Alliance Francais French Film Festival 2010

Showing at Palace Cinemas nationally
Dates (from): Sydney 2 March 2010; Melbourne 4 March 2010; Brisbane 17 March 2010; Perth 17 March 2010; Canberra 18 March 2010; Adelaide 18 March 2010.
Website: www.frenchfilmfestival.org

They have a lot of Gaul

Bigger than ever, the French Film Festival comes of age this year - 21 years on, this time screening 43 films to an anticipated more than 80,000 patrons. As usual there’s an exceptional mix of latest release films to suit just about every taste. The festival opens March 2nd in Sydney and Melbourne on March 4th, with other States to follow. All screening details are available in the Festival Program with the stylish Fornasetti cover. Kicking the festival off to a great start is the visit of Jean-Pierre Jeunet the eclectic director of those two gems of French cinema Delicatessen and Amelie.

Here’s a small sample of what’s on offer.

Micmacs - Not to be missed !

Welcome to the extreme visual world of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Director Jeunet, with an affinity to Fredrico Fellini, peoples his films with the most bizarre characters often seen in distorting close-ups. Every shot in Micmacs is composed with cinematic mastery. This very amusing tale about a Chaplinesque character, Bazil (Dany Boon), with an accidental bullet lodged in his brain. Bazil decides to take revenge on arms manufacturers for his misfortune.

In this he’s aided by a gang of misfits who literally live in trash. Bazil’s welcomed into the strange family and they make formidable opponents for the two major weapons manufacturers, with many laughs along the way. Crazy sight gags abound with Jeunet’s penchant for Heath Robinson machines, ridiculous stunts, and zippy one-liners, as when a lad confuses Rimbaud with Rambo.

A comedy-thriller tight as a drum so full of clever intentions it should have wide appeal. The absurd never looked so good - with a contortionist in a fridge, three-handed Russian roulette, background orchestra on cue and a classic finale. French comic Dany Boon at his best is almost outdone by the weird supporting cast soaking up the magic of mayhem. Jeunet certainly back in top form. He turned down a offer to direct a Harry Potter film in 2007 - one can’t help wonder if Harry would have survived.

Welcome - The sad plight of refugees

Welcome is director Philippe Lioret’s dramatic insight into the problems of being an Iraqi refugee in contemporary France. 17 year old Bilal has spent three months travelling across Europe illegally in an attempt to reunite with his girlfriend in London. Arriving in northern France, Balil fails in attempt to sneak his way across the English channel. In desperation, he decides to solo swim the Channel. He seeks training from taciturn swim coach Simon (Vincent Lindon), who ends up risking his freedom by assisting the lad. Simon is having his own matrimonial problems, having just been divorced from wife (Audrey Dana).

The dangers of attempting to reach England are realistically spelt out in a failed road escape and the hopelessness of swimming. France seems to be almost a police state as the authorities clamp down on the illegals and locals trying to help them. The film features moving performances by veteran Vincent Lyden with a sad countenance as Simon, and young Firat Ayverdi as Bilal. The scenes of the lad battling the ocean in all its immensity are powerfully captured. Thought-provoking social issues are spelt out without any apparent resolution, problems facing so many people in today’s world. The determination of Bilal to get to London borders on the foolish and heroic. Tense contemporary drama with a touching humanity.

The Army of Crime - Moody Saga of the French Resistance.

Robert Guediguian presents a closely-observed saga of a rag-tag bunch of resistance fighters in Paris during the second world war. Exiled Armenian poet Missak Mamouchian (Simon Abkarian) finds much in common with Jews and Communists being persecuted in 1941 Paris. He reluctantly takes control of a small army of young saboteurs risking their lives to impede the German war effort. The Nazis rely on the French police to quell the insurgents, threatening to kill 20 suspects for every one German casualty. While great heroism is shown by the resistance fighters, for many Paris life proceeds as normal. The strong cast includes the lovely Virginie Ledoyen.

Opening with credits in sombre black, the film ironically contrasts romantic scenes shimmering in the sun with the hell of the torture chambers in a prison basement. A fine sense of period balances the sparkle of Parisian spring with the dark threat to those opposing the regime. Some Germans are humanized by playing in an orchestra and enjoying football, but then we encounter a shocking scene of torture with a blowtorch. Pacing is steady as it goes until the final act.

OSS 117, Lost in Rio - Goodbye Johnny English - Hello Johnny French !

Everyone loves to spoof James Bond and this nutty parody seems to aim at Sean Connery and the early Bond films. 1960s super-spy Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath (Jean Dujardin) - licensed to kill OSS 117 - the French Secret Service's answer to Inspector Clouseau is in Brazil on the trail of a Nazi blackmailer and a roll of microfilm compromising the government. His way is littered with hot little number Mossad agent Delores (Louise Monot) and a bevy of well-tanned and exposed Rio babes.

La Bath, a sexist and racist walking faux-pas, is often met with stunned embarrassing silences; he even asks for a list of ex-Nazis at the German Embassy in Brazil. He’s a cheerful study of political incorrectness with wonderfully animated eyebrows. There’s a neat running gag with hapless Chinese assassins. Slick and stylish, it makes clever use of split-screen effects, and benefits from the location shots in Brazil at the Iguazu Falls to the last scene on the arms of Rio’s giant statue of Christ. The film is directed with verve by Michel Hazanavicius.

Queen to Play - One for Chess fans.

Debut director Caroline Bottaro’s unusual story of Helene (Sandrine Bonnaire), a money-strapped housewife working as a cleaning lady who develops a passion for chess when she sees a romantic couple playing it in a hotel. She buys a board for her husband who’s not the least interested, but Helene is finally encouraged by the sour-tempered and reclusive Dr. Kruger (a shaggy Kevin Kline). Her chess obsession threatens her marriage and her job, but finally leads to her participating in a tournament. Without haste, it weaves its spell with the chess game symbolic.

Sandrine Bonnaire is exceptional as the totally chess-absorbed Helene, her constantly worried expression breaks up superbly when she smiles. She's ably supported by Kline speaking fluent French; even breaking into precise English to recite William Blake’s ‘Tyger Tyger’.

Ricky - Now for something entirely different

That sly director Francois Ozon cleverly leads us totally down the Gallic garden path with this curious entertaining essay that appears to be a realistic domestic drama and then suddenly breaks all boundaries as it bursts in to allegoric fantasy. In the first part of the film we have a sensitively observed picture of a working class single mum Katie (Alexandra Lamy) struggling to raise her young daughter Lisa (Melusine Mayence) in a modest council flat. Meeting co-worker Paco (Sergi Lopez) Katie embarks on a passionate affair ending in pregnancy.

Life is tough attempting to raise baby Ricky (Arthur Peyret) constantly hungry and crying for attention. While Paco tries to be a good father though the relationship crumbles especially when strange marks appear on the babies back. Paco blamed for child abuse storms out of Katie’s life.

Then comes the discovery the angelic looking baby is a very remarkable child indeed. Plunging into a fairytale that would do credit to Hans Christian Anderson. I won’t spoil the surprise by revealing what makes Ricky amazing which verges on the absurd. It however manages to fascinate for the remainder of this off beat hybrid of kitchen sink and fairyland. Don’t be surprised if at first you think you’re in ‘The Omen’ territory. But that’s far from the truth.

John Bale