Friday, March 9, 2018

Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2018



Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2018
March 8-18, 2018
Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, New York, NY
filmlinc.org

Whether by design or coincidence, the 23rd annual edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema showcases a plethora of talented females both in front of and behind the camera, ranging from iconic performers (Nathalie Baye, Emmanuelle Devos) and shining newcomers (Iris Bry, Noée Abita) to veteran and novice directors (Tonie Marshall, Léa Mysius).

Nathalie Baye and Laura Smet in The Guardians
The best entry in the series, though, is Xavier Beauvois’ The Guardians (opens May 4), a restrained, unabashedly old-fashioned drama as assured and expressively subtle as Beauvois’ earlier Of Gods and Men, that profound exploration of faith and mortality. Set on a farm in the French countryside during World War I, The Guardians focuses on the women—mother Hortense, daughter Solange and new farmhand Francine—who run the place while the men are fighting the Germans.

That slim plot summary does a disservice to the artistry and emotional resonance in nearly every frame of this beautifully directed tale of family, survival and emotional bonds created and broken. There are impeccable, moving performances by Nathalie Baye (Hortense), her real-life daughter Laura Smet (Solange) and extraordinary newcomer Iris Bry (Francine); Caroline Champetier’s sensitive camera glistens with painterly images reminiscent of Millet and Cezanne; and Michel Legrand’s gorgeous melancholy melodies are sparingly—and effectively—used in this ultimately shattering drama that cements Beauvois as one of France’s supreme filmmakers.

Another master director, Laurent Cantet—whose The Class, Time Out and Human Resources are among the best French imports of the past 20 years—returns with The Workshop (opens March 23), another incisive and pertinent study of class and generational differences. Marine Hands gives a finely shaded portrayal as Olivia, a novelist from Paris who holds summer writing workshops for a diverse group of teenagers at a coastal town. Ethnic and class divisions become more pronounced among the group, and Olivia finds herself drawn to Antoine, an outsider whose talent is hidden by his extremist views. Cantet’s understated direction works wonders with the talented young performers, especially in their charged arguments during the workshop classes.

Mélanie Thierry in A Memoir of War
Although an accomplished performer in several films, Mélanie Thierry wouldn’t have been my first choice to play Marguerite Duras, the tough-nosed writer who, while in the French Resistance, tried to discover what happened to her husband after he’s deported to a concentration camp in Emmanuel Finkiel’s sober A Memoir of War (opens in August). But Thierry’s endlessly expressive face carries the film through its well-wrought if familiar dramatics.

The ultimate provocateur, Bruno Dumont, is back with Jeannette, The Childhood of Joan of Arc (opens April 13)—believe it or not, it’s a head-banging musical about the beloved saint’s early life, before she take up arms against the English and becomes a martyr. After the bizarre left turns of Li’l Quinquin (successful) and Slack Bay (disastrous), Dumont jumps off a different cliff with this rigorously shot but musically and dramatically inert picture that does little with its game amateur cast.

Noée Abita in Ava
Tonie Marshall’s slick and topical crowd-pleaser Number One gets most of its traction from Emmanuelle Devos, who is excellent as an executive who’s hit the glass ceiling but gets the chance of a lifetime—to become CEO of the national water company. And eighteen-year-old Noée Abita makes her stunning debut in the title role of Ava, director Léa Mysius’ bracing exploration of a confused teenager’s summer after she discovers she’s going blind. Mysius occasionally loses focus with subplots about Ava’s mom, but Abita tugs at the heartstrings, however self-destructively Ava acts.

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