Philippe Lacheau’s comedy sequel is in top three best peforming films at French box office this year.
Philippe Lacheau’s French box office hit Alibi.com 2 has inked multiple international sales through Newen Connect as the film continues its theatrical reign at home.
Newen has sold the comedy sequel to 2017’s Alibi.com across Europe including Zdf for German-speaking territories, Flins & Piniculas in Spain, Eagle Pictures in Italy, Lusomundo in Portugal and Estin Film for the Baltic States. The film is also headed to Shoval in Israel, Red Apollo in China, New Select in Japan and Skeye Inflight & Air France.
Philippe Lacheau’s French box office hit Alibi.com 2 has inked multiple international sales through Newen Connect as the film continues its theatrical reign at home.
Newen has sold the comedy sequel to 2017’s Alibi.com across Europe including Zdf for German-speaking territories, Flins & Piniculas in Spain, Eagle Pictures in Italy, Lusomundo in Portugal and Estin Film for the Baltic States. The film is also headed to Shoval in Israel, Red Apollo in China, New Select in Japan and Skeye Inflight & Air France.
- 5/12/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Newen Connect, the film and TV distribution arm of the French media group Newen Studios, is launching a raft of comedies at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous event in Paris this week.
New titles include “Mr. Putifar’s Wacky Plan,” based on the book “Comedy.” It’s produced by Ugc and Romain Rotjman’s Les Films du 24, the team behind “Serial (Bad) Weddings.”
Directed by Pierre-François Martin-Laval (“Serial Teachers”), the movie stars Christian Clavier and Isabelle Nanty. Clavier stars as a retired school teacher plotting a revenge on the kids who made his life hell twenty years ago and destroyed his one chance at love.
“Open Season,” produced by Starman Films and Curiosa Films (“Stars at Noon”), is directed by Frédéric Forestier and Antonin Fourlon. The film stars Didier Bourdon (“Alibi.com 2”), Camille Lou (“Spoiled Brats”), Hakim Jemili (“A Good Doctor”), Thierry Lhermitte (“Just Retired”) and Chantal Ladesou.
The film follows Adelaide,...
New titles include “Mr. Putifar’s Wacky Plan,” based on the book “Comedy.” It’s produced by Ugc and Romain Rotjman’s Les Films du 24, the team behind “Serial (Bad) Weddings.”
Directed by Pierre-François Martin-Laval (“Serial Teachers”), the movie stars Christian Clavier and Isabelle Nanty. Clavier stars as a retired school teacher plotting a revenge on the kids who made his life hell twenty years ago and destroyed his one chance at love.
“Open Season,” produced by Starman Films and Curiosa Films (“Stars at Noon”), is directed by Frédéric Forestier and Antonin Fourlon. The film stars Didier Bourdon (“Alibi.com 2”), Camille Lou (“Spoiled Brats”), Hakim Jemili (“A Good Doctor”), Thierry Lhermitte (“Just Retired”) and Chantal Ladesou.
The film follows Adelaide,...
- 1/10/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Arielle Dombasle, Nicolas Ker, Asia Argento, Michel Fau, Theo Hakola, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Christian Louboutin | Written by Arielle Dombasle, Florian Bernas, Jacques Fieschi, Nicolas Ker | Directed by Arielle Dombasle
Apparently something of a well-renown socialite in France, I admit I’d never heard of singer turned actress turned director Arielle Dombasle, yet after watching Alien Crystal Palace I don’t think I’ll Ever forget that name! And that’s undoubtedly because I will Never forget this film – the freakish, hypnotic, erotic fantasy that Dombasle and writers Florian Bernas, Jacques Fieschi, and co-star Nicolas Ker created.
Let me explain.
The official synopsis for Alien Crystal Palace reads like this: “A crazy scientist, Hamburg, is on a quest to create a new, immaculate, androgynous being. This transformation is only possible through the alchemy of two old souls: Dolorès (Arielle Dombasle), an avant-garde filmmaker, and her reincarnated lover Nicolas (Nicolas Ker), a confused rocker.
Apparently something of a well-renown socialite in France, I admit I’d never heard of singer turned actress turned director Arielle Dombasle, yet after watching Alien Crystal Palace I don’t think I’ll Ever forget that name! And that’s undoubtedly because I will Never forget this film – the freakish, hypnotic, erotic fantasy that Dombasle and writers Florian Bernas, Jacques Fieschi, and co-star Nicolas Ker created.
Let me explain.
The official synopsis for Alien Crystal Palace reads like this: “A crazy scientist, Hamburg, is on a quest to create a new, immaculate, androgynous being. This transformation is only possible through the alchemy of two old souls: Dolorès (Arielle Dombasle), an avant-garde filmmaker, and her reincarnated lover Nicolas (Nicolas Ker), a confused rocker.
- 7/25/2019
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
While 2014 saw the passing of (reluctant) New Wave icon Alain Resnais, there was an intense resurgence of interest in the directorial efforts of Last Year at Marienbad (1961) scribe Alain Robbe-Grillet. Grillet and Resnais would never collaborate again, but it left the screenwriter with his own directorial options, which he used to explore his abstract fetishes in a filmography that would span ten films, many of which never made it to the United States. Kino Lorber’s Redemption label resurrected five rare titles for Blu-ray over the past year, including his 1963 debut L’immortelle and New Wave classic Trans-Europ-Express (1967). But it would be Grillet’s eighth feature that would serve to be his most internationally renowned, the 1983 La Belle Captive, which chanteys its way into Blu-ray this month courtesy of Olive Films. No more cohesive than any of the other puzzling titles in his filmography, the stunning work from DoP Henri Alekan...
- 2/3/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Gay erotic thriller Stranger by the Lake wins Queer Palm at Cannes Film Festival (photo: Pierre de Ladonchamps, Christophe Paou in Stranger by the Lake) Writer-director Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger by the Lake / L’inconnu du lac has won the 2013 Queer Palm handed out to Cannes Film Festival movies featuring gay, lesbian, bi, tri, multi, transgender, etc. characters. Stranger by the Lake was screened in the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Set near an idyllic lake where hot-and-heavy gay cruising takes place during the summer season, Guiraudie’s sexually charged thriller revolves around Franck (Pierre de Ladonchamps), a young man who falls in lust with brawny suspected murderer Michel (Christophe Paou). Strand Releasing will handle the distribution of Stranger by the Lake in North America. Stranger by the Lake: Mixing explicit sex with explicit love As quoted by Agence France Presse, Alain Guiraudie explained the (purportedly) graphic sex scenes in Stranger...
- 5/26/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A still from “Charulata”
Satyajit Ray’s Charulata (The Lonely Wife) is one among the twenty feature films to be presented at Cannes Classics, as part of the Official Selection.
Based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore about a lonely housewife, the film features Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee and Shailen Mukherjee. It won Satyajit Ray a Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlin international film festival in 1965.
Cannes Classics was created in 2004 to present old films and masterpieces from cinematographic history that have been carefully restored. It is also a way to pay tribute to the essential work being down by copyrightholders, film libraries, production companies and national archives throughout the world.
This year’s programme of Cannes Classics is made up of twenty feature-length films and three documentaries.
Restored Prints
Borom Sarret (1963, 20’) by Ousmane Sembène
Charulata (Charluta: The Lonely Wife) (1964, 1:57) by Satyajit Ray
Cleopatra (1963, 4:03) by Joseph L. Mankiewicz...
Satyajit Ray’s Charulata (The Lonely Wife) is one among the twenty feature films to be presented at Cannes Classics, as part of the Official Selection.
Based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore about a lonely housewife, the film features Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee and Shailen Mukherjee. It won Satyajit Ray a Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlin international film festival in 1965.
Cannes Classics was created in 2004 to present old films and masterpieces from cinematographic history that have been carefully restored. It is also a way to pay tribute to the essential work being down by copyrightholders, film libraries, production companies and national archives throughout the world.
This year’s programme of Cannes Classics is made up of twenty feature-length films and three documentaries.
Restored Prints
Borom Sarret (1963, 20’) by Ousmane Sembène
Charulata (Charluta: The Lonely Wife) (1964, 1:57) by Satyajit Ray
Cleopatra (1963, 4:03) by Joseph L. Mankiewicz...
- 4/30/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The Cannes Film Festival organisers continue to place growing importance on cinema heritage with a wide-ranging selection devoted to film history and film restoration. Among the gems on offer is Mark Cousins’ A Story of Children and Film, a follow-up to The Story of Film. The documentary investigates cinema and childhood as seen through 53 movies - such as Et and The Red Balloon - from 25 countries.
With Kim Novak attending a gala show of the restored print of Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock, many other cinema legends (to be confirmed) will be there to accompany their titles.
In honour of the 50th anniversary of Jean Cocteau’s death, La Belle Et La Bete (1946) will be screened as well as Opium (2013), a musical comedy directed by Arielle Dombasle.
Euzhan Palcy’s film, Simeon (1992) will be shown in honour of the 100th birthday of French poet, author and politican Aimé...
With Kim Novak attending a gala show of the restored print of Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock, many other cinema legends (to be confirmed) will be there to accompany their titles.
In honour of the 50th anniversary of Jean Cocteau’s death, La Belle Et La Bete (1946) will be screened as well as Opium (2013), a musical comedy directed by Arielle Dombasle.
Euzhan Palcy’s film, Simeon (1992) will be shown in honour of the 100th birthday of French poet, author and politican Aimé...
- 4/29/2013
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In his film The Oath of Tobruk, the French writer charts his role in persuading Sarkozy to back the Libyan revolt
As a French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy is a creature perfectly unimaginable in Anglo-Saxon culture. In true Gallic style the philosopher is as famous for his luxuriant steel-grey mane, handmade black suits and crisp white shirts (invariably unbuttoned to reveal startling acreages of tanned flesh) as his prolific literary output and ferocious critiques of socialism.
In all, he is a figure many Britons find quite hard to take seriously; to tell the truth, there are even those in France who find him, despite his undoubted intellect, arrogant and pretentious.
Yet, by his own account – an account that has received no challenge – it was this philosopher who, in March 2011, persuaded the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy to recognise the leaders of the emerging Libyan opposition. And it was Sarkozy, straight...
As a French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy is a creature perfectly unimaginable in Anglo-Saxon culture. In true Gallic style the philosopher is as famous for his luxuriant steel-grey mane, handmade black suits and crisp white shirts (invariably unbuttoned to reveal startling acreages of tanned flesh) as his prolific literary output and ferocious critiques of socialism.
In all, he is a figure many Britons find quite hard to take seriously; to tell the truth, there are even those in France who find him, despite his undoubted intellect, arrogant and pretentious.
Yet, by his own account – an account that has received no challenge – it was this philosopher who, in March 2011, persuaded the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy to recognise the leaders of the emerging Libyan opposition. And it was Sarkozy, straight...
- 5/25/2012
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
In conjunction with La Furia Umana, Notebook is very happy to present Ted Fendt's original English translation of Luc Moullet's "Le masque et la part de Dieu," on the films of Eric Rohmer. Moullet's original French can be found at La Furia Umana.
Cecil summed up the difference between him and his brother, William DeMille, like this: “I show a thousand camels and you show one camel and you psychoanalyze it.” Eric Rohmer is a lot more like William than Cecil, minus Freud.
What is fascinating, foremost, in his work is his obstinacy to not go beyond his only or main subject, often summed up, in a somewhat misleading way, by its title: Béatrice Romand wants a good marriage, or, at least, to help her friend have one (A Tale of Autumn), Brialy wants to caress Claire’s Knee (meaning, to be sure that she is practically consenting), Lucchini,...
Cecil summed up the difference between him and his brother, William DeMille, like this: “I show a thousand camels and you show one camel and you psychoanalyze it.” Eric Rohmer is a lot more like William than Cecil, minus Freud.
What is fascinating, foremost, in his work is his obstinacy to not go beyond his only or main subject, often summed up, in a somewhat misleading way, by its title: Béatrice Romand wants a good marriage, or, at least, to help her friend have one (A Tale of Autumn), Brialy wants to caress Claire’s Knee (meaning, to be sure that she is practically consenting), Lucchini,...
- 1/3/2012
- MUBI
Hello, Zoners! Weren’t last week’s Reports wonderful? Stephen has really been rockin’ it, and I’m looking forward to more. I think he has a fascinating roster of guests this week, and I know I’m heading to the bookstore to get Fen Montaigne’s latest!
Monday, January 10th: Fen Montaigne
Fen Montaigne’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian, and Wall Street Journal. In 2006, he received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to research his newest book, Fraser’s Penguins: A Journey to the Future in Antarctica, a look at the devastating effects of climate change on the these appealing animals. Montaigne went to Antarctica for five months to accompany the team of ecologist Bill Fraser–an expert on Adelie Penguins who had recently watched their population dwindle alarmingly. The New York Times said that the book “leaves one feeling exhilarated.” To get a...
Monday, January 10th: Fen Montaigne
Fen Montaigne’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian, and Wall Street Journal. In 2006, he received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to research his newest book, Fraser’s Penguins: A Journey to the Future in Antarctica, a look at the devastating effects of climate change on the these appealing animals. Montaigne went to Antarctica for five months to accompany the team of ecologist Bill Fraser–an expert on Adelie Penguins who had recently watched their population dwindle alarmingly. The New York Times said that the book “leaves one feeling exhilarated.” To get a...
- 1/10/2011
- by Karenatasha
- No Fact Zone
Cannes -- Thirteenth century horsemen met 21st century glam as the 63rd annual Festival de Cannes kicked off on Wednesday night with a traditional opening ceremony followed by the world premiere of Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood."
While Mother Nature threatened to steal the spotlight with threats of volcanic ash, powerful waves that destroyed several beachfront properties in Cannes a few days earlier and overcast weather, the fest opened as planned.
Noticeably absent from the opening-night hoopla was Scott, who blamed recent knee surgery for not appearing.
The rest of the film's cast was on hand, including Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow and young French starlet Lea Seydoux, who all caused a stir among paparazzi and fans lining the Croisette to catch a glimpse of the action.
The opening ceremony, broadcast live by Gallic pay TV channel Canal Plus, was hosted by Franco-British actress Kristin Scott Thomas, who...
While Mother Nature threatened to steal the spotlight with threats of volcanic ash, powerful waves that destroyed several beachfront properties in Cannes a few days earlier and overcast weather, the fest opened as planned.
Noticeably absent from the opening-night hoopla was Scott, who blamed recent knee surgery for not appearing.
The rest of the film's cast was on hand, including Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow and young French starlet Lea Seydoux, who all caused a stir among paparazzi and fans lining the Croisette to catch a glimpse of the action.
The opening ceremony, broadcast live by Gallic pay TV channel Canal Plus, was hosted by Franco-British actress Kristin Scott Thomas, who...
- 5/12/2010
- by By Rebecca Leffler
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Roman Polanski's jailing has certainly inspired people to write some of the most insane ramblings I have read in some time. Take for example, Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere writing the following in his comment section on this post: I didn't say that Polanski deserves a pass from his self-created troubles because he's a great artist, or "Art God." I said and believe that Art Gods have earned the right to be shown an extra measure of consideration when such matters arise. That doesn't mean "give them a pass" -- it means show a little compassion. Basically -- if I'm understanding this correctly -- having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old is not as bad if you directed Chinatown than, say, if you were just an average person. Hopefully you can figure out for yourself how ridiculous I believe such a statement to be, and this goes for everyone, not just Polanski.
- 9/30/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Streep at 60: More movie discussions to follow but today we're discussing Oscar competitive fields again
(the winner links take you to their acceptance speech)
The Best Actress races of 1982 and 1983 hold special meaning for me as they were my inaugural Oscar years. On April 11th of 1983 I saw my first Oscar ceremony. My only point of reference for the glitzy tradition was that my parents and my older siblings didn't like it -- something about Star Wars being way better than Woody Allen??? --and even though my parents didn't take me to that many movies, I had somehow seen and liked 3 of the 5 Best Picture nominees (Gandhi and the two blockbusters Tootsie & E.T.) For the first two years of my Oscar watching I saw a total of Zero Best Actress nominees. My how life has changed.
1982...Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria -this is the one I desperately wanted to see,...
(the winner links take you to their acceptance speech)
The Best Actress races of 1982 and 1983 hold special meaning for me as they were my inaugural Oscar years. On April 11th of 1983 I saw my first Oscar ceremony. My only point of reference for the glitzy tradition was that my parents and my older siblings didn't like it -- something about Star Wars being way better than Woody Allen??? --and even though my parents didn't take me to that many movies, I had somehow seen and liked 3 of the 5 Best Picture nominees (Gandhi and the two blockbusters Tootsie & E.T.) For the first two years of my Oscar watching I saw a total of Zero Best Actress nominees. My how life has changed.
1982...Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria -this is the one I desperately wanted to see,...
- 6/20/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Remember that report back in May about Jodorowsky and David Lynch teaming up to do a metaphysical gangster film called King Shot? We've been eagerly awaiting any news since, and while the status of the film looks like it's either in pre-prod or production itself (depending where you look), it does look like it's definitely going forward as this interview gives us some tidbits and some fantastic looking concept art. For those of you who don't know about Jodorowsky, he's one of the most brilliant filmmakers of our time (see: The Holy Mountain)
Unfortunately we don't have much in the way of a synopsis, although it looks like some form of the Pope (which eats human flesh and shoots frickin' laser beams from his eyes) makes an appearance along with Jodorowsky's trademark religious themes and symbolism. I can't wait for this, it looks that fantastic. Oh yea, the cast includes Nick Nolte,...
Unfortunately we don't have much in the way of a synopsis, although it looks like some form of the Pope (which eats human flesh and shoots frickin' laser beams from his eyes) makes an appearance along with Jodorowsky's trademark religious themes and symbolism. I can't wait for this, it looks that fantastic. Oh yea, the cast includes Nick Nolte,...
- 11/25/2008
- QuietEarth.us
PARIS -- The second biopic of a French cultural icon to appear in rapid succession, Diane Kurys's "Sagan" is unlikely to make the kind of splash achieved by last year's "La Vie en Rose". For one thing, it lacks the stirring songs and classic rags-to-riches storyline that ensured the popular appeal of the Piaf epic. But name recognition, solid production values and a commanding performance by Sylvie Testud as the rebellious writer should attract mature audiences worldwide, if not in vast numbers.
Francoise Sagan's novel "Bonjour Tristesse" (1954), written when she was only 18, created the same kind of sensation as J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" had three years earlier in the U.S. Whereas, following his novel's success, Salinger became a recluse, Sagan went into celebrity overdrive, providing the material for a million scandal-sheet articles and ultimately this movie.
Peaking too soon, Sagan the movie like Sagan the writer has nowhere to go but down once the spectacular early success fades. Kurys dutifully charts the descent from youthful hedonism, via a near-fatal car crash, into drink, drugs, ill-health, massive debt and an early, lonely old age.
The writer's riches-to-ruin story is told chronologically and at times a little ploddingly with occasional voice-over ruminations on life, love and literature drawn from her work. Sagan's old friends -- dancer Jacques Chazot (Pierre Palmade) and writer Bernard Frank (Lionel Abelanski) -- stay true, but a husband, publisher Guy Schoeller (Denis Podalydes), comes and rapidly goes, as does Bob Westhoff (William Miller), the father of her son Denis.
Disappointingly, Kurys adopts no point of view and offers virtually no explanation for the failures in Sagan's relationships, most glaringly in the case of the son whom she cruelly rebuffs. As a result it's hard to work up much sympathy for her protagonist's plight.
However, Testud binds the various elements together with an utterly convincing portrayal of the writer in her 50-year campaign of willful self-destruction, from the bright gamin with her elfin features to the somber, wheelchair-bound wreck that she becomes. She is supported by an excellent cast that includes Jeanne Balibar as the fashion writer Peggy Roche -- the love of Sagan's life -- and Arielle Dombasle in a polished cameo as the millionairess-artist here pseudonymously named Astrid who became her final jailor-companion.
Opened: in France: June 11
Production companies: Alexandre Films, EuropaCorp.
Cast: Sylvie Testud, Pierre Palmade, Jeanne Balibar, Denis Podalydes, Arielle Dombasle. Lionel Abelanski, Guillaume Gallienne, William Miller.
Director/producer: Diane Kurys.
Screenwriters: Diane Kurys, Martine Moriconi, Claire Lemarechal.
Director of photography: Michel Abramowicz.
Production design: Alexandra Lassen.
Music: Armand Amar.
Costumes: Nathalie Du Roscoat.
Editor: Sylvie Gadmer.
Sales: EuropaCorp. International.
No MPAA rating, 117 minutes.
Francoise Sagan's novel "Bonjour Tristesse" (1954), written when she was only 18, created the same kind of sensation as J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" had three years earlier in the U.S. Whereas, following his novel's success, Salinger became a recluse, Sagan went into celebrity overdrive, providing the material for a million scandal-sheet articles and ultimately this movie.
Peaking too soon, Sagan the movie like Sagan the writer has nowhere to go but down once the spectacular early success fades. Kurys dutifully charts the descent from youthful hedonism, via a near-fatal car crash, into drink, drugs, ill-health, massive debt and an early, lonely old age.
The writer's riches-to-ruin story is told chronologically and at times a little ploddingly with occasional voice-over ruminations on life, love and literature drawn from her work. Sagan's old friends -- dancer Jacques Chazot (Pierre Palmade) and writer Bernard Frank (Lionel Abelanski) -- stay true, but a husband, publisher Guy Schoeller (Denis Podalydes), comes and rapidly goes, as does Bob Westhoff (William Miller), the father of her son Denis.
Disappointingly, Kurys adopts no point of view and offers virtually no explanation for the failures in Sagan's relationships, most glaringly in the case of the son whom she cruelly rebuffs. As a result it's hard to work up much sympathy for her protagonist's plight.
However, Testud binds the various elements together with an utterly convincing portrayal of the writer in her 50-year campaign of willful self-destruction, from the bright gamin with her elfin features to the somber, wheelchair-bound wreck that she becomes. She is supported by an excellent cast that includes Jeanne Balibar as the fashion writer Peggy Roche -- the love of Sagan's life -- and Arielle Dombasle in a polished cameo as the millionairess-artist here pseudonymously named Astrid who became her final jailor-companion.
Opened: in France: June 11
Production companies: Alexandre Films, EuropaCorp.
Cast: Sylvie Testud, Pierre Palmade, Jeanne Balibar, Denis Podalydes, Arielle Dombasle. Lionel Abelanski, Guillaume Gallienne, William Miller.
Director/producer: Diane Kurys.
Screenwriters: Diane Kurys, Martine Moriconi, Claire Lemarechal.
Director of photography: Michel Abramowicz.
Production design: Alexandra Lassen.
Music: Armand Amar.
Costumes: Nathalie Du Roscoat.
Editor: Sylvie Gadmer.
Sales: EuropaCorp. International.
No MPAA rating, 117 minutes.
- 6/17/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
City of Lights, City of Angels Film Festival
Claude Lelouch is a populist filmmaker no longer popular with audiences either in his native France or among the large international following he created once upon a time with such hits as A Man and a Woman and And Now My Love.
Men and Women, which opened this week's annual French film festival in Los Angeles, finds Lelouch struggling to rediscover the formula of Gallic charm and star-crossed lovers that made him such a boxoffice favorite. The film has strong moments where he does reclaim the old magic. But the picture wears out its welcome long before the final reel and fails to make the necessary tonal changes to include episodes of depression, murder and suicide in an otherwise lighthearted ode to the glories of romantic love.
The film's theatrical outlook is problematic. It actually is a cannibalization of the first two films in an apparently now-abandoned trilogy called Genre humain, or Human Kind. The first film, Les Parisiens, disappeared within a month of release, so Lelouch scrambled to save the project by pulling together footage from the two films to create the version that debuted here. Without having seen Les Parisiens, it is hard to say whether he has helped or harmed his cause. But Men and Women definitely jumps around among too many characters and subplots to diminishing audience involvement.
What emerges as the central romance or romantic triangle of the piece belongs a pair of street singers and the barmaid who falls for the male. Shaa (Maiwenn) is a vagabond and petty thief who spots Massimo (Italian pop singer/actor Massimo Ranieri) singing on the street one day. She seduces him into turning his act into a duo. In the best tradition of old Hollywood musicals, the two swiftly find success in a nightclub, where Anne (Mathilde Seigner) can't take her eyes off Massimo between serving cocktails.
A music impresario soon takes Shaa aside and offers her -- but not them -- a contract. Without a moment's thought, she dumps Massimo for a chance at stardom. Massimo goes into an emotional tailspin (while at the same time writing a great song about lost love), threatens suicide or a return to Italy before Anne rescues him and -- voila! -- he becomes a star and Shaa turns into such a flop that she is able to pen a mea culpa memoir that becomes -- yes, it does -- a best seller.
And that's only one of the stories in "Men and Women!"
Anne's identical twin (also Seigner, of course) works for a pizza-parlor magnate (Michel Leeb), an uneducated, self-made man who on whim marries a beautiful stage actress and sophisticated aristocrat (Arielle Dombasle). His wife eventually takes up a clandestine affair with the chauffeur (Yannick Soulier), who is really a thief. There's a police detective who dies of cancer early in the movie, so his wife can marry her lover, who works as a singer at the same nightclub where Anne works. Later, a movie director (Lelouch himself) shows up to buy rights to Shaa's memoir to turn it into a film starring Shaa and Massimo, and the movie threatens to start all over again.
So a million things are going on with different levels of reality, but weary viewers can be excused for no longer caring. If the characters would simply sit down with a glass of wine and talk to each other, half their problems would get solved. The exuberant, new wave style of early Lelouch, where the camera pirouettes all over the set, is, thankfully, gone. In its place, though, is this mad hopping among subplots so that the focus never stays on anything for too long.
As a pop stylist, Lelouch must confront the fact that for French moviegoers he has been eclipsed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Jean-Paul Salome (whose exotic Arsene Lupin plays in the festival). At one point in this move, Anne tells Massimo that most of his songs are "too old." One wonders whether Lelouch, when he wrote that line, winced a little.
MEN AND WOMEN
Les Films 13 in association with Canal Plus
Credits:
Director: Claude Lelouch
Writers: Claude Lelouch, Pierre Uytterhoeven
Producers: Jean-Paul De Vidas, Claude Lelouch
Director of photography: Gerard de Battista
Production designer: Francois Chauvaud
Music: Francis Lai
Costumes: Karine Serrano
Editor: Stephane Mazalaigue
Cast:
Massimo: Massimo Ranieri
Shaa: Maiwenn
Clementine/Anne: Mathilde Seigner
Sabine Duchemin: Arielle Dombasle
Michael Gorkini: Michel Leeb
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 128 minutes...
Claude Lelouch is a populist filmmaker no longer popular with audiences either in his native France or among the large international following he created once upon a time with such hits as A Man and a Woman and And Now My Love.
Men and Women, which opened this week's annual French film festival in Los Angeles, finds Lelouch struggling to rediscover the formula of Gallic charm and star-crossed lovers that made him such a boxoffice favorite. The film has strong moments where he does reclaim the old magic. But the picture wears out its welcome long before the final reel and fails to make the necessary tonal changes to include episodes of depression, murder and suicide in an otherwise lighthearted ode to the glories of romantic love.
The film's theatrical outlook is problematic. It actually is a cannibalization of the first two films in an apparently now-abandoned trilogy called Genre humain, or Human Kind. The first film, Les Parisiens, disappeared within a month of release, so Lelouch scrambled to save the project by pulling together footage from the two films to create the version that debuted here. Without having seen Les Parisiens, it is hard to say whether he has helped or harmed his cause. But Men and Women definitely jumps around among too many characters and subplots to diminishing audience involvement.
What emerges as the central romance or romantic triangle of the piece belongs a pair of street singers and the barmaid who falls for the male. Shaa (Maiwenn) is a vagabond and petty thief who spots Massimo (Italian pop singer/actor Massimo Ranieri) singing on the street one day. She seduces him into turning his act into a duo. In the best tradition of old Hollywood musicals, the two swiftly find success in a nightclub, where Anne (Mathilde Seigner) can't take her eyes off Massimo between serving cocktails.
A music impresario soon takes Shaa aside and offers her -- but not them -- a contract. Without a moment's thought, she dumps Massimo for a chance at stardom. Massimo goes into an emotional tailspin (while at the same time writing a great song about lost love), threatens suicide or a return to Italy before Anne rescues him and -- voila! -- he becomes a star and Shaa turns into such a flop that she is able to pen a mea culpa memoir that becomes -- yes, it does -- a best seller.
And that's only one of the stories in "Men and Women!"
Anne's identical twin (also Seigner, of course) works for a pizza-parlor magnate (Michel Leeb), an uneducated, self-made man who on whim marries a beautiful stage actress and sophisticated aristocrat (Arielle Dombasle). His wife eventually takes up a clandestine affair with the chauffeur (Yannick Soulier), who is really a thief. There's a police detective who dies of cancer early in the movie, so his wife can marry her lover, who works as a singer at the same nightclub where Anne works. Later, a movie director (Lelouch himself) shows up to buy rights to Shaa's memoir to turn it into a film starring Shaa and Massimo, and the movie threatens to start all over again.
So a million things are going on with different levels of reality, but weary viewers can be excused for no longer caring. If the characters would simply sit down with a glass of wine and talk to each other, half their problems would get solved. The exuberant, new wave style of early Lelouch, where the camera pirouettes all over the set, is, thankfully, gone. In its place, though, is this mad hopping among subplots so that the focus never stays on anything for too long.
As a pop stylist, Lelouch must confront the fact that for French moviegoers he has been eclipsed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Jean-Paul Salome (whose exotic Arsene Lupin plays in the festival). At one point in this move, Anne tells Massimo that most of his songs are "too old." One wonders whether Lelouch, when he wrote that line, winced a little.
MEN AND WOMEN
Les Films 13 in association with Canal Plus
Credits:
Director: Claude Lelouch
Writers: Claude Lelouch, Pierre Uytterhoeven
Producers: Jean-Paul De Vidas, Claude Lelouch
Director of photography: Gerard de Battista
Production designer: Francois Chauvaud
Music: Francis Lai
Costumes: Karine Serrano
Editor: Stephane Mazalaigue
Cast:
Massimo: Massimo Ranieri
Shaa: Maiwenn
Clementine/Anne: Mathilde Seigner
Sabine Duchemin: Arielle Dombasle
Michael Gorkini: Michel Leeb
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 128 minutes...
- 4/12/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARIS -- Organizers of the Deauville Festival of American Cinema said Thursday that the event will open with a French film -- Le Genre Humain -- 1: Les Parisiens, the first installment of Claude Lelouch's Genre Humain (Humankind) trilogy -- for the first time in the festival's 30-year history. Humain will screen out of competition at the festival, which runs Sept. 3-12. Lelouch, who heads the festival's jury, offered the film for its world premiere as a special 30th birthday gift, organizers said. The 35 million ($43.2 million) trilogy, funded almost entirely by Lelouch, has been almost 35 years in the making. Organizers said they are honored to unspool its first part. About the foibles of male-female relationships, Les Parisiens stars Massimo Ranieri, Mathilde Seigner, Arielle Dombasle. Lelouch plays himself in the film, and his partner, Alessandra Martines, and some of his seven children also have roles.
- 8/19/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARIS -- Organizers of the Deauville Festival of American Cinema said Thursday that the event will open with a French film -- Le Genre Humain -- 1: Les Parisiens, the first installment of Claude Lelouch's Genre Humain (Humankind) trilogy -- for the first time in the festival's 30-year history. Humain will screen out of competition at the festival, which runs Sept. 3-12. Lelouch, who heads the festival's jury, offered the film for its world premiere as a special 30th birthday gift, organizers said. The 35 million ($43.2 million) trilogy, funded almost entirely by Lelouch, has been almost 35 years in the making. Organizers said they are honored to unspool its first part. About the foibles of male-female relationships, Les Parisiens stars Massimo Ranieri, Mathilde Seigner, Arielle Dombasle. Lelouch plays himself in the film, and his partner, Alessandra Martines, and some of his seven children also have roles.
- 8/19/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Les Ames Fortes" (Savage Souls) marks veteran Chilean director Raoul Ruiz's second cinematic outing with the work of one of France's literary greats. First it was Proust's "Time Regained". Now he tackles an adaptation of a novel by the lesser-known Jean Giono.
"Les Ames Fortes" was the closing movie at this year's Cannes film festival where it failed to impress. It seems to have had a similar effect on French audiences: The film has racked up not much more than 200,000 admissions to date.
It's easy to see why. This a faltering and confused tale based on the story of a young servant girl, Therese, played by supermodel Laetitia Casta.
At the age of 22, Therese runs away with her fiance, Firmin (Frederic Diefanthal), to a small town where she marries, finds work and settles down to start a family. While pregnant with her first child, she meets the rich and mysterious Madame Numance (Arielle Dombasle), who takes an immediate and inexplicable shine to the young girl, setting her and her husband up in a small house.
Not content with making the most of this unexpected good fortune, Firmin hatches a plan to defraud Madame Numance and her husband (John Malkovich). As a result, M. Numance has a heart attack and dies while Mme. Numance leaves the small town without a trace. Therese blames her husband and has him murdered. And there the movie ends with the audience left guessing as to what the future holds for the enigmatic Therese.
Although quite a simple tale, the movie manages to come across as disjointed and complicated. Only the relationship between Therese and Firmin seems clear cut. Madame Numance and Therese gaze endlessly into each other's eyes, but the sparse dialogue gives the audience no clue as to the real nature of their relationship. The rapport between the Numances is equally hazy, at times loving, at times sadistic, at times baffling.
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect is why Ruiz chose Casta to play the lead role. She simply cannot hold her own in the presence of heavyweights like Malkovich and Dombasle. Where a more seasoned actresses could turn the lack of dialogue to her advantage, Casta merely draws into play a limited range of facial expressions.
Perhaps because of -- or in response to -- Casta's lack of experience, the others appear to overcompensate. Thus, Dombasle frequently slips into high drama, while Malkovich contrives to be more impenetrable and arch than usual.
Ruiz is known to be a director who defies convention and brings to his work more than a touch of the surreal. In this at least, "Savage Souls" can be said to be a success.
LES AMES FORTES
MDI Productions
Producers: Alain Mijani d'Inguimbert, Dimitri de Clercq, Marc de Lassus Saint-Genies
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Writers: Alexandre Astruc, Mitchell Hooper, Alain Majani d'Inguimbert, Alain
Neuhoff
Director of photography: Eric Gautier
Production designer: Bruno Beauge
Music: Jorge Arriagada
Costume designer: Marielle Robaut
Editor: Valerie Sarmiento
Stereo/color
Cast:
Therese: Laetitia Casta
Firmin: Frederic Diefenthal
Madame Numance: Arielle Dombasle
Monsieur Numance: John Malkovich
Reveillard: Charles Berling
Rampal: Johan Leysen
Minister: Christian Vadim
Mute man: Carlos Lopez III
Running time -- 120 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Les Ames Fortes" was the closing movie at this year's Cannes film festival where it failed to impress. It seems to have had a similar effect on French audiences: The film has racked up not much more than 200,000 admissions to date.
It's easy to see why. This a faltering and confused tale based on the story of a young servant girl, Therese, played by supermodel Laetitia Casta.
At the age of 22, Therese runs away with her fiance, Firmin (Frederic Diefanthal), to a small town where she marries, finds work and settles down to start a family. While pregnant with her first child, she meets the rich and mysterious Madame Numance (Arielle Dombasle), who takes an immediate and inexplicable shine to the young girl, setting her and her husband up in a small house.
Not content with making the most of this unexpected good fortune, Firmin hatches a plan to defraud Madame Numance and her husband (John Malkovich). As a result, M. Numance has a heart attack and dies while Mme. Numance leaves the small town without a trace. Therese blames her husband and has him murdered. And there the movie ends with the audience left guessing as to what the future holds for the enigmatic Therese.
Although quite a simple tale, the movie manages to come across as disjointed and complicated. Only the relationship between Therese and Firmin seems clear cut. Madame Numance and Therese gaze endlessly into each other's eyes, but the sparse dialogue gives the audience no clue as to the real nature of their relationship. The rapport between the Numances is equally hazy, at times loving, at times sadistic, at times baffling.
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect is why Ruiz chose Casta to play the lead role. She simply cannot hold her own in the presence of heavyweights like Malkovich and Dombasle. Where a more seasoned actresses could turn the lack of dialogue to her advantage, Casta merely draws into play a limited range of facial expressions.
Perhaps because of -- or in response to -- Casta's lack of experience, the others appear to overcompensate. Thus, Dombasle frequently slips into high drama, while Malkovich contrives to be more impenetrable and arch than usual.
Ruiz is known to be a director who defies convention and brings to his work more than a touch of the surreal. In this at least, "Savage Souls" can be said to be a success.
LES AMES FORTES
MDI Productions
Producers: Alain Mijani d'Inguimbert, Dimitri de Clercq, Marc de Lassus Saint-Genies
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Writers: Alexandre Astruc, Mitchell Hooper, Alain Majani d'Inguimbert, Alain
Neuhoff
Director of photography: Eric Gautier
Production designer: Bruno Beauge
Music: Jorge Arriagada
Costume designer: Marielle Robaut
Editor: Valerie Sarmiento
Stereo/color
Cast:
Therese: Laetitia Casta
Firmin: Frederic Diefenthal
Madame Numance: Arielle Dombasle
Monsieur Numance: John Malkovich
Reveillard: Charles Berling
Rampal: Johan Leysen
Minister: Christian Vadim
Mute man: Carlos Lopez III
Running time -- 120 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Les Ames Fortes" (Savage Souls) marks veteran Chilean director Raoul Ruiz's second cinematic outing with the work of one of France's literary greats. First it was Proust's "Time Regained". Now he tackles an adaptation of a novel by the lesser-known Jean Giono.
"Les Ames Fortes" was the closing movie at this year's Cannes film festival where it failed to impress. It seems to have had a similar effect on French audiences: The film has racked up not much more than 200,000 admissions to date.
It's easy to see why. This a faltering and confused tale based on the story of a young servant girl, Therese, played by supermodel Laetitia Casta.
At the age of 22, Therese runs away with her fiance, Firmin (Frederic Diefanthal), to a small town where she marries, finds work and settles down to start a family. While pregnant with her first child, she meets the rich and mysterious Madame Numance (Arielle Dombasle), who takes an immediate and inexplicable shine to the young girl, setting her and her husband up in a small house.
Not content with making the most of this unexpected good fortune, Firmin hatches a plan to defraud Madame Numance and her husband (John Malkovich). As a result, M. Numance has a heart attack and dies while Mme. Numance leaves the small town without a trace. Therese blames her husband and has him murdered. And there the movie ends with the audience left guessing as to what the future holds for the enigmatic Therese.
Although quite a simple tale, the movie manages to come across as disjointed and complicated. Only the relationship between Therese and Firmin seems clear cut. Madame Numance and Therese gaze endlessly into each other's eyes, but the sparse dialogue gives the audience no clue as to the real nature of their relationship. The rapport between the Numances is equally hazy, at times loving, at times sadistic, at times baffling.
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect is why Ruiz chose Casta to play the lead role. She simply cannot hold her own in the presence of heavyweights like Malkovich and Dombasle. Where a more seasoned actresses could turn the lack of dialogue to her advantage, Casta merely draws into play a limited range of facial expressions.
Perhaps because of -- or in response to -- Casta's lack of experience, the others appear to overcompensate. Thus, Dombasle frequently slips into high drama, while Malkovich contrives to be more impenetrable and arch than usual.
Ruiz is known to be a director who defies convention and brings to his work more than a touch of the surreal. In this at least, "Savage Souls" can be said to be a success.
LES AMES FORTES
MDI Productions
Producers: Alain Mijani d'Inguimbert, Dimitri de Clercq, Marc de Lassus Saint-Genies
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Writers: Alexandre Astruc, Mitchell Hooper, Alain Majani d'Inguimbert, Alain
Neuhoff
Director of photography: Eric Gautier
Production designer: Bruno Beauge
Music: Jorge Arriagada
Costume designer: Marielle Robaut
Editor: Valerie Sarmiento
Stereo/color
Cast:
Therese: Laetitia Casta
Firmin: Frederic Diefenthal
Madame Numance: Arielle Dombasle
Monsieur Numance: John Malkovich
Reveillard: Charles Berling
Rampal: Johan Leysen
Minister: Christian Vadim
Mute man: Carlos Lopez III
Running time -- 120 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Les Ames Fortes" was the closing movie at this year's Cannes film festival where it failed to impress. It seems to have had a similar effect on French audiences: The film has racked up not much more than 200,000 admissions to date.
It's easy to see why. This a faltering and confused tale based on the story of a young servant girl, Therese, played by supermodel Laetitia Casta.
At the age of 22, Therese runs away with her fiance, Firmin (Frederic Diefanthal), to a small town where she marries, finds work and settles down to start a family. While pregnant with her first child, she meets the rich and mysterious Madame Numance (Arielle Dombasle), who takes an immediate and inexplicable shine to the young girl, setting her and her husband up in a small house.
Not content with making the most of this unexpected good fortune, Firmin hatches a plan to defraud Madame Numance and her husband (John Malkovich). As a result, M. Numance has a heart attack and dies while Mme. Numance leaves the small town without a trace. Therese blames her husband and has him murdered. And there the movie ends with the audience left guessing as to what the future holds for the enigmatic Therese.
Although quite a simple tale, the movie manages to come across as disjointed and complicated. Only the relationship between Therese and Firmin seems clear cut. Madame Numance and Therese gaze endlessly into each other's eyes, but the sparse dialogue gives the audience no clue as to the real nature of their relationship. The rapport between the Numances is equally hazy, at times loving, at times sadistic, at times baffling.
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect is why Ruiz chose Casta to play the lead role. She simply cannot hold her own in the presence of heavyweights like Malkovich and Dombasle. Where a more seasoned actresses could turn the lack of dialogue to her advantage, Casta merely draws into play a limited range of facial expressions.
Perhaps because of -- or in response to -- Casta's lack of experience, the others appear to overcompensate. Thus, Dombasle frequently slips into high drama, while Malkovich contrives to be more impenetrable and arch than usual.
Ruiz is known to be a director who defies convention and brings to his work more than a touch of the surreal. In this at least, "Savage Souls" can be said to be a success.
LES AMES FORTES
MDI Productions
Producers: Alain Mijani d'Inguimbert, Dimitri de Clercq, Marc de Lassus Saint-Genies
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Writers: Alexandre Astruc, Mitchell Hooper, Alain Majani d'Inguimbert, Alain
Neuhoff
Director of photography: Eric Gautier
Production designer: Bruno Beauge
Music: Jorge Arriagada
Costume designer: Marielle Robaut
Editor: Valerie Sarmiento
Stereo/color
Cast:
Therese: Laetitia Casta
Firmin: Frederic Diefenthal
Madame Numance: Arielle Dombasle
Monsieur Numance: John Malkovich
Reveillard: Charles Berling
Rampal: Johan Leysen
Minister: Christian Vadim
Mute man: Carlos Lopez III
Running time -- 120 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 6/27/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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