, in a group. (In case you don't know who the five were, they were Robin Wertle (Jim's Canadian secretary), Agnes, Bill Siddons (Doors manager), Alain Ronay and Pam.
I've thought about why they just basically brought the coffin, threw some flowers and left. Remember, Jim was buried almost a week after he died, the body being in the same apartment packed in ice while everything was dealt with. I'm certain Pam wanted it dealt with quickly when the time came to go to the cemetary. The whole week must've been a nightmare for her.
But my sympathy is limited for her. Here's my "theory"...

I happen to believe (after all I've read) that she is the reason Jim died. He asked her if the powder was cocaine and she said yes, knowing full well that it was pure heroin, a drug that Jim didn't do. He took a giant snort and that was the End. He clutched his chest and dropped to the floor. Dead as a Door. She told him (in vain before he snorted) to "not take too much!". But you know Jimbo. She called the dealer who dealt her the smack panicking about Jim's "OD"
The dealer comes over with Marianne Faithfull, and they put him in the bathtub to revive him. He shows no signs of waking up at all, and the dealer promptly tells Pam (paraphrasing because nobody knows for absolute certain what he said) "we're out of here- call the police. We were NOT here". They get on a plane ASAP to Morocco. Pam sits with the body for over an hour. Thanks Pam! Then she calls the authorities. The coroner's report says that the water was warm, and it would've been. He died less than two hours before being put in the tub. I've only read one book that paints this scenario and I hold it as gospel.
Why?
Because Danny Sugerman is not someone who would lie about something like that. He's the only one who had the closest idea of the truth on what happened. In his book "Wonderland Avenue", which I can't stand to read and never will again because Danny is a self-absorbed goof, he paints a picture of Pam post-Jim's death that seems unnervingly accurate, and he says what I theorized transpired because Pam told him when she was high as can be on heroin that that is what happened.
If he's gonna admit that he banged Jim's "cosmic mate" and not face any stoppage of publication or be sued by Jim's family or the Doors, then I take it as truth. No one that I know of had called Danny out on these things. I believe him on that one. It makes a lot of sense. He talked about Pam's temperament after she was back in L.A. and she was guilty as Sin. Her whole vibe was one of "I killed the man I love". She would have dreams of him coming back, her mother Pearl has said. So you can form your own opinion. That's mine. Jim died of a heroin OD. Because of Pam's lying to him about it being coke.

What's really mystifying to me is Agnes Varda didn't film the funeral. She strikes me as someone who wouldn't have let the historical importance of that pass her by.
Maybe she felt wrong about it on some level.
I'd love to be able to ask her about that.

Her films are extremely important to me and I wish she had a way bigger following because she is an Icon.

I had a vhs copy of "Lion's Love" (1969) that I've subsequently lost and in it you can see how she directs. It's a documentary/fiction film set in L.A. with the two guys who created HAIR, and Varda is in it. She's giving a non-actor direction, which she eventually gives up on. Jim Morrison is seen in it for like, one second, sitting in the audience of a theatre production.
(That was the whole reason I bought the tape! For a 1-second "cameo").
A lot of people would say "Lion's Love" is unwatchable but for me it had enough to hold my interest.
I've been planning to buy the Criterion 4 by Varda box set for a while now. But $150 is hard to spare...

[Chris Knipp]

I hope you get to see the 2009 Rendez-Vous Varda, The Beaches of Agnes. It deals with Lion's Love as with most of the rest of her life. And I hope you get to meet her (while she's still around -- but she sure seems to be fully of energy still) to ask about why she didn't film that funeral. Maybe she was just too involved in it in other capacities, but that wouldn't explain it since she could have had cameramen set up. I can't imagine.

[Chris Knipp]

I am a member of Film Forum so I get their regular emails and this came today:
FILM FORUM NEWSLETTER - Wednesday, June 24, 2009
THE BEACHES OF AGNES a film by agnes varda
AGNES VARDA'S POETIC MEMOIR OF A LIFE AT THE MOVIES
HAS U.S. THEATRICAL PREMIERE NEXT WEDNESDAY, JULY 1

Showtimes: 1:00, 3:15, 5:40, 7:50, 10:00

[Chris Knipp]

THE BEACHES OF AGNES'S US release kicks off today at Film Forum as mentioned. It has received excellent reviews and has a Metacritic rating of 77. For Film Forum's news page for the film go here. (http://www.filmforum.org/films/beachesofagnes.html) Limited release schedule on the film's website at present is



JULY 2009
July 1, 2009 - Film Forum, New York, NY
July 3, 2009 - Monica 4, Santa Monica, CA
July 3, 2009 - Playhouse, Pasadena, CA

AUGUST 2009
August 7, 2009 - Angelika Film Center, Dallas, TX
August 14, 2009 - The Screen, Santa Fe, NM
August 21, 2009 - Chez Artiste, Denver, CO

SEPTEMBER 2009
September 4, 2009 - Ritz Bourse, Philadelphia, PA
September 11, 2009 - E Street, Washington, DC
September 17, 2009 - Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
September 18, 2009 - Landmark, Minneapolis, MN
September 25, 2009 - Cable Car Cinema, Providence, RI

OCTOBER 2009
October 2, 2009 - Kendall Square, Boston, MAThe Cinema Guild page (http://www.cinemaguild.com/beachesofagnes/) provides links to eight important US reviews.

[Johann]

The Beaches of Agnes opens tomorrow night at the Royal (I took a photo of the exterior this week- photos will be up on Facebook tomorrow as well).
I'll be there and post a review post haste.
Can't wait.

[Johann]

In "NOW" magazine this week there is an interview with Agnes Varda and she shed some light on why Jim Morrison's funeral wasn't filmed by her. She doesn't talk about his funeral, but she said she never took a photo of him (except for Lion's Love) whenever he came over to her house in L.A. or Paris.
She says she respected him too much.
People were ALWAYS wanting to get a photo of him and so she just didn't take any out of respect.
I have to believe that it was out of respect that she didn't film his funeral.

I'm seeing her latest film in about an hour.
I went to El Macambo last night to check out 3 bands...

[Johann]

The Beaches of Agnes

What can I say, this was one of the greatest films I've ever had the priviledge to witness. It is an utterly remarkable work of art that is both a moving tribute to the beautiful life of Agnes Varda and everyone who entered or exited her life and a historical piece of celluloid.
The juxtapositions, the re-creations of major events in her life, the music, the engaging narrative...I'm just stunned with the gorgeousness of it all.

She's a normal, REAL woman who lived an extarordinary life.
I was simply enthralled with this film.
See it as soon as humanly possible if you love cinema and cinema history. The contexts she gives are riveting, the photographs and objets d'art on display will please your peepers very very much.
Varda has eclipsed Riefenstahl as the "Greatest Female Filmmaker" to me. Where do I begin a review?

It opens with Agnes on the beach in Brussels, staging another installation for a film, with big mirrors. She is cinema incarnate.
Her shots and juxtapositions are extremely interesting and vivid.
Her lifestory is told in her own voice, with powerful recollections via old photographs and the staging of events she remembers.
She even builds sets that match her memories exactly.
Her memory is astounding for a woman now in her 80's.
It seems as though everything she did she remembered.
I hope I make it to 80 and my brain is half as sharp as hers...
Wow. She remembers EVERYTHING. She saved and collected EVERYTHING. What I got from this film more than anything is just how conscious and alive she was and is.
It's so obvious how alive she is to everything she sees and feels.
I wanted to hug her the whole time I was watching.
She's such a beautiful soul.
I love Agnes Varda. Call me sappy. I don't give a shit.
She's a filmmaker who's very dear to me and this film has made me an even bigger fan, if I could even BE a bigger fan.
If you've never heard of this woman or seen any of her films, this film is the one you need to see. It WILL turn you into a fan.
And if it doesn't, you're not a cinephile.
I could write for pages and pages but I just want to bask in the afterglow of this amazing film. One of the best screenings of my life.
I'm still going over the images in my head...
Her love for Jacques Demy will cripple you with it's poignancy.
I'm sure he's smiling from above, because his wife is a Master Artist. Who is stunningly human.
No star trip from her.
She's unbelievably REAL.
That's how she gets such wonderful photographs.
I loved seeing her at the flea market going through the cinema cards and pulling out her own and Demy's and Cocteau's.
She paid ten cents for her own cinema card!
At a flea market!
And the Jim Morrison footage- priceless.
And the digital Peter Greenaway-like superimpositions...
C'est tres tres bien...

OK, I'm gonna have some Greg Norman Merlot now..

[Johann]

Still can't get images from that movie outta my head.
Chris, did you notice the aspect ratio changing from time to time?
I noticed it.
2.35:1, 1:66, etc.

I also loved hearing about how she got involved in filmmaking after she was asked abut the "Nouvelle Vague"
Seeing those classic shots of Resnais, Godard and Marker..WOW.
especially Chris Marker. Agnes pays him high tribute here, what with the "chat" (his alter-ego) and her reverence toward him.
He meant a lot her. Many people did/do. That much is obvious.
She places high value on her friends and contemporaries.

The scenes of her in the "whale" were simply stunning.
The colors...the context (Jonah and the Whale).
She's a bit like Fellini in this film, filming her desires.
She's a very hands-on Lady. She operates cameras, she pilots boats (by herself down the Seine!) she even wears a potato costume at one of her art installations. There is humour in this film and it's quite heartwarming. She gets emotional at times, yes, but overall she's just a very sensitive artist.
She's totally human, with human foibles and instincts.
I love her whole "persona". Even her hairstyle is quite a statement! Her clothing is very beautiful too. I noticed she had a different necklace or beads on for every scene. They changed often, and so did her wardrobe. Fuck Madonna.
Agnes Varda is the real chameleon of fashion!

And what an ending. In the house of cinema. GENIUS.
I could watch the end scenes forever.

[Chris Knipp]

She is impressive, and I agree on the fashions and the hair, which make her look younger than she is. But she is young in spirit anyway, an artist still active at 80. Sorry, I don't remember the changing aspect ratios. It's mainly 1.78 : 1, the info says.

[oscar jubis]

I absolutely loved Claire Denis' 35 SHOTS OF RUM. I think your review does it justice. However, I think you totally misinterpreted the ending of the film. I don't know whether you want to discuss it so long after you saw the film...
Now that ANTICHRIST has been released in the US, would you open a thread with your review of it.

[Chris Knipp]

Thank you. I absolutely love it too. I could have got the ending wrong. It happens. I'd be happy to discuss it. But I hope to see the film again soon because it's coming for one week to a theater in Berkeley soon. Maybe we could wait till then, but tell me now what you think I said that was incorrect so I can watch for that.

I'll put up an ANTICHRIST thread, thanks for the suggestion. Any such tips about theatrical openings of films I've reviewed elsewhere are always welcome. It's hard to keep track.

I've seen UP IN THE AIR and will review that shortly. Have also seen RED CLIFF and NINE, which opens later. Ditto YOUTH IN REVOLT, with Michael Cera. Has anyone seen PAPER HEART? I missed it. A mistake for assessing the Cera career, but I figured it would be excruciating to watch.

I hope people get to watch Audiard's THE PROPHET, which I also hope to watch again soon and write a review of. The Board of Review's Foreign Film of the Year. I don't necessarily disagree with the Cannes jury's rating THE WHITE RIBBON one small notch higher though.

[oscar jubis]

*Jo does not wear the "white sheath-like" dress you mention (and a special necklace that used to belong to her mother) to "a funeral" and that is not "the occasion when Lionel finally drinks the 35 shots of rum". It is a much more festive occasion, tied to the need for and the purchase of a second rice cooker, which you mention in your review.

*We had a premiere screening of Youth in Revolt last month at the Cosford. I passed on it based on early reviews of the film. I also missed Paper Heart, which looked on paper (pardon the pun) as a slightly better film than "YIR".

*I passed on purchasing an import DVD of Red Cliff, which has been available online for about a year. It must be seen in a theater like every film by John Woo. Opens here on January 1st.

[Chris Knipp]

As I said I'll be seeing 35 RHUMS soon again and I'll try to get the details right this time and correct them--thanks for the pointers on what to watch for toward the end. I think somebody else explained to me before that I was mistaken about the celebration. It's not an excuse, but as you know Denis tends to be elliptical in her presentation of events., and relationships.

I like youth movies, or I did. They are much more disappointing now, as I remark at the end of my review of YOUTH IN REVOLT. No doubt PAPER HEART may be more offbeat than YOUTH IN REVOLT but "on paper" it sounded to me pretty awful and embarrassing. (I didn't consult reviews of YOUTH IN REVOLT. Instead I read the book.) However it was a mistake for me not to see PAPER HEART because I'm interested in improvisation in movies and in Michael Cera. I think somebody else could take the role of Nick Twist in YOUTH IN REVOLT other than him, whereas possibly only he could play the role in PAPER HEART, since he's working opposite his then girlfriend, who was co-author.

Indeed RED CLIFF is eye candy and needs to be seen big.

[oscar jubis]

Cool. I just re-read Johann's great posts on THE BEACHES OF AGNES. She does play with the size of the screen indeed by means of both blocking and changing the film stock.

[Chris Knipp]

LINKS TO MY RENDEZ-VOUS 2009 REVIEWS (I've been trying to catch some lost links from the "Filmwurld" days. There are still a bunch that don't work in Ferstival Coverage and in this thread but the index ones will.)

35 SHOTS OF RUM (CLAIRE DENIS 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21357#post21357)
APPRENTICE, THE (SAMUEL COLLARDEY 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21356#post21356)
BEACHES OF AGNES, THE (AGNES VARDA 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21352#post21352)
BELLAMY (CLAUDE CHABROL 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21414#post21414)
CHANGE OF PLANS (DANIELLE THOMPSON 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21417#post21417)
EDEN IS WEST (COSTA-GAVRAS (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21404#post21404)
GIRL FROM MONACO, THE (ANNE FONTAINE 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21361#post21361)
GIRL ON THE TRAIN, THE (ANDRE TECHINE 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21416#post21416)
JOY OF SINGING,THE (ILAN DURAN COHEN 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21396#post21396)
MESRINE, PART 1 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21371#post21371)
MESRINE, PART 2 (JEAN-FRANCOIS RICHET 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21372#post21372)
OTHER ONE, THE (PATRICK MARIO BERNARD, PIERRE TRIVIDIC 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21477#post21477)
PARIS 36 (CHRISTOPHE BARRATIER 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21349#post21349)
SERAPHINE (MARTIN PROVOST 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21397#post21397)
STELLA (SYLVIE VERHEYDE 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21398#post21398)
VERSAILLES (PIERRE SCHOELLER 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21476#post21476)
VILLA AMALIA (BENOIT JACQUOT 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21415#post21415)
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (FRANCOIS DUPEYRON 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=21360#post21360)

[cinemabon]

You mean all of those posts we made in 2002, 2003, and so on are lost forever? I'd wager that if the FBI needed to find them for a federal case, they'd appear in an instant!

[Chris Knipp]

No doubt they might appear in an instant. One thing is sure though, that old links with "filmwurld" in them do not work. Only "filmleaf.net" links will bring up stuff on this site now. Most of the link indexes are updated in the Festival Coverage section but there are still a couple old ones.

[cinemabon]

C'est dommage

[Chris Knipp]

Beh oui, mais c'est la vie !