New French Films At Lincoln Center

[Chris Knipp]

THE RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA 12TH ANNUAL SERIES

I'll be covering the series again, this time attending the press screenings. That apparently means no actors or directors on hand for Q&A's because the public screenings start a week after the press ones end.

The press screenings are from Feb. 8-21. The public ones are Feb. 28-March 11 at Lincoln Center and the IFC Center.

You will find some info about the current series and some images at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/s....php?t=534795, and eventually on www.filmlinc.com, the Film Society of Lincoln Center website. You will find info and summaries of critics' evaluations on the French website Allociné and often there are a couple of reviews of them in English from festivals on IMDb, especially by writers for Variety. My reviews will be at Filmleaf "Festival Coverage" above or here.

The films are as follows:

La Vie en Rose /La Môme *(Olivier Dahan, 2007 – Opening Night
The Valet /La doublure (Francis Veber, 2006)* – Closing Night

Alphabetically by the English title the other films in the series are:

Ambitious/Les ambitieux (Catherine Corsini, 2006)
Blame it on Fidel/La faute à Fidel (Julie Gavras, 2006)
Countdown/Il sera une fois (Sandrine Veysset, 2007)
Don’t Worry, I'm Fine/Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas (Philippe Lioret, 2006)
Flanders/Flandres* (Bruno Dumont, 2006)
I Do!/Prête-moi ta main (Eric Lartigau, 2006)
Inside Paris/Dans Paris* (Christophe Honoré, 2006)
The Man of My Life/L'Homme de sa vie* (Zabou Breitman, 2006)
Murderers/Meutrières (Patrick Grandperret, 2006)
One to Another/Chacun sa nuit* (Pascal Arnold & Jean-Marc Barr, 2006)
The Page-Turner/La tourneuse de pages* (Denis Dercourt, 2006)
The Singer/Quand j'étais chanteur (Xavier Giannoli, 2006)
Tell No One/Ne le dis a personne (Guillaume Canet, 2006)
The Untouchable/L'Intouchable* (Benoît Jacquot, 2006)
Humbert Balsan: Rebel Producer/Humbert Balsan, producteur revelle (Anne Andreu, 2006) – Tribute Program

*Has a US distributor.

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Here's what I know so far. A lot of this is conventional mainstream stuff, but if you call it "mainstream," till it's a comedy remade in Hollywood (and a couple of them eventually could be), it's mainstream arthouse stuff, not mainstream cinemplex stuff. The comedies are The Valet and I Do!

I have seen four already, and it will be a big plus if any of the others turn out to be as good as three of them were. In Paris I saw Inside Paris/Dans Paris (Honoré), which is great, Dumont's Flanders/Flandres, also excellent, one of his best and perhaps his most accessible, though again that's by arthouse standards, and The Singer (at the London Film Festival), one of the best things Gérard Depardieu has done in years, about a fading cabaret singer -- Depardieu does all his own singing for it -- trying to sustain an affair with a young woman, and with the vibrant young Cécile de France as that women. Cécile de France had her César "best female hopeful" year and for good reason. She's a terrific actress and she has that glow, that sparkle, that they have sometimes. In Paris I also saw Tell No One/Ne le dis à personne, which is from an American crime novel (by Harlan Cohen) and doesn't seem very French to me, but it might make more sense with subtitles, because it was pretty complicated without them, for me, and it has good actors and is up for a pile of César awards this year, including best supporting for André Dussollier, so maybe I better give than one a more careful second look. The Page Turner is also well spoken of. Rumor has it that Jacquot's is a disappointment, though it's another appearance by his sexy bee-sting-lipped muse, Isild Le Besco. A couple have not opened in France yet, including the biopic one about Edith Piaf Le Vie en Rose/La Môme, which some fans of the classic French chanteuse-diva are sure to love whether it's artistically a success or historically accurate or not, and as surely if it's not some are sure to hate it. It opens in Paris on Valentine's Day.

And today I saw Don't Worry, I'm Fine/Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas, which manages to be fresh and thought-provoking without being particularly edgy or unconventional. The director, Philippe Lioret was not previously familiar to me and is not known in the US. Again, if this is "mainstream," that means something completely different in France -- maybe nothing, in US terms, and Christophe Honoré was much less mainstream, with much less success, in his prevous film, Ma mère, than he is in Inside Paris.

LINKS TO RENDEZ-VOUS 2007 REVIEWS:

AMBITIOUS/LES AMBITIEUX (CATHERINE CORSINI)

BLAME IT ON FIDEL/LA FAUTE À FIDEL (JULIE GAVRAS)

DON'T WORRY, I'M FINE/JE VAIS BIEN, NE T'EN FAIS PAS (PHILIPPE LIORET )

FLANDERS/FLANDRES (BRUNO DUMONT )

INSIDE PARIS/DANS PARIS (CHRISTOPHE HONORÉ)

MURDERERS/MEURTRIÈRES (PATRICK GRANDPERRET )

ONE TO ANOTHER/CHACUN SA NUIT (PASCAL ARNOLD, JEAN-MARC BARR)

THE PAGE TURNER/LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES (DENIS DERCOURT)

THE SINGER/QUAND J'ETAIS CHANTEUR (XAVIER GIANNOLI )

TELL NO ONE/NE LE DIS À PERSONNE (GUILLAUME CANET)

THE UNTOUCHABLE/L'INTOUCHABLE (BENOÎT JACQUOT)

THE VALET/LA DOUBLURE (FRANCIS VEBER )

LA VIE EN ROSE/LA MOME (OLIVIER DAHAN )