Bangkok Cinema Scene special: French Film Festival, June 19-July 1, 2009
Part of the annual French cultural festival La Fête, the sixth annual French Film Festival at SFW CentralWorld offers Thailand premieres of the best of contemporary French cinema.
The films are the hits from France's cinema halls, prize winners at the festivals and the Cesar awards, the "French Oscars". The variety includes action (Largo Winch), adventure (Captain Ahab), family drama, historic film, biopic (Public Enemy #1, Séraphine), romantic comedy (Modern Love) and animation (Fear(s) of the Dark).
The fest opens at 6.30 Thursday night with an invitation-only screening of Largo Winch, an action thriller based on a graphic novel. French director Jerome Salle and actor Tomer Sisley will be present for the by-invitation-only screening at SFW CentralWorld.
After its screenings at the French Film Festival, Largo Winch will get a limited commercial run at SFW CentralWorld.
Unless otherwise noted, the films have English subtitles only.
Tickets are 100 baht or 500 baht for a limited-edition six-ticket package. Call (02) 268 8888 or see the Le Fete website or www.sfcinemacity.com. Here's the festival line-up:
Largo Winch
With neither family nor ties, Largo Winch -- maverick ladykiller, adventurer, rebel and fighter -- finds himself, aged 26, at the head of a global business empire. Based on the graphic novel by Philippe Francq and Jean Van Hamme and directed by Jérôme Salle, it stars Tomer Sisley, was was named Best Male Newcomer at last year's Étoiles d'Or awards. Also stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Miki Manojlovic, Mélanie Thierry, Gilbert Melki and Anne Consigny. Salle and Sisley will be present to Q&A sessions. Screens at 8pm on Friday, June 19 and 6.45pm on Saturday, June 20. With English and Thai subtitles.
On the Ropes (Dans les cordes)
Former French boxing champion Magaly Richard-Serrano directs this 2007 drama about a family of boxers. Joseph (Richard Anconina) manages a gym where he trains his daughter and niece. Boxing is everything for this threesome. Their tempo of life is ordered to this rhythm, a rhythm that Joseph’s wife Térésa (Maria de Medeiros) detests. The defeat of one of the two girls throws the survival of the club into peril and shatters the family’s equilibrium. And the bond between Joseph's daughter and niece (Louise Szpindel and Stéphanie Sokolinski) is tested by a dangerous rivalry. Screens at 1.45pm on Saturday, June 20, and 8pm on Monday, June 29.
I’ve Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime)
Kristin Scott Thomas stars as Juliette, a convict who is released from prison after 15 years. She's reject her family, but her younger sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) takes her in. Slowly, Juliette opens up and begins sharing life with Léa's husband Luc (Serge Hazanavicius) their two young daughters, and Luc's father. Directed by Philippe Claudel, this won the César for the Best First Film in 2009. It was also a nominee for best actress at the Césars and Golden Globes for Kristin Scott Thomas and won a BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, as well as jury prizes at the Berlin Film Festival and the popular award at the Vancouver fest. Screens at 4.20pm Saturday, June 20 and 8pm Tuesday, June 23.
Public Enemy #1 (parts 1 and 2) (L'ennemi public n° 1)
Vincent Cassel leads an all-star cast in this epic adaptation of the life story of Jacques Mesrine, a gangster who was known as "public enemy number one" for his repeated crimes. Directed by Jean-Francois Richet, it also stars Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche, Roy Dupuis, Elena Anaya, Florence Thomassin, Michel Duchaussoy, Myriam Boyer, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric, Samuel Le Bihan, Gérard Lanvin, Olivier Gourmet, Georges Wilson, Michel Duchaussoy, Anne Consigny. It won the César 2009 for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Sound. Part 1 screens at 9.30pm on Saturday, June 20 and part 2 is at 8.30pm on Sunday, June 21. With Thai and English subtitles.
Fear(s) of the dark (Peur(s) du noir)
Six graphic novelists and animators scratch on paper with their pencils sharpened like scalpels, erasing all colors so as to only retain the harshness of light and the black ink of shadow. Their six interweaving stories compose a unique fresco where phobias, repulsions and dreams spring to life, showing fear in its blackest light. The directors are Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Richard McGuire, Lorenzo Mattotti. This 2007 film has screened at the Roma International Film Festival, Sundance, Rotterdam, LA, London FrightFest and Austin's Fantastic Fest. Screens at 11.45am Sunday, June 21, 8pm Thursday, June 25, and 4.20 on Sunday, June 28.
This 2008 romantic comedy has three intertwining stories. Eric (Pierre-François Martin-Laval) loves Anne (Mélanie Bernier) but gets together again with Marie (Clotilde Courau), his ex, and starts dreaming of a second chance. Elsa (Bérénice Bejo), after promising herself from now on to only get involved with her Ideal Man, encounters Jerome (Stéphane Debac) and starts thinking he's that special person. And then there's Vincent and Marianne (Stéphane Rousseau and Alexandra Lamy), who have nothing in common and yet everything to get along just fine. Stéphane Kazandijan directs. Screens at 1.45pm on Sunday, June 21, 8pm Friday, June 26 and noon Sunday, June 28.
All About Actresses (Le bal des actrices)
Coming from a family of artists, Maïwenn le Besco entered the world of cinema at the tender age of 5. When she was 15 , she met the director Luc Besson and was cast as Blond Babe in Léon in 1994 and The Fifth Element playing Diva Plavalaguna. She directed her first short film I'm an Actrice in which her daughter played the leading role. Maïwenn also scripted the film Le pois chiche (2002). Later she was seen with Claude Lelouch in Les parisiens (2004) and Le courage d'aimer (2005). Her documentary is about actresses of all kinds: popular stars, the unknown, intellectual, comic and forgotten. Features Jeanne Balibar, Romane Bohringer, Julie Depardieu, Mélanie Doutey, Marina Foïs, Estelle Lefébure, Linh Dan Pham, Charlotte Rampling, Muriel Robin, Karin Viard, Joey Starr and Nicolas Briançon. Screens at 3.45pm Sunday, June 21, and 6.20pm Sunday, June 28.
Yolande Moreau stars in this acclaimed biographical drama on the life of painter Séraphine de Senlis, a poor and mentally ill housekeeper inhabited by an incredible talent. Ulrich Tukur also stars as German art collector Wilhelm Uhde, who accidentally discovers one of Séraphine's paintings. He hopes to make her famous, but World War I forces him to flee the country. Ten years later, Udhe finds his protégée destitute but still painting, but the Great Depression forces him to delay his plans for her a second time, precipitating Séraphine’s descent into madness. Directed by Martin Provost, Séraphine won seven César awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress for Yolande Moreau. Screens at 6pm Sunday, June 21 and 2.15pm Saturday, June 27.
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (Le premier jour du reste de ta vie)
Marie-Jeanne (Zabou Breitman) and Robert Duval (Jacques Gamblin) have three children: Albert (Pio Marmaï), Raphael (Marc-André Grondin) and Fleur (Déborah François). This portrait of a family consists of five particular days during a 12-year period -- five days more important than the last, after which nothing will ever be the same the following day. Written and directed by Rémi Bezançon. Won César 2009 for Most Promising Actor and Most Promising Actress (Marc-André Grondin) and Déborah François) and Best Editing. Screens at 8pm on Monday, June 22 and 4.45pm on Saturday, June 27.
This 2008 drama about a homeless man (Guillaume Depardieu) and child who bond while living in the woods that surround the place of Versailles. Directed by Pierre Schöller, this premiered in the Un certain Regard competition of the Cannes Film Festival and won a Best First Work award at the Étoiles d'Or. Screens at 8pm Wednesday, June 24 and 2pm Sunday, June 28.
Philippe Ramos invents a back story for Herman Melville's obsessive peg-legged whaling-ship captain. Following the young orphan through a series of adventures that, in the words of The Hollywood Reporter are "more Mark Twain than Herman Melville", he grows and seizes the oceans, becomes a frightening captain and meets a dazzling white whale. Stars Jean-François Stévenin as the young Ahab and Denis Lavant as the adult captain. It won the Locarno International Festival Critic’s Prize in 2007 and was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2008. Screens at noon Saturday, June 27 and 8pm Tuesday, June 30.
Those Who Remain (Ceux qui restent)
Bertrand and Lorraine are those who stay. They are those who pace the corridors and ask themselves forbidden questions, get picked up at the newspaper seller's kiosk, talk too much in the cafeteria and smoke on the sly on the roof of this hospital where their partners are receiving care. Because, to cope with the guilt of being well and truly alive, Bertrand and Lorraine (Vincent Lindon and Emmanuelle Devos) have decided to help each other live, laugh, and continue to love. Written and directed by Anne Le Ny this 2007 drama was a César nominee for Best Actor, Best First Work and best original screenplay. Screens at 7.10pm Saturday, June 27 and 8pm Wednesday, July 1.
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