Festival Coverage thread is here.
Soon I expect to be seeing and reviewing the press screenings of the 2012 FSLC-UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. UniFrance has announced the dates and the opening and closing night films. The public screenings will be at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, NYC.
It's March 1-11, 2-12.
Opening night film : UNTOUCHABLE by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano. March 1.
Based on a true story of two men who should never have met - a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects. Jay Weissberg of Variety describes this as "cringe-worthy" for its "Uncle Tom racism." More likely it's just cliched and saccharine, which UniFrance and the Rendez-Vous unfortunately has a weakness for, and would provide on opening night. The French love it: it's the second biggest box office for a French film in France ever. Allociné rating 3.7. The black star Omar Sy beat Jean Dujardin at the Césars for Best Actor. It sounds entertaining and likely to do well here. Harvey Weinberg is releasing it, and he knows how to pick winners. The press screenings did not include this nor was there a screener, and I didn't get into a public screening. But it will be viewable in US theaters generally in several months.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
Closing night film : DELICACY by Stéphane and David Foenkino. March 11.
A French woman mourning over the death of her husband three years prior is courted by a Swedish co-worker. Audrey Tatous: need I say more? More cliched sugar, evidently less well executed, since the Allociné rating was a measly 2.5. In the event, this seemed messy and disorganized to me, but the press audience in general seemed to love it.
But the good stuff is usually between the opening and closing films anyway. However, last year was better since the opening night film was POTICHE, with Deneuve and Depardieu and Fabrice Lucchini.
Links to the reviews:
17 Girls (Muriel, Delphhine Coulin 2011)
18 Years Old and Rising (Fréderic Louf 2011)
38 Witnesses (Lucas Belvaux 2012)
Americano (Mathieu Demy 2011)
Delicacy (David and Stéphane Foekinos 2011)
Farewell, My Queen (Benoît Jacquot 2012)
Free Men (Ismaël Faroukhi 2011)
Gang Story, A (Olivier Marchal 2011)
Head Winds (Jalil Lespert 2011)
Last Screening (Laurent Achard 2011)
Louise Wimmer (Cyril Mennegun 2011)
Low Life (Nicolas Klotz 2012)
Moon Child (Delphine Gleize 2011)
Painting, The (Jean-Pierre Laguionie 2012)
Paris by Night (Philippe Lefebvre 2012)
Pater (Alain Cavalier 2011)
Screen Illusion, The (Mathieu Amalric 2011)
Smuggler's Songs (Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche 2011)
Snows of Kilimanjaro (Robert Guédiguian 2011)
Unforgivable (André Téchiné 2011)
Well-Digger's Daughter, The (Daniel Auteuil 2012)
Bookmarks