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French Film Festival · 2018

French Film Festival 2018

Panorama Horizons

Programme

25 films · 6 reviews

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At War

Two years ago, the Perrin Industry Factory, 1100 employees, automotive supplier well known, affiliate to the German group Schäfer, signed an agreement asking to senior-managers and workers to accept a pay cut, in order to save the company in exchange of the promise to protect their jobs on at least the next five years. Today, the company takes the decision to close.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Stéphane Brizé; Writer: Stéphane Brizé; Stars: Vincent Lindon)

Belle and Sebastian, Friends for Life (Belle et Sébastien 3, Le dernier chapitre)

When his pup pal is kidnapped, Sebastian sets out in pursuit.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Clovis Cornillac; Writer: Juliette Sales, Fabien Suarez; Stars: Félix Bossuet, Tchéky Karyo, Clovis Cornillac, Thierry Neuvic, Margaux Chatelier, André Penvern, Anne Benoît, Lilou Fogli, Naëlle Thomas, Octave Bossuet, Olivier Bouana, Marty Berreby, Mateo Bourdon, Bernadette Chryssohoidis, Pierre Cognon)

Comfort And Consolation In France (Pour le réconfort)

After squandering their inheritance to siblings return to their ancestral estate and their childhood friends in the Loire Valley. Awaiting them is a tidal wave of pent-up resentment.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Vincent Macaigne; Writer: Vincent Macaigne; Stars: Pauline Lorillard, Pascal Rénéric, Emmanuel Matte, Laurent Papot, Joséphine de Meaux, Laure Calamy, Pauline Lorillard, Pascal Rénéric, Emmanuel Matte, Laurent Papot, Joséphine de Meaux, Laure Calamy)

Family Is Family (La Ch'tite Famille)

A furniture designer, who falsely claims he is an orphan, finds his past comes back to bite him when he suffers amnesia in an accident.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Dany Boon; Writer: Dany Boon, Sarah Kaminsky; Stars: Dany Boon, Line Renaud, Laurence Arné, Valérie Bonneton, Guy Lecluyse, François Berléand, Pierre Richard, Juliane Lepoureau, Stéphane Pezerat, Judi Beecher, Yan Tual, Arthur, Karina Beuthe Orr, Claire Chazal, Antonia de Rendinger)

The Freshmen (Première année)

Story of a couple of students in their first year at med school.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Thomas Lilti; Writer: Thomas Lilti; Stars: Vincent Lacoste, William Lebghil, Michel Lerousseau, Darina Al Joundi, Benoît Di Marco, Graziella Delerm, Guillaume Clérice, Alexandre Blazy, Noémi Silvania, Laurette Tessier, Adrien Schmück, Quitterie Boascals de Reals, Tiphaine Piovesan, Jeremy Corallo, Mehdi Amouri)

The House By The Sea (La Villa)

When three adult children of a dying man gather at his villa, they are forced to reflect on who they are.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Robert Guédiguian; Writer: Robert Guédiguian, Serge Valletti; Stars: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan, Jacques Boudet, Anaïs Demoustier, Robinson Stévenin, Yann Trégouët, Geneviève Mnich, Fred Ulysse, Diouc Koma, Haylana Bechir, Ayoub Oaued, Giani Roux, Esther Seignon)

The Image Book (Le Livre D'Image, The Picture Book)

Review preview for The Image Book

Elusively impenetrable stuff that only loosely can be described as cinema.

Richard Mowe · 1 out of 5
Nothing but silence. Nothing but a revolutionary song. A story in five chapters like the five fingers of a hand.

(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2018; Director: Jean-Luc Godard; Writer: Jean-Luc Godard)

Full review

Jealous

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos; Writer: David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos; Stars: Karin Viard, Dara Tombroff, Anne Dorval, Thibault de Montalembert, Bruno Todeschini, Marie-Julie Baup, Corentin Fila, Anaïs Demoustier, Xavier de Guillebon, Eva Lallier, Thérèse Roussel, Sreypeich Bensimon, Éric Frey, Fabio Crestale, Cédric Ben Abdallah)

The Lady In The Portrait (Le Portrait interdit)

Review preview for The Lady In The Portrait

This is an intelligent, sumptuous period piece, shining an intriguing light into the corners of the 18th-century Imperial Court of China.

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
An empress commissions a painting of herself from a French outsider and Jesuit priest in hopes of stirring her husband's interest in this lavish period piece.

(Country: China, France; Year: 2016; Director: Charles de Meaux; Writer: Michel Fessler, Charles de Meaux; Stars: Bingbing Fan, Melvil Poupaud, Yue Wu, Shih-Chieh King, Jue Huang, Thibault de Montalembert, Féodor Atkine, FeiFei Yao, Bingbing Fan, Melvil Poupaud, Yue Wu, Shih-Chieh King, Jue Huang, Thibault de Montalembert, Féodor Atkine)

Full review

Mrs Hyde (Madame Hyde)

Review preview for Mrs Hyde

Although we alight at many points of interest throughout the journey, we never stop long enough anywhere to explore.

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
After a teacher is struck by lightning, she discovers a powerful and dangerous alter ego.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Serge Bozon; Writer: Serge Bozon; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Romain Duris, Patricia Barzyk, José Garcia, Charlotte Véry)

Full review See: ‪Serge Bozon on Romain Duris, Bertolt Brecht, superheroes, and Mrs Hyde (Madame Hyde) , Isabelle Huppert in conversation on Mrs Hyde (Madame Hyde) , Interview with Serge Bozon about Mrs Hyde (Madame Hyde) and his First Encounter at the Quad Cinema

Naked Normandy (Normandie nue)

Comedy about a proud farming community who must put their grievances aside in order to save their village which is in crisis.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Philippe Le Guay; Writer: Victoria Bedos, Olivier Dazat, Philippe Le Guay; Stars: François Cluzet, François-Xavier Demaison, Julie-Anne Roth, Pili Groyne, Toby Jones, Vincent Regan, Colin Bates, Arthur Dupont, Daphné Dumons, Lucrèce Carmignac, Philippe Rebbot, Patrick d'Assumçao, Samuel Churin, Grégory Gadebois, Lucie Muratet)

One Nation, One King (Un peuple et son roi)

Story of the French Revolution from the perspective of ordinary citizens.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2018; Director: Pierre Schoeller; Writer: Pierre Schoeller; Stars: Gaspard Ulliel, Adèle Haenel, Olivier Gourmet, Louis Garrel, Izïa Higelin, Noémie Lvovsky, Céline Sallette, Denis Lavant, Johan Libéreau, Andrzej Chyra, Julia Artamonov, Laurent Lafitte, Stéphane De Groodt, Niels Schneider, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing)

Promise At Dawn (La Promesse de l'aube)

Tragic-comic story of Romain Gary, from his childhood in Poland to his adolescence in Niece through to training to be a war pilot and becoming a famous novelist.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2017; Director: Eric Barbier; Writer: Eric Barbier, Marie Eynard, Romain Gary; Stars: Pierre Niney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Didier Bourdon, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Catherine McCormack, Finnegan Oldfield, Pawel Puchalski, Némo Schiffman, Zoe Boyle, Lou Chauvain, Emiliano Suarez, Alberto Maneiro, Preciado Rodriguez, Katarzyna Skarzanka, Marta Klubowicz)

The Prayer (La prière)

In a remote community subject to a strict regimen in the French mountains, Thomas struggles to overcome his drug addiction.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Cédric Kahn; Stars: Anthony Bajon, Damien Chapelle, Alex Brendemühl, Louise Grinberg, Hanna Schygulla)

Rock'n Roll

Real-life couple Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard play themselves in this satirical comedy about a couple dealing with ageing in the limelight.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Guillaume Canet; Writer: Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Canet, Rodolphe Lauga, Rodolphe Lauga, Philippe Lefebvre, Philippe Lefebvre; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, Philippe Lefebvre, Gilles Lellouche, Camille Rowe, Kev Adams, Ben Foster, Maxim Nucci, Yarol Poupaud, Yvan Attal, Alain Attal, Johnny Hallyday, Laeticia Hallyday, Tifenn Michel-Borgey, Fabrice Lamy)

The Red Collar

Drama about the interrogation of a war prisoner.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Jean Becker; Writer: Jean Becker, Jean Becker, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Jean-Christophe Rufin, Jean-Christophe Rufin, Jean-Christophe Rufin; Stars: François Cluzet, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Sophie Verbeeck, Jean-Quentin Châtelain, Patrick Descamps, Tobias Nuytten-Vialle, Maurane, Gilles Vandeweerd, Roxane Arnal, Frans Boyer, Véronique Royer, Surho Sugaipov, François Cluzet, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Sophie Verbeeck)

Return Of The Hero (Le Retour Du Heros)

A swindler tries to take advantage of an aristocratic family after a captain goes missing in the war.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2018; Director: Laurent Tirard; Writer: Laurent Tirard, Grégoire Vigneron; Stars: Jean Dujardin, Mélanie Laurent, Noémie Merlant, Christophe Montenez, Evelyne Buyle, Christian Bujeau, Féodor Atkine, Fabienne Galula, Laurent Bateau, Jean-Michel Lahmi, Aurélie Boquien, Hugues Martel, Mathilde Roehrich, Christophe Clausier, Virgil Canteloup)

See You Up There (Au revoir là-haut)

November 1919. Two survivors of the trenches set up a scam based on war memorials.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Albert Dupontel; Writer: Albert Dupontel, based on the novel by Pierre Lemaitre; Stars: Albert Dupontel, Laurent Lafitte, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Niels Arestrup, Émilie Dequenne, Mélanie Thierry, Michel Vuillermoz, Frans Boyer, Nicolas de Lavergne, Philippe Duquesne, Grégoire Foessel, Carole Franck, Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus, Travis Kerschen, Kyan Khojandi)

A Season In France (Un Saison En France)

An African teacher flees his war-torn country for France, where he falls in love.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun; Stars: Sandrine Bonnaire, Eriq Ebouaney)

Sink Or Swim (Le Grand Bain)

Review preview for Sink Or Swim

The training sessions begin to pall - for the audience as much for the participants - but once the action moves to Norway, the pace and the scenery pick up considerably.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
A comedy drama about a male synchronised swimming team.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Gilles Lellouche; Writer: Gilles Lellouche; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Leïla Bekhti, Mathieu Amalric, Virginie Efira, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Benoît Poelvoorde, Marina Fois)

Full review

Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer Et Courir Vite)

Review preview for Sorry Angel

Honoré handles the strands with considerable agility and admirable lack of cliché or sentimentality employing camerawork that is clean and uncluttered.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
Two gay men struggle with love in the shadow of mortality.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Christophe Honore; Writer: Christophe Honore; Stars: Pierre Deladonchamps, Vincent Lacoste, Denis Podalydès)

Full review See: Christophe Honoré on sex in the Nineties, nudity, seduction and desire in Sorry Angel

To The Ends Of The World (Les Confins Du Monde)

Indochina-wars set drama about a young French soldier on a mission.

(Year: 2018; Director: Guillaume Nicloux; Writer: Jérôme Beaujour, Guillaume Nicloux; Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Kevin Janssens, Guillaume Gouix, Jonathan Couzinié, Lang Khê Tran, Anthony Paliotti, Vi Minh Paul, Gérard Depardieu, Kevin Janssens, Guillaume Gouix, Jonathan Couzinié, Lang Khê Tran, Anthony Paliotti, Vi Minh Paul)

The Trouble With You (En Liberté!)

A widow finds her life thrown into turmoil when she comes to realise that her police chief spouse wasn't quite the hero she thought.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Pierre Salvadori; Writer: Benjamin Charbit, Benoît Graffin, Pierre Salvadori; Stars: Adèle Haenel, Pio Marmaï, Audrey Tautou, Vincent Elbaz, Damien Bonnard, Hocine Choutri, Christophe Tek, Octave Bossuet, Norbert Ferrer, Emmy Stevenin, Martin Pautard, Adèle Haenel, Pio Marmaï, Audrey Tautou, Vincent Elbaz)

When Margaux Meets Margaux (La Belle Et La Belle)

A woman in two stages of her life - as she reaches adulthood and as she enters middle age.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Sophie Fillières; Writer: Sophie Fillières; Stars: Sandrine Kiberlain, Agathe Bonitzer, Melvil Poupaud, Lucie Desclozeaux, Laurent Bateau, Théo Cholbi, Anthony Paliotti, Florence Muller, Aurélie Dupont, Brigitte Roüan, François Deblock, Christophe Odent, Victor Assié, Smadi Wolfman, Raphaël Kahn)

Woman Up! (Numéro une, Number One)

Review preview for Woman Up!

There's a certain degree of decompression in its storytelling, and a willingness to jump in time and space, and though the two are strong there's a weird sense that these are the highlights and story beats of a much longer television drama.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
An ambitious woman treads a dangerous path as she attempts to crash the corporate boys’ club.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Tonie Marshall; Writer: Raphaëlle Bacqué, Marion Doussot, Tonie Marshall; Stars: Emmanuelle Devos, Suzanne Clément, Richard Berry)

Full review