Gad Elmaleh (fan of Nanni Moretti and Woody Allen films) on the set of Stay With Us (Reste Un Peu) with his parents
Stand-up comedian Gad Elmaleh, the director and star of Stay With Us (co-written with Benjamin Charbit) plays a version of himself who explores a lifelong fascination with the Virgin Mary. After living in America, Gad returns to Paris, where he is welcomed by his parents, played by the actor’s actual mother and father, Régine and David, his sister Judith and old friends, which include the actor Roschdy Zem (star of Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy! with Léa Seydoux and Sara Forestier). Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, Simone Veil, and Henri Bergson get a shoutout as Gad reflects on some wide-ranging questions on faith as he meets with a priest (Father Barthélémy played by Nicolas Port), a rabbi (Pierre-Henry Salfati), a nun (Catherine Thiercelin), a theologian (Frédéric Lenoir), and...
Stand-up comedian Gad Elmaleh, the director and star of Stay With Us (co-written with Benjamin Charbit) plays a version of himself who explores a lifelong fascination with the Virgin Mary. After living in America, Gad returns to Paris, where he is welcomed by his parents, played by the actor’s actual mother and father, Régine and David, his sister Judith and old friends, which include the actor Roschdy Zem (star of Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy! with Léa Seydoux and Sara Forestier). Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, Simone Veil, and Henri Bergson get a shoutout as Gad reflects on some wide-ranging questions on faith as he meets with a priest (Father Barthélémy played by Nicolas Port), a rabbi (Pierre-Henry Salfati), a nun (Catherine Thiercelin), a theologian (Frédéric Lenoir), and...
- 5/9/2024
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Pyramide is also handling the directorial debut of Johanna Pyykkö, former assistant to Joachim Trier.
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired Emmanuel Mouret’s comedy drama Une Honnête Femme, starring Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier and India Hair.
It will launch the film at next week’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, along with Thierry de Peretti’s drama A Son Image and Johanna Pyykkö’s My Wonderful Stranger.
Une Honnête Femme zooms in on three friends with different views on love – one who has just left a relationship, one who advocates for a relationship without love, and one who sees love as an adventure.
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired Emmanuel Mouret’s comedy drama Une Honnête Femme, starring Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier and India Hair.
It will launch the film at next week’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, along with Thierry de Peretti’s drama A Son Image and Johanna Pyykkö’s My Wonderful Stranger.
Une Honnête Femme zooms in on three friends with different views on love – one who has just left a relationship, one who advocates for a relationship without love, and one who sees love as an adventure.
- 1/12/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Pyramide is also handling the directorial debut of Johanna Pyykkö, former assistant to Joachim Trier.
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired Emmanuel Mouret’s comedy drama Une Honnete Femme, starring Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier and India Hair.
It will launch the film at next week’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, along with Thierry de Peretti’s drama A Son Image and Johanna Pyykkö’s My Wonderful Stranger.
Une Honnête Femme zooms in on three friends with different views on love – one who has just left a relationship, one who advocates for a relationship without love, and one who sees love as an adventure.
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired Emmanuel Mouret’s comedy drama Une Honnete Femme, starring Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier and India Hair.
It will launch the film at next week’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, along with Thierry de Peretti’s drama A Son Image and Johanna Pyykkö’s My Wonderful Stranger.
Une Honnête Femme zooms in on three friends with different views on love – one who has just left a relationship, one who advocates for a relationship without love, and one who sees love as an adventure.
- 1/12/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Pyramide is also handling the directorial debut of Johanna Pyykkö, former assistant to Joachim Trier.
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired Emmanuel Mouret’s comedy drama Une Honnete Femme, starring Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier and India Hair.
It will launch the film at next week’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, along with Thierry de Peretti’s feature documentary A Son Image and Johanna Pyykkö’s My Wonderful Stranger.
Une Honnête Femme zooms in on three friends with different views on love – one who has just left a relationship, one who advocates for a relationship without love, and one who sees love as an adventure.
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired Emmanuel Mouret’s comedy drama Une Honnete Femme, starring Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier and India Hair.
It will launch the film at next week’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, along with Thierry de Peretti’s feature documentary A Son Image and Johanna Pyykkö’s My Wonderful Stranger.
Une Honnête Femme zooms in on three friends with different views on love – one who has just left a relationship, one who advocates for a relationship without love, and one who sees love as an adventure.
- 1/12/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
A major ensemble casting update has dropped (via the Cineuropa folks) for Emmanuel Mouret‘s next directing gig. His brochette includes Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier, India Hair, Damien Bonnard, Grégoire Ludig and Vincent Macaigne – Une honnête femme (translates into “An Honest Woman”) deals with matters of the heart. Filming begins this week in Lyon and Moby Dick Films’ Frédéric Niedermayer is producing with the filmmaker once again.
Written by Emmanuel Mouret and Carmen Leroi, the story sees Joan, who’s no longer in love, leave her partner Victor who’s the father of her daughter. Joan is convinced her decision is morally justified, but it comes back to bite her when Victor subsequently disappears, leaving her overwhelmed with guilt.…...
Written by Emmanuel Mouret and Carmen Leroi, the story sees Joan, who’s no longer in love, leave her partner Victor who’s the father of her daughter. Joan is convinced her decision is morally justified, but it comes back to bite her when Victor subsequently disappears, leaving her overwhelmed with guilt.…...
- 9/25/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Arte France Cinéma have come onboard in a co-producer capacity for upcoming projects by Jonathan Millet, veteran Italian filmmaker Francesca Comencini and the Larrieu Bros. All of these projects should premiere on the film fest circuit in 2024.
Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu are working on a book to film project titled Le roman de Jim. A 25 year spanning film, production has already begun with the likes of Sara Forestier, Bertrand Belin, Karim Leklou and Sara Giraudeau. Millet’s Les Fantômes (which we reported on back in November) will be the first film to move into production – and it has actors Adam Bessa and Tawfeek Barhom signed on for a July to September film production.…...
Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu are working on a book to film project titled Le roman de Jim. A 25 year spanning film, production has already begun with the likes of Sara Forestier, Bertrand Belin, Karim Leklou and Sara Giraudeau. Millet’s Les Fantômes (which we reported on back in November) will be the first film to move into production – and it has actors Adam Bessa and Tawfeek Barhom signed on for a July to September film production.…...
- 6/14/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
’Jim’s Story’ is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Pierric Bailly.
French filmmaking duo the Larrieu brothers, known for their eccentric comedies are turning to melodrama with Jim’s Story for which Pyramide International has rights and is kicking off sales at the Cannes Market.
Jim’s Story is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Pierric Bailly and stars Sara Forestier, Sara Giraudeau, Karim Leklou, and Valérie Donzelli, director of Cannes Premiere title Just The Two of Us, alongside Noé Abita.
The film is about a family living in the Jura...
French filmmaking duo the Larrieu brothers, known for their eccentric comedies are turning to melodrama with Jim’s Story for which Pyramide International has rights and is kicking off sales at the Cannes Market.
Jim’s Story is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Pierric Bailly and stars Sara Forestier, Sara Giraudeau, Karim Leklou, and Valérie Donzelli, director of Cannes Premiere title Just The Two of Us, alongside Noé Abita.
The film is about a family living in the Jura...
- 5/16/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
“When I met you, you were ripe,” says Denis Podalydès’s Philip to his younger mistress (Léa Seydoux) in Arnaud Desplechin’s adaptation with Julie Peyr of Philip Roth’s Deception (Tromperie). She responds: “No, I was rotting on the floor under a tree.”
Arnaud Desplechin’s Frère Et Sœur (Brother And Sister), starring Marion Cotillard, Golshifteh Farahani, Melvil Poupaud, and Cosmina Stratan has been selected to screen in the 75th anniversary edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Arnaud’s Ismael's Ghosts was the 2017 Cannes Opening Night Gala selection and his Philip Roth adaptation Deception was a 2021 highlight.
Arnaud Desplechin with Anne-Katrin Titze on Philip Roth: “He’s as is, he’s absolutely imperfect, selfish as I was saying.”
Desplechin will have had ten world premieres at Cannes: Oh Mercy!; My Golden Days; Jimmy P: Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian; A Christmas Tale; Esther Kahn...
Arnaud Desplechin’s Frère Et Sœur (Brother And Sister), starring Marion Cotillard, Golshifteh Farahani, Melvil Poupaud, and Cosmina Stratan has been selected to screen in the 75th anniversary edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Arnaud’s Ismael's Ghosts was the 2017 Cannes Opening Night Gala selection and his Philip Roth adaptation Deception was a 2021 highlight.
Arnaud Desplechin with Anne-Katrin Titze on Philip Roth: “He’s as is, he’s absolutely imperfect, selfish as I was saying.”
Desplechin will have had ten world premieres at Cannes: Oh Mercy!; My Golden Days; Jimmy P: Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian; A Christmas Tale; Esther Kahn...
- 4/19/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Graphic novelist Sophie is disillusioned with adulthood in Nine Antico’s black and white drama of twentysomething life
This is not a perfect film but it is an interesting one. French graphic novelist Nine Antico makes her feature debut, and puts us in the familiar universe of a woman in her mid-20s, disappointed and disillusioned with adulthood. Here, it’s 28-year-old Sophie, who is struggling to get noticed as a graphic novelist and useless at relationships. Antico has joked that her film is 73% autobiographical, and perhaps its quarter-life crisis superpower is that on a genuine level it feels relatable and real.
Antico films Paris in black and white, which gives everything hipness and cool. Sara Forestier is likable and warm as Sophie, who quits her job waitressing to work at a small publisher of graphic novels, secretly dreaming they will print her work. Sophie’s fancy job title is...
This is not a perfect film but it is an interesting one. French graphic novelist Nine Antico makes her feature debut, and puts us in the familiar universe of a woman in her mid-20s, disappointed and disillusioned with adulthood. Here, it’s 28-year-old Sophie, who is struggling to get noticed as a graphic novelist and useless at relationships. Antico has joked that her film is 73% autobiographical, and perhaps its quarter-life crisis superpower is that on a genuine level it feels relatable and real.
Antico films Paris in black and white, which gives everything hipness and cool. Sara Forestier is likable and warm as Sophie, who quits her job waitressing to work at a small publisher of graphic novels, secretly dreaming they will print her work. Sophie’s fancy job title is...
- 10/19/2021
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Jacques Nolot, Sara Forestier to star.
Algerian director Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche is set to shoot crime thriller The Temple Woods Gang this autumn in France, with UK firm Reason8 Films handling worldwide rights.
The film will shoot on location in Paris and its suburbs, plus Bordeaux, Marseille and Nice.
It follows a US private investigator and a retired loner from the Temple Woods housing project who get caught in a conflict between a gang of robbers, and the henchmen of a wealthy prince the gang has attacked.
Jacques Nolot, Sara Forestier, Vincent Rottiers, Slimane Dazi, Olivier Gourmet and Nabil Djedouani lead the cast.
Algerian director Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche is set to shoot crime thriller The Temple Woods Gang this autumn in France, with UK firm Reason8 Films handling worldwide rights.
The film will shoot on location in Paris and its suburbs, plus Bordeaux, Marseille and Nice.
It follows a US private investigator and a retired loner from the Temple Woods housing project who get caught in a conflict between a gang of robbers, and the henchmen of a wealthy prince the gang has attacked.
Jacques Nolot, Sara Forestier, Vincent Rottiers, Slimane Dazi, Olivier Gourmet and Nabil Djedouani lead the cast.
- 7/7/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Comedy co-stars Sara Forestier and Laetitia Dosch.
Paris-based sales company Playtime will launch sales on the French graphic novelist and illustrator Nine Antico’s feature debut comedy Playlist at this year’s Unifrance Rendez-vous with Cinema, which officially kicks off online on Wednesday and runs until January 15.
Sara Forestier plays a talented graphic artist whose life begins to unravel when she falls pregnant just as she lands a job at a prestigious Parisian publisher.
When she breaks the news to her boyfriend, everything explodes, and they break-up. The turn of events results in her returning to her old job of...
Paris-based sales company Playtime will launch sales on the French graphic novelist and illustrator Nine Antico’s feature debut comedy Playlist at this year’s Unifrance Rendez-vous with Cinema, which officially kicks off online on Wednesday and runs until January 15.
Sara Forestier plays a talented graphic artist whose life begins to unravel when she falls pregnant just as she lands a job at a prestigious Parisian publisher.
When she breaks the news to her boyfriend, everything explodes, and they break-up. The turn of events results in her returning to her old job of...
- 1/13/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
It’s becoming so commonplace that we learn about filmmakers creating secret projects during pandemic lockdown that we may have to create a new subgenre for these pictures. Ben Wheatley, Neill Blomkamp, and others have all taken the pandemic as an opportunity to work on projects previously unscheduled. And it appears that Arnaud Desplechin is set to join that list as well, with his new film, “Deception.”
Read More: ‘Oh Mercy!’: Arnaud Desplechin Tackles The Crime Genre With Léa Seydoux & Sara Forestier [Cannes Review]
According to Cineuropa, Desplechin has revealed that during the lockdown in September, the acclaimed French filmmaker went ahead and filmed an adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel, “Deception.” And he was able to secure a pretty great cast that includes Léa Seydoux alongside Denis Podalydès, Emmanuelle Devos, and Gennadi Famin.
Continue reading ‘Deception’: Léa Seydoux Stars In Arnaud Desplechin’s Secret Drama Filmed During Lockdown at The Playlist.
Read More: ‘Oh Mercy!’: Arnaud Desplechin Tackles The Crime Genre With Léa Seydoux & Sara Forestier [Cannes Review]
According to Cineuropa, Desplechin has revealed that during the lockdown in September, the acclaimed French filmmaker went ahead and filmed an adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel, “Deception.” And he was able to secure a pretty great cast that includes Léa Seydoux alongside Denis Podalydès, Emmanuelle Devos, and Gennadi Famin.
Continue reading ‘Deception’: Léa Seydoux Stars In Arnaud Desplechin’s Secret Drama Filmed During Lockdown at The Playlist.
- 12/9/2020
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Franco-uk event to include the European premiere of ‘Ammonite’.
The 31st Dinard Film Festival, the annual celebration of British cinema held in northern France, has unveiled its full line-up and secured the European premiere of Francis Lee’s Ammonite.
The festival is set to go ahead as a physical event from September 30-October 4 and its previews strand includes romantic drama Ammonite, which received a Cannes label and has its world premiere at TIFF today.
The six films in competition comprise Nick Rowland’s Calm With Horses; Thomas Clay’s Fanny Lye Deliver’d; Claire Oakley’s Make Up; Bassam Tariq’s...
The 31st Dinard Film Festival, the annual celebration of British cinema held in northern France, has unveiled its full line-up and secured the European premiere of Francis Lee’s Ammonite.
The festival is set to go ahead as a physical event from September 30-October 4 and its previews strand includes romantic drama Ammonite, which received a Cannes label and has its world premiere at TIFF today.
The six films in competition comprise Nick Rowland’s Calm With Horses; Thomas Clay’s Fanny Lye Deliver’d; Claire Oakley’s Make Up; Bassam Tariq’s...
- 9/11/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Festival adds ‘Quiz’ series with Matthew Macfadyen, Sian Clifford.
Franco-uk event the Dinard Film Festival will open its 31st edition with Days Of The Bagnold Summer, the directorial debut of The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird.
The event will run from September 30 to October 4 and is scheduled to go ahead as a physical event.
The festival will also screen ITV series Quiz starring Matthew Macfadyen and Sian Clifford, telling the true story of Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana, who were accused of cheating on UK TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001.
Produced by Left Bank Pictures,...
Franco-uk event the Dinard Film Festival will open its 31st edition with Days Of The Bagnold Summer, the directorial debut of The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird.
The event will run from September 30 to October 4 and is scheduled to go ahead as a physical event.
The festival will also screen ITV series Quiz starring Matthew Macfadyen and Sian Clifford, telling the true story of Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana, who were accused of cheating on UK TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001.
Produced by Left Bank Pictures,...
- 8/11/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Festival adds ‘Quiz’ series with Matthew Macfadyen, Sian Clifford.
Franco-British event Dinard Film Festival will open its 31st edition with Days Of The Bagnold Summer, the directorial debut of The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird.
The event will run from September 30 to October 4 and is currently scheduled to go ahead as a physical event.
The festival will also screen ITV series Quiz starring Matthew Macfadyen and Sian Clifford, telling the true story of Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana, who were accused of cheating on UK TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001.
Produced by Left Bank Pictures,...
Franco-British event Dinard Film Festival will open its 31st edition with Days Of The Bagnold Summer, the directorial debut of The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird.
The event will run from September 30 to October 4 and is currently scheduled to go ahead as a physical event.
The festival will also screen ITV series Quiz starring Matthew Macfadyen and Sian Clifford, telling the true story of Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana, who were accused of cheating on UK TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001.
Produced by Left Bank Pictures,...
- 8/11/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
The big international box office news this week isn’t actually from the weekend — which was again led by Korea and saw continued ups and downs versus last session as moviegoers await new product. Instead, after 100 days of closure, French cinemas re-opened beginning Monday this week, and with at least 40 films programmed for the post-coronavirus walk-up of the nation’s theaters.
Some eager moviegoers didn’t even wait for Monday morning, with about 120 people heading to the 5 Caumartin cinema in the 9th arrondissement of Paris from 12:01Am on June 22 to see a sneak preview of local comedy Les Parfums. The situation was similar in Rennes, where folks also turned up at midnight to see a re-release of the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski.
Then from just after 9Am Monday morning, Ugc’s flagship cinema in Paris, Ciné Cité Les Halles, welcomed guests for its first screenings with ticket sales reaching almost normal levels,...
Some eager moviegoers didn’t even wait for Monday morning, with about 120 people heading to the 5 Caumartin cinema in the 9th arrondissement of Paris from 12:01Am on June 22 to see a sneak preview of local comedy Les Parfums. The situation was similar in Rennes, where folks also turned up at midnight to see a re-release of the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski.
Then from just after 9Am Monday morning, Ugc’s flagship cinema in Paris, Ciné Cité Les Halles, welcomed guests for its first screenings with ticket sales reaching almost normal levels,...
- 6/24/2020
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
France’s Oscars unfold amid politically charged atmosphere following protests over nominations for Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy.
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
- 2/29/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
France’s Oscars unfold amid politically charged atmosphere following protests over nominations for Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy.
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
- 2/29/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
France’s Oscars unfold amid politically charged atmosphere following protests over nominations for Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy.
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
- 2/29/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
France’s Oscars unfold amid politically charged atmosphere following protests over nominations for Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy.
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
- 2/29/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
France’s Oscars unfold amid politically charged atmosphere following protests over nominations for Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy.
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Misérables won best film at a politically charged 45th Cesar awards on Friday evening which also saw Roman Polanski feted with best director for historical drama An Officer and A Spy.
The ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened tension.
It has been a rocky six weeks for the awards, following a backlash by female rights activists...
- 2/29/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Dominique Blanc, Gaël Kamilindi, Clément Hervieu-Léger, Michel Vuillermoz, Jennifer Decker, Florence Viala, and Christophe Montenez in Tony Kushner’s Angels In America, directed by Arnaud Desplechin at the Comédie-Française Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage
In the final instalment of my in-depth conversation with Arnaud Desplechin on Oh Mercy!, which received six César nominations, we discussed how a Bob Dylan album and a joke by Kent Jones inspired the title. The director and co-screenwriter (with Léa Mysius) spoke about the influence of Emmanuel Lévinas, the performance by Lumière winner Roschdy Zem as Commissaire Daoud, the costumes by Nathalie Raoul, and the dynamic between Sara Forestier as Marie and Léa Seydoux as Claude.
Lieutenant Cotterel (Antoine Reinartz) confronts Marie (Sara Forestier) and Claude (Léa Seydoux)
Anne-Katrin Titze: Now we’ve chatted more about the animals than about your marvellous actresses. I would like to talk about the frown. The permanent frown on Sara’s face.
In the final instalment of my in-depth conversation with Arnaud Desplechin on Oh Mercy!, which received six César nominations, we discussed how a Bob Dylan album and a joke by Kent Jones inspired the title. The director and co-screenwriter (with Léa Mysius) spoke about the influence of Emmanuel Lévinas, the performance by Lumière winner Roschdy Zem as Commissaire Daoud, the costumes by Nathalie Raoul, and the dynamic between Sara Forestier as Marie and Léa Seydoux as Claude.
Lieutenant Cotterel (Antoine Reinartz) confronts Marie (Sara Forestier) and Claude (Léa Seydoux)
Anne-Katrin Titze: Now we’ve chatted more about the animals than about your marvellous actresses. I would like to talk about the frown. The permanent frown on Sara’s face.
- 2/4/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Arnaud Desplechin on the roles played by Léa Seydoux, Sara Forestier and Antoine Reinartz in Oh Mercy!: "They look as children.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Arnaud Desplechin’s coruscating Oh Mercy!, co-written with Léa Mysius, received six César nominations: Best Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor (Lumière winner) Roschdy Zem, Supporting Actress Sara Forestier, and Original Score by Grégoire Hetzel. Arnaud’s staging and direction of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, (French text by Pierre Laville) at the Comédie-Française in Paris, starring Michel Vuillermoz as Roy Cohn opened on January 18.
Roschdy Zem won a Lumière and received a César nomination for his portrayal of Commissaire Yacoub Daoud in Oh Mercy!
In the second instalment of my in-depth conversation with Arnaud, he credits The Rider director Chloé Zhao and her cinematographer Joshua James Richards’ framing of horses as an influence. We discuss his screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man...
Arnaud Desplechin’s coruscating Oh Mercy!, co-written with Léa Mysius, received six César nominations: Best Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor (Lumière winner) Roschdy Zem, Supporting Actress Sara Forestier, and Original Score by Grégoire Hetzel. Arnaud’s staging and direction of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, (French text by Pierre Laville) at the Comédie-Française in Paris, starring Michel Vuillermoz as Roy Cohn opened on January 18.
Roschdy Zem won a Lumière and received a César nomination for his portrayal of Commissaire Yacoub Daoud in Oh Mercy!
In the second instalment of my in-depth conversation with Arnaud, he credits The Rider director Chloé Zhao and her cinematographer Joshua James Richards’ framing of horses as an influence. We discuss his screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man...
- 1/31/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Filles de joie
French director Frédéric Fonteyne breaks an eight-year hiatus with his fifth feature Filles de joie aka Working Girls (initially titled The Border) in 2020, produced by Jacques-Henri and Olivier Bronckart, Yael Fogiel and Laetitia Gonzalez. Sara Forestier, Noemie Lvovsky and Annabelle Legronne headline the film. Previously, Fonteyne competed in Venice with his 1999 sophomore film An Affair of Love (aka A Pornographic Affair) and returned to Venice in the Horizons sidebar with 2004’s Gille’s Wife (which won the C.I.C.A.E. Award in the sidebar) and 2012’s Tango Libre (which won a Special Jury Prize in the sidebar).
Gist: Co-written by his Tango libre scribe Anne Paulicevich, is about three women who, everyday cross the border from France to Belgium, where they carry out their secret professions as sex workers.…...
French director Frédéric Fonteyne breaks an eight-year hiatus with his fifth feature Filles de joie aka Working Girls (initially titled The Border) in 2020, produced by Jacques-Henri and Olivier Bronckart, Yael Fogiel and Laetitia Gonzalez. Sara Forestier, Noemie Lvovsky and Annabelle Legronne headline the film. Previously, Fonteyne competed in Venice with his 1999 sophomore film An Affair of Love (aka A Pornographic Affair) and returned to Venice in the Horizons sidebar with 2004’s Gille’s Wife (which won the C.I.C.A.E. Award in the sidebar) and 2012’s Tango Libre (which won a Special Jury Prize in the sidebar).
Gist: Co-written by his Tango libre scribe Anne Paulicevich, is about three women who, everyday cross the border from France to Belgium, where they carry out their secret professions as sex workers.…...
- 12/30/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Playlist
Comic book author Nine Antico scores two noted actresses for her directorial debut, Playlist, produced by Atelier de Production’s Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe. Sara Forestier and Laetitia Dosch are joined by Andranic Manet in the cast. Julie Conte makes her feature debut as Dp.
Gist: Co-written with Marc Syrigas (who co-writes with Celine Sciamma), Sophie (Forestier) lands a specialized job at a publishing house for comic books, even though she’s technically unqualified.…...
Comic book author Nine Antico scores two noted actresses for her directorial debut, Playlist, produced by Atelier de Production’s Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe. Sara Forestier and Laetitia Dosch are joined by Andranic Manet in the cast. Julie Conte makes her feature debut as Dp.
Gist: Co-written with Marc Syrigas (who co-writes with Celine Sciamma), Sophie (Forestier) lands a specialized job at a publishing house for comic books, even though she’s technically unqualified.…...
- 12/30/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Arnaud Desplechin (with Anne-Katrin Titze) on an Ingmar Bergman film: "I remember this scene that I saw so young … in Cries & Whispers, where Erland Josephson is visiting Liv Ullmann.” Photo: Ed Bahlman
Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy!, co-written with Léa Mysius, shot by Irina Lubtchansky, music composed by Grégoire Hetzel stars Léa Seydoux, Roschdy Zem, Sara Forestier, and Antoine Reinartz.
Arnaud Desplechin on his Oh Mercy! composer: “It was not a Bernard Herrmann inspiration or George Delerue inspiration. It was just pure Grégoire Hetzel. It was a perfect fit with the plot. ” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my in-depth conversation with the director the morning before the North American premiere at the New York Film Festival we discussed his work with editor Laurence Briaud, listening to Ryuchi Sakamoto and Toru Takemitsu, not having a Bernard Herrmann or George Delerue inspiration for Grégoire Hetzel’s score, what...
Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy!, co-written with Léa Mysius, shot by Irina Lubtchansky, music composed by Grégoire Hetzel stars Léa Seydoux, Roschdy Zem, Sara Forestier, and Antoine Reinartz.
Arnaud Desplechin on his Oh Mercy! composer: “It was not a Bernard Herrmann inspiration or George Delerue inspiration. It was just pure Grégoire Hetzel. It was a perfect fit with the plot. ” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my in-depth conversation with the director the morning before the North American premiere at the New York Film Festival we discussed his work with editor Laurence Briaud, listening to Ryuchi Sakamoto and Toru Takemitsu, not having a Bernard Herrmann or George Delerue inspiration for Grégoire Hetzel’s score, what...
- 10/12/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
When a filmmaker is well-known for reiterating certain narratives or themes, perhaps even having a specific character reappear to embody such ideas, unfamiliar territory can be noteworthy. Such is the case with the typically self-reflexive Arnaud Desplechin and his unusual new film, Oh Mercy!, a rather uniquely French take on the police procedural–historically, something of a storytelling sandbox for the country’s prevailing auteurs, e.g. Henri-Georges Clouzot (Le Corbeau) or Maurice Pialat (Police). Well-defined characteristics leave plenty of appeal in straying from convention in order to craft salient stories that examine France’s law enforcement institutions within a tried-and-true framework. Unfortunately, Desplechin’s psychoanalytic interpretation of the procedural format is unbearably ponderous, an attempt at a formal deconstruction neither convincing nor consistently engaging.
In the French city of Roubaix, one of the country’s poorest communes and home to Desplechin himself, life is difficult and residents frequently struggle...
In the French city of Roubaix, one of the country’s poorest communes and home to Desplechin himself, life is difficult and residents frequently struggle...
- 9/27/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The two actresses are toplining the feature debut by comic-book author Nine Antico; the film is currently being shot and is being produced by Atelier de Production. Comic-book author Nine Antico has been shooting her feature-length directorial debut, Playlist, since 15 July. Topping the bill are Sara Forestier and Laetitia Dosch (Lumières Award for Best New Actress in 2018 and nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress the same year for Montparnasse Bienvenüe, also popular in movies such as Age of Panic, Gaspard at the Wedding...
The Notebook is covering Cannes with an on-going correspondence between critic Leonardo Goi and editor Daniel Kasman.Oh MercyDear Danny, I only left Cannes yesterday, and yet the Croisette seemed unrealistically far this morning, almost as if it had already begun to drift into a cloud in time—as though it had never happened. This is my last dispatch of the year; like yours, it finds me writing you from the comforts of home. I began my day re-reading our correspondences—partly to give in to the nostalgia, but also to remind myself of all we’ve seen the past couple of weeks. And with the benefits of a good night’s sleep, things looked a lot clearer, and double bills I hadn’t yet thought of began to surface: films we had seen and written on in separate dispatches, which suddenly made for eye-opening pairings. What to make of...
- 5/28/2019
- MUBI
“There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.” This line, which closes film noir classic “The Naked City,” would fit comfortably among the dialogue of Arnaud Desplechin’s latest work, “Oh Mercy!,” making its debut in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. Best known for his unwieldy family dramas, the film is a genre swerve for Desplechin.
Continue reading ‘Oh Mercy!’: Arnaud Desplechin Tackles The Crime Genre With Léa Seydoux & Sara Forestier [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Oh Mercy!’: Arnaud Desplechin Tackles The Crime Genre With Léa Seydoux & Sara Forestier [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
- 5/23/2019
- by Bradley Warren
- The Playlist
After La sentinelle (1992), My Sex Life… or How I Got Into an Argument (1996), Esther Kahn (2000), A Christmas Tale (2008), Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2013), and almost coming with a double title of Oh Mercy!, this is Arnaud Desplechin‘s sixth trip to the competition and in all his eleventh feature film. Starring Roschdy Zem, Léa Seydoux and Sara Forestier, this is a departure for the filmmaker in terms of genre and tells the Xmas tale of Roubaix the city — and Daoud, the local police chief, and Louis, a fresh recruit, are confronted with the violent murder of an elderly woman.…...
- 5/23/2019
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
‘Oh Mercy!’ scores mid-range; ‘Matthias And Maxime’ flounders.
Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite has taken the number one spot on Screen’s Cannes jury grid, with an average of 3.4 from our ten critics.
The black comedy received four scores of four (excellent) – a joint-high on this year’s grid, with Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. The La Times’ Justin Chang, The Paper’s Wang Muyan, Positif’s Michel Ciment, Meduza’s Anton Dolin and Screen’s own critic all awarded it top marks, with its lowest...
Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite has taken the number one spot on Screen’s Cannes jury grid, with an average of 3.4 from our ten critics.
The black comedy received four scores of four (excellent) – a joint-high on this year’s grid, with Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. The La Times’ Justin Chang, The Paper’s Wang Muyan, Positif’s Michel Ciment, Meduza’s Anton Dolin and Screen’s own critic all awarded it top marks, with its lowest...
- 5/23/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
As one of the Cannes Film Festival’s favorite sons, Arnaud Desplechin has been a fixture on the Croisette for more than 20 years.
The director has had six films play in competition, and several others in sidebars. He served on the jury in 2016 and opened the festival with 2017’s “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
For longtime festival-goers, the prospect of another year in Cannes means another chance to catch up with this idiosyncratic auteur, whose work has always been defined by its looseness, as well as its ramshackle assembly of old-time film techniques, clipped pace and intellectual digressions.
Also Read: 'Matthias & Maxime' Film Review: Xavier Dolan Finds Maturity at the Ripe Old Age of 30
Compared to all that has preceded it, “Oh Mercy,” which premiered in Cannes on Wednesday, is his most unconventional film to date – precisely because it feels so very conventional.
A straight-down-the-line police procedural about a...
The director has had six films play in competition, and several others in sidebars. He served on the jury in 2016 and opened the festival with 2017’s “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
For longtime festival-goers, the prospect of another year in Cannes means another chance to catch up with this idiosyncratic auteur, whose work has always been defined by its looseness, as well as its ramshackle assembly of old-time film techniques, clipped pace and intellectual digressions.
Also Read: 'Matthias & Maxime' Film Review: Xavier Dolan Finds Maturity at the Ripe Old Age of 30
Compared to all that has preceded it, “Oh Mercy,” which premiered in Cannes on Wednesday, is his most unconventional film to date – precisely because it feels so very conventional.
A straight-down-the-line police procedural about a...
- 5/22/2019
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
A ponderous true-crime procedural about a murder in France’s poorest commune, Arnaud Desplechin’s mostly lifeless but peripherally compelling “Oh Mercy!” finds the “My Golden Years” auteur returning to his birthplace to tell a story about a place that few people got to choose, and even fewer get to leave. If the film is a literal homecoming, however, it’s also a striking figurative departure for a filmmaker best known (and most beloved) for intricate, frazzled, and hyper-loquacious comedic dramas like “Kings and Queen” and “A Christmas Tale.” In that sense, this frigid misfire is most readily comparable to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “The Third Murder,” another flat genre flirtation from an otherwise reliable master.
Based on a killing that occurred in May of 2002, “Oh Mercy!” unfolds like an especially dull episode of “Law & Order: Roubaix.” The film begins on Christmas — not that the script Desplechin co-wrote with Léa Mysius...
Based on a killing that occurred in May of 2002, “Oh Mercy!” unfolds like an especially dull episode of “Law & Order: Roubaix.” The film begins on Christmas — not that the script Desplechin co-wrote with Léa Mysius...
- 5/22/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
It takes more than just watching “Oh Mercy” to understand exactly why Arnaud Desplechin was drawn to the subject matter of his latest movie, a reasonably engrossing police procedural with roots in a 2008 TV documentary. Something of an unexpected detour in the veteran director’s weighty career, the film combines multiple strands to paint a sympathetic picture of a precinct and especially its captain as they investigate an elderly woman’s murder. By the director’s own admission, his main fascination is with the two women who commit the crime, and indeed he spends a great deal of time presenting their interrogations together with a re-creation of the deed, yet his stated desire to humanize the couple holds less interest than the policemen’s personalities and their interplay with each other and the community.
Desplechin’s long-held attraction to administrative details means it’s not such a stretch to see him turn to police routine.
Desplechin’s long-held attraction to administrative details means it’s not such a stretch to see him turn to police routine.
- 5/22/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin is no stranger to the Cannes Film Festival. Dating back to the early-’90s, the director has been regularly screening his films in the various sections of the event, including the competition for the Palme d’Or, Un Certain Regard, and the Directors’ Fortnight. The filmmaker returns this year with his latest film to debut at the prestigious event, “Oh Mercy.”
And as we approach the beginning of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, we now have a trio of clips from the upcoming crime drama from Desplechin.
Continue reading ‘Oh Mercy!’ Clips: Arnaud Desplechin’s Latest Is Set To Debut At Cannes & Stars Léa Seydoux And Sara Forestier at The Playlist.
And as we approach the beginning of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, we now have a trio of clips from the upcoming crime drama from Desplechin.
Continue reading ‘Oh Mercy!’ Clips: Arnaud Desplechin’s Latest Is Set To Debut At Cannes & Stars Léa Seydoux And Sara Forestier at The Playlist.
- 5/13/2019
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Snd, the commercial arm of the French TV network M6, has acquired worldwide distribution rights to “Family Shake,” a comedy series written by Baya Kasmi and Michel Leclerc.
Snd is the latest vertically integrated French film group to start handling live-action series, following TF1 Studio, Studiocanal and Gaumont, among others. Produced by Gaëlle Cholet at Elephant, “Family Shake” has been commissioned by M6 in France and will start airing later this year in a primetime slot.
The show centers on the ups and downs of a modern, multi-ethnic and blended family. The ensemble cast comprises Grégory Montel (“Call my agent!”), Nailia Harzoune (“Patients”), Julia Piaton” (“Serial (Bad) Weddings”), Lyès Salem (“Just to be sure”), Biyouna (“Aïcha”) and Djemel Barek (“The Bureau”).
The concept of “Family Shake” seems to bank on the success of the comedy franchise “Serial (Bad) Weddings,” which has a similar topic. The first movie grossed more than...
Snd is the latest vertically integrated French film group to start handling live-action series, following TF1 Studio, Studiocanal and Gaumont, among others. Produced by Gaëlle Cholet at Elephant, “Family Shake” has been commissioned by M6 in France and will start airing later this year in a primetime slot.
The show centers on the ups and downs of a modern, multi-ethnic and blended family. The ensemble cast comprises Grégory Montel (“Call my agent!”), Nailia Harzoune (“Patients”), Julia Piaton” (“Serial (Bad) Weddings”), Lyès Salem (“Just to be sure”), Biyouna (“Aïcha”) and Djemel Barek (“The Bureau”).
The concept of “Family Shake” seems to bank on the success of the comedy franchise “Serial (Bad) Weddings,” which has a similar topic. The first movie grossed more than...
- 2/18/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Following its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Drake Doremus’ new romantic sci-fi titled Zoe now has its first trailer. In prior films, Doremus has directed Felicity Jones in Breathe In and Like Crazy, Kristen Stewart in Equals, and now he’s teamed with Léa Seydoux as the titular Zoe. Along with Zoe’s professional colleague Cole (played by Ewan McGregor), the two work together to advance and perfect the compatibility of various romantic relationships. As their work continues, they internally refocus their romantic objectives as they begin to discover unquestionable feelings for one another.
Throughout the last decade, Doremus has continued to showcase his liking for tender, yet imaginative love stories. In Zoe, he revisits the romantic sci-fi angle, once again proposing larger questions that only seem fitting given the exponentially evolving technology that surrounds us–ideas similar to those explored in Her, Ex Machina, and even the Netflix hit Black Mirror.
Throughout the last decade, Doremus has continued to showcase his liking for tender, yet imaginative love stories. In Zoe, he revisits the romantic sci-fi angle, once again proposing larger questions that only seem fitting given the exponentially evolving technology that surrounds us–ideas similar to those explored in Her, Ex Machina, and even the Netflix hit Black Mirror.
- 6/23/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
As Cannes gears up, so does its marketplace, featuring many of the festival’s regulars prepping new project. Per usual, Wild Bunch has a selection of the most-anticipated projects, which they’ve unveiled to ScreenDaily.
On the roster is a new film from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne titled Ahmed. Seemingly inspired by a recently-shelved project from the duo, the story follows a radicalized teenager in Belgium who plans to kill his teacher. Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval says, “A strong aspect of the script is the way it opens a debate around the interpretation of the Koran by a young kid under influence.”
Also on the docket is Arnaud Desplechin’s detective story Roubaix, A Light, which he co-wrote with Ava director Léa Mysius. Roschdy Zem leads the film as Daoud, “an experienced, no-nonsense police chief in the northern French city of Roubaix trying to get to the bottom of...
On the roster is a new film from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne titled Ahmed. Seemingly inspired by a recently-shelved project from the duo, the story follows a radicalized teenager in Belgium who plans to kill his teacher. Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval says, “A strong aspect of the script is the way it opens a debate around the interpretation of the Koran by a young kid under influence.”
Also on the docket is Arnaud Desplechin’s detective story Roubaix, A Light, which he co-wrote with Ava director Léa Mysius. Roschdy Zem leads the film as Daoud, “an experienced, no-nonsense police chief in the northern French city of Roubaix trying to get to the bottom of...
- 5/2/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
UK’s Loach to start shooting new film this autumn exploring precarity in the age of the gig economy.
Wild Bunch is set to launch a raft of upcoming films by long-time collaborators at Cannes this year, including UK director Ken Loach’s hard-hitting social drama Sorry We Missed You, exploring the issue of hardship in modern-day Britain through a young couple scraping to get by in a casual jobs market.
The Paris-based company’s Cannes slate also includes future films by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Elia Suleiman, Arnaud Desplechin, Hirokazu Kore-eda, who will direct a French-language film for the first time in his career,...
Wild Bunch is set to launch a raft of upcoming films by long-time collaborators at Cannes this year, including UK director Ken Loach’s hard-hitting social drama Sorry We Missed You, exploring the issue of hardship in modern-day Britain through a young couple scraping to get by in a casual jobs market.
The Paris-based company’s Cannes slate also includes future films by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Elia Suleiman, Arnaud Desplechin, Hirokazu Kore-eda, who will direct a French-language film for the first time in his career,...
- 4/30/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Actress Sara Forestier and director Hélène Angel on the set of Elementary Photo: Unifrance The French, without wishing to sound chauvinistic, hold their education system in high regard. Cinema has reflected that interest in films from Jean Vigo’s Zero de Conduite in 1933, through the gentle documentary about life in a country infant school Etre et Avoir (2002) by Nicolas Phlibert to Laurent Cantet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner The Class (2008), set in a raw inner city school. And let’s not forget Abdellatif Kechiche’s L’Esquive (2003), Louis Malle’s 1987 Au Revoir Les Enfants, Julie Bertuccelli’s School of Babel (2013), and Christophe Barratier’s 2004 The Chorus.
Joining the throng is director Hélène Angel with Elementary (Primaire) in which Sara Forestier plays a primary school teacher who has no time for a personal life and lives in an apartment in the grounds with her ten-year-old son.
Angel says: “Education is...
Joining the throng is director Hélène Angel with Elementary (Primaire) in which Sara Forestier plays a primary school teacher who has no time for a personal life and lives in an apartment in the grounds with her ten-year-old son.
Angel says: “Education is...
- 8/22/2017
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
ZamaThe programme for the 2017 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Darren Aronofsky, Lucrecia Martel, Frederick Wiseman, Alexander Payne, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Abdellatif Kechiche, Takeshi Kitano and many more.COMPETITIONmother! (Darren Aronofsky)First Reformed (Paul Schrader)Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton)The Leisure Seeker (Paolo Virzi)Una Famiglia (Sebastiano Riso)Ex Libris - The New York Public Library (Frederick Wiseman)Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)The Whale (Andrea Pallaoro)Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh)Foxtrot (Samuel Maoz)Ammore e malavita (Manetti Brothers)Jusqu'a la garde (Xavier Legrand)The Third Murder (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (Abdellatif Kechiche)Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh)L'insulte (Ziad Doueiri)La Villa (Robert Guediguian)The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)Suburbicon (George Clooney)Human Flow (Ai Weiwei)Downsizing (Alexander Payne)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesOur Souls at Night (Ritesh Batra)Il Signor Rotpeter (Antonietta de Lillo)Victoria...
- 7/27/2017
- MUBI
Venice sidebar to screen eleven world premieres; first screening of Ermanno Olmi doc.
The Venice Film Festival’s (Aug 30 - 9) independently run Venice Days section will host 12 competition titles, 11 of which are world premieres, including new films from Kim Nguyen, Chloe Sevigny, Pengfei, and Sara Forestier.
War Witch director Nguyen will show drama Eye On Juliet, starring UK actor Joe Cole, while M marks the directorial debut of Standing Tall actress Forestier.
Pengfei, who was in Venice Days in 2015 with his first film, Underground Fragrance, is returning with followup The Taste of Rice Flower (pictured).
Screening in the special events category will be a never seen before and thought to be lost Ermanno Olmi documentary from the 1960s: Il Tentato Suicidio Nell Adolescenza (Attempted Suicide In Youths).
The documentary follows the pioneering work of the emergency psychiatric branch of the Policlinico di Milano.
Meanwhile, new short films by Sevigny and Us choreographer-director Celia Rowlson-Hall will screen in Venice...
The Venice Film Festival’s (Aug 30 - 9) independently run Venice Days section will host 12 competition titles, 11 of which are world premieres, including new films from Kim Nguyen, Chloe Sevigny, Pengfei, and Sara Forestier.
War Witch director Nguyen will show drama Eye On Juliet, starring UK actor Joe Cole, while M marks the directorial debut of Standing Tall actress Forestier.
Pengfei, who was in Venice Days in 2015 with his first film, Underground Fragrance, is returning with followup The Taste of Rice Flower (pictured).
Screening in the special events category will be a never seen before and thought to be lost Ermanno Olmi documentary from the 1960s: Il Tentato Suicidio Nell Adolescenza (Attempted Suicide In Youths).
The documentary follows the pioneering work of the emergency psychiatric branch of the Policlinico di Milano.
Meanwhile, new short films by Sevigny and Us choreographer-director Celia Rowlson-Hall will screen in Venice...
- 7/25/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Venice sidebar to screen eleven world premieres; first screening of Ermanno Olmi doc.
The Venice Film Festival’s (Aug 30 - 9) independently run Venice Days section will host 12 competition titles, 11 of which are world premieres, including new films from Kim Nguyen, Chloe Sevigny, Pengfei, and Sara Forestier.
War Witch director Nguyen will show drama Eye On Juliet, starring UK actor Joe Cole, while M marks the directorial debut of Standing Tall actress Forestier.
Pengfei, who was in Venice Days in 2015 with his first film, Underground Fragrance, is returning with followup The Taste of Rice Flower (pictured).
New short films by Sevigny and Us choreographer-director Celia Rowlson-Hall will screen in Venice Days’ Women’s Tales Project, sponsored by Miu Miu, the women’s fashion brand.
Screening in the special events category will be a never seen before and thought to be lost Ermanno Olmi documentary from the ’60s: Il Tentato Suicidio Nell Adolescenza.
Iranian director...
The Venice Film Festival’s (Aug 30 - 9) independently run Venice Days section will host 12 competition titles, 11 of which are world premieres, including new films from Kim Nguyen, Chloe Sevigny, Pengfei, and Sara Forestier.
War Witch director Nguyen will show drama Eye On Juliet, starring UK actor Joe Cole, while M marks the directorial debut of Standing Tall actress Forestier.
Pengfei, who was in Venice Days in 2015 with his first film, Underground Fragrance, is returning with followup The Taste of Rice Flower (pictured).
New short films by Sevigny and Us choreographer-director Celia Rowlson-Hall will screen in Venice Days’ Women’s Tales Project, sponsored by Miu Miu, the women’s fashion brand.
Screening in the special events category will be a never seen before and thought to be lost Ermanno Olmi documentary from the ’60s: Il Tentato Suicidio Nell Adolescenza.
Iranian director...
- 7/25/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
In a role somewhat better-grounded than those she’s played in films like Love Battles and The Names of Love, Sara Forestier portrays a straitlaced schoolteacher in Helene Angel’s Elementary (Primaire), a lively dramedy that realistically captures the unpredictable world of grade-school education. Although the film’s subject matter may not constitute the main draw for U.S. audiences, committed performances and a judicious shading of humor could help Angel’s feature make the grade on premium cable or streaming platforms following a January theatrical release in France.
For thirtyish teacher Florence (Forestier), working with primary school children has become more than a career,...
For thirtyish teacher Florence (Forestier), working with primary school children has become more than a career,...
- 5/11/2017
- by Justin Lowe
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Katell Quillévéré on Steven Spielberg's E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial: "For me it was something from my childhood ..." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The danger of living is lurking at every corner at the start of Katell Quillévéré's medical thriller Heal The Living (Réparer Les Vivants), co-written with Gilles Taurand, based on a novel by Maylis De Kerangal, starring Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen (Catherine Breillat's Abus De Faiblesse with Isabelle Huppert), Tahar Rahim, Gabin Verdet, Théo Choldbi, and Finnegan Oldfield (Thomas Bidegain's Les Cowboys).
I first met Katell Quillévéré when she was presenting her film Suzanne, which stars Sara Forestier, Adèle Haenel, François Damiens, and Paul Hamy. Katell also participated, along with Julie Gayet, Axelle Ropert, Isabelle Giordano, Rebecca Zlotowski, Stacie Passon, Ry Russo-Young, Deborah Kampmeier, and Justine Triet, in activities at the French Institute Alliance Française on International Women’s Day during the 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
The danger of living is lurking at every corner at the start of Katell Quillévéré's medical thriller Heal The Living (Réparer Les Vivants), co-written with Gilles Taurand, based on a novel by Maylis De Kerangal, starring Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen (Catherine Breillat's Abus De Faiblesse with Isabelle Huppert), Tahar Rahim, Gabin Verdet, Théo Choldbi, and Finnegan Oldfield (Thomas Bidegain's Les Cowboys).
I first met Katell Quillévéré when she was presenting her film Suzanne, which stars Sara Forestier, Adèle Haenel, François Damiens, and Paul Hamy. Katell also participated, along with Julie Gayet, Axelle Ropert, Isabelle Giordano, Rebecca Zlotowski, Stacie Passon, Ry Russo-Young, Deborah Kampmeier, and Justine Triet, in activities at the French Institute Alliance Française on International Women’s Day during the 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
- 3/7/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Standing Tall (La Tête haute) Cohen Media Group Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: B+ Director: Emmanuelle Bercot Written by: Emmanuelle Bercot, Marcia Romano Cast: Rod Paradot, Catherine Deneuve, Benoît Magimel, Sara Forestier, Raoul Fernandez, Aurore Broutin Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 3/23/16 Opens: April 1, 2016 Does France deal with troubled youths better than we in the States? You’d have to ask someone who’s acquainted with juvenile detention here. But Emmanuell Berot, whose “On My Way” deals with a woman who hits the road with a grandson she hardly knew, gives us a glowing picture of the Gallic way with wayward youths. The adult prison she describes looks as [ Read More ]
The post Standing Tall Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Standing Tall Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 4/2/2016
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
'Standing Tall' Director Emmanuelle Bercot on Conveying Truthfulness Via a Newcomer & a Veteran Star
Trouble youth fueled by the poison of resentment, as consequence of neglect, is a social problem ever-present around the world and in turn has been at the center of countless cinematic escapades. Yet, by constructing her study on the subject armed with honest notions of the teal obstacles faced by the affected young people and those desperately working to help them, French director Emmanuelle Bercot attained truthfulness grounded on a brutal and revelatory lead performance in her latest work “Standing Tall.”
By combining the malleable talent of newcomer Rod Paradot, the elegant nuances of veteran star Catherine Deneuve , and a plot that is unafraid to go into the darkest and most unappealing shades of a violent delinquent’s life, Bercot eludes oversimplification and sugarcoated resolutions. She looks at a system that attempts to apply rational rules to matters that are charged with heartbreak, and in doing so questions society as a whole, parents, and the individual himself about the role each plays in shaping a child into the person he or she will become.
“Standing Tall” was the Opening Night Film at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and received 3 Caesar Awards this year all in acting categories, a clear testimony to the work of its accomplished director.
Aguilar: Youth in trouble is a subject that we see recurrently in cinema, but in "Standing Tall," your approach is profoundly raw and realistic. Was there a particular case, story, or idea that you felt personally connected to or that served as catalyst for you to make this film?
Emmanuelle Bercot: Actually there were two main things that really were reunited when I made this film. One is my interest in childhood in general and then also my interest in injustice. In this particular case there was also a more particular link because I have an uncle who works in this field. He works as one of the counselors at one of these camps for juvenile delinquents and it was through him that I really learned about what kind of work these people do, how much time they devote to it, and what their job is like in trying to do something for these kids. He also spoke to me very specifically, which is included in the film, about this idea of the trio. He also had worked with a young man for about ten years, so he had developed a relationship with him, and also, in that particular case, he was working with a woman who was a judge and who was at the point of retiring. Those three characters are the three that are reunited in this trio that appears in the film.
Aguilar: Were you able to interact and speak with people that have been part of this system in order to depict this facet of the French judicial system and how it affects young people? What sort research did you conduct to reach this authenticity?
Emmanuelle Bercot: First of all, it was a subject that I really didn’t know anything about all. Most of what takes place in this particular field takes place behind close doors. It’s something that people don’t generally know about and don’t have any idea of what really takes place there. At first I was just reading tons and tons of books on the subject, and then through my uncle I was able to meet some people who work in the field including a judge and some counselors like himself. Talking to them I was able to develop what was basically the structure for my film. Once I had that idea in my head of what I wanted to do, I realized that in order to portray this world I had to portray it as truthfully as possible, so that somebody who was part of that world would know that this was really a truthful portrayal when they saw it. I did a lot of on-site visits. I spent a lot of time in juvenile courts. I spent time in several judges’ offices. I also visited some of those youth centers like the one portrayed in the film. It was over the course of several months. After that I was able to feel that I would be able to portray it in a way that would be honest.
Aguilar: Tell me about the process of creating the protagonist Malony with your lead actor Rod Paradot. This is an incredibly angry and often violent young men who is erratic, dangerous, but always vibrant.
Emmanuelle Bercot: Normally what I like to do when I work with adolescents and non-professionals is to really choose them as close as possible to the character that they are going to portray. Unfortunately in this case I was not able to do that. I just could not find the kind of young adolescent that I was looking for to portray this person. In fact when I chose Rod Paradot, I was dealing with somebody that in his own personality is really quite different than the character he is playing on the screen. It really required a great deal of work on the set. I worked with him to elicit from him that level of anger and violence that was necessary for the character. It really required me to push him to the point where he went out of himself and beyond himself to become someone else. It’s very unusual to demand from a young actor, particularly a non-professional actor, something like this, to compose a character, to put it together, rather than just play a version of themselves. It was a lot of work on his part so that we could arrive at the character the way I wanted it to be portrayed.
Aguilar: You’ve worked with Catherine Deneuve previously and clearly know how to use her experience well, why did you feel this role as a judge was a fitting role for her? She is a motherly judge who balancers her sympathy towards these kids on an emotional level and her duty to do what is best for them and society.
Emmanuelle Bercot: I wrote this role specifically for Catherine and in many ways it reflects what she is like in reality. She has both the side of her that has a natural authority and at the same time she has another part of her that’s very maternal. I felt that this duality was what I really needed because this was the kind of humanity I wanted her to portray in the role of the judge. The role of the judge is actually rather difficult. In the film we don’t see anything about her personal life. We only see her through the prism of her job, so it’s very difficult to create a character without having any back-story. I knew that Catherine would be able to do that, but what she also then needed to know was how to use the right terminology and the right words so that she would actually sound like the judge that she was playing. Just like I did, she also did some observation in real judges’ offices and the courts so that she would become more familiar with what they sounded like and how they behave in those situations, so that it would give more credibility to her performance.
Aguilar: In your opinion what's the reasoning behind Malony’s behavior and his way of relating to those around him? Is it only the resentment and fear because of the constant abandonment or is there something more?
Emmanuelle Bercot: Yes, most definitely. I certainly thought of both of those things and it’s one of the things that I think its very important to show. That’s why I had the film begin with him where you see him as he is being abandoned at a very young age. I think that most children in this position have come from very difficult backgrounds. They are brought into this system, which is to provide them with educational assistance and also to help raising them because here, as you can see, the mother is incapable of doing her job. She can’t raise him properly and she doesn’t really know how to ground him or to give him the structure that he needs in order to be able to relate to society. No child is born a delinquent. Delinquents are made. They are not born. From what I saw and what I’ve read I think that 95% of them are from families that are difficult families like this one and of those I think 100% of them are cases where the father is absent. There is no father figure present in their life, and as result they grow up with a sense of not having any protection, tools, or grip that is necessary to deal with their everyday life. I think that the fact that Malony in this case resorts to violence is because violence is often the only vocabulary that these young people know how to use in order to express what they are feeling.
Aguilar: Occasionally, it seems as if these children and their mothers who can't take proper care of them feel as if it's a battle between them and the system. Even if the authorities seek to do what's best, they seem to perceive the help as invasive.
Emmanuelle Bercot: What I was trying to portray is not an “us against them” kind of situation between the system against the mothers and children. This is a system that really tries to be there for the child when the parent is unable to do it. I think education is a fundamental right for every child and when parents are unable to give the child that education then it’s the responsibility of society to step in, to take over the role, and to provide it. I think that in this case the system and everything that the system implemented and tried to do for Malony was really something for his own good. Of course he is going to feel like this is not something that’s good for him because it’s almost like a punishment for him. Eventually, he comes to realize that it’s not really a punishment but that what they are trying to do is something that will be helpful for him and will actually benefit him in the long run. It’s really the opposite of “us against them.” It’s the system with the child trying to give him what the parent cannot.
Aguilar: In a film like "Standing Tall" that emanates such a sense of truth and honest performances is there room for improvisation or is it all about an arduous rehearsal process to achieve the gravitas you are after? Every cast members provides an intense humanity.
Emmanuelle Bercot: None of my actors are ever improvising, but also we never do any rehearsals. I prefer to work with them directly on the set. We don’t rehearse but what I do is work individually with them while we are on the set. I’ve already spoken to you about how I worked with Rod to try to get this character out of him, which is very distant from what he is in real life. It’s about working with the actors in the moment and it does put a great deal of pressure on the director. It’s a lot of work because in addition to knowing where the camera is and where everyone is placed on set, you are also trying to direct the actors to get exactly what you want them to give you. I think that’s when your original choice of actors is a very important thing because you have to know that these actors are going to be able to give you what you are looking for. In this particular film for example, Sara Forestier, who plays the mother, plays a character that she pretty much created herself. That’s not the way she is in real life. On the other hand, in the the case of Benoît Magimel, his character is actually much closer to what he is really like in life. It’s less of a composed character or a created character on his part. Again, there is no improvisation, I have a very tightly written script and everything is said exactly the way it’s written, but the process of working during the takes is really one of refining the dialogue as it’s spoken so that it really conveys what it is that I wanted it to convey.
Aguilar: Tess, Malony’s girlfriend played by Diane Rouxel, is not the typical feminine figure that is often seem in films in the same vein. Why was it important to have someone completely opposite in personality be Malony's strongest ally?
Emmanuelle Bercot: She is a rather atypical character, but I think that what we see in her is somebody who is a very balanced person, somebody who is very educated, and you'd look at her and think, “Why was she attracted to a guy like this? What is the attraction? And in many cases it’s inexplicable. That’s often the case. You don’t understand why people are attracted to each other. In this case it’s almost as if she is a person with a mission. She devotes herself to him almost like a saint trying to pull him out of this spiral that he is spinning down in. She really wants it to work. If you think about it she is the one who initiates contact with him. She is the one who wants him. She is the one who wants to keep the baby. She is the one calling the shots here. She is the stronger figure and she works hard to try to bring him out the spiral he is in. Of course, it may also have something to do with her own mother. Maybe on an unconscious level her attraction to him is a subconscious way of provoking her mother, who is one of the counselors at this place, because her mother plays a role in that particular structure.
Aguilar: Following the Cannes Film Festival, what was the reaction of the general French audience towards the film given the difficult and very current themes it deals with? On the other hand, how did people who work in the field and deal with this issues daily felt about it?
Emmanuelle Bercot: The film was very well received in France and I think that for a difficult subject that's really exceptional. I think part of the attraction to the film was that it was showing an unknown world. Most people don’t know what goes on in the world of juvenile delinquency. It was exposure to something that was completely new. I think that by portraying the system as it really is and trying to show how it tries to help these young people, it enables you, as a citizen, to feel that this is something that you are proud that your government or your country is doing. Now you can discover how it works. I went to a lot of places that most people will never have an opportunity to go to, but through the film I was able to show what I saw in these places. I think that for a lot of people who saw the filmit changed the way they see delinquents. They come to understand what’s involved in how these young people become who they are. Also it helps them to understand what the system is trying to do for them. Many people have been affected by the film, especially by the paththat this young man’s life takes from the beginning till the end.
To answer the second part of your question, about how people who work in the film received the film, there have been quite a number of screenings that were done specifically for groups like that. In fact, the Minister of Justice was actually present at a number of them and there were lots of discussions about what takes place in the film and what the system offers to young people. I think that overall they were very happy that finally some light was being shun on the work that’s being done - which for the most part goes unnoticed. It’s really something that people don’t know about, and this gave them a chance to see it. It was important. They were touched in many ways by the recognition that we gave them and their jobs. In many cases these are thankless jobs in which people are never recognized. The film also helped the families of these people that work in the field understand what it is that they do and what their jobs entail. What I’ve also heard is that whether is the judges, the counselors, or the social workers that work in the system, they were all unanimous in feeling that this really did show the daily reality of what they do.
"Standing Tall" opens in L.A. and NY on April 1st from Cohen Media Group...
By combining the malleable talent of newcomer Rod Paradot, the elegant nuances of veteran star Catherine Deneuve , and a plot that is unafraid to go into the darkest and most unappealing shades of a violent delinquent’s life, Bercot eludes oversimplification and sugarcoated resolutions. She looks at a system that attempts to apply rational rules to matters that are charged with heartbreak, and in doing so questions society as a whole, parents, and the individual himself about the role each plays in shaping a child into the person he or she will become.
“Standing Tall” was the Opening Night Film at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and received 3 Caesar Awards this year all in acting categories, a clear testimony to the work of its accomplished director.
Aguilar: Youth in trouble is a subject that we see recurrently in cinema, but in "Standing Tall," your approach is profoundly raw and realistic. Was there a particular case, story, or idea that you felt personally connected to or that served as catalyst for you to make this film?
Emmanuelle Bercot: Actually there were two main things that really were reunited when I made this film. One is my interest in childhood in general and then also my interest in injustice. In this particular case there was also a more particular link because I have an uncle who works in this field. He works as one of the counselors at one of these camps for juvenile delinquents and it was through him that I really learned about what kind of work these people do, how much time they devote to it, and what their job is like in trying to do something for these kids. He also spoke to me very specifically, which is included in the film, about this idea of the trio. He also had worked with a young man for about ten years, so he had developed a relationship with him, and also, in that particular case, he was working with a woman who was a judge and who was at the point of retiring. Those three characters are the three that are reunited in this trio that appears in the film.
Aguilar: Were you able to interact and speak with people that have been part of this system in order to depict this facet of the French judicial system and how it affects young people? What sort research did you conduct to reach this authenticity?
Emmanuelle Bercot: First of all, it was a subject that I really didn’t know anything about all. Most of what takes place in this particular field takes place behind close doors. It’s something that people don’t generally know about and don’t have any idea of what really takes place there. At first I was just reading tons and tons of books on the subject, and then through my uncle I was able to meet some people who work in the field including a judge and some counselors like himself. Talking to them I was able to develop what was basically the structure for my film. Once I had that idea in my head of what I wanted to do, I realized that in order to portray this world I had to portray it as truthfully as possible, so that somebody who was part of that world would know that this was really a truthful portrayal when they saw it. I did a lot of on-site visits. I spent a lot of time in juvenile courts. I spent time in several judges’ offices. I also visited some of those youth centers like the one portrayed in the film. It was over the course of several months. After that I was able to feel that I would be able to portray it in a way that would be honest.
Aguilar: Tell me about the process of creating the protagonist Malony with your lead actor Rod Paradot. This is an incredibly angry and often violent young men who is erratic, dangerous, but always vibrant.
Emmanuelle Bercot: Normally what I like to do when I work with adolescents and non-professionals is to really choose them as close as possible to the character that they are going to portray. Unfortunately in this case I was not able to do that. I just could not find the kind of young adolescent that I was looking for to portray this person. In fact when I chose Rod Paradot, I was dealing with somebody that in his own personality is really quite different than the character he is playing on the screen. It really required a great deal of work on the set. I worked with him to elicit from him that level of anger and violence that was necessary for the character. It really required me to push him to the point where he went out of himself and beyond himself to become someone else. It’s very unusual to demand from a young actor, particularly a non-professional actor, something like this, to compose a character, to put it together, rather than just play a version of themselves. It was a lot of work on his part so that we could arrive at the character the way I wanted it to be portrayed.
Aguilar: You’ve worked with Catherine Deneuve previously and clearly know how to use her experience well, why did you feel this role as a judge was a fitting role for her? She is a motherly judge who balancers her sympathy towards these kids on an emotional level and her duty to do what is best for them and society.
Emmanuelle Bercot: I wrote this role specifically for Catherine and in many ways it reflects what she is like in reality. She has both the side of her that has a natural authority and at the same time she has another part of her that’s very maternal. I felt that this duality was what I really needed because this was the kind of humanity I wanted her to portray in the role of the judge. The role of the judge is actually rather difficult. In the film we don’t see anything about her personal life. We only see her through the prism of her job, so it’s very difficult to create a character without having any back-story. I knew that Catherine would be able to do that, but what she also then needed to know was how to use the right terminology and the right words so that she would actually sound like the judge that she was playing. Just like I did, she also did some observation in real judges’ offices and the courts so that she would become more familiar with what they sounded like and how they behave in those situations, so that it would give more credibility to her performance.
Aguilar: In your opinion what's the reasoning behind Malony’s behavior and his way of relating to those around him? Is it only the resentment and fear because of the constant abandonment or is there something more?
Emmanuelle Bercot: Yes, most definitely. I certainly thought of both of those things and it’s one of the things that I think its very important to show. That’s why I had the film begin with him where you see him as he is being abandoned at a very young age. I think that most children in this position have come from very difficult backgrounds. They are brought into this system, which is to provide them with educational assistance and also to help raising them because here, as you can see, the mother is incapable of doing her job. She can’t raise him properly and she doesn’t really know how to ground him or to give him the structure that he needs in order to be able to relate to society. No child is born a delinquent. Delinquents are made. They are not born. From what I saw and what I’ve read I think that 95% of them are from families that are difficult families like this one and of those I think 100% of them are cases where the father is absent. There is no father figure present in their life, and as result they grow up with a sense of not having any protection, tools, or grip that is necessary to deal with their everyday life. I think that the fact that Malony in this case resorts to violence is because violence is often the only vocabulary that these young people know how to use in order to express what they are feeling.
Aguilar: Occasionally, it seems as if these children and their mothers who can't take proper care of them feel as if it's a battle between them and the system. Even if the authorities seek to do what's best, they seem to perceive the help as invasive.
Emmanuelle Bercot: What I was trying to portray is not an “us against them” kind of situation between the system against the mothers and children. This is a system that really tries to be there for the child when the parent is unable to do it. I think education is a fundamental right for every child and when parents are unable to give the child that education then it’s the responsibility of society to step in, to take over the role, and to provide it. I think that in this case the system and everything that the system implemented and tried to do for Malony was really something for his own good. Of course he is going to feel like this is not something that’s good for him because it’s almost like a punishment for him. Eventually, he comes to realize that it’s not really a punishment but that what they are trying to do is something that will be helpful for him and will actually benefit him in the long run. It’s really the opposite of “us against them.” It’s the system with the child trying to give him what the parent cannot.
Aguilar: In a film like "Standing Tall" that emanates such a sense of truth and honest performances is there room for improvisation or is it all about an arduous rehearsal process to achieve the gravitas you are after? Every cast members provides an intense humanity.
Emmanuelle Bercot: None of my actors are ever improvising, but also we never do any rehearsals. I prefer to work with them directly on the set. We don’t rehearse but what I do is work individually with them while we are on the set. I’ve already spoken to you about how I worked with Rod to try to get this character out of him, which is very distant from what he is in real life. It’s about working with the actors in the moment and it does put a great deal of pressure on the director. It’s a lot of work because in addition to knowing where the camera is and where everyone is placed on set, you are also trying to direct the actors to get exactly what you want them to give you. I think that’s when your original choice of actors is a very important thing because you have to know that these actors are going to be able to give you what you are looking for. In this particular film for example, Sara Forestier, who plays the mother, plays a character that she pretty much created herself. That’s not the way she is in real life. On the other hand, in the the case of Benoît Magimel, his character is actually much closer to what he is really like in life. It’s less of a composed character or a created character on his part. Again, there is no improvisation, I have a very tightly written script and everything is said exactly the way it’s written, but the process of working during the takes is really one of refining the dialogue as it’s spoken so that it really conveys what it is that I wanted it to convey.
Aguilar: Tess, Malony’s girlfriend played by Diane Rouxel, is not the typical feminine figure that is often seem in films in the same vein. Why was it important to have someone completely opposite in personality be Malony's strongest ally?
Emmanuelle Bercot: She is a rather atypical character, but I think that what we see in her is somebody who is a very balanced person, somebody who is very educated, and you'd look at her and think, “Why was she attracted to a guy like this? What is the attraction? And in many cases it’s inexplicable. That’s often the case. You don’t understand why people are attracted to each other. In this case it’s almost as if she is a person with a mission. She devotes herself to him almost like a saint trying to pull him out of this spiral that he is spinning down in. She really wants it to work. If you think about it she is the one who initiates contact with him. She is the one who wants him. She is the one who wants to keep the baby. She is the one calling the shots here. She is the stronger figure and she works hard to try to bring him out the spiral he is in. Of course, it may also have something to do with her own mother. Maybe on an unconscious level her attraction to him is a subconscious way of provoking her mother, who is one of the counselors at this place, because her mother plays a role in that particular structure.
Aguilar: Following the Cannes Film Festival, what was the reaction of the general French audience towards the film given the difficult and very current themes it deals with? On the other hand, how did people who work in the field and deal with this issues daily felt about it?
Emmanuelle Bercot: The film was very well received in France and I think that for a difficult subject that's really exceptional. I think part of the attraction to the film was that it was showing an unknown world. Most people don’t know what goes on in the world of juvenile delinquency. It was exposure to something that was completely new. I think that by portraying the system as it really is and trying to show how it tries to help these young people, it enables you, as a citizen, to feel that this is something that you are proud that your government or your country is doing. Now you can discover how it works. I went to a lot of places that most people will never have an opportunity to go to, but through the film I was able to show what I saw in these places. I think that for a lot of people who saw the filmit changed the way they see delinquents. They come to understand what’s involved in how these young people become who they are. Also it helps them to understand what the system is trying to do for them. Many people have been affected by the film, especially by the paththat this young man’s life takes from the beginning till the end.
To answer the second part of your question, about how people who work in the film received the film, there have been quite a number of screenings that were done specifically for groups like that. In fact, the Minister of Justice was actually present at a number of them and there were lots of discussions about what takes place in the film and what the system offers to young people. I think that overall they were very happy that finally some light was being shun on the work that’s being done - which for the most part goes unnoticed. It’s really something that people don’t know about, and this gave them a chance to see it. It was important. They were touched in many ways by the recognition that we gave them and their jobs. In many cases these are thankless jobs in which people are never recognized. The film also helped the families of these people that work in the field understand what it is that they do and what their jobs entail. What I’ve also heard is that whether is the judges, the counselors, or the social workers that work in the system, they were all unanimous in feeling that this really did show the daily reality of what they do.
"Standing Tall" opens in L.A. and NY on April 1st from Cohen Media Group...
- 4/2/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Emmanuelle Bercot's smile Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Emmanuelle Bercot's Cannes Film Festival opener, upright Standing Tall (La Tête Haute) starring Catherine Deneuve, Sara Forestier, with César winning performances by Rod Parodot and Benoît Magimel, co-written by Marcia Romano (Xavier Giannoli's collaborating writer on Marguerite), screened at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York along with Maïwenn's My King (Mon Roi), in which Bercot shines with Vincent Cassel, Two Friends (Deux amis) director Louis Garrel and Isild Le Besco.
Malony with his mother Séverine (Sara Forestier): "He is not protected by the adult in his life…"
Abdellatif Kechiche's L'esquive (Games Of Love And Chance), Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's fairy tales, Sara Forestier in Katell Quillévéré's Suzanne, using a landscape to breathe, writing the story, the actors helping to create their characters, casting baby faces and being given a second chance entered into our conversation.
Emmanuelle Bercot's Cannes Film Festival opener, upright Standing Tall (La Tête Haute) starring Catherine Deneuve, Sara Forestier, with César winning performances by Rod Parodot and Benoît Magimel, co-written by Marcia Romano (Xavier Giannoli's collaborating writer on Marguerite), screened at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York along with Maïwenn's My King (Mon Roi), in which Bercot shines with Vincent Cassel, Two Friends (Deux amis) director Louis Garrel and Isild Le Besco.
Malony with his mother Séverine (Sara Forestier): "He is not protected by the adult in his life…"
Abdellatif Kechiche's L'esquive (Games Of Love And Chance), Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's fairy tales, Sara Forestier in Katell Quillévéré's Suzanne, using a landscape to breathe, writing the story, the actors helping to create their characters, casting baby faces and being given a second chance entered into our conversation.
- 3/27/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
As we await news on what feature will open the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, last year’s opener will finally make its way to U.S. theaters next month. Standing Tall, which also picked up a few César Awards recently for Best Male Newcomer (Rod Paradot) and Best Supporting Actor (Benoit Magimel), comes from director Emmanuelle Bercot. Also starring Catherine Deneuve, it follows a troubled teen as he navigates life.
We said in our review, “Much like Dolan’s film Mommy, one of the strongest characteristics of La tête haute is its bipolarity of tone. Some may find the sporadic jumps from quiet to impassioned rather jarring, but anyone who has spent time around troubled teens knows how quickly a situation can shift from calm to hostile. Still, it only works so well here because Paradot executes these outbursts with a nuanced understanding of the adolescent mind and what makes teenagers tick.
We said in our review, “Much like Dolan’s film Mommy, one of the strongest characteristics of La tête haute is its bipolarity of tone. Some may find the sporadic jumps from quiet to impassioned rather jarring, but anyone who has spent time around troubled teens knows how quickly a situation can shift from calm to hostile. Still, it only works so well here because Paradot executes these outbursts with a nuanced understanding of the adolescent mind and what makes teenagers tick.
- 3/8/2016
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
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