French Rendez-Vous 2022

For the first time in three years, The Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival in March at Lincoln Center in New York City had screenings with live appearances from major French filmmakers. In 2020, international travel was curtailed due to covid. My last night there was the night New York’s cultural attractions closed. Last year, Rendez-Vous was virtual.

Juliette Binoche at Opening Night of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

The opening film “Fire” (“Avec amour et acharnement”) was introduced by its director Claire Denis (“Beau Travail”) and lead actress Juliette Binoche. Denis’ visual artistry and intense performances from Binoche and Vincent Lindon bring a vitality to this film about a romantic triangle. Binoche and Lindon portray lovers whose life is thrown into turmoil when Binoche’s former partner (Grégoire Colin) and friend of Lindon returns into their lives. The continued fervor of the lead performances makes the title (called “Both Sides of the Blade” outside the US) quite appropriate.  

Claire Denis at Opening Night of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

Also at the opening night was director Jim Jarmusch, Rendez-Vous Special Guest. Jarmusch said France “practically invented cinema”. Claire Denis had been assistant director on his 1986 “Down by Law”. Jarmusch said Denis was “like my sister”. Jarmusch also introduced a screening of the 1954 “Touchez pas au grisbi” chosen by him.

Jim Jarmusch at Opening Night of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

Besides Denis, more of France’s major directors appeared to discuss their latest films at Rendez-Vous. After the screening of “Paris, 13th District” (“Les Olympiades, Paris 13e”) Jacques Audiard (“A Prophet”, “Dheepan”) spoke about his adaptation of a graphic novel into film. The simple plot of passionate couplings between young Parisians is enhanced by striking B&W photographic images. Lucie Zhang makes an impression as a young woman who becomes involved with her first roommate.

Jacques Audiard at Rendez-Vous

Under Arnaud Desplechin’s (“A Christmas Tale”) staging the actors perform with emotional range, including occasional wit, in “Deception” (“Tromperie”), his film version of Philip Roth’s novel. A novelist Philip (Denis Podalydès) converses with his married lover (Léa Seydoux, “No Time to Die”) and thinks back on the women in his life. Seydoux is a particularly potent presence. Scenes of the writer and a former partner (Emmanuelle Devos) are extremely poignant. The actors and Desplechin’s camera work help this conversation-based film maintain interest. At a post-screening discussion, Desplechin said that because of covid delays of other films, he was able to get the in-demand Léa Seydoux for this film.

Arnaud Desplechinat Rendez-Vous

Mathieu Amalric who had acted in French and international films like “The French Dispatch” also has a career as a director. Amalric was at Rendez-Vous with Vicky Krieps (“The Phantom Thread”), lead actress of his latest directorial effort “Hold Me Tight” (“Serre moi fort”). Krieps gives a superb performance of emotional depth as a woman who leaves her family at the beginning of the film. Director Amalric and Krieps keep the film intriguing, even when unsure of the film’s reality.

Mathieu Amalric at Rendez-Vous

Rendez-Vous also showed films from celebrated filmmakers not in attendance. “Everything Went Fine” (“Tout s’est bien passé”), is the latest from François Ozon (“Summer of ‘85”) who has worked in a wide variety of genres. This film is a deeply moving drama of the emotional and legal consequences when a father, after a stroke, asks his daughter to assist in his suicide. As the father and his daughters, André Dussollier, Sophie Marceau and Géraldine Pailhas give superior performances as does Charlotte Rampling as Dussollier’s chilly wife. The film skillfully includes some unexpected humor.

Vicky Krieps at Rendez-Vous

“Rise”, (“En corps”) from Cédric Klapisch (“L’Auberge espagnole”) is a compelling film about a ballerina whose life is radically changed when she has a serious injury on stage after discovering her partner is unfaithful. Real life ballet dancer Marion Barbeau is effective as the lead. Another audience pleaser from Klapisch, “Rise” received the Rendez-Vous Audience Award.

“Guermantes”, written and directed by Christophe Honoré (“Love Songs”), was the one misfire I saw at Rendez-Vous. When Honoré’s stage-directed production of Marcel Proust’s “The Guermantes Way” was cancelled, the troupe still worked together, documented in his film. Without insights on how the group’s behavior follows the Proust original, the film is just a rambling, empty collection of scenes without any insight into the troupe members.

“Lost Illusions” (“Illusions perdues”) was the finest of the eighteen films I saw at Rendez-Vous. This adaptation of the Balzac novel is masterful and vibrant cinematic storytelling from from director Xavier Giannoli who co-wrote the screenplay. Lucien, an idealistic young poet (Benjamin Voisin) moves to Paris inspired to write a novel, but his life takes a different turn when he meets a worldly editor (Vincent Lacoste). He becomes part of a cynical world where favorable theatre reviews require bribes, and the audience cheers or boos go to the highest bidder.

“Lost Illusions”

Giannoli keeps the film at a brisk pace. The terrific ensemble includes Gérard Depardieu as a publisher who can neither read nor write. Giannoli makes this Balzac adaptation, set in the 1820s seem relevant in this current era of “fake news” and “alternative facts”. The film received seven Cesars, the French Oscars, including Best Film, Male Newcomer (Voisin), and Supporting Actor (Lacoste).

Juliette Binoche also appeared with “Between Two Worlds” (“Le Quai de Ouistreham“), another highlight. Binoche is exceptional in this film, based on events. She portrays a writer who goes undercover to study the conditions of cleaning women. The film conveys the extremely grueling work as the writer joins a crew that must quickly clean a ferry in a brief stopover time. without being observed. The writer becomes conflicted after she becomes confidante of a woman in the cleaning crew as she continues her deception to write about her fellow workers, adding poignancy to this enthralling film.

Juliette Binoche at Rendez-Vous

“Anaïs in Love” (“Les Amours d’Anaïs”) is an enjoyable film of a young woman rushing through life. She’s attempting to finish her thesis and is quick to change partners until she’s drawn to an unexpected choice.

“A Tale of Love and Desire” (“Une histoire d’amour et de désir”) which received audience honorable mention was the best of the French films on l’amour. In this “Tale”, very well-written by director Leyla Bouzid, two very different students of Arab descent meet at the Sorbonne and are drawn to each other. Ahmed (Sami Outalbali) comes from a conservative background while Farah (Zbeida Belhajamor) is free-spirited. As Ahmed learns about sensual Arab poetry, he starts to question his beliefs, leading to tension in his relationship with Farah, making for a very absorbing drama.

Leyla Bouzid at Rendez-Vous

The variety of film subjects continued. Good performances in “Robust” (Robuste”) make this formulaic film about a temperamental actor (Gérard Depardieu) and his new security guard (and amateur female wrestler) (Déborah Lukumuena) engaging. “Authentik” (“Suprêmes”) was a vivid recreation of the time when rap duo Joey Starr and Kool Shen attracted attention and controversary.

Déborah Lukumuena at Rendez-Vous

“Our Men” is a strong, well-acted drama on soldiers in the French Foreign Legion sent on dangerous foreign assignments and the stress on their families from their repeated absences. The cast is led by Louis Garrel (“The Dreamers”) and Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent”) as an often-separated couple. Writer-director Rachel Lang has a background as an officer in the French army reserves.

“Secret Name” (“La Place d’une autre”) is a fascinating film about identity in which a prostitute turned nurse (Lyna Khoudri, “The French Dispatch”) during WWI takes the place of a woman she believes is dead (Maud Wyler) who was going to live with a wealthy woman. Suspense builds with an unexpected appearance. Khoudri and Wyler give notable performances as does Sabine Azéma as the aging aristocrat.

Future blogs will cover the French films in more detail, along with comments from the filmmakers.

Telluride 48: “Bergman Island”

Mia Hansen-Løve, the French director and writer of “Bergman Island”, who was not present at Telluride, left a message that the film was “so personal” and that she made it in English to open the “door to fiction”. Like her film’s major character, Hansen-Løve was in a relationship with a director, Olivier Assayas (“Personal Shopper”).

Tony (Tim Roth, “Pulp Fiction”) and Chris (Vicki Krieps, “Phantom Thread”), married filmmakers, arrive on the island of Fårö for some public events and to work on future projects. Fårö was the home of Ingmar Bergman, my favorite director, and location where many of his masterpieces were filmed, starting with “Through a Glass Darkly” (1961).

Vicki Krieps and Time Roth in “Bergman Island”

Tony and Chris will be sleeping in the bed used in Bergman’s “Scenes from a Marriage”, the film, a guide tells them, was the cause of millions of divorces. When she hears that Bergman had 9 children from 6 women. Chris ponders if a woman could have as extensive a career as Bergman. Bergman is described “as cruel in art as in life”.

“Bergman Island” is enthralling. The spirit of Ingmar Bergman suffuses the film as the artistic couple, extremely well played in contrasting characterizations by Roth and Krieps, react differently to the surroundings. Tony, the more established filmmaker, remains comfortable in his public appearances. Chris finds the natural beauty of the island “oppressive’ and reconsiders her life and her current project which is giving her some difficulty.

Vicki Krieps and Time Roth in “Bergman Island”

The film has some sly humor as theorizing critics turn tourist when visiting sites from Bergman films. At a gift shop, Chris purchases a copy of the sunglasses Bibi Andersson wore in “Persona”.

Hansen-Løve brings her unique and intriguing twist to the themes inspired by the visit to the island where Bergman lived and worked. She imagines her ongoing project, a sequence with Mia Wasikowska (“Crimson Peak”) and Anders Danielsen Lie (“Reprise”) in which the characters ponder loving more than one person at a time.

Mia Wasikowska and Anders Danielsen Lie in “Bergman Island”

Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island” is lighter in tone and with more warmth than the masterworks that took place on the island that inspired this film.

Rendez-Vous 2021: 4 New French Films

This was the first year in a long time that I was not in New York City in March for the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema film festival at Lincoln Center which was virtual this year. My final night in New York for last year’s Rendez-Vous was the date when most things closed due to covid.

Of the 18 Rendez-Vous selections, the finest was “Faithful” (“De nos frères blesses”), based on true events. After meeting in Paris, Fernand Iveton (Vincent Lacoste) brings his Polish wife Hélène (Vicky Krieps) back to Algeria in the 1950s. Fernand is a pied-noir, a Frenchman born in Algeria. With revolutionary fervor, Fernand becomes involved with the Algerian resistance for independence with increasingly dangerous clandestine activities that put Fernand and his marriage at risk.  

Vicky Krieps in “Faithful”

Lacoste and Krieps have a strong chemistry in this extremely compelling look at the conflict of faithfulness to both relationships and political beliefs. Director Hélier Cisterne skillfully keeps the film focused on both the personal and political, and the film remains both poignant and gripping.

In a virtual post-film discussion, director Hélier Cisterne who co-wrote the screenplay said “Faithful” was adapted from a novel based on true facts in which the political commitment of Fernand Iveton spoiled his love story. Cisterne added that he it was a privilege to film in the real location of Algiers.

Vincent Lacoste in “Faithful”

A highlight of Rendez-Vous was the first film in 10 years by Emmanuelle Béart, one of France’s finest actresses, as well as a special virtual interview on her career. Emmanuelle Béart’s appearances will be covered in a future blog.

Two films gave new vitality to stories of athletes in different positions in their careers. “Slalom” builds in tension as a ski instructor (Jérémie Renier) puts increasing pressure on his most promising teenage recruit (Noée Abita). The film becomes a chilling study of manipulation and domination. Abita and Renier are extremely effective. The impressively shot skiing scenes capture the extreme velocity of competition. The film is shown in virtual platforms.

Jérémie Renier and Noée Abita in “Slalom”

In a virtual interview, Charlène Favier, director/co-writer, said that the film is inspired by her experiences as a teenager when she appeared in some ski competitions. She described “Slalom” as taking place at the “end of childhood” when one has to learn “how to say no”. Favier said she learned that to respect oneself is “a big responsibility”.

“Final Set” (“Cinquième set“) becomes a compelling film about Thomas, a 37-year-old tennis player, feeling the effects of aging, as he faces an important qualifying match. Alex Lutz is superb as the aging player who has never fulfilled his youthful promise.

Alex Lutz in

Director Quentin Reynaud builds up acute suspense in tournament sequences, with close-ups of the physical toil like blisters on the player’s hands. Thomas remains determined not to give up on tennis competition. Lutz’s face intensely conveys stress, pain, and sometimes elation. Notable in supporting performances are Ana Girardot as the player’s wife and Kristin Scott Thomas as the frank mother with whom the aging player is in frequent conflict.

Director Quentin Reynaud who also wrote the screenplay and lead actor Alex Lutz joined in a virtual discussion on the film. “Final Set” is Reynaud’s first film as solo director. He said he wanted to make a film about “What do you do when you are finished at 37?” He believes tennis is “underrepresented in cinema”. He said that in a singles tennis match (as in the film), a player is “alone” and “can’t blame anyone else for losing”.

 

Alex Lutz, who had appeared in a 2016 film Reynaud co-wrote and co-directed, said he was “overwhelmed” and “touched” after he read the screenplay which he described as having “precision”. Lutz added that an expert guided him through training for the physical scenes.

Reynaud said that the expressiveness of Lutz’s face reminded him of Buster Keaton and Peter Sellers. Lutz compared “Final Set” to a fresco, adding that the intimate portrait of a man in a family situation gives universal value to the cinematic fresco. 

“Spring Blossom” (“Seize printemps”) was a pleasant surprise. In her film debut, 20-year-old Suzanne Lindon, as writer/director/actress, has made an appealing film on a teenage girl, bored with her daily routine. At a party, Suzanne (Lindon) ranks all the local boys as a “5”. She meets an actor (Arnaud Valois) in his mid-thirties outside a local theater. They connect as he also feels in a routine from continually performing the same role on stage.

Suzanne Lindon in “Spring Blossom”

Lindon brings deep feeling to the growing relationship between the two. Lindon and Valois have a good chemistry. Lindon cleverly adds common physical movements between the two characters to emphasize their close rapport. The film also develops the warm relationship of the teenager with her parents. Lindon accomplishes a lot in the short running time. The film is in theaters and streaming.

In a virtual interview Suzanne Lindon said she wrote “Spring Blossom” when she was 15 in high school. She described the film as inspired by life, as she was not comfortable in the daily routine and more interested in fantasies. She added that she wanted to show that someone very young can feel the same as someone older.

Arnaud Valois and Suzanne Lindon in “Spring Blossom”

Lindon described feeling “very free” to create her own story and trusted her filmmaking team. Also reflecting her life, she felt it was important to show that when a teenager, parents can be nice, care about and listen, so you don’t have to rebel. Lindon is the daughter of French actors Sandrine Kiberlain and Vincent Lindon.

Lindon added that when she was 11 or 12 she saw “A Nos Amours” (1983), from Maurice Pialat, about Suzanne, a young woman portrayed by Sandrine Bonnaire. After this, she wanted to be an actress.

More French films will be discussed in future blogs.