Born 1917, as Jean-Pierre Grumbach, son of Alsatian Jews, Jean-Pierre adopted the name Melville as his nom de guerre in 1940 when France fell to the German Nazis and he joined the French Resistance. He kept it as his stage name when he returned to France and began making films.
Melville at 100 at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood is showcasing eight of his films made from 1949 to to 1972 to honor the 100th year since his birth.
Americn Cinemtheque’s historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood
The American Cinematheque has grown tremendously sophisticated since its early days creating the 1960 dream of “The Two Garys” (for those who remember). Still staffed by stalwarts Barbara Smith, Gwen Deglise, Margot Gerber and Tom Harris, and with a Board of Directors of Hollywood heavy hitters, it has also been renovated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which has spent more than $500,000 restoring its infrastructure and repainting its famous murals.
Melville at 100 at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood is showcasing eight of his films made from 1949 to to 1972 to honor the 100th year since his birth.
Americn Cinemtheque’s historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood
The American Cinematheque has grown tremendously sophisticated since its early days creating the 1960 dream of “The Two Garys” (for those who remember). Still staffed by stalwarts Barbara Smith, Gwen Deglise, Margot Gerber and Tom Harris, and with a Board of Directors of Hollywood heavy hitters, it has also been renovated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which has spent more than $500,000 restoring its infrastructure and repainting its famous murals.
- 8/7/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Syria-set drama set to benefit from European exhibition support.
Philippe van Leeuw’s Insyriated has won the Europa Cinemas Label as the best European film in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival.
The Syria-set drama stars Hiam Abbas as a woman trapped with her family in their Damacus apartment as the city suffers from the conflict raging outside.
Screen’s review described the film as “tense and nerve-shredding”.
Insyriated will now benefit from promotional support from Europa Cinemas, which will offer a financial incentive to encourage cinemas in the network to include the film in their programme schedules.
This is the 13th time the label has been awarded. It was voted on by a jury of four exhibitors from the Europa Cinemas network. They were: Alice Black (Dundee Contemporary Arts, UK); Pierre-Alexandre Moreau (Cinémas Studio, France); Monica Naldi (Cinema Beltrade Italy); an Feliks Wagner (Neues Off Kino, Germany).
The...
Philippe van Leeuw’s Insyriated has won the Europa Cinemas Label as the best European film in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival.
The Syria-set drama stars Hiam Abbas as a woman trapped with her family in their Damacus apartment as the city suffers from the conflict raging outside.
Screen’s review described the film as “tense and nerve-shredding”.
Insyriated will now benefit from promotional support from Europa Cinemas, which will offer a financial incentive to encourage cinemas in the network to include the film in their programme schedules.
This is the 13th time the label has been awarded. It was voted on by a jury of four exhibitors from the Europa Cinemas network. They were: Alice Black (Dundee Contemporary Arts, UK); Pierre-Alexandre Moreau (Cinémas Studio, France); Monica Naldi (Cinema Beltrade Italy); an Feliks Wagner (Neues Off Kino, Germany).
The...
- 2/17/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Beardo, with book and lyrics by Jason Craig Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage, music by Dave Malloy Natasha, Pierre amp The Great Comet of 1812, and direction by Ellie Heyman The Traveling Imaginary, will take place at St. John's Lutheran Church 155 Milton Street, Brooklyn - G Train, Greenpoint Stop. Beardo will begin previews on February 3, 2017, and officially open on February 12, 2017, playing a limited engagement through February 26, 2017.
- 1/18/2017
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Nicolas Pariser, Alice Winocour, Melvil Poupaud, Mathieu Lamboley, uniFrance President Jean-Paul Salomé Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Melvil Poupaud walked the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema red carpet with The Great Game (Le Grand Jeu) director Nicolas Pariser, Disorder's Alice Winocour, Julie Delpy's Lolo composer Mathieu Lamboley, Bang Gang's Eva Husson, A Decent Man's Emmanuel Finkiel, John Waters, Cindy Sherman, James Ivory, Angélique Kidjo, Aurélia Thiérrée with Guillaume Nicloux and his Valley Of Love star Isabelle Huppert.
Joseph Paskin (André Dussollier) Pierre Blum (Melvil Poupaud)
Oscar Isaac in Jc Chandor's A Most Violent Year, Alain Delon in Valerio Zurlini's Indian Summer (Le Professeur), Benoît Jacquot's Closet Children (Les Enfants Du Placard), Marguerite Duras, Eric Rohmer, Xavier Dolan, Justine Triet, Fan Bingbing, and his Great Game co-stars Clémence Poésy and André Dussollier - these and more entered into a kind of Lacanian conversation with Melvil Poupaud at the Parker Meridien in New York.
Melvil Poupaud walked the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema red carpet with The Great Game (Le Grand Jeu) director Nicolas Pariser, Disorder's Alice Winocour, Julie Delpy's Lolo composer Mathieu Lamboley, Bang Gang's Eva Husson, A Decent Man's Emmanuel Finkiel, John Waters, Cindy Sherman, James Ivory, Angélique Kidjo, Aurélia Thiérrée with Guillaume Nicloux and his Valley Of Love star Isabelle Huppert.
Joseph Paskin (André Dussollier) Pierre Blum (Melvil Poupaud)
Oscar Isaac in Jc Chandor's A Most Violent Year, Alain Delon in Valerio Zurlini's Indian Summer (Le Professeur), Benoît Jacquot's Closet Children (Les Enfants Du Placard), Marguerite Duras, Eric Rohmer, Xavier Dolan, Justine Triet, Fan Bingbing, and his Great Game co-stars Clémence Poésy and André Dussollier - these and more entered into a kind of Lacanian conversation with Melvil Poupaud at the Parker Meridien in New York.
- 7/15/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
2016 looks like a good vintage: Screen’s chief critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan dissects this year’s Competition lineup…
Advance word on the Cannes Competition line-up was muted this year, and smoke signals from Paris indicated that the selection was running very close to the line. Thierry Fremaux talked at the launch press conference about “loyalty” and “risk-taking” in the same breath. While these aren’t two words which tend to mix well at Cannes, the festival’s 2016 line-up certainly promises to deliver fresh film-making. “We know the risks we are taking,” said Fremaux.
There’s little doubt that Cannes 2016 looks like a good vintage. Typically of a festival which always surprises, there’s no way to tell if this will be a good, bad, or - worst of all - indifferent mix until we taste. One note we won’t apparently be savouring in the Competition, however, is a sense of France and its relationship...
Advance word on the Cannes Competition line-up was muted this year, and smoke signals from Paris indicated that the selection was running very close to the line. Thierry Fremaux talked at the launch press conference about “loyalty” and “risk-taking” in the same breath. While these aren’t two words which tend to mix well at Cannes, the festival’s 2016 line-up certainly promises to deliver fresh film-making. “We know the risks we are taking,” said Fremaux.
There’s little doubt that Cannes 2016 looks like a good vintage. Typically of a festival which always surprises, there’s no way to tell if this will be a good, bad, or - worst of all - indifferent mix until we taste. One note we won’t apparently be savouring in the Competition, however, is a sense of France and its relationship...
- 4/14/2016
- by finn.halligan@screendaily.com (Fionnuala Halligan)
- ScreenDaily
To celebrate the new Blu-ray & DVD Double Play release of The City Of Lost Children — out 14th March — we have a copy to give away. This dazzling fantasy adventure is directed by Marc Caro (Delicatessen) and Jean-Pierre… Continue Reading →
The post UK Readers: Win a City of Lost Children Blu-ray/DVD Combo! appeared first on Dread Central.
The post UK Readers: Win a City of Lost Children Blu-ray/DVD Combo! appeared first on Dread Central.
- 3/9/2016
- by Gareth Jones
- DreadCentral.com
Exclusive: New company to make first official market outing at Efm.
New Paris-based sales and co-production company Luxbox has acquired world rights to Hedi and Maquinaria Panamericana ahead of their premieres at the Berlinale.
Tunisian director and scriptwriter Mohamed Ben Attia’s Hedi is the first Arab-language film to play in competition at the Berlinale since Hany Abu Assad’s Paradise Now in 2005.
It follows an unassuming, young man who is controlled by an authoritarian mother. On the eve of his arranged marriage to a local girl chosen by his mother, he meets an adventurous, free-spirited young girl who changes his view of life.
Dora Bouchoucha of Tunis-based Nomadis Images — who has strong ties with the European film industry through her work with France’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc) and Rotterdam’s CineMart — produced the film with the Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes’s Les Films du Fleuve on board as a co-producer.
“Hedi means ‘calm...
New Paris-based sales and co-production company Luxbox has acquired world rights to Hedi and Maquinaria Panamericana ahead of their premieres at the Berlinale.
Tunisian director and scriptwriter Mohamed Ben Attia’s Hedi is the first Arab-language film to play in competition at the Berlinale since Hany Abu Assad’s Paradise Now in 2005.
It follows an unassuming, young man who is controlled by an authoritarian mother. On the eve of his arranged marriage to a local girl chosen by his mother, he meets an adventurous, free-spirited young girl who changes his view of life.
Dora Bouchoucha of Tunis-based Nomadis Images — who has strong ties with the European film industry through her work with France’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc) and Rotterdam’s CineMart — produced the film with the Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes’s Les Films du Fleuve on board as a co-producer.
“Hedi means ‘calm...
- 2/1/2016
- ScreenDaily
Jean Reno stars in Family Heist as master thief who teams up with long-lost daughters.
French outfit Snd has boarded international sales and local distribution rights to art theft comedy caper Family Heist and romantic drama The Confession ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 14-18).
Pascal Bourdiaux’s Family Heist stars Jean Reno as a master thief who enlists the support of his long-lost daughters on an ambitious robbery aimed at exacting revenge on a double-crossing, former partner.
French stand-up and big screen comedy actresses Camille Chamoux and Reem Kherici play the two contrasting half-sisters who have inherited their father’s con artist skills.
Reno is set for a high-profile year. He will hit screens at home and abroad in French comedy The Visitors: Bastille Day this spring and also has roles in Sean Penn’s upcoming The Last Face and the historical drama The Promise.
The two-month...
French outfit Snd has boarded international sales and local distribution rights to art theft comedy caper Family Heist and romantic drama The Confession ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 14-18).
Pascal Bourdiaux’s Family Heist stars Jean Reno as a master thief who enlists the support of his long-lost daughters on an ambitious robbery aimed at exacting revenge on a double-crossing, former partner.
French stand-up and big screen comedy actresses Camille Chamoux and Reem Kherici play the two contrasting half-sisters who have inherited their father’s con artist skills.
Reno is set for a high-profile year. He will hit screens at home and abroad in French comedy The Visitors: Bastille Day this spring and also has roles in Sean Penn’s upcoming The Last Face and the historical drama The Promise.
The two-month...
- 1/7/2016
- ScreenDaily
Casting on Luc Besson’s upcoming sci-fi feature Valerian continues apace today, with The Wrap reporting that Trumbo star John Goodman has boarded the project to voice a mysterious alien creature.
While the outlet didn’t disclose the specifics of Goodman’s extra-terrestrial, the role is another voiceover gig on the actor’s burgeoning résumé, given that he’ll also feature in Sony’s Ratchet & Clank animated film early next year. Valerian, on the other hand, is much earlier in production. Eyeing a July 2017 release window, Besson’s latest – officially known as Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planet – is an adaptation of Pierre Christian and artist Jean-Claude Mezieres’ series of graphic novels, and may very well be the director’s most ambitious feature since The Fifth Element.
Having already cast Dane DeHaan (Valerian) and Cara Delevingne (Laureline) as a pair of time-travelling agents, the core premise centers around...
While the outlet didn’t disclose the specifics of Goodman’s extra-terrestrial, the role is another voiceover gig on the actor’s burgeoning résumé, given that he’ll also feature in Sony’s Ratchet & Clank animated film early next year. Valerian, on the other hand, is much earlier in production. Eyeing a July 2017 release window, Besson’s latest – officially known as Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planet – is an adaptation of Pierre Christian and artist Jean-Claude Mezieres’ series of graphic novels, and may very well be the director’s most ambitious feature since The Fifth Element.
Having already cast Dane DeHaan (Valerian) and Cara Delevingne (Laureline) as a pair of time-travelling agents, the core premise centers around...
- 12/8/2015
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Arthouse exhibitors from Poland to Venezuela have added their voices to the chorus of disapproval about Europa Cinemas’ new bonus payment scheme to promote partnerships between cinemas and online distribution platforms.
The International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (Cicae) has joined forces with the French Association of Art Cinemas Afcae, Germany’s Ag Kino - Gilde, and Italy’s Arthouse Exhibitors Federation Fice to express their concerns about Europa Cinemas “giving in to the massive demands by ‘Creative Europe’ in Brussels to do away with the release chronology for films”.
“The abandonment of release windows and the introduction of simultaneous releases in the cinemas and as VoD will result in an existential threat for many smaller cinemas with a European profile to their programming,” the associations explained.
“It will mainly affect cinemas in small towns and small countries where there isn’t sufficient or any public funding measures for cinemas.”
The arthouse cinemas argued that “no amount of funding...
The International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (Cicae) has joined forces with the French Association of Art Cinemas Afcae, Germany’s Ag Kino - Gilde, and Italy’s Arthouse Exhibitors Federation Fice to express their concerns about Europa Cinemas “giving in to the massive demands by ‘Creative Europe’ in Brussels to do away with the release chronology for films”.
“The abandonment of release windows and the introduction of simultaneous releases in the cinemas and as VoD will result in an existential threat for many smaller cinemas with a European profile to their programming,” the associations explained.
“It will mainly affect cinemas in small towns and small countries where there isn’t sufficient or any public funding measures for cinemas.”
The arthouse cinemas argued that “no amount of funding...
- 8/27/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Luc Besson already has Dane DeHaan and the Pokemon-loving Cara Delevingne aboard for his ambitious new sci-fi epic Valerian. With those two in place, he’s adding to the roster, with Clive Owen signing on to play a character called Commander Arün Filitt.Originally created by writer Pierre Christian and artist Jean-Claude Mezieres in 1967, the series of graphic novels charts the adventures of the titular time-travelling agent (DeHaan) and his female sidekick, Laureline (Delevingne). As for how Filitt fits into the story? That’s left for us to guess at the moment.After #danedehaan & #caradelevigne I'm proud to announce that mister Clive Owen is part of the Valerian adventure!!:) pic.twitter.com/SaW3mX5OzP— Luc Besson (@lucbesson) August 19, 2015According to Deadline, which got a gander at storyboards for the film last month, this promises to be the biggest project Besson has tackled since The Fifth Element, with visions...
- 8/19/2015
- EmpireOnline
The Isa of the Day segment of SydneysBuzz resumes for the Cannes Film Festival 2015. ISAs, or International Sales Agents, help to bring films into global distribution by selling distribution rights to distributors worldwide.Topics include new trends in distribution and sales, inspirational success stories, film slates and more. A worthy read for any serious filmmaker looking to have a better understanding of the chain of business between producing a film and sharing it with the world.
Kinology was founded by its Managing Director, Grégoire Melin in May 2008. This newly created sales entity represents some of the most ambitious and innovative European feature films starring international talent such as Jean-Francois Richet’s hit Public Enemy Number One, Olivier Dahan’s My Own Love Song, and Mathieu Kassovitz’s Rebellion.
Founder & President of Kinology Grégoire Melin shares more:
The company was created seven years ago, right before Cannes 2008.
I started EuropaCorp with Luc Besson and Pierre Olange, a talented marketing person and now producer. I was in charge of international sales there, which was great because I worked on all these big franchises like Transformers and Taken, among many others. I worked on about 60 films while I was there.
Europa was fantastic, and I’ll never be able to thank Luc and Pierre enough for all the opportunities they’ve given me to meet great people and great directors, but there comes a moment when it gets hard to sell the films you didn’t choose yourself. That is why I created my company, Kinology.
Gaellle Mareschi, head of International Sales & Development, is also coming from Europa ( she worked there after I left) and joined me in 2010. Since then, we have been working together and are the only two sales agents.
We work on 5-7 films a year, and it’s difficult to say which kind of projects we are choosing, because we work on concept films. For example, the first film which was very successful for us was “Buried”. We loved the script and immediately signed on the film long before it was shot. In Europe, it’s not financiers financing the film and then they are looking for a sales agent. It’s much more that the sales agents take the risk with the equity for the film in the beginning.
We’ve done many films like “Days of Grace”, “Heartbreaker”, and “Spring Breakers”. Again, these are very eclectic but very concept-driven films. We don’t care whether it’s English or French. We were also the sales agent on “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night”. We love to launch unique visions with new or unique directors, and if I don’t think a film is right for us, I will not take it.
We love the distributors we are working with. I love this job, and going to market is really exciting because we know we are going to get countless meetings with people we love. We are also very hands-on when it comes to marketing.
Now we’re working on Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote, and just came back from Spain after working with Terry – we aim to start shooting the film in August. This is an example of how we are very hands-on and try to really support the producers we are working with. Since we are working on very few films, it gives us time to go really in-depth. We know everything about the films, every crew person, every element, and are very close to the projects.
We don’t usually have that many films in Cannes, but this year we have films we really adore. Both are premiering at the festival. One is called “Mustang”, and we have a fantastic animation film that is winning prizes all around the world called “Mune” by Alexandre Heboyan.
Kinology was founded by its Managing Director, Grégoire Melin in May 2008. This newly created sales entity represents some of the most ambitious and innovative European feature films starring international talent such as Jean-Francois Richet’s hit Public Enemy Number One, Olivier Dahan’s My Own Love Song, and Mathieu Kassovitz’s Rebellion.
Founder & President of Kinology Grégoire Melin shares more:
The company was created seven years ago, right before Cannes 2008.
I started EuropaCorp with Luc Besson and Pierre Olange, a talented marketing person and now producer. I was in charge of international sales there, which was great because I worked on all these big franchises like Transformers and Taken, among many others. I worked on about 60 films while I was there.
Europa was fantastic, and I’ll never be able to thank Luc and Pierre enough for all the opportunities they’ve given me to meet great people and great directors, but there comes a moment when it gets hard to sell the films you didn’t choose yourself. That is why I created my company, Kinology.
Gaellle Mareschi, head of International Sales & Development, is also coming from Europa ( she worked there after I left) and joined me in 2010. Since then, we have been working together and are the only two sales agents.
We work on 5-7 films a year, and it’s difficult to say which kind of projects we are choosing, because we work on concept films. For example, the first film which was very successful for us was “Buried”. We loved the script and immediately signed on the film long before it was shot. In Europe, it’s not financiers financing the film and then they are looking for a sales agent. It’s much more that the sales agents take the risk with the equity for the film in the beginning.
We’ve done many films like “Days of Grace”, “Heartbreaker”, and “Spring Breakers”. Again, these are very eclectic but very concept-driven films. We don’t care whether it’s English or French. We were also the sales agent on “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night”. We love to launch unique visions with new or unique directors, and if I don’t think a film is right for us, I will not take it.
We love the distributors we are working with. I love this job, and going to market is really exciting because we know we are going to get countless meetings with people we love. We are also very hands-on when it comes to marketing.
Now we’re working on Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote, and just came back from Spain after working with Terry – we aim to start shooting the film in August. This is an example of how we are very hands-on and try to really support the producers we are working with. Since we are working on very few films, it gives us time to go really in-depth. We know everything about the films, every crew person, every element, and are very close to the projects.
We don’t usually have that many films in Cannes, but this year we have films we really adore. Both are premiering at the festival. One is called “Mustang”, and we have a fantastic animation film that is winning prizes all around the world called “Mune” by Alexandre Heboyan.
- 5/15/2015
- by Erin Grover
- Sydney's Buzz
Update, 2:25 Am Pt: Last year’s dueling Yves Saint Laurent biopics each picked up several nominations this morning for France’s César Awards. Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent, the country’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar, leads the pack with 10 mentions, followed by Thomas Cailley’s Directors’ Fortnight title Les Combattants with nine, and Oscar nominee Timbuktu with eight. Yves Saint Laurent, from helmer Jalil Lespert, took seven nods. Otherwise, there are a number of usual suspects in the batch including Best Actress Oscar nominee Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night, as well as Juliette Binoche for Olivier Assayas’ Sils Maria. In something of a departure — and a first — for the French Académie, they nominated American actress Kristen Stewart for her supporting turn in that Cannes competition entry. (Adrien Brody won the Best Actor prize in 2003 for The Pianist.) There are also six nominations for late 2014 release La Famille Bélier.
- 1/28/2015
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1963, Serge Bourguignon’s Sundays and Cybèle has finally been issued in an official North American digital video edition by Criterion. For decades Sundays and Cybèle was only available to Ntsc markets through imported discs of dodgy provenance and a few murky, widely scattered VHS copies. While half a century is certainly a significant delay, the high quality of the film and this superb pressing will make most cinephiles agree it was worth the wait.
Sundays and Cybèle is the story of Pierre (Hardy Krüger), a 30-ish former fighter pilot who now aimlessly wanders the quiet streets of Ville-d’Avray on the outskirts of Paris. Pierre suffers from a severe case of what would now be called Ptsd, squarely blaming himself for a tragic accident that occurred during the heat of battle in Vietnam. Reeling from amnesia and nightmarish visions, Pierre...
Sundays and Cybèle is the story of Pierre (Hardy Krüger), a 30-ish former fighter pilot who now aimlessly wanders the quiet streets of Ville-d’Avray on the outskirts of Paris. Pierre suffers from a severe case of what would now be called Ptsd, squarely blaming himself for a tragic accident that occurred during the heat of battle in Vietnam. Reeling from amnesia and nightmarish visions, Pierre...
- 9/30/2014
- by David Anderson
- IONCINEMA.com
Auf Weidersehen Pet's Christopher Fairbank is rumoured to be making a guest appearance in Doctor Who series 8...
News
Details are thin on the ground for this one so far, but on the authority of the mighty Blogtor Who and filming set photos, it's been reported that Christopher Fairbank, a familiar face from well, just about everything is to make a guest appearance in Doctor Who's new series.
Fairbank has been a regular presence in TV and film since the late 1970s, memorably playing the role of Albert Arthur Moxey in Auf Weidersehen Pet, as well as appearing in just about any novel adaptation worth its salt (The Rotters' Club, The Line Of Beauty, Tess Of The D'Urbervilles and this year, Jamaica Inn). He's also tipped up in Merlin, Pirates Of The Caribbean 4, and The Fifth Element. Buy a ticket to the Dwayne Johnson-starring Hercules to enjoy all the Rock's...
News
Details are thin on the ground for this one so far, but on the authority of the mighty Blogtor Who and filming set photos, it's been reported that Christopher Fairbank, a familiar face from well, just about everything is to make a guest appearance in Doctor Who's new series.
Fairbank has been a regular presence in TV and film since the late 1970s, memorably playing the role of Albert Arthur Moxey in Auf Weidersehen Pet, as well as appearing in just about any novel adaptation worth its salt (The Rotters' Club, The Line Of Beauty, Tess Of The D'Urbervilles and this year, Jamaica Inn). He's also tipped up in Merlin, Pirates Of The Caribbean 4, and The Fifth Element. Buy a ticket to the Dwayne Johnson-starring Hercules to enjoy all the Rock's...
- 6/4/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Thomas Cailley’s French drama scores hat-trick at the Cannes Film Festival sidebar.
First-time feature director Thomas Cailley has won three top prizes at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight with Love At First Fight (Les Combattants), a drama about a teenager falling for a tough young woman who is fixated on preparing for a state of war.
The film won the Europa Cinema Label, the Sacd Prize and the Art Cinema Award.
It marks the 11th year Europa Cinemas has presented the prize in Cannes and comes with the support of the Europa Cinemas Network, with additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film’s theatrical run.
Interview: Thomas Cailley, Love At First Fight
The jury said in its statement: “This is that rarity – a well-scripted and well-acted feelgood arthouse film.
“Thomas Cailley’s debut feature has witty dialogue and the relationship between the man and the woman at the centre of the film is delightfully modern...
First-time feature director Thomas Cailley has won three top prizes at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight with Love At First Fight (Les Combattants), a drama about a teenager falling for a tough young woman who is fixated on preparing for a state of war.
The film won the Europa Cinema Label, the Sacd Prize and the Art Cinema Award.
It marks the 11th year Europa Cinemas has presented the prize in Cannes and comes with the support of the Europa Cinemas Network, with additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film’s theatrical run.
Interview: Thomas Cailley, Love At First Fight
The jury said in its statement: “This is that rarity – a well-scripted and well-acted feelgood arthouse film.
“Thomas Cailley’s debut feature has witty dialogue and the relationship between the man and the woman at the centre of the film is delightfully modern...
- 5/23/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell) michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Thomas Cailley’s Love At First Fight (Les Combattants) has won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European film in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
This is the 11th year Europa Cinemas has presented the label in Cannes. The prize comes with the support of the Europa Cinemas Network, with additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film’s theatrical run.
Interview: Thomas Cailley, Love At First Fight
The jury said in its statement: “This is that rarity – a well-scripted and well-acted feelgood arthouse film. Thomas Cailley’s debut feature has witty dialogue and the relationship between the man and the woman at the centre of the film is delightfully modern and free of cliché. Les Combattants deserves to be seen as widely as possible around Europe.”
Bac Films handles sales. Cailley also co-wrote with Claude le Pape. Pierre Gayard produced the film. The film is a Nord Ouest Films production, co-produced with Appaloosa...
This is the 11th year Europa Cinemas has presented the label in Cannes. The prize comes with the support of the Europa Cinemas Network, with additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film’s theatrical run.
Interview: Thomas Cailley, Love At First Fight
The jury said in its statement: “This is that rarity – a well-scripted and well-acted feelgood arthouse film. Thomas Cailley’s debut feature has witty dialogue and the relationship between the man and the woman at the centre of the film is delightfully modern and free of cliché. Les Combattants deserves to be seen as widely as possible around Europe.”
Bac Films handles sales. Cailley also co-wrote with Claude le Pape. Pierre Gayard produced the film. The film is a Nord Ouest Films production, co-produced with Appaloosa...
- 5/23/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
A jury of four exhibitors announced today that "La Belle Vie," the feature debut of French director Jean Denizot, is the the winner of the Venice Film Festival's Europa Cinemas Label, as part of the festival's Venice Days section. The cast includes Zacharie Chasseriaud, Jules Pelissier, SolEne Rigot, Nicolas Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey and Maya Sansa. Here's the synopsis: Sylvain and Pierre have been running from the law ever since a custody battle with their mother, won by the latter, pushed their father Yves into hiding ten years ago. But now that they're older, the two brothers are road-weary and eager to take advantage of the perks of young adulthood. When the authorities discover their whereabouts, they are forced to move yet again and Pierre, the elder, disappears. Alone with his father on an island in the Loire River, Sylvain meets Gilda: his first girl, his first crush, and the first...
- 9/6/2013
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Riffing on Terek Puckett’s terrific list of director/actor collaborations, I wanted to look at some of those equally impressive leading ladies who served as muses for their directors. I strived to look for collaborations that may not have been as obviously canonical, but whose effects on cinema were no less compelling. Categorizing a film’s lead is potentially tricky, but one of the criteria I always use is Anthony Hopkins’s performance in Silence of the Lambs, a film in which he is considered a lead but appears only briefly; his character is an integral part of the story.
The criteria for this article is as follows: The director & actor team must have worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in a minimum of 2 must-see films.
One of the primary trends for the frequency of collaboration is the...
The criteria for this article is as follows: The director & actor team must have worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in a minimum of 2 must-see films.
One of the primary trends for the frequency of collaboration is the...
- 7/24/2013
- by John Oursler
- SoundOnSight
With deals for Loic Remy and Yannes M’Vila all but done, Qpr have been the busiest so far this window. What will they get up to today?
Transfers
Finally, it’s done: Qpr have announced the signing of Loic Remy for a club record fee.
Norwich City have let Jacob Butterfield join Crystal Palace on an emergency loan. The midfielder is yet to make a Premier League appearance this season.
The Rumour Mill
The Independent believes that Chelsea and Tottenham are on red alert after it was revealed that Willian could move to the Premier League for around £20m. The Brazillian playmaker shot to prominence in Shakhtar Donetsk’s Champions League campaign.
The Newcastle exodus looks set to continue, according to the Daily Mirror, as AC Milan are interested in highly-rated ‘keeper Tim Krul and 22-year-old full-back Davide Santon. It’s thought unlikely that Massimiliano Allegri will be able...
Transfers
Finally, it’s done: Qpr have announced the signing of Loic Remy for a club record fee.
Norwich City have let Jacob Butterfield join Crystal Palace on an emergency loan. The midfielder is yet to make a Premier League appearance this season.
The Rumour Mill
The Independent believes that Chelsea and Tottenham are on red alert after it was revealed that Willian could move to the Premier League for around £20m. The Brazillian playmaker shot to prominence in Shakhtar Donetsk’s Champions League campaign.
The Newcastle exodus looks set to continue, according to the Daily Mirror, as AC Milan are interested in highly-rated ‘keeper Tim Krul and 22-year-old full-back Davide Santon. It’s thought unlikely that Massimiliano Allegri will be able...
- 1/16/2013
- by Jamie Cotton
- Obsessed with Film
The first-ever manufacturer of light bulbs in Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira’s father died in 1932, nine years after Raul Brandão wrote a play called Gebo and the Shadow. In the year 2012 Oliveira turned the play into a film, making a grimy, dim oil lamp its legitimate character: elderly accountant Gebo burns the midnight oil in it as he plods away at his books. In an early scene, meanwhile, his wife lights the lanterns outside their house with a match. No one seems yet to have heard of electricity; the time setting is unclear; presumably, it’s the turn of the century.
Presumably. Oliveira’s Benilde, or The Virgin Mother (1975) opens with a title-card of this word to gradually lure us into a province of utter chronological disorder. This very same word has ever since been unchallenged as the most accurate description of the bizarre, atemporal effect that grows stronger in each subsequent Oliveira film.
Presumably. Oliveira’s Benilde, or The Virgin Mother (1975) opens with a title-card of this word to gradually lure us into a province of utter chronological disorder. This very same word has ever since been unchallenged as the most accurate description of the bizarre, atemporal effect that grows stronger in each subsequent Oliveira film.
- 11/18/2012
- by Boris Nelepo
- MUBI
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 84-year-old The Passion of Joan of Arc was recently voted the ninth greatest film of all time in the decennial Sight & Sound poll, receiving votes from 65 critics and 13 directors including no less than Manoel de Oliveira, Atom Egoyan, Michael Mann, Tsai Ming-liang and Béla Tarr (though the film is notable by its absence from filmmaker Pierre Leon’s all-Dreyer top ten). As beloved and familiar as The Passion of Joan of Arc is, however, these two stunning, and remarkably modern looking posters for the film were new to me when I came upon them recently on the Movie Poster Database. Both are the work of the great affichiste René Péron and seem to be original to the film’s release, but what I didn't realize about them until I did some detective work is their remarkable size. The poster directly above is what is known as a double grande,...
- 8/31/2012
- MUBI
Only a few years ago, Luc Besson was talking about how he wanted to get out of the directing lark and settle into retirement. But like so many other creative types who make such statements, he seems busier than ever. The latest likely project added to his bulging development bag? An adaptation of sci-fi comic book series Valerian.Originally created by writer Pierre Christian and artist Jean-Claude Mezieres in 1967, the series of graphic novels charts the adventures of the titular time-travelling agent and his female sidekick, Laureline.It’s not exactly a shocking development for the director: the subject is directly in his comfort zone and he’s already a big fan of the comic’s creators, to the extent that he hired Mezieres as a conceptual designer on The Fifth Element.The new movie has no direct title itself yet – it may just end up being named after the...
- 7/2/2012
- EmpireOnline
DVD Release Date: April 17, 2012
Price: DVD $24.99
Studio: Strand Releasing
Béatrice Dalle is a troubled intellectual on a path to self-destruction in Domain.
The always-provocative Béatrice Dalle (Betty Blue) stars as a troubled mathematician in the 2009 French drama Domain.
On the threshold of adulthood, 17-year-old Pierre (Isaïe Sultan) becomes obsessed with his aunt Nadia (Dalle), a flamboyant intellectual whose alcoholism and fatalistic view of life is leading her on a path to self-destruction. As Pierre discovers his budding sexuality and his relationship with Nadia becomes increasingly tangled, he attempts to save his aunt from her troubles—and herself—with tragic results.
Written and directed by Patric Chiha, the movie was positively received by critics during its international film festival roll-out and limited run in U.S. theaters in January, 2012. Dalle, whose history of substance abuse has been well-documented over the years, garnered particularly strong notices.
There are no bonus features on the DVD.
Price: DVD $24.99
Studio: Strand Releasing
Béatrice Dalle is a troubled intellectual on a path to self-destruction in Domain.
The always-provocative Béatrice Dalle (Betty Blue) stars as a troubled mathematician in the 2009 French drama Domain.
On the threshold of adulthood, 17-year-old Pierre (Isaïe Sultan) becomes obsessed with his aunt Nadia (Dalle), a flamboyant intellectual whose alcoholism and fatalistic view of life is leading her on a path to self-destruction. As Pierre discovers his budding sexuality and his relationship with Nadia becomes increasingly tangled, he attempts to save his aunt from her troubles—and herself—with tragic results.
Written and directed by Patric Chiha, the movie was positively received by critics during its international film festival roll-out and limited run in U.S. theaters in January, 2012. Dalle, whose history of substance abuse has been well-documented over the years, garnered particularly strong notices.
There are no bonus features on the DVD.
- 4/2/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Thank heavens the Voice still has Melissa Anderson: "Fearless Béatrice Dalle, who made her screen debut at age 21 as the sexed-up, self-mutilating title character in Betty Blue (1986), has, in the past decade, played a cannibal, the Queen of the Northern Hemisphere, and a fetus-snatcher. As Nadia in Patric Chiha's hypnotic first feature, Domain, Dalle might have a more cerebral profession — a mathematician who specializes in Gödel — but her capacity for destruction, both of herself and others via bottomless glasses of Vouvray, remains just as infinite."
"Viva Béatrice!" Time Out New York's Keith Uhlich: Nadia "takes her gorgeous, gay teen nephew, Pierre [Isaïe Sultan], under her broken wings…. Chiha keenly charts the duo's relationship from its beguiling early stages to its inevitable downward slope, and never in the expected ways. The moment when Pierre starts to show backbone comes not with a blowout fight but in a surreal, smoky musical number...
"Viva Béatrice!" Time Out New York's Keith Uhlich: Nadia "takes her gorgeous, gay teen nephew, Pierre [Isaïe Sultan], under her broken wings…. Chiha keenly charts the duo's relationship from its beguiling early stages to its inevitable downward slope, and never in the expected ways. The moment when Pierre starts to show backbone comes not with a blowout fight but in a surreal, smoky musical number...
- 1/13/2012
- MUBI
The programme for the 55th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express launched today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, celebrates the imagination and excellence of international filmmaking from both established and emerging talent. Over 16 days the Festival will screen a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres . There will also be screenings of 110 live action and animated shorts. Many of the films will be presented by their directors, cast members and crew, some of whom will also take part in career interviews, masterclasses, and other special events. The 55th BFI London Film Festival will run from 12-27 October.
Special Screenings
Opening the festival is Fernando Meirelles’ 360, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Weisz is also the star of Terence Davies’ closing night film, The Deep Blue Sea, alongside a cast which includes Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.
Special Screenings
Opening the festival is Fernando Meirelles’ 360, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Weisz is also the star of Terence Davies’ closing night film, The Deep Blue Sea, alongside a cast which includes Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.
- 9/7/2011
- by John
- SoundOnSight
From the 12th to the 27th of October the 55th BFI London Film Festival brings its annual box of delights to the capital. Earlier today the full programme was announced, and it look like being another fine year.
We already know that Fernando Meirelles’ latest 360 will open proceedings on the 12th and fifteen days later Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea will bring the festival to a close but there are many more great films to come and see in London this October.
There was a familiar feeling creeping across the audience this morning that a lot of the films had, like last year, already played elsewhere but this is only a small consideration when you consider the scope of the festival’s remit. To bring a vital, fresh and horizon-expanding series of features, shorts and documentaries is no easy task, and while the more well known films have played...
We already know that Fernando Meirelles’ latest 360 will open proceedings on the 12th and fifteen days later Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea will bring the festival to a close but there are many more great films to come and see in London this October.
There was a familiar feeling creeping across the audience this morning that a lot of the films had, like last year, already played elsewhere but this is only a small consideration when you consider the scope of the festival’s remit. To bring a vital, fresh and horizon-expanding series of features, shorts and documentaries is no easy task, and while the more well known films have played...
- 9/7/2011
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Artistic director Sandra Hebron has announced the line-up for the 55th BFI London Film Festival this morning where they will screen “a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres” plus “110 live action and animated shorts”.
We are already knew Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s erotic drama play 360 written by Peter Morgan and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz would open the festival and that The Deep Blue Sea, which incidentally is another adaptation of a play (Terence Rattigan’s) and also stars Rachel Weisz, will close it. Of Time and City’s Terrence Davies directed that movie which also stars Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale.
Now we know the in-between stuff from the Gala & Special Screenings and there’s a wide selection of extremely interesting films;
George Clooney is bringing his political thriller The Ides of March that...
We are already knew Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s erotic drama play 360 written by Peter Morgan and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz would open the festival and that The Deep Blue Sea, which incidentally is another adaptation of a play (Terence Rattigan’s) and also stars Rachel Weisz, will close it. Of Time and City’s Terrence Davies directed that movie which also stars Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale.
Now we know the in-between stuff from the Gala & Special Screenings and there’s a wide selection of extremely interesting films;
George Clooney is bringing his political thriller The Ides of March that...
- 9/7/2011
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
News came earlier this year that Olivier Megaton had been announced as the director to the sequel of Luc Besson-written and -produced 2008 success, Taken. ComingSoon.net now have it that production on the film will be starting slightly earlier than planned, with filming scheduled to begin this October.
Fans of the original film might question whether a sequel is really warranted, but if it means we get to see Liam Neeson heading up another brilliant action thriller, then I’m all for it.
The original film was made on a budget of less than $30m., and made almost ten times as much at the box office, and was by all accounts a terrific film. The first film was directed by Pierre Model, who’d worked with Besson on a number of projects prior to and since Taken, but Megaton will be replacing him behind the lens, who has also...
Fans of the original film might question whether a sequel is really warranted, but if it means we get to see Liam Neeson heading up another brilliant action thriller, then I’m all for it.
The original film was made on a budget of less than $30m., and made almost ten times as much at the box office, and was by all accounts a terrific film. The first film was directed by Pierre Model, who’d worked with Besson on a number of projects prior to and since Taken, but Megaton will be replacing him behind the lens, who has also...
- 8/26/2011
- by Kenji Lloyd
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
A new film distribution company called FilmDistrict has snatched up the rights to the new sci-fi adventure film Lookout, starring Guy Pearce (Memento), Maggie Grace (Taken), James Mather, Peter Stormare and Tom Hollander.
The movie is being directed by first time feature film director Stephen St. Leger, from a script co-written with Luc Besson (The Professional), who also serves as the producer on the project. St. Leger previously directed a pretty cool short film called Prey Alone.
Lockout is set in the near future, and follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent (Pearce), whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President's daughter (Grace) from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.
Now, can someone please tell me what in the hell is the Presidents daughter doing at a maximum security prison in outer space? Is this the kind of trouble our kids...
The movie is being directed by first time feature film director Stephen St. Leger, from a script co-written with Luc Besson (The Professional), who also serves as the producer on the project. St. Leger previously directed a pretty cool short film called Prey Alone.
Lockout is set in the near future, and follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent (Pearce), whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President's daughter (Grace) from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.
Now, can someone please tell me what in the hell is the Presidents daughter doing at a maximum security prison in outer space? Is this the kind of trouble our kids...
- 11/8/2010
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
In honor of Canada Day, we are republishing this post -- Ranylt's first on the site -- from Canada Day 2007.
July 1 is Canada Day, so while my compatriots are busy painting themselves red and perfecting their Maenadic howls in time for tonight's fireworks, I've been tasked with offering up a list of ten nifty Canadian films that are mostly off the radar outside of this country (and I throw my arms around you in delight if you're a foreigner who's actually seen any of these--French kisses for anyone who appreciates them, to boot).
Many readers seem familiar with Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter and Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire. And David Cronenberg's body of work needs no introduction thanks to The Fly, Naked Lunch, Scanners, Crash (the other Crash!) and Videodrome. As unnatural as it is to omit Egoyan, Arcand and Cronenberg from a Canadian film overview,...
July 1 is Canada Day, so while my compatriots are busy painting themselves red and perfecting their Maenadic howls in time for tonight's fireworks, I've been tasked with offering up a list of ten nifty Canadian films that are mostly off the radar outside of this country (and I throw my arms around you in delight if you're a foreigner who's actually seen any of these--French kisses for anyone who appreciates them, to boot).
Many readers seem familiar with Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter and Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire. And David Cronenberg's body of work needs no introduction thanks to The Fly, Naked Lunch, Scanners, Crash (the other Crash!) and Videodrome. As unnatural as it is to omit Egoyan, Arcand and Cronenberg from a Canadian film overview,...
- 7/1/2010
- by Dustin Rowles
"Micmacs" is a work of bold imagination, as you might expect from director Jean-Pierre Jenuet. Jenuet.s "Delicatessen," for example, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world with dire food shortages leading a landlord, who owns a deli, to serve his handymen to tenants. The plot is foiled when a clown falls in love with the landlord.s daughter and solicits help from grain-eaters who live underground. In "The City of Lost Children," a surreal fantasy, a scientist who cannot dream abducts children to steal their dreams but winds up with only their nightmares.
- 3/23/2010
- Arizona Reporter
John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are rogue CIA agents in Pierre (Taken) Morel's action thriller. The critics have taken no prisoners … how about you?
In a former life, Luc Besson was the visionary film-maker who directed Subway, Leon and The Fifth Element. But somewhere along the line, the Frenchman worked out that making the sort of hi-octane Hollywood action movies which Hollywood itself is now almost rather to ashamed to film was not only lucrative, but could be easily achieved with the minimum of effort. These days, all he has to do is come up with a sufficiently barmy screenplay and tap up one of his cohorts to take over the director's chair, and the likes of Liam Neeson and John Travolta are knocking at his door demanding an AK47 and a licence to kill Euro-bad guys.
From Paris With Love, which stars Travolta as the maverick (read: insane) CIA agent Charlie Wax,...
In a former life, Luc Besson was the visionary film-maker who directed Subway, Leon and The Fifth Element. But somewhere along the line, the Frenchman worked out that making the sort of hi-octane Hollywood action movies which Hollywood itself is now almost rather to ashamed to film was not only lucrative, but could be easily achieved with the minimum of effort. These days, all he has to do is come up with a sufficiently barmy screenplay and tap up one of his cohorts to take over the director's chair, and the likes of Liam Neeson and John Travolta are knocking at his door demanding an AK47 and a licence to kill Euro-bad guys.
From Paris With Love, which stars Travolta as the maverick (read: insane) CIA agent Charlie Wax,...
- 3/1/2010
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
"A Prophet" has come home victorious at the 35th Annual Cesar Awards. Being nominated in thirteen categories, the film managed to land nine kudos, two of which were presented to its star Tahar Rahim. The 18-year-old won best actor and breakthrough performance for his role as a 19-year-old small-time hood who becomes a Mafia kingpin behind bars.
His co-star Niels Arestrup, in the meantime, was named best supporting actor. Additionally, the film has aided its helmer Jacques Audiard to receive best director award. This drama movie got the other gongs from original screenplay, cinematography, sound, editing as well as set design categories.
In the foreign film category, Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" beat James Cameron's "Avatar" and Cannes Palme d'Or winner "The White Ribbon". The event, which was held on Saturday, February 27 in Paris, also handed out an honorary Cesar to Harrison Ford.
Full Winners List of the 35th...
His co-star Niels Arestrup, in the meantime, was named best supporting actor. Additionally, the film has aided its helmer Jacques Audiard to receive best director award. This drama movie got the other gongs from original screenplay, cinematography, sound, editing as well as set design categories.
In the foreign film category, Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" beat James Cameron's "Avatar" and Cannes Palme d'Or winner "The White Ribbon". The event, which was held on Saturday, February 27 in Paris, also handed out an honorary Cesar to Harrison Ford.
Full Winners List of the 35th...
- 3/1/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Jeunet and Caro's Delicatessen was a sensation in its day and a faded outrage now. It was as if the staff of Vogue had tried to do a David Lynch film
Like it or not, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has a claim to be the dominant director in French cinema of the last 20 years. There are contenders for that title – Claire Denis, Jacques Audiard, Gaspar Noé, Laurent Cantet – but no one has had Jeunet's success in terms of box-office revenue, victories at the Césars, and even his penetration of the English-speaking movie scene. Born in 1953 (he was only six when the new wave broke), Jeunet is emphatically of the next generation, quite old-fashioned as a stylist and a storyteller, yet open to the jazzy world of comic books, video games and universal sci-fi apocalyptia that has done so much to colour modern cinema. And whereas, the collective spirit of the new wave...
Like it or not, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has a claim to be the dominant director in French cinema of the last 20 years. There are contenders for that title – Claire Denis, Jacques Audiard, Gaspar Noé, Laurent Cantet – but no one has had Jeunet's success in terms of box-office revenue, victories at the Césars, and even his penetration of the English-speaking movie scene. Born in 1953 (he was only six when the new wave broke), Jeunet is emphatically of the next generation, quite old-fashioned as a stylist and a storyteller, yet open to the jazzy world of comic books, video games and universal sci-fi apocalyptia that has done so much to colour modern cinema. And whereas, the collective spirit of the new wave...
- 2/18/2010
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
London -- France's Chrysalis, Heliotrope, Shellac and Sophie Dulac Distribution are among the 14 independent distributors to join Europa Distribution during 2009, the collection of indies across Europe.
The U.K.'s stock-listed Metrodome and Germany's Kool FilmDistribution and Senator Film have also joined the 75-strong trans-European organization chaired by filmmakers and brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
The association announced Thursday further member companies from Belgium, Poland, Holland, Greece, Bulgaria and Portugal in addition.
The U.K.'s stock-listed Metrodome and Germany's Kool FilmDistribution and Senator Film have also joined the 75-strong trans-European organization chaired by filmmakers and brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
The association announced Thursday further member companies from Belgium, Poland, Holland, Greece, Bulgaria and Portugal in addition.
- 9/10/2009
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A day following the announcement of the 81st Academy Awards' nominees, the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have uncovered their official selections for the 34th Cesar Awards. On Friday, January 23, gangster movie "Mesrine" has been given ten nominations for the France's top awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Jean-Francois Richet.
Apart from the two mentioned gongs, "Mesrine", which is the third highest grossing French film in 2008, also garnered a Best Actor nod for leading actor Vincent Cassel. It also collected two more counts in the category of Adapted Screenplay for Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet, and of Cinematography for Robert Gantz.
In the foreign film nominations, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" were put in competition with Bouli Lanners' "Eldorado", Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra", Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Lorna's Silence", James Gray...
Apart from the two mentioned gongs, "Mesrine", which is the third highest grossing French film in 2008, also garnered a Best Actor nod for leading actor Vincent Cassel. It also collected two more counts in the category of Adapted Screenplay for Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet, and of Cinematography for Robert Gantz.
In the foreign film nominations, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" were put in competition with Bouli Lanners' "Eldorado", Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra", Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Lorna's Silence", James Gray...
- 1/24/2009
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Fred has too much time on his hands. A slice-of-life drama about an unemployed crane operator curled around the pursued-pursuer story convention, this French film playing at the 33rd annual Chicago International Film Festival is a well-crafted demi-entertainment, a character study and canny insight into what havoc social forces can wreak on an individual.
In "Fred", Vincent Lindon stars as the title character, a thirtysomething crane operator who has been out of work for nearly two years. A life of leisure on the slim pickings of the dole does not appeal either to Fred or his fellow construction mates, all of whom have been laid off. Fred fills his days doing minor housework chores for his wife Lisa (Clotile Courau), a receptionist whose ardor for Fred is still of honeymoon dimension. Being a househusband for his wife and daughter is not Fred's idea of a rightful position, no modern-guy he.
Using boys-will-be-boys psychology, Fred and his mates spend their days pubbing or swilling beer, which invariably leads to fights and minor hooliganism. Admittedly, Fred has a lot of energy, and if usual social and professional avenues do not offer outlets, he reverts to puerile adolescence. Most interesting -- both amusing as well as sobering -- Fred and his fellow dolers act much like schoolboys at the end of summer vacation, bored and boisterous.
A smart depiction of present-day unemployment malaise in France, "Fred" conveys the personal frustration of such a predicament and does so in an engaging fashion. Screenwriters Pierre Jolivet and Simon Michael rotate Fred's roustabout ways around a gripping plot line -- Fred seems circumstantially guilty of killing a friend with whom he had previously come to blows. Using this prototypical Hitchcockean structure to full advantage, director Jolivet constructs an intelligent and lively escapade, one pinioned by credible and current social conditions.
"Fred" stands tallest in its production design, however. Credit Jolivet and Sylvie Salmon for their articulate and telling visualizations. In the cement, tract-dwelling unit in which Fred wastes his days, we see the barrenness of his life, one literally gridded into a captive-like condition.
The performances are also well-drawn, particularly Lindon as the hyperactive and sometimes foolish Fred and Courau as his frisky but steadfast wife. Special praise to Francois Berleand as a cynical and sotted investigator.
FRED
Le Studio Canal Plus
Les Films Alain Sarde
Director Pierre Jolivet
Producer Alain Sarde
Screenwriters Pierre Jolivet,
Simon Michael
Executive producer Alain Sarde
Associate producers Bertrand Tavernier,
Frederic Bourboulon
Director of photography Patrick Blossier
Production designer Sylvie Salmon
Editor Luc Barnier
Sound Pierre Excoffier, William Flageollet
Casting Luce Gregory
Costume designer Valerie Posso di Borgo
Music Serge Perathoner, Jannick Top
Color/stereo
Cast:
Fred Vincent Lindon
Lisa Clotile Courau
Barrere Francois Berleand
Michel Stephane Jobert
Nouchi Roschdy Zem
Yvan Albert Dray
Corinne Carine Lemaire
Running time -- 85 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In "Fred", Vincent Lindon stars as the title character, a thirtysomething crane operator who has been out of work for nearly two years. A life of leisure on the slim pickings of the dole does not appeal either to Fred or his fellow construction mates, all of whom have been laid off. Fred fills his days doing minor housework chores for his wife Lisa (Clotile Courau), a receptionist whose ardor for Fred is still of honeymoon dimension. Being a househusband for his wife and daughter is not Fred's idea of a rightful position, no modern-guy he.
Using boys-will-be-boys psychology, Fred and his mates spend their days pubbing or swilling beer, which invariably leads to fights and minor hooliganism. Admittedly, Fred has a lot of energy, and if usual social and professional avenues do not offer outlets, he reverts to puerile adolescence. Most interesting -- both amusing as well as sobering -- Fred and his fellow dolers act much like schoolboys at the end of summer vacation, bored and boisterous.
A smart depiction of present-day unemployment malaise in France, "Fred" conveys the personal frustration of such a predicament and does so in an engaging fashion. Screenwriters Pierre Jolivet and Simon Michael rotate Fred's roustabout ways around a gripping plot line -- Fred seems circumstantially guilty of killing a friend with whom he had previously come to blows. Using this prototypical Hitchcockean structure to full advantage, director Jolivet constructs an intelligent and lively escapade, one pinioned by credible and current social conditions.
"Fred" stands tallest in its production design, however. Credit Jolivet and Sylvie Salmon for their articulate and telling visualizations. In the cement, tract-dwelling unit in which Fred wastes his days, we see the barrenness of his life, one literally gridded into a captive-like condition.
The performances are also well-drawn, particularly Lindon as the hyperactive and sometimes foolish Fred and Courau as his frisky but steadfast wife. Special praise to Francois Berleand as a cynical and sotted investigator.
FRED
Le Studio Canal Plus
Les Films Alain Sarde
Director Pierre Jolivet
Producer Alain Sarde
Screenwriters Pierre Jolivet,
Simon Michael
Executive producer Alain Sarde
Associate producers Bertrand Tavernier,
Frederic Bourboulon
Director of photography Patrick Blossier
Production designer Sylvie Salmon
Editor Luc Barnier
Sound Pierre Excoffier, William Flageollet
Casting Luce Gregory
Costume designer Valerie Posso di Borgo
Music Serge Perathoner, Jannick Top
Color/stereo
Cast:
Fred Vincent Lindon
Lisa Clotile Courau
Barrere Francois Berleand
Michel Stephane Jobert
Nouchi Roschdy Zem
Yvan Albert Dray
Corinne Carine Lemaire
Running time -- 85 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/15/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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