An engaged but apolitical nurse gets involved in a far-right political party. Based on numerous recent events in France, it becomes about how Front National operates and how it is perceived by the French.
After a 10 year absence, Jean returns to his hometown when his father falls ill. Reuniting with his sister Juliette and his brother Jérémie, they have to re-build their relationship and trust as a family again.
Patients is the story of a rebirth, a chaotic journey of victories and defeats, tears and bursts of laughter, but above all encounters: we do not heal alone.
Directors:
Mehdi Idir,
Grand Corps Malade
Stars:
Pablo Pauly,
Soufiane Guerrab,
Moussa Mansaly
Bénédicte Meursault, a female firefighter, has just been transferred to a small fire brigade in the South of France. She is welcomed by Philippe, 45, the wise captain of the brigade. Soon ... See full summary »
When 45 year old widower Erwan discovers by accident that the man who raised him isn't his real dad, he begins a search for his biological father. He soon locates the mischievous, 70 ... See full summary »
Director:
Carine Tardieu
Stars:
François Damiens,
Cécile de France,
Guy Marchand
In the early 1920s, Georges Laffont, traumatized by the horrific trench warfar, decides to leave his life behind and travel to West Africa into the vast territories of Upper Volta in the ... See full summary »
Zahira, 18, is close to her family until her parents ask her to follow Pakistani tradition to choose a husband. Torn between family customs and her western lifestyle, the young woman turns for help to her brother and confidant Amir.
Director:
Stephan Streker
Stars:
Lina El Arabi,
Sébastien Houbani,
Babak Karimi
Juliette's problem is that she is totally incapable of making up her mind about anything. So even at 40, she still asks her father and her two best friends to choose everything for her. ... See full summary »
Director:
Eric Lavaine
Stars:
Alexandra Lamy,
Arnaud Ducret,
Jamie Bamber
Irène Frachon, a doctor who lives in the Breton town of Brest, dares to stand up to the French health and pharmaceutical industry, helping to uncover the media scandal surrounding the ... See full summary »
Director:
Emmanuelle Bercot
Stars:
Sidse Babett Knudsen,
Benoît Magimel,
Charlotte Laemmel
Clément, a young philosophy teacher from Paris is sent to Arras for a year. He meets Jennifer, a pretty hair-stylist, who becomes his lover. They're free in their hearts and bodies and ... See full summary »
An engaged but apolitical nurse gets involved in a far-right political party. Based on numerous recent events in France, it becomes about how Front National operates and how it is perceived by the French.
Following the released of the trailer, Catherine Jacob received a lot of insult for taking part of the project, playing a character close to Marine Le Pen. She declared : "I was very protected by Lucas Belvaux (director) and my manager who received a lot of insults towards me but they didn't show me anything. There is stupid people on both side : some insulted me for mocking Le Pen, some others insulted me, because they though I was joining the Front National ! All that based on a 2 minutes trailer." See more »
Contemporary "Our land first" issues proficiently packaged in dramatized documentary, nicely showcasing all pro/con arguments and still offering edible drama
Seen at the Rotterdam film festival 2017 (website: www.iffr.com/en), where it was part of the Big Screen Award competition. It is a documentary in the good sense of the word, showcasing all sides and pro/con arguments, in a dramatized way, such that we can remember all the relevant issues better. Nevertheless, it still offers edible human drama and a consistent story line.
At the same time we obtain an insightful picture how difficult it is to keep your hands clean when getting involved in politics, and how sneaky it can happen that you alienate family and friends by taking a stance where nuances are bound to get lost in translation. This is especially the case when the party line takes over, needed some of the time in the interest of the greater good (they say), and to keep their long-term goals upright (they say). A candidate running for office may thus seem to change into a mere puppet on a string, hiding her own opinion where that may differ from the official program of the party she represents.
What we also see here are the side effects on her family and relationships. None of them are prepared to be thoroughly screened. Most notable are the cases of her father, who was a former communist, and her lover who is (in secret) a member of sort of a "security force" (mind the quotes). Her children are forewarned that remarks against their mother are bound to be made, and that they better ignore them. Also, while still working as a nurse before she was elected and loved by everyone, she suddenly was not welcome anymore in some of the areas where she worked before.
All the different plot lines are mixed together and combine splendidly into the overall story. Her daily work as a nurse is portrayed very well too, also showing how things change after her face appeared on TV and she became sort of tainted. Of course, nothing of what is presented in this movie is new or unexpected, but the showcase is still interesting and remains relevant nowadays. I like this category of documentaries, much better than the ones where a scholarly voice-over tells us what we should think.
All in all, a good overview of pro/con arguments around "Our land first" issues in combination with hatred against all foreign elements, be it fugitives from abroad, people with a different (non-Christian) religion, or any lifestyle out of the ordinary. I gave the maximum score 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue, as many others must have done, because it ranked 19th (out of 172 movies) with an average score of 4.306 (out or 5).
7 of 13 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Seen at the Rotterdam film festival 2017 (website: www.iffr.com/en), where it was part of the Big Screen Award competition. It is a documentary in the good sense of the word, showcasing all sides and pro/con arguments, in a dramatized way, such that we can remember all the relevant issues better. Nevertheless, it still offers edible human drama and a consistent story line.
At the same time we obtain an insightful picture how difficult it is to keep your hands clean when getting involved in politics, and how sneaky it can happen that you alienate family and friends by taking a stance where nuances are bound to get lost in translation. This is especially the case when the party line takes over, needed some of the time in the interest of the greater good (they say), and to keep their long-term goals upright (they say). A candidate running for office may thus seem to change into a mere puppet on a string, hiding her own opinion where that may differ from the official program of the party she represents.
What we also see here are the side effects on her family and relationships. None of them are prepared to be thoroughly screened. Most notable are the cases of her father, who was a former communist, and her lover who is (in secret) a member of sort of a "security force" (mind the quotes). Her children are forewarned that remarks against their mother are bound to be made, and that they better ignore them. Also, while still working as a nurse before she was elected and loved by everyone, she suddenly was not welcome anymore in some of the areas where she worked before.
All the different plot lines are mixed together and combine splendidly into the overall story. Her daily work as a nurse is portrayed very well too, also showing how things change after her face appeared on TV and she became sort of tainted. Of course, nothing of what is presented in this movie is new or unexpected, but the showcase is still interesting and remains relevant nowadays. I like this category of documentaries, much better than the ones where a scholarly voice-over tells us what we should think.
All in all, a good overview of pro/con arguments around "Our land first" issues in combination with hatred against all foreign elements, be it fugitives from abroad, people with a different (non-Christian) religion, or any lifestyle out of the ordinary. I gave the maximum score 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue, as many others must have done, because it ranked 19th (out of 172 movies) with an average score of 4.306 (out or 5).