Quelques jours en septembre (2006)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Santiago Amigorena

Writer:

Santiago Amigorena (writer)

Release Date:

6 September 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | War

Plot:

September the 1st, 2001. Elliot, an American C.I.A. agent holding top secret information on the immediate future of the world...

Plot Keywords:

United States | Assassin | Poetry | Sniper | Paris France

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Juliette Binoche	...	Irène Montano
John Turturro	...	William Pound
Sara Forestier	...	Orlando
Tom Riley	...	David
Nick Nolte	...	Elliott
Mathieu Demy	...	Le jeune banquier
Saïd Amadis	...	Le vieux banquier
Magne Brekke	...	Igor Zyberski (as Magne-Havard Brekke)
Joël Lefrançois	...	Le concierge de l'hôtel
Alexis Galmot	...	Le serveur
Jean-Luc Lucas	...	Le contrôleur
Roberto Moro	...	Le gardien du palais
Julien Husson	...	L'homme à la cigarette

Also Known As:

A Few Days in September (International: English title)
Alcuni giorni in settembre (Italy)
Alguns Dias em Setembro (Portugal)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

Italy | France | Portugal

Language:

English | French | Italian | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Norway:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Gémini Films

Quotes:

David: You don't like Americans, do you?
Orlando: No.
David: Why?
Irène Montano: Because her dad likes poetry, she hates poetry. Because her dad's American, she hates Americans.
David: The fact that her dad's American can't be the only reason why she hates us all.
Orlando: You want other reasons?
David: Yeah.
Orlando: Because you've got short legs. Because you like Schwarzenegger. Because you take care of your body as if it was a machine, and of your head as if it was a tomato. Because you think you have to save mankind. And surprise, what's supposed to be good for mankind, first, and foremost, is good for you. Enough? Or do you want more?
Irène Montano: Wow. Congratulations. David and I bet you never say more than three words.
David: You've left out a few other reasons. Um, you can hate us because we eat bland food. Because we're always afraid we're gonna be sick. Because we are against abortion, but for the death penalty. Because we never have sex. And because half of us... well almost half of us, voted for George doubla-vee Bush. But you see, for me, the fact that the French have a stuupid president never prevented me from loving them.
[...]

A Compelling Drama

Reviewers talk quirky, but offering a different view of an event in September 2001 has to take a roundabout journey to give space for us to rethink events we regard as given. This is not about what the old generation can teach the new - it's about the shifting power balance in the world, a confidence that is about to slip like a picture gone out of focus, a few days before September 11. Through a glass darkly, we feel the imminent change about to happen, the jockeying for position between old, new and confused, but the viewers' foreknowledge gives the plot line extra significance and meaning that would make it otherwise a spy chase thriller and not much more. How often do you see on modern films the kinds of discussions that are in this film? A European perspective, a new kind of world, where even the chauvinist French drive German cars,and the American Empire is given twenty years to live. More films need to be made that explore the truth, separate the paranoid from the conspiratorial, the kooky from the careful look. This films does the latter - thanks to masterful casting and,ahem,unorthodox execution. Binoche has given a sophisticated performance.