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This series is presented by
The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Unifrance Film,
The French Film Office/Unifrance Film USA, together with The French Cultural Services. With the support of the Florence Gould Foundation and additonal support from Air France and L.V.T. (Laser Video Titles).
Thanks to Catherine Verret-Vimont, Antoine Khalife, Maria Manthoulis
and the French Cultural Services for making this program possible.
March is the month in which passionate Francophiles and lovers of French
cinema make their way to the Walter Reade Theater to be regaled with some of the best recent films from a country synonymous with groundbreaking film art. In 1996, Rendez-Vous introduced A Single Girl and its director to New York audiences; among the highlights of last year’s program was Jacques Doillon’s Ponette, recently named "Best Foreign Language Film" by the New York Film Critics’ Circle. This year, we’ll see
the return of Benoît Jacquot with his new film SEVENTH HEAVEN, featuring a
splendid performance by Sandrine Kiberlain; and the arrival of Robert Guédiguian with his film MARIUS ET JEANNETTE, which was named "Best Film" at the Lumières of Paris ceremony by the foreign press association based in Paris. Indeed, the work of many of the new generation of actors and actresses who are redefining and renewing French cinema will be in evidence--Josiane Balasko, Emma de Caunes, Jackie Berroyer, Charles Berling, Romane Bohringer, Didier Bourdon and Bernard Campan--as well as that of some of France’s best-loved stars: Michel Piccoli who is coming as actor and director of his first film, Miou-Miou, and the incomparable Catherine Deneuve.
The following directors have confirmed that they will attend the festival:
Benoît Jacquot, Didier Bourdon, Jean-François Richet, Anne Fontaine,
Christian Vincent, Robert Guédiguian, Josiane Balasko, and Michel Piccoli.
Note: all films are subtitled in English.
program notes and times
THE BET / LE PARI
Didier Bourdon & Bernard Campan, 1997; 100 minutes
Imagine--a French comedy about the hilarious horrors of giving up smoking! During dinner at the home of their wives' parents, two chain-smoking brothers-in-law (Bourdon and Campan, France's favorite comic duo) who detest each other on every front--politically, socially, economically--wager they can give up the filthy weed for two weeks. Needless to say, the fallout from this fatal bet--binges of eating and exercising, manic-depressive mood swings, marital discord--has a profound effect on these one-time enemies, who become comrades-in-arms and, finally, infantalized members of an anti-tobacco cult.
Friday, March 13: 2 and 9 pm
Saturday, March 14: 6:15 pm
Sunday, March 15: 4:15 pm
MARIUS ET JEANNETTE
Robert Guédiguian, 1997; 102 minutes
Recently chosen as "Best French Film of the Year" by the Foreign Press in Paris.
A keenly observant social comedy that's been compared in France to Renoir and Pagnol, MARIUS ET JEANNETTE is the story of two unlikely lovers--both in their 40s--who slowly come together to forge a relationship. Marius guards a cement factory about to be demolished, while Jeannette labors as a supermarket cashier in order to support her two children. Their neighbors, when not commenting on politics or the state of French newspapers, attentively follow the ups and downs of the budding romance, offering advice when necessary (or not). Guédiguian brilliantly captures the texture of working-class life in Marseilles, neither sentimentalizing nor condescending to his characters.
Friday, March 13: 6:30 pm
Saturday, March 14: 4 pm
WHAT DO YOU SEE IN ME? /
JE NE VOIS PAS CE QU'ON ME TROUVE
Christian Vincent, 1997; 95 minutes
Pierre, a popular comedian, is invited back to his home town in the north of France (the butt of many of his jokes) for a tribute at the local cultural center. Giving interviews, revisiting old haunts and being presented as the "local boy who made good" to high school students gradually forces him to confront the choices he's made, to relive certain emotions as well as to ponder the sources and the meaning of his comedy. Jackie Berroyer, seen last in Pascal Bonitzer's Encore, gives a remarkable, beautifully shaded performance as Pierre.
Sunday, March 15:
2 pm
Tuesday, March 17:
2 and 8:45 pm
GENEALOGIES
OF A CRIME /
GENEALOGIES D'UN CRIME
Raoul Ruiz, 1997;
113 minutes
While the effervescent wit of Raoul Ruiz plays (havoc) with double identities, free will and psychoanalysis, Catherine Deneuve commands center stage in a coldly glamorous double role, and Michel Piccoli is at his eccentric best as a nutty psychiatrist. René (Melvil Poupaud) has been raised by his aunt (Deneuve as shrink), who comes to believe that her ward has the potential to be a homicidal killer. Accordingly, she makes him her permanent patient. Years later, auntie is murdered and not surprisingly, René is charged with the crime. His lawyer (Deneuve again) must deal with Georges Didier's (Piccoli as shrink) claims that he was eyewitness to the crime--which occurred during a kinky encounter-group session right out of de Sade. Ruiz teases us with the complicated nature of narrative, suggesting at one point that the compulsion to tell stories may be a disease! Buñuel and Hitchcock would have loved this provocative cinematic puzzle. (Edited from 1997 San Francisco International Film Festival program)
Saturday, March 14: 8:45 pm
Sunday, March 15: 6:30 pm
Thursday, March 19: 2 & 6:30 pm
MA 6-T VA CRACK-ER
Jean-François Richet, 1997; 105 minutes
"A celluloid time bomb." -- Variety
"A brash, black-and-white film about ultra-violent gang kids in the suburbs of Paris that has been compared to Mathiew Kassovitz's La Haine and the vision of Spike Lee. The cast is headed by newcomers Jean-Marie Robert, Malik Zeggou and Arco Descat C. (Richet's cousin, who also co-wrote the script based on his own experiences in the projects). Richet loves swooning, circular camera shots that catch brief fragments of dialogue and expression--in his hands, MA 6-T VA CRACK-ER becomes an intensely cinematic blur of hip-hop energy, climaxing in an apocalyptic and strangely beautiful parking-lot shoot-out. Sam Peckinpah meets Public Enemy."--Amerian Cinematheque
Sunday, March 15:
9 pm
Tuesday, March 17: 4:15 pm
Wednesday, March 18: 8:30 pm
A BIG SCREAM OF LOVE /
UN GRAND
CRI D'AMOUR
Josiane Balasko, 1998; 90 minutes
Fifteen years ago, Gigi (Josiane Balasko) and Hugo (Richard Berry) were the toast of the French stage and screen; since then, Hugo has continued as a major star, whereas Gigi has sunk into a haze of alcohol and depression. But when Hugo's co-star for his next play abruptly withdraws from the project, the producers--faced with financial ruin--come up with the idea to use this opportunity to stage the reunion of Hugo and Gigi. Only one problem: they hate each other, and haven't spoken for years. Known for her patented style of no-holds-barred comedy, actor/director Balasko (Gazon Maudit) brings a sense of malevolent glee to this acid send-up of "show people."
Tuesday, March 17: 6:30 pm
Wednesday, March 18:
2 and 6:15 pm
A BROTHER / UN FRÈRE
Sylvie Verheyde, 1997; 90 minutes
Verheyde's feature film debut authentically captures the terrors and tensions of growing up in a sterile environment that offers little in the way of a future. Emma de Caunes is simply superb as Sophie, a girl in her late teens, whose life is utterly entwined with that of her charismatic brother Loïc (Jeannick Gravelines)--so much so, they often look like lovers. When Sophie strikes out on her own, falling in love with one of Loïc's friends, her "spurned" brother blocks her bid for independence and maturity. Toronto International Film Festival's Piers Handling described BROTHER as "by turns dark and triumphant, troubling and transcendent, illuminated by searing performances...."
Friday, March 13: 4:15 pm
Wednesday, March 18: 4 pm
Thursday, March 19: 9 pm
BAT OUT OF HELL /
J'IRAI AU PARADIS CAR L'ENFER EST ICI
Xavier Durringer, 1997; 115 minutes
"I wanted to do a life of St. Francis of Assisi set in a contemporary world of the mob. St. Francis
. . . lived through wars, was thrown into prison, was brought before the court by his father, and finally met St. Claire. I wanted to relate all that, show the fighting, the horror, the clan rivalries, and stop at the point when St. Francis becomes aware of his situation. St. Francis would be what, today? The son of a real estate agent with fancy cars, and his battles would be internecine." -- Xavier Durringer
The wild young son of a prominent crime boss pulls off his first hit, and becomes embroiled in a deadly war with a rival mob, headed by a mysterious warlord driven by a very personal vendetta. Guarded by a young henchman named Rufin, François dives into an underworld of crime, punishment and, surprisingly, love.
Thursday, March 19: 4:15 pm
Sunday, March 22: 4:15 pm
Monday, March 23:
2 pm
ALORS VOILA
Michel Piccoli, 1997; 93 minutes
A longtime giant of international cinema--from Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (1963) and Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour (1967) to Léos Carax's Bad Blood (1985) and Raoul Ruiz's GENEALOGIES
OF A CRIME (1997)--master actor Michel Piccoli makes an amazing directorial debut with this intensely mystical/comical celebration of a rather mysterious patriarch and his colorful clan. Joker, passionate lover of life, stern parent, Constantin keeps a close eye on his three sons' families--especially his grandchildren, accomplices in his many schemes. An energizing encounter with folks who relate to each other violently, brutally, tenderly, ferociously--and always with embracing love.
Friday, March 20:
2 and 6:30 pm
Saturday, March 21:
4 pm
DRY CLEANING / NETTOYAGE A SEC
Anne Fontaine, 1997; 97 minutes
Best Screenplay,
Venice Film Festival
The respectable owners of a dry-cleaning establishment have spent their married lives working hard, so taking an evening off to go to a local nightclub doesn't seem a dangerous thing. But the show--featuring an extravagantly costumed cross-dressing couple--hits some crucial nerve in both Jean-Marie (Charles Berling) and Nicole (Miou-Miou). Taking up with the young, unabashed hedonists, the dry-cleaners embark on a risky journey into sexual experimentation. With wonderfully nuanced performances by all the actors--especially Miou-Miou's.
Friday, March 20:
4:15 and 8:45 pm
Saturday, March 21: 8:45 pm
SEVENTH HEAVEN / LE SEPTIEME CIEL
Benoît Jacquot, 1997; 91 minutes
When we first meet Mathilde, she is in crisis: shoplifting, fainting for no reason, AWOL from her job, she is an enigma to her loving husband Nico--a surgeon more at home in the world of clinically defined illness. When a mysterious doctor suggests hypnosis as a solution, Mathilde's state of mind begins to improve--but Nico then falls into a major funk! In this delicately expressed portrait of marital power dynamics, Jacquot documents the sad, funny, romantic dance of two lovers growing in different directions, each at a different pace--in order to rediscover each other.
Saturday, March 21: 6:30 pm
Sunday, March 22: 2 pm
Monday, March 23: 4:15 pm
REPRISE
Hervé Le Roux, 1997; 195 minutes
On June 10, 1968, students of the Parisian film school IDHEC recorded the end of the strike at the Wonder Factory in Saint-Ouen. A young woman worker refused to go back to work. After director Le Roux saw a picture of her in a film magazine, he began a long search for this "heroine," a search which charts the changes in French radical politics over the last 30 years. A sensation in France, where audiences often engaged in heated debates after the film, REPRISE offers a provocative evaluation of the tumultuous and by now mythical events of "May 1968" and their aftermath.
Sunday, March 22:
6:45 pm
Tuesday, March 24:
2 and 6:30 pm
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