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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