Category: Movies

Film Preview: “Spring Blossom” de Suzanne Lindon

Directed by Suzanne Lindon. with Suzanne Lindon, Arnaud Valois, Florence Viala, Frédéric Pierrot, Arturo Giusi-Périer…

Suzanne is 16. She is bored with people of her age. Every day on her way to high school, she passes a theater. There, she meets an older man, and becomes obsessed with him. Despite their age difference, they find in each other an answer to their ennui and fall in love. But Suzanne is afraid she’s missing out on life – that life of a 16-year-old, which she had struggled so much to enjoy in the same way as her peers.

Source: Spring Blossom de Suzanne Lindon (2020) – UniFrance

“Annette” with Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver presented in opening of Cannes

Signed Leos Carax, “Annette” will open the Cannes Film Festival on July 6, the organizers announced on Monday. A musical with Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver which will be released simultaneously at the cinema.

With this feature film in English which will be presented in world preview and in competition, the French director will be making his comeback on the Croisette nine years after “Holy Motors”.

Based on an original idea by the American duo Sparks, a figure in alternative music since the 1970s, and who also signed the soundtrack, “Annette” takes an interest in the glamorous couple formed by Henry, a stand-up comedian, and Ann , a world-famous singer, who will see her daily life turned upside down by the birth of their daughter Annette, with an exceptional destiny.

“Visionary and enigmatic, Leos Carax has created some of the most beautiful scenes in French cinema of the past thirty-five years, through a filmography that has never ceased to show his mastery of directing. A poetic genius with an overflowing imagination, “the enfant terrible of French cinema” is used to overturning codes and genres to invent a world populated by visions and ghosts, “said the Cannes Film Festival in a press release.

 

Its president also added that “Annette is a gift hoped for by lovers of cinema, music and culture, those who have missed us so much for a year”.

The Official Selection of the 74 th edition, which will be chaired by American director Spike Lee will be announced on 27 May.

Source: Cannes Film Festival 2021: the film “Annette” with Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver presented in opening | CNEWS

Comme une Française: How to Slow Down Fast-Spoken French

In today’s lesson, we’re going to take a detailed look at the movie trailer for the 2007 film “La Môme” (also called “La Vie en Rose”) — a biopic of the famous French singer Edith Piaf. Exploring French pop culture is a fantastic and fun way to improve your understanding of real, everyday spoken French. Together, we’ll explore the nuances of spoken French in this trailer and pinpoint a few sentences that YOU can use to join French conversations with more confidence.

Take care and stay safe. 😘 from Grenoble, France.

Géraldine

Film Review: My Donkey, My Lover & I

Antoinette, a school teacher, is looking forward to her long planned summer holidays with her secret lover Vladimir, one of her pupils’ father. When she learns that Vladimir cannot come because his wife organized a surprise trekking in the Cévennes National Park with their daughter and a donkey to carry their load, Antoinette decides to follow their track, by herself, with her own stubborn donkey.

A very beautiful film, both funny and touching, which makes you want to return to France and go hiking in the Cévennes and carrying in its suitcase “Travel with a donkey in the Cévennes” by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Antoinette, a Parisian schoolteacher, has an extra-marital relationship with Vladimir, the father of one of her students. The latter abandons him for the summer holidays to go hiking in the Cévennes with his wife and daughter. Neither one nor two, Antoinette also decides to make “the way of Stevenson” accompanied by Patrick, a recalcitrant donkey. If the beginnings are more than laborious, a beautiful relationship is established between the two protagonists and Patrick even comes to guide Antoinette in her love choices. Laure Calamy, always just as fair, finds the perfect tone and does not give in to cliché or caricature

Le Petit Journal

‘No culture, no future’: French film awards turn into protest over Covid closures

France’s annual celebration of cinema, Les Césars, on Friday became the stage for venting frustrations over the months-long shutdown of theatres. Actress Corinne Masiero stole the limelight when she stripped naked with the words “No culture, no future” written across her front as she presented the costume award.

The mood was set from the opening monologue, as mistress of ceremonies Marina Fois launched a scathing attack on Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot.

“The minister hasn’t done nothing… Madame Bachelot, you released a book with your recipe for pasta and gorgonzola,” the actress joked, before striking a sad note to conclude: “What we miss is what unites us, the emotions that we experience together.”

Bachelot was reportedly present in the Olympia venue in Paris for the 46th edition, but the television channel Canal+ was instructed not to zoom in on her.

Several participants at the César Awards used the event as a platform to confront the government over its decision to keep cinemas shut since October, even as most other businesses have reopened.

“My children can go to Zara but not the cinema… it’s incomprehensible,” said Stephane Demoustier as he picked up the Cesar for best screenplay for “The Girl With a Bracelet”.

 

 

For her part, actress Corinne Masiero turned her message into performance art. She wore a bloody donkey costume, before stripping naked – to reveal messages painted on her body – referring to how cinema industry workers see themselves “stripped” of work in the face of the pandemic.

On her back were the words “Give us back our art Jean,” directed at Prime Minister Jean Castex, while on her chest were the words “No culture no future”.

The country has seen mounting protests in recent days over the closure of cultural sites, with several theatres occupied by activists and students.

Greater diversity

The big winner on the night was Adieu les Cons (Bye Bye Morons), a comedy drama about a seriously ill woman searching for her long-lost child, which took home seven awards including best film and best director for Albert Dupontel.

Continue reading “‘No culture, no future’: French film awards turn into protest over Covid closures” →

French film critics crown Love Affair(s) their winner

Association of French Film Critics president Philippe Rouyer and director Emmanuel Mouret with his prize for Love Affair(s)
Association of French Film Critics president Philippe Rouyer and director Emmanuel Mouret with his prize for Love Affair(s)

08/03/2021 – Emmanuel Mouret’s feature film walks away with the title of Best French Film of 2020, while Aurel’s Josep is named Best First Film

The Association of French Film Critics has announced its champions for 2020. The accolade of Best French Film of the Year went to Love Affair(s) by Emmanuel Mouret, which sees the movie continuing a winning streak which began with Cannes’ 2020 Official Selection label and has since been bolstered by the 2021 Lumières award for Best Film, as well as 13 nominations for this year’s César awards, the victors of which will be announced on 12 March. Notably starring Camélia Jordana, Nils Schneider, Vincent Macaigne, Jeanna Thiam, Guillaume Gouix, Émilie Dequenne and Julia Piaton, this Moby Dick Films production which was distributed in France in September of last year, courtesy of Pyramide, is sold worldwide by Elle Driver.

The award for Best First French Film, meanwhile, was won by an animated film also bearing Cannes’ 2020 Official Selection stamp of approval: Josep by Aurel. Produced by Les Films d’Ici Méditerranée in co-production with France 3 Cinéma, Spanish group Imagic Telecom and film studios Les Films du Poisson Rouge, Lunanime (Belgium), Promenons nous dans les bois, Tchak, Les Fées Spéciales and Effecto, this trophy for Josep joins an already impressive horde (European Film Award for Best Animated Film, two Lumières awards and the Louis-Delluc Prize for Best First Film). Released in France back in the autumn, courtesy of Sophie Dulac Distribution, the feature film is sold by The Party Films Sales. Continue reading “French film critics crown Love Affair(s) their winner” →