Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2021

[Chris Knipp]

MANDIBLES/MANDIBULES (Quentin Dupieux 2020)

My thumbnail comment: An oddball buddy picture this time about two illegal goofals who find a giant fly, for a change Dupieux has made a movie that's fun to watch and talk about. (The Metacritic rating has gone up ten points, but it was already going up.)

NOTE: It is coming out in select US theaters July 23

[Chris Knipp]

FAITHFUL/DE NOS FRÈRES BLESSÉS (Hélier Cisterne 2020): French theatrical release.

This drama about a pied-noir patriot guillotineed by French colonial authorities for treason starring Vincent Lacoste and Vicky Krieps came out in French theaters today, Wed. March 23, 2022.

Very mediocre reviews; AlloCiné press rating 3.1 = 62%. The Cahiers du Cinéma critic writes: "Hélier Cisterne proves incapable of arousing any feelings other than tearful pity. The systematic alternation between the present of the judgement and the past of a carefree and amorous life condemns the staging to predictable oppositions: darkness versus light, swollen flesh versus eroticism."

[Chris Knipp]

MY DONKEY, MY LOVER AND I/ANTOINETTE DANS LES CÉVENNES (Caroline Vignal 2020): US theatrical release.

This successful comedy (rated 4.0 or 80% on AlloCiné) is opening in US theaters July 22, 2022.