Less than a year after launching, Pathé’s division dedicated to series is already firing up a flurry of premium projects that are equally as ambitious as its film output.
The first slate of Pathé’s TV arm boasts 12 series in different stages of development. These include two shows based on Alexandre Dumas’ literary classic “The Three Musketeers,” as well as adaptations of “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Joel Dicker’s bestseller “The Last Days of Our Fathers.”
The division is spearheaded by Aude Albano, a well-connected industry player who previously worked alongside Claude Chelli at Capa Drama, where she produced “Versailles,” “Osmosis” and “Marie Antoinette.”
“Our slate spans large-scale series that reflect Pathé’s DNA and the endeavor to expand our brand in the series world,” says Albano. She says the company is following similar guidelines to the film arm. “We’re pursuing high-end and event projects, so it can be historical costume series,...
The first slate of Pathé’s TV arm boasts 12 series in different stages of development. These include two shows based on Alexandre Dumas’ literary classic “The Three Musketeers,” as well as adaptations of “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Joel Dicker’s bestseller “The Last Days of Our Fathers.”
The division is spearheaded by Aude Albano, a well-connected industry player who previously worked alongside Claude Chelli at Capa Drama, where she produced “Versailles,” “Osmosis” and “Marie Antoinette.”
“Our slate spans large-scale series that reflect Pathé’s DNA and the endeavor to expand our brand in the series world,” says Albano. She says the company is following similar guidelines to the film arm. “We’re pursuing high-end and event projects, so it can be historical costume series,...
- 5/10/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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
The Mountain director Rick Alverson: "There's a lot of parallels between the lobotomy and filmmaking." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my in-depth conversation with Rick Alverson on The Mountain, co-written with Person To Person director Dustin Guy Defa and Colm O'Leary (The Comedy), shot by Lorenzo Hagerman (Entertainment), starring Jeff Goldblum and Tye Sheridan (Alexandre Moors's The Yellow Birds), with Hannah Gross (Michael Almereyda's Marjorie Prime), Udo Kier, and Denis Lavant (a Leos Carax and Emmanuel Bourdieu favourite), we discuss what "interrupting the trigger" means to him, "parallels between lobotomy and filmmaking", a Django Reinhardt number, and the role the threshold move plays. Rick confided to me that he is a "big Perry Como fan" and that he was "reared on all that Disney stuff" when I brought up a scene that reminded me of Snow White.
Rick Alverson on Denis Lavant: "He's more poetic than I am.
In the first instalment of my in-depth conversation with Rick Alverson on The Mountain, co-written with Person To Person director Dustin Guy Defa and Colm O'Leary (The Comedy), shot by Lorenzo Hagerman (Entertainment), starring Jeff Goldblum and Tye Sheridan (Alexandre Moors's The Yellow Birds), with Hannah Gross (Michael Almereyda's Marjorie Prime), Udo Kier, and Denis Lavant (a Leos Carax and Emmanuel Bourdieu favourite), we discuss what "interrupting the trigger" means to him, "parallels between lobotomy and filmmaking", a Django Reinhardt number, and the role the threshold move plays. Rick confided to me that he is a "big Perry Como fan" and that he was "reared on all that Disney stuff" when I brought up a scene that reminded me of Snow White.
Rick Alverson on Denis Lavant: "He's more poetic than I am.
- 7/28/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Mélanie Thierry as Marguerite Duras in Memoir Of War. © Music Box Films
Melanie Thierry gives a haunting performance in director Emmanuel Finkiel’s finely-crafted Memoir Of War. This powerful, beautifully-shot French-language drama is an adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ partly-autobiographical novel “The War: A Memoir” about her experiences in Paris in World War II.
In Nazi-occupied Paris 1944, Marguerite Duras and her husband Robert Antelme are members of the French Resistance when Robert is arrested by the Gestapo. Seeking answers about her husband’s fate, Marguerite (Melanie Thierry) goes to the local authorities, where French police are working with the Gestapo. In the waiting room, she is approached by a French collaborator, Rabier (Benoit Magimel), who offers to help her find out where her husband is being held. Sensing Rabier’s romantic interest, Marguerite begins a cat-and-mouse relationship in which she probes for information about her husband’s fate as the policeman...
Melanie Thierry gives a haunting performance in director Emmanuel Finkiel’s finely-crafted Memoir Of War. This powerful, beautifully-shot French-language drama is an adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ partly-autobiographical novel “The War: A Memoir” about her experiences in Paris in World War II.
In Nazi-occupied Paris 1944, Marguerite Duras and her husband Robert Antelme are members of the French Resistance when Robert is arrested by the Gestapo. Seeking answers about her husband’s fate, Marguerite (Melanie Thierry) goes to the local authorities, where French police are working with the Gestapo. In the waiting room, she is approached by a French collaborator, Rabier (Benoit Magimel), who offers to help her find out where her husband is being held. Sensing Rabier’s romantic interest, Marguerite begins a cat-and-mouse relationship in which she probes for information about her husband’s fate as the policeman...
- 8/24/2018
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Memoir Of War Music Box Films Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Emmanuel Finkiel Screenwriter: Emmanuel Finkiel, based on the book “War: A Memoir” aka “La Douleur” by Marguerite Duras Cast: Mélanie Thierry, Benoît Magimel, Samuel Biolay, Shulamit Adar, Emmanuel Bourdieu Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 7/20/18 Opens: August 17, 2018 Nobody likes to wait. We […]
The post Memoir of War Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Memoir of War Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 8/12/2018
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Denis Lavant on Hannah Gross (Susan) and Tye Sheridan (Andy) in Rick Alverson's The Mountain: "A great love story." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Denis Lavant, having just come back from Upstate New York where he was working on Rick Alverson's The Mountain, starring Jeff Goldblum with Hannah Gross (Michael Almereyda's Marjorie Prime) playing his daughter and Tye Sheridan (Alexandre Moors's The Yellow Birds) her boyfriend, spoke with me about his first experience in making a Us feature film.
A Leos Carax and Emmanuel Bourdieu favourite, Denis Lavant, plays a "spirit man, a shaman" in Alverson's latest endeavour, co-written with Person to Person director Dustin Guy Defa (Caveh Zahedi's The Show About The Show) and Colm O'Leary (The Comedy).
Denis Lavant on the cast of The Mountain: "My daughter is named Hannah Gross, who is Canadian and the Dr. Fiennes is the great actor Jeff Goldblum.
Denis Lavant, having just come back from Upstate New York where he was working on Rick Alverson's The Mountain, starring Jeff Goldblum with Hannah Gross (Michael Almereyda's Marjorie Prime) playing his daughter and Tye Sheridan (Alexandre Moors's The Yellow Birds) her boyfriend, spoke with me about his first experience in making a Us feature film.
A Leos Carax and Emmanuel Bourdieu favourite, Denis Lavant, plays a "spirit man, a shaman" in Alverson's latest endeavour, co-written with Person to Person director Dustin Guy Defa (Caveh Zahedi's The Show About The Show) and Colm O'Leary (The Comedy).
Denis Lavant on the cast of The Mountain: "My daughter is named Hannah Gross, who is Canadian and the Dr. Fiennes is the great actor Jeff Goldblum.
- 6/16/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Emmanuel Bourdieu on who could play Louis-Ferdinand Céline: "One is Denis Podalydès, who is my best friend. And the other was Denis Lavant whom I knew only as a fan." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
At the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Emmanuel Bourdieu, director and co-screenwriter of Louis-Ferdinand Céline (based on the book The Crippled Giant by Martin Hindus and starring Denis Lavant), spoke with me about the casting of the lead role, shooting in Belgium with cinematographer Marie Spencer and screenwriter Marcia Romano and editor Benoît Quinon on board, working with composer Grégoire Hetzel on creating a tune for a William Blake poem to characterize Philip Desmeules' portrayal of Hindus, and how Géraldine Pailhas helped with the costumes for Lucette (designed by Florence Scholtes and Christophe Pidre).
Denis Lavant as Louis-Ferdinand Céline with Bébert: "He could change the mood very very fast. And Denis knows how to do that.
At the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Emmanuel Bourdieu, director and co-screenwriter of Louis-Ferdinand Céline (based on the book The Crippled Giant by Martin Hindus and starring Denis Lavant), spoke with me about the casting of the lead role, shooting in Belgium with cinematographer Marie Spencer and screenwriter Marcia Romano and editor Benoît Quinon on board, working with composer Grégoire Hetzel on creating a tune for a William Blake poem to characterize Philip Desmeules' portrayal of Hindus, and how Géraldine Pailhas helped with the costumes for Lucette (designed by Florence Scholtes and Christophe Pidre).
Denis Lavant as Louis-Ferdinand Céline with Bébert: "He could change the mood very very fast. And Denis knows how to do that.
- 1/5/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Denis Lavant rotates the Alamo cube on Astor Place in New York: "Chaplin, burlesque, Buster Keaton, masque, Commedia dell'arte - it's the same." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Denis Lavant, Leos Carax's M Merde in Tokyo! and so much more in Holy Motors (with Edith Scob as Céline), Alex in Carax's debut film Boy Meets Girl, and opposite Juliette Binoche in Mauvais Sang (Bad Blood) and The Lovers On The Bridge (Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf), speaks about the creation of his most famous character and time with cinematographer Caroline Champetier in Paris before going to Tokyo. He gives background on the role he plays in Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline and tries to come to grips with his relationship to tourist guest cats back home.
Denis Lavant goes into his special language that has become one of the most unforgettable personas in cinema when I ask him where M Merde came...
Denis Lavant, Leos Carax's M Merde in Tokyo! and so much more in Holy Motors (with Edith Scob as Céline), Alex in Carax's debut film Boy Meets Girl, and opposite Juliette Binoche in Mauvais Sang (Bad Blood) and The Lovers On The Bridge (Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf), speaks about the creation of his most famous character and time with cinematographer Caroline Champetier in Paris before going to Tokyo. He gives background on the role he plays in Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline and tries to come to grips with his relationship to tourist guest cats back home.
Denis Lavant goes into his special language that has become one of the most unforgettable personas in cinema when I ask him where M Merde came...
- 12/28/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Denis Lavant shoots the beaver at the Astor Place subway station in New York Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Famed actor Denis Lavant, the longtime Leos Carax collaborator (Holy Motors, The Lovers On The Bridge, Mauvais Sang, Boy Meets Girl, and "Merde" in Tokyo!), Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline, and Claire Denis's Galoup in Beau Travail, arrived in New York after filming upstate on Rick Alverson's The Mountain, starring Jeff Goldblum and Tye Sheridan with Hannah Gross (Michael Almereyda's Marjorie Prime). Samuel Beckett was on Denis Lavant's mind when I spoke with him on his work in Tokyo with cinematographer Caroline Champetier. He said that for him his relationship with Carax is "an artistic relation" and "beyond friendship".
Denis Lavant on filming Tokyo!: "It was a very small French crew but it was a big Japanese crew. It created a solidarity, of course." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Anne-Katrin...
Famed actor Denis Lavant, the longtime Leos Carax collaborator (Holy Motors, The Lovers On The Bridge, Mauvais Sang, Boy Meets Girl, and "Merde" in Tokyo!), Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline, and Claire Denis's Galoup in Beau Travail, arrived in New York after filming upstate on Rick Alverson's The Mountain, starring Jeff Goldblum and Tye Sheridan with Hannah Gross (Michael Almereyda's Marjorie Prime). Samuel Beckett was on Denis Lavant's mind when I spoke with him on his work in Tokyo with cinematographer Caroline Champetier. He said that for him his relationship with Carax is "an artistic relation" and "beyond friendship".
Denis Lavant on filming Tokyo!: "It was a very small French crew but it was a big Japanese crew. It created a solidarity, of course." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Anne-Katrin...
- 12/1/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
KEDi director Ceyda Torun: "Cats are so omnipresent." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
There are film cat people such as Michael Haneke seen in Yves Montmayeur's Michael H - Profession: Director with Yves' cat Félix, Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's Elle and Mia Hansen-Løve's Things To Come, Céline's Bébert in Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Robert De Niro with Lil Bub of Andy Capper and Juliette Eisner's Lil Bub & Friendz at the Tribeca Film Festival and then there is Ceyda Torun's sharp-eyed documentary KEDi with Istanbul as cat central.
Duman has an unforgettable style of scoring little plates of smoked turkey and slices of Manchego cheese
In 2008 at the Museum of Modern Art for Funny Games (starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet), when Michael Haneke was asked by Ed Bahlman if he had any pets, he stated that he is "a cat person.
There are film cat people such as Michael Haneke seen in Yves Montmayeur's Michael H - Profession: Director with Yves' cat Félix, Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's Elle and Mia Hansen-Løve's Things To Come, Céline's Bébert in Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Robert De Niro with Lil Bub of Andy Capper and Juliette Eisner's Lil Bub & Friendz at the Tribeca Film Festival and then there is Ceyda Torun's sharp-eyed documentary KEDi with Istanbul as cat central.
Duman has an unforgettable style of scoring little plates of smoked turkey and slices of Manchego cheese
In 2008 at the Museum of Modern Art for Funny Games (starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet), when Michael Haneke was asked by Ed Bahlman if he had any pets, he stated that he is "a cat person.
- 6/27/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Sari's kittens in Ceyda Torun's KEDi, her sharp-eyed documentary on what it means to be a cat in present day Istanbul.
Cat people Michael Haneke, Haruki Murakami, Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's Elle and Mia Hansen-Løve's Things To Come, and Emmanuel Bourdieu's Bébert in Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Kazuki Kitamura and Tamanojo in Takeshi Watanabe and Yoshitaka Yamaguchi's Samurai Cat (Neko zamurai), Robert De Niro favourite Lil Bub of Lil Bub & Friendz, and Sebastián Lelio when he spoke on Gloria, are the supporting cast in my conversation with Ceyda Torun at the Bowery Hotel in New York.
On following Sari - on her level: "It's all the nimble handiwork of Charlie Wuppermann, my cinematographer, and Alp Korfalı, who is a local, great cinematographer himself."
KEDi is a carefully and joyfully assembled collage of our interspecies interactions. Istanbul is cat city. They arrived thousands of years ago and...
Cat people Michael Haneke, Haruki Murakami, Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's Elle and Mia Hansen-Løve's Things To Come, and Emmanuel Bourdieu's Bébert in Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Kazuki Kitamura and Tamanojo in Takeshi Watanabe and Yoshitaka Yamaguchi's Samurai Cat (Neko zamurai), Robert De Niro favourite Lil Bub of Lil Bub & Friendz, and Sebastián Lelio when he spoke on Gloria, are the supporting cast in my conversation with Ceyda Torun at the Bowery Hotel in New York.
On following Sari - on her level: "It's all the nimble handiwork of Charlie Wuppermann, my cinematographer, and Alp Korfalı, who is a local, great cinematographer himself."
KEDi is a carefully and joyfully assembled collage of our interspecies interactions. Istanbul is cat city. They arrived thousands of years ago and...
- 3/27/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Jérôme Salle on Lambert Wilson as Jacques-Yves Cousteau: "It helps when you ask a very nice person to be a very tough person."
Once again, inside the Furman Gallery at Lincoln Center during the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema exhibition of Paul Ronald's color photographs from Federico Fellini's 81/2, where I met Christophe Honoré for a conversation on Les Malheurs De Sophie, The Odyssey (L'Odyssée) director Jérôme Salle spoke with me on the performances of Lambert Wilson and Audrey Tautou. Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, composer Alexandre Desplat, Calypso captain Albert Falco (Vincent Heneine), nicknamed Bébert (which recalls for me the cat featured in Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline), were also washed ashore.
Jérôme Salle at Paul Ronald's 81/2 circus photos: "Audrey is wonderful." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The Odyssey (shot by Matias Boucard, screenplay, co-written with Laurent Turner) is...
Once again, inside the Furman Gallery at Lincoln Center during the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema exhibition of Paul Ronald's color photographs from Federico Fellini's 81/2, where I met Christophe Honoré for a conversation on Les Malheurs De Sophie, The Odyssey (L'Odyssée) director Jérôme Salle spoke with me on the performances of Lambert Wilson and Audrey Tautou. Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, composer Alexandre Desplat, Calypso captain Albert Falco (Vincent Heneine), nicknamed Bébert (which recalls for me the cat featured in Emmanuel Bourdieu's Louis-Ferdinand Céline), were also washed ashore.
Jérôme Salle at Paul Ronald's 81/2 circus photos: "Audrey is wonderful." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The Odyssey (shot by Matias Boucard, screenplay, co-written with Laurent Turner) is...
- 3/14/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Denis Lavant as Louis-Ferdinand Céline with Bébert
Paolo Sorrentino begins his Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) with a quote about imaginary travel from Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Journey To The End Of The Night. Céline's novels changed French literature forever and influenced writers all over the world since the early 1930s. Is it possible, Emmanuel Bourdieu's probing film asks, to reconcile the literary genius with his anti-Semitic pamphlets and statements?
Céline and Lucette (Géraldine Pailhas) with Milton Hindus (Philip Desmeules)
In the green room at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, the director of Louis-Ferdinand Céline and I discussed the terror of a genius, the score by Grégoire Hetzel, casting Denis Lavant of Léos Carax's Holy Motors fame, creating a tune for a William Blake poem, how Géraldine Pailhas helped with the costumes, bird sounds, and Bébert, the cat.
Paolo Sorrentino begins his Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) with a quote about imaginary travel from Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Journey To The End Of The Night. Céline's novels changed French literature forever and influenced writers all over the world since the early 1930s. Is it possible, Emmanuel Bourdieu's probing film asks, to reconcile the literary genius with his anti-Semitic pamphlets and statements?
Céline and Lucette (Géraldine Pailhas) with Milton Hindus (Philip Desmeules)
In the green room at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, the director of Louis-Ferdinand Céline and I discussed the terror of a genius, the score by Grégoire Hetzel, casting Denis Lavant of Léos Carax's Holy Motors fame, creating a tune for a William Blake poem, how Géraldine Pailhas helped with the costumes, bird sounds, and Bébert, the cat.
- 1/30/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Critics' Week has already begun celebrating its 50th anniversary by posting 50 video interviews with directors and actors who've seen their work debut in this section at Cannes. We're celebrating, too. In association with the 4+1 Film Festival, Mubi is presenting a retrospective of some of the greatest films first seen in Critics' Week over the past half-century. And even though the first 1000 views of each of the films will be free to you, the viewer, the rights holders will carry on receiving their duly earned revenue.
The retrospective encompasses over 100 titles in all, but please do keep in mind that rights issues can get complicated and not every film can be available in every country. That said, here's a quick overview of just some of the highlights:
Over in the Garage, a La Semaine Blogathon is already on the roll, starting with Kj Farrington's entry on Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know,...
The retrospective encompasses over 100 titles in all, but please do keep in mind that rights issues can get complicated and not every film can be available in every country. That said, here's a quick overview of just some of the highlights:
Over in the Garage, a La Semaine Blogathon is already on the roll, starting with Kj Farrington's entry on Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know,...
- 5/14/2011
- MUBI
Chicago – When American filmmakers throw a colorful familial ensemble under one roof for the holidays, the result often feels like a forced sitcom. Consider 2005’s “The Family Stone,” an ungainly fusion of slapstick laughs, scathing satire and feel good fuzziness.
The family members and their significant others each came equipped with their own specially designed quirks, including a matriarch battling cancer, and a deaf son with a black male lover (they’re portrayed as the only “normal” people in the film). French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin’s “A Christmas Tale,” has the same basic outline, yet its style is more evocative of the New Wave than bad television.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Not since Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander” has a film so enchantingly merged jubilant holiday magic with melancholy family drama. It’s an exhilaratingly off-kilter picture, with a story both sprawling and simple. The film opens with a man, Abel...
The family members and their significant others each came equipped with their own specially designed quirks, including a matriarch battling cancer, and a deaf son with a black male lover (they’re portrayed as the only “normal” people in the film). French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin’s “A Christmas Tale,” has the same basic outline, yet its style is more evocative of the New Wave than bad television.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Not since Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander” has a film so enchantingly merged jubilant holiday magic with melancholy family drama. It’s an exhilaratingly off-kilter picture, with a story both sprawling and simple. The film opens with a man, Abel...
- 12/14/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
A day following the announcement of the 81st Academy Awards' nominees, the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have uncovered their official selections for the 34th Cesar Awards. On Friday, January 23, gangster movie "Mesrine" has been given ten nominations for the France's top awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Jean-Francois Richet.
Apart from the two mentioned gongs, "Mesrine", which is the third highest grossing French film in 2008, also garnered a Best Actor nod for leading actor Vincent Cassel. It also collected two more counts in the category of Adapted Screenplay for Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet, and of Cinematography for Robert Gantz.
In the foreign film nominations, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" were put in competition with Bouli Lanners' "Eldorado", Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra", Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Lorna's Silence", James Gray...
Apart from the two mentioned gongs, "Mesrine", which is the third highest grossing French film in 2008, also garnered a Best Actor nod for leading actor Vincent Cassel. It also collected two more counts in the category of Adapted Screenplay for Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet, and of Cinematography for Robert Gantz.
In the foreign film nominations, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" were put in competition with Bouli Lanners' "Eldorado", Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra", Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Lorna's Silence", James Gray...
- 1/24/2009
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
The trio of New York Times critics (Manohla Dargis, A.O. Scott and Stephen Holden) have weighed in with their own nominations for the year's best in movies with their selections for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Original and Adapted Screenplays. Quickly glancing through the list I see Manohla Dargis loved Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (at least the acting) and is the only one that gave The Dark Knight any love. Thankfully Slumdog Millionaire wasn't "nominated" for anything other than a lone Adapted Screenplay notice from A.O. Scott. Happy-Go-Lucky saw plenty of attention and believe it or not, there isn't one film all three could agree on for Best Picture with Wall-e and Happy-Go-Lucky being the front-runners as they were mentioned twice - Dargis was the main reason for this as her selections didn't show up on either Stephen Holden or A.
- 1/3/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Release Date: Nov. 14 (limited)
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Writer: Emmanuel Bourdieu, Desplechin
Cinematographer: Eric Gautier
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Emmanuelle Devos, Hippolyte Girardot, Chiara Mastroianni, Melvil Poupaud
Studio/Run Time: IFC Films, 143 mins.
Complex, pleasing holiday film
A Christmas Tale is a lively, capricious, mischievous ensemble delight—the kind of movie Noah Baumbach would make if he were French and a little more hopeful about humanity. Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon) and Junon (Catherine Deneuve) have three grown children, two of whom (Anne Consigny and Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) have long been estranged. Now, as Junon needs a dangerous transfusion to survive cancer, everyone convenes in the family home to celebrate Christmas together.
Though the film deals with many exceptionally depressing topics (mental illness, hatred, life-threatening disease, lost love, betrayal) director Arnaud Desplechin (Kings and Queen) never veers into maudlin territory. Instead, with a lightly stylized touch,...
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Writer: Emmanuel Bourdieu, Desplechin
Cinematographer: Eric Gautier
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Emmanuelle Devos, Hippolyte Girardot, Chiara Mastroianni, Melvil Poupaud
Studio/Run Time: IFC Films, 143 mins.
Complex, pleasing holiday film
A Christmas Tale is a lively, capricious, mischievous ensemble delight—the kind of movie Noah Baumbach would make if he were French and a little more hopeful about humanity. Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon) and Junon (Catherine Deneuve) have three grown children, two of whom (Anne Consigny and Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) have long been estranged. Now, as Junon needs a dangerous transfusion to survive cancer, everyone convenes in the family home to celebrate Christmas together.
Though the film deals with many exceptionally depressing topics (mental illness, hatred, life-threatening disease, lost love, betrayal) director Arnaud Desplechin (Kings and Queen) never veers into maudlin territory. Instead, with a lightly stylized touch,...
- 11/14/2008
- Pastemagazine.com
A Christmas TALEby Steve Ramos, Writer From Paris With Passion - filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin delivers with 'A Christmas Tale' A few things to remember about French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin are his impressive work history of eight feature films, including the London-based period drama "Esther Kahn;' that four of his films have been in competition at Cannes and that French performers, including his male muse Mathieu Amalric, enthusiastically seek out the opportunity to work with him. The fact that most American moviegoers, even those who regularly frequent art house cinemas, require a biography on Desplechin, or a list of his previous movies, speaks to a more pressing dilemma. With his latest drama "A Christmas Tale" ("Un Conte de Noël") (the film opens in New York Nov. 14 before expanding across the country), Desplechin proves himself to be a master filmmaker at the height of his art. He's both an expert storyteller,...
- 11/4/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
CANNES -- Emmanuel Bourdieu's second feature, which opens Cannes' Critics Week, tells the story of three student friends, intelligent, articulate and passionate about literature, who meet at that crucial point in their lives where their potential has been established but the path to self-realization remains shrouded in uncertainty.
The charismatic Andre (Thibault Vincon) -- brilliant, self-confident and peremptory in his judgments -- rapidly assumes the role of mentor to his comrades, guiding Alexandre (Alexandre Steiger) toward a career in theater and advising Eloi (Malik Zidi) in his work and love life. In return, he demands and obtains unconditional loyalty. He himself appears destined for great things, preparing a doctorate under Sorbonne professor Claude Mortier (Jacques Bonnaffe).
The movie is slow to show its hand, but it gradually becomes clear that Andre, despite or perhaps because of his promise, is going off the rails. He alienates his supervisor, maliciously deletes a story written by his sweet-natured librarian girlfriend Marguerite (Natacha Regnier) from her computer and then announces that he is leaving for America on a prestigious scholarship when in fact he has signed up with the French army for a lowly job as a cultural instructor.
Alexandre, meanwhile, has been finding himself as an actor, and Eloi -- who teams up Marguerite after she has broken with Andre -- writes a novel that becomes a critical success after his novelist mother Florence (Dominique Blanc) presents it to her publisher.
Andre's deceptions are duly revealed, and the final confrontation in a restaurant where the friends gather to celebrate their success sees him cast as the chronic underachiever whose former disciples are now set to scale the heights.
Bourdieu, the son of a noted academic and formerly a writer for directors Arnaud Desplechin and Nicole Garcia, convincingly portrays the tensions of university life, particularly the role-playing and testing of limits among students. However, the movie, absorbing rather than gripping, does not really deliver on the promise of malfeasance contained in the title.
Andre, whose story forms its core, is more the victim than the beneficiary of the sway he exercises over his companions, and the origins of his inability to make anything of his talents are not seriously examined. The stories of Alexandre and Eloi, particularly the latter's relationship with his mother, are thinly developed, and the suddenness of their success is rather baffling, so that the resolution feels imposed rather than a natural consequence of what has come before.
But the actors' performances, particularly those of the relative newcomers in the lead roles, are uniformly excellent, and together with the crisp dialogue by Bourdieu and co-writer Marcia Romano, the warm colors, frequent night settings and Gregoire Hetzel's original score in the style of Schumann and Hoffmann make for an intelligent entertainment.
POISON FRIENDS
4X4 Prods.
Cast: Director: Emmanuel Bourdieu; Screenwriters: Emmanuel Bourdieu, Marcia Romano; Director of photography: Yorick Le Saux; Production designer: Nicolas de Boiscuille; Music: Gregoire Hetzel; Editor: Benoit Quinon.
Cast: Eloi: Malik Zidi; Andre: Thibault Vincon; Alexandre: Alexandre Steiger; Mortier: Jacques Bonnaffe; Marguerite: Natacha Regnier; Florence Duhaut: Dominique Blanc; Edouard: Thomas Blanchard.
No MPAA rating, running time 100 minutes.
The charismatic Andre (Thibault Vincon) -- brilliant, self-confident and peremptory in his judgments -- rapidly assumes the role of mentor to his comrades, guiding Alexandre (Alexandre Steiger) toward a career in theater and advising Eloi (Malik Zidi) in his work and love life. In return, he demands and obtains unconditional loyalty. He himself appears destined for great things, preparing a doctorate under Sorbonne professor Claude Mortier (Jacques Bonnaffe).
The movie is slow to show its hand, but it gradually becomes clear that Andre, despite or perhaps because of his promise, is going off the rails. He alienates his supervisor, maliciously deletes a story written by his sweet-natured librarian girlfriend Marguerite (Natacha Regnier) from her computer and then announces that he is leaving for America on a prestigious scholarship when in fact he has signed up with the French army for a lowly job as a cultural instructor.
Alexandre, meanwhile, has been finding himself as an actor, and Eloi -- who teams up Marguerite after she has broken with Andre -- writes a novel that becomes a critical success after his novelist mother Florence (Dominique Blanc) presents it to her publisher.
Andre's deceptions are duly revealed, and the final confrontation in a restaurant where the friends gather to celebrate their success sees him cast as the chronic underachiever whose former disciples are now set to scale the heights.
Bourdieu, the son of a noted academic and formerly a writer for directors Arnaud Desplechin and Nicole Garcia, convincingly portrays the tensions of university life, particularly the role-playing and testing of limits among students. However, the movie, absorbing rather than gripping, does not really deliver on the promise of malfeasance contained in the title.
Andre, whose story forms its core, is more the victim than the beneficiary of the sway he exercises over his companions, and the origins of his inability to make anything of his talents are not seriously examined. The stories of Alexandre and Eloi, particularly the latter's relationship with his mother, are thinly developed, and the suddenness of their success is rather baffling, so that the resolution feels imposed rather than a natural consequence of what has come before.
But the actors' performances, particularly those of the relative newcomers in the lead roles, are uniformly excellent, and together with the crisp dialogue by Bourdieu and co-writer Marcia Romano, the warm colors, frequent night settings and Gregoire Hetzel's original score in the style of Schumann and Hoffmann make for an intelligent entertainment.
POISON FRIENDS
4X4 Prods.
Cast: Director: Emmanuel Bourdieu; Screenwriters: Emmanuel Bourdieu, Marcia Romano; Director of photography: Yorick Le Saux; Production designer: Nicolas de Boiscuille; Music: Gregoire Hetzel; Editor: Benoit Quinon.
Cast: Eloi: Malik Zidi; Andre: Thibault Vincon; Alexandre: Alexandre Steiger; Mortier: Jacques Bonnaffe; Marguerite: Natacha Regnier; Florence Duhaut: Dominique Blanc; Edouard: Thomas Blanchard.
No MPAA rating, running time 100 minutes.
- 5/20/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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