Muddy Waters Jan. 25, 2004: The French film The Chorus (Les Choristes) has been chosen as a nominee for the Academy Awards’ Foreign Language Film category. The film, by first-time director Christophe Barratier, is a hard-to-believe heart-tugger that just manages … Read More
Unlucky Number George Babluani plays Sébastien. It seems unlikely that Hollywood would take an interest in such a dark film as 13 Tzameti, but critics were quick to see its potential as an American remake after the movie picked up … Read More
Love for Sale Ellen with her summertime lover, Legba, in Vers le Sud. Like many French directors, Laurent Cantet has always taken an interest in thorny social issues. His last two movies, L’Emploi du Temps (Time Out) and Ressources Humaines … Read More
Paris Police Blues Nathalie Baye plays a “super-flic.” Cop stories – we’ve seen a million of them on TV and in the movies. What new take on the theme could possibly be left? Director Xavier Beauvois’s Le Petit Lieutenant manages … Read More
Conscience-Impaired Youth Jérémie Renier plays the feckless Bruno. It’s difficult to understand why L’Enfant (The Child), written and directed by brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, won them a second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year – it’s … Read More
Bruno (Moritz Bleibtreu) rants at his dying mother while his half-brother Michel (Christian Ulmen) looks on. Les Particules Elémentaires, the controversial novel by French provocateur extraordinaire Michel Houellebecq, has been transformed into a German film, Elementareilchen, directed by Oskar Roehler. … Read More
L’Amour, Toujours L’Amour Steve Buscemi as a hapless tourist in the Coen brothers’ contribution to the collaborative film. Photo © Patrick Klein/Victoires International 2006 A love letter to Paris in the form of 18 five-minute short subjects strung together into … Read More
Perfect Friend, Imperfect Film The confused Julien gets some comfort from the person claiming to be his girlfriend. Director Francis Girod’s new film, Un Ami Parfait, is about a man trying to solve the mystery of his own life, or … Read More
Sentimental Song Depardieu is thoroughly convincing as a mildly successful dance hall singer. Gérard Depardieu, that workhorse of French cinema (and bull of a man), puts in yet another fine performance in Quand J’étais Chanteur, the story of Alain Moreau, … Read More
Nice Slice of Life Sabine (Florence Loiret), on the outside looking in. Photo: © Patrick Glaize. J’Attends Quelqu’un, a sweet little film written and directed by Jérôme Bonnell, proves that the classic prescription for good writing – show, don’t tell … Read More
