Category: Movies

Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #12. Ahmed – Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne 

Ahmed – Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: Ahmed – Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne. 

Ahmed

The Dardenne Bros. turn their socially minded lens to religious extremism with their eleventh narrative feature, Ahmed. As usual, the Dardennes are collaborating with production company Les Films du Fleuve, returning to a template which saw them find early success by using a cast of unknowns. Having twice won the Palme d’Or (Rosetta, 1999; L’enfant, 2005), the duo are the most celebrated directors to have come from Belgium, making any of their projects of instant note. Besides their Palme wins, their offerings almost always leave Cannes with a major prize, including the Ecumenical Jury Prize for 2002’s Le fils, Best Screenplay for Lorna’s Silence in 2008, the Grand Jury Prize for 2011’s The Kid with a Bike, and again the Ecumenical Jury Prize for 2014’s Two Days, One Night (which also resulted in an Oscar nod for Marion Cotillard). Their 2016 feature The Unknown Girl (read review) was their only effort to leave the festival unrewarded.

The Dardennes turn to another topical issue with Ahmed, religious fundamentalism. While details are scarce, the plot concerns a young man who plots to kill his teacher following his extremist interpretation of the Quran. Early details are reminiscent of similar territory explored by Rachid Bouchareb in his 2016 Belgian set The Road to Istanbul, which explores a mother’s journey to search for her radicalized teenager.

Read about the Top 150 at: Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #12. Ahmed – Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne – IONCINEMA.com

“We’ll end up together”: nine years later, the band of “little handkerchiefs” is back

These reunions with the happy band of “Little handkerchiefs”, we waited with some impatience. While fearing that the charm operates less nine years later. And that’s what happens. Blame it on a lazy scenario.

Max (François Cluzet) is spinning bad cotton. Depressed, ruined, he is preparing to sell his holiday home quietly, without talking to his ex (Valerie Bonneton). But for the discretion, it’s missed: it’s right the moment that the band of friends lost sight of for years has chosen to come and celebrate his birthday and seal the reunion. Discomfort.

They are all there, a little older, a little thick for some … Vincent (Benoît Magimel), Marie (Marion Cotillard), Eric (Gilles Lellouche), Antoine (Laurent Lafitte), Isabelle (Pascale Arbillot) … Only Ludo, gone in the first part, misses the call. But Jean Dujardin will still give us a little wink at the end of the film.

All these actors are visibly happy to meet, in the beautiful setting of Cap Ferret, under the direction of their comrade Guillaume Canet. No surprise, Continue reading ““We’ll end up together”: nine years later, the band of “little handkerchiefs” is back” →

Cannes 2019: Dujardin, Luchini, the zombies of Bonello and Zahia at the Directors’ Fortnight 


                 

Paolo Moretti, the successor to Edward Waintrop, head of the parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, unveiled his first selection. This 51st edition, from May 15 to 25, is characterized by increasing titles and a strong delegation of French films that, for many, flirt with the fantastic or a singular universe.

Twenty-six feature films For his first selection at the Directors’ Fortnight, Paolo Moretti, defector of the La Roche-sur-Yon International Film Festival, who also worked for the Venice Film Festival, did not skimp on quantity. This number is well above the average of previous editions. At the press conference held again this Tuesday, April 23 at the Forum des Images, the new delegate general said that of all the feature films selected, sixteen will see their authors land for the first time on the Croisette. “The Directors’ Fortnight also has the role of bringing in new directors,” said Moretti.

Seven French films are part of this selection, opened Wednesday, May 15 by Quentin Dupieux’s Le Suede with Jean Dujardin and Adele Haenel and closed by Yves de Benoît Forgeard ( Gaz de France ) whose dare we hardly dare to pitch. Because Yves is none other than a smart refrigerator supposed to simplify the life to the hero Jerem (William Lebghil). In this comedy about rap and star-up, we also find Philippe Katerine and Doria Tillier.

Doria Tillier et William Lebghil ont un frigo plein... de ressources!
The presence of Dupieux and Forgeard brings folly to this selection in which Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are particularly expected with The Lighthouse by Robert Eggers, “a film that takes place on a distant and mysterious island of the nineteenth century,” said the coach.
Continue reading “Cannes 2019: Dujardin, Luchini, the zombies of Bonello and Zahia at the Directors’ Fortnight “ →

Cannes 2019: a week of criticism rich in first films

The Critics’ Week , a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, will take place from May 15 to 23, with a jury chaired by Colombian director Ciro Guerra ( Birds of Passage , currently on screen).

Devoted to the discovery of new talents, it presents only first and second films. Of the eleven selected, seven are in competition and four in special session.

Eight first films out of eleven selected

Among the eleven, appear eight first films, like Abu Leila of the Algerian Amin Sidi-Boumediene and the miracle of the unknown saint of the Moroccan Alaa Eddine Aljem. Two works that ” contrast with the type of productions that can be seen” in the Maghreb and are a reflection of “a new generation that comes from the short film” , according to Charles Tesson, General Delegate of the Week of Criticism.

The first deals with the civil war in Algeria, while the second is a fable about religious tourism.

Exploring other little-known regions of the 7th art, Critics’ Week has also selected first films from Costa Rica ( Sofia Quiros Ubeda’s Black Ash ) and Guatemala’s ( Nuestras Madres by César Diaz on the disappeared of the dictatorship). ).

The region will also be represented with the opening film, Litigante , second opus of the Colombian Franco Lolli ( Gente de bien ), presented as a portrait of a woman “in the vein of Pialat”.

French side, an animated film and two first films

France will be in competition with Jérémy Clapin’s animated film J’ai perdu mon corps , which explores many registers and tones: the fantastic, the poetic, the love story, almost the horror film, has underlined Charles Tesson.

In a special session, two first films complete the French contingent: The heroes never die of Aude Léa Rapin, with Adèle Haenel, who evokes the war in Bosnia by indirect routes (that of a possible reincarnation) and You deserve a love , first feature film by actress Hafsia Herzi, revealed by Kechiche, exploring the love relationships of young people.

Only feature-length film in the running, Vivarium , the second installment of the Irish Lorcan Finnegan, plunges a young couple (Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots) in a fantastic camera.

In closing, will be the first film of Chinese Xiaogang Gu ( Dwelling in the Fuchun Mutains ), the first part of a trilogy and family saga to the rhythm of nature and the life of a river.

The jury will present three prizes including the Nespresso Grand Prix and an award for an actor considered a revelation, after rewarding last year Diamantino , pastiche on a football player in crisis, and Félix Maritaux for his interpretation of a prostitute in Wild .

Source: Cannes 2019: a week of criticism rich in first films

The one French film you need to see this month

If there’s one film you have to see in France this month then “Le Chant du Loup”, starring some of France’s most famous actors is the one. French movie experts Lost in Frenchlation explain why.

Submarine films are a subgenre of war films that are able to heighten intensity due to their unique setting.They are able to go beyond the normal tensions of the average action film by highlighting the close quarters and removal from civilization.In addition to the claustrophobia and isolation, there’s a number of things that can go wrong that far down, from machinery fires to decompression sickness.

Over 150 submarine films have been made in the past 100 years.This genre is popular with French and Americans alike, leading to successful films such as The Hunt for Red October in America and now Le Chant du Loup (The Wolf’s Call) in France, and even a cultural overlap in the English-language French-Belgian film Kursk.

Le Chant du Loup stars César Award winning actor, Omar Sy, who became one of France’s most popular actors after his role in Les Intouchables.

Mathieu Kassovitz of Amelie fame also stars in this film.He is popular in France and abroad, earning him numerous awards from Cannes to Chicago.

Le Chant du Loup is “the wolf’s call” the sound of a sonar that can be detected by the main character of the film, an acoustic analyst known as “the golden ear”.This film provides insight into French politics and warfare, fueled by director Antonin Baudry’s personal experiences from his time as a diplomat and advisor to the prime minister.

Source: The one French film you need to see this month – The Local