Screen
Saturday 23 May 2009
Mark of an Angel
I recommend Mark of an Angel staring Catherine Frot, a great performance in an unsettling thriller based on a true story. Why are the French so good at making thrillers?
— Andy
Tags: drama, france, in cinemas, recommended, thriller
Sunday 21 December 2008
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
An amazing film with a superb performance from Romain Duris; his character is so complex that you can’t help but be gripped by the movie. The soundtrack, mixing classical and electro music, is excellent too. This is easily one of the best films I’ve seen in a while; it is a shame I missed it when it was originally on in cinemas.
— Andy
Tags: crime, drama, france, paris, recommended, romain duris
Thursday 20 November 2008
Renaissance
Artistically Renaissance looks stunning; almost the entire film is animated in solid black and white images, apart from the very occasional use of colour. However, the plot, whilst interesting, is perhaps a little average for the genre. It did manage to keep my attention but required a significant amount of attention to follow the story. I felt that the voices—in English—which included Daniel Craig were a little lifeless which didn’t help. This is more a film about style than substance, but if you like animation then the visual aspect of Renaissance is beautiful and the futuristic look of Paris is very cool.
— Andy
Tags: 2006, animation, b&w, daniel craig, france, paris, sci-fi
Thursday 06 November 2008
Belleville Rendez-vous
An excellent film; a beautifully rich and original animation with a Stomp-like soundtrack. Belleville Rendez-vous is a very funny movie playing on French and American stereotypes such as the French love of frogs legs and Le Tour de France, and American’s obesity and poor manners. I just love the dog whose characteristics are so real.
Director Sylvain Chomet’s second animated feature, The Illusionist, should be out next year and is based on an unproduced Jacques Tati script.
— Andy
Thursday 03 July 2008
Time to Leave
Time to Leave (Le Temps qui reste) is a film about dying, a subject that is tackled beautifully. Melvil Poupaud and Jeanne Moreau’s performances are excellent. This is possibly one of the best François Ozon films I’ve seen. The final scene is very visually striking.
— Andy
Tags: 2005, drama, france, francois ozon
Sunday 22 June 2008
Le Goût des Autres
This is a cool film! A light comedy looking at human interaction, perspectives, and discovering the meaning of life. I love the way the film darts between the many characters fleshing out the movie whilst essentially being guided by the protagonist’s re-awakening as he discovers a new world to that in which he has been living. A feel-good movie of sorts, Le Goût des Autres is really worth a look.
— Andy
Tuesday 17 June 2008
Les Chansons d'Amour
Okay, so I’m not a fan of musicals, but this French film intrigued me having heard a few of the songs from it. Les Chansons d’Amour is a decent film, though I felt the musical numbers rather detracted from the plot. The complex relationships of the characters made for an interesting plot, although sometimes the love expressed by the characters seemed a tad shallow. Perhaps if the film had been a drama rather than a musical the plot could have been thickened a little. Having said that I actually liked the songs, although Ludivine Sagnier’s singing voice is a little annoying. Not amazing, but an enjoyable film to watch.
— Andy
Monday 02 June 2008
Heartbeat Detector
Heartbeat Detector (La Question humaine) is a French corporate thriller currently in cinemas. It’s a very slow paced film that seems to be going no where for a long time, but then small events in the film ripple out to reveal a deep plot underlying the whole movie. Heartbeat Detector tackles some very heavy themes, of which I will not spoil here. At first this movie looks like a dull uneventful art house movie, but by the end I was stunned by the revelations and the questions they raise about the corporate world. This is not a film for everyone, but if you’re patient with it you’ll see an intelligence in the plot and twists not seen very often in the cinema.
— Andy
Tags: 2007, drama, france, in cinemas, thriller
Monday 12 May 2008
Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis
A funny comedy from France about a Southerner being relocated to la nord where the sun never shines and the locals speak in a barely understandable dialect of French. The English subtitles do their best to translate the idea of the unintelligible words and accent of the ch’tis (the locals), and do help make the film enjoyable although I suspect it is a lot funnier if you are fluent in French (plus the muddled subtitles did begin to feel like hard work towards the end). I loved the scenes involving the mail round and the wife’s visit to Bergues. Overall a decent comedy providing an interesting insight into the French’s North-South divide (much like England in many ways).
— Andy
Tags: comedy, farce, france, in cinemas
Sunday 04 May 2008
Persepolis
A funny, and at times sad, true story of an Iranian girl growing up through the Revolution and wars in Tehran, and attending French school in Vienna. The animation, mostly in black-and-white, is beautiful and a refreshing change from the usual Disney/Pixar look of animated films these days. Persepolis challenges ones perceptions of life in Iran and highlights some of the unpleasant attitudes of religion, particularly towards women. It is well worth a trip to the cinema to see it (if it sounds too serious don’t fear as it really does have many laugh-out-loud moments).
— Andy
Tags: animation, france, in cinemas, iran, recommended
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