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French Film Festival · 2021

French Film Festival 2021

Panorama

Programme

16 films · 7 reviews

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Another World

Drama about an executive manager, his wife and his family, at the moment when his professional choices are about to overwhelm them all.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Stéphane Brizé; Writer: Stéphane Brizé, Olivier Gorce; Stars: Anthony Bajon, Marie Drucker, Sandrine Kiberlain, Vincent Lindon, Anthony Bajon, Marie Drucker, Sandrine Kiberlain, Vincent Lindon)

Deception (Tromperie)

Review preview for Deception

Desplechin eases us into the goings-on without sacrificing any of Roth’s complicated and thorny subject matter.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
An American novelist living for a time in London converses with his wife, his mistress, and other female characters he may have dreamed up.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Arnaud Desplechin; Writer: Arnaud Desplechin and Julie Peyr, based on the book by Philip Roth; Stars: Denis Podalydès, Léa Seydoux, Emmanuelle Devos, Anouk Grinberg, Miglen Mirtchev, Rebecca Marder, Madalina Constantin)

Full review See: Arnaud Desplechin in conversation on Denis Podalydès and Emmanuelle Devos in Deception (Tromperie), Janet Hobhouse and Philip Roth , Arnaud Desplechin on Deception and a call from Philip Roth

Delicious (Delicieux)

Historic tale of romance and revenge as a sacked cook open's France's first restaurant.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Éric Besnard; Writer: Éric Besnard, Nicolas Boukhrief; Stars: Grégory Gadebois, Isabelle Carré, Benjamin Lavernhe, Guillaume de Tonquédec, Christian Bouillette, Lorenzo Lefèbvre, Marie-Julie Baup, Laurent Bateau, Manon Combes, Félix Fournier, Christophe Rossignon, François De Brauer, Jérémy Lopez, Antoine Gouy, Benjamin Lhommas)

The Divide (La Fracture)

Review preview for The Divide

Corsini agilely combines elements of cinéma verité and farce.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
Two women on the verge of a breakup, in a hospital, are further stressed on the night of a big demonstration by the overwhelmed staff and by angry, injured protestors who land up besieging the building.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Catherine Corsini; Writer: Catherine Corsini, Agnès Feuvre, Laurette Polmanss; Stars: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Marina Foïs, Pio Marmaï, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h)

Full review

Eugénie Grandet

A woman is set on a collision course with her avaricious father in this historic classic.

(Country: France, UK, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Marc Dugain; Writer: Marc Dugain, Honoré de Balzac; Stars: Joséphine Japy, Olivier Gourmet, Valérie Bonneton, César Domboy, François Marthouret, Nathalie Bécue, Bruno Raffaelli, Jean Chevalier, Philippe du Janerand, Pierre-Olivier Scotto, Anne-Marie Philipe, Alexandre Laval, Philippe Dusseau, Olivier Massart, Michel Bompoil)

Fahim

Forced to flee his native Bangladesh, eight-year-old chess prodigy Fahim arrives in Paris with his father. Refused asylum, as illegal immigrants they spiral downwards into homelessness and desperation before they have a stroke of luck.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Pierre-François Martin-Laval; Writer: Thibault Vanhulle, Philippe Elno, Fahim Mohammad; Stars: Assad Ahmed, Gérard Depardieu, Mizanur Rahaman, Isabelle Nanty, Sarah Touffic Othman-Schmitt, Victor Herroux, Tiago Toubi, Alexandre Naud, Pierre Gommé, Axel Keravec, Didier Flamand, Pierre-François Martin-Laval, Sabrina Uddin, Mougdo Mishti Das, Tapati Munsi)

France (On A Half Clear Morning)

Review preview for France

France is a supremely sad film, maybe the saddest Dumont has made in its interplay of the true and the fake.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A TV journalist's career, home life, and psychological stability are shaken after a driving accident.

(Country: France, Italy, Germany, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Bruno Dumont; Writer: Bruno Dumont; Stars: Léa Seydoux, Blanche Gardin, Benjamin Biolay, Emanuele Arioli, Juliane Köhler, Gaëtan Amiel, Jewad Zemmar, Marc Bettinelli)

Full review

I Want to Talk About Duras

Review preview for I Want to Talk About Duras

Swann Arlaud as Yann Andréa and Emmanuelle Devos as Michèle Manceaux give tremendous performances that circle around discoveries of deep personal truths.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Portrait of the complex romantic relationship between epochal experimental novelist and filmmaker Marguerite Duras and her much younger, homosexual partner, Yann Andréa.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Claire Simon; Writer: Claire Simon, based on the book by Yann Andréa; Stars: Emmanuelle Devos, Swann Arlaud)

Full review

Kaamelott: First Chapter (Kaamelott: First Installment)

King Arthur spoof.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Alexandre Astier; Writer: Alexandre Astier; Stars: Alexandre Astier, Lionnel Astier, Antoine de Caunes, Alain Chabat, Christian Clavier, Clovis Cornillac, Thomas Cousseau, Guillaume Gallienne, Anne Girouard, Jean-Christophe Hembert, Franck Pitiot, François Rollin, Joëlle Sevilla, Sting, Sakir Uyar)

Lingui (Lingui, The Sacred Bonds)

30-year-old Amina, a practicing Muslim, lives alone with her only child, the 15-year-old Maria. When Amina learns Maria is not only pregnant but wishes to abort the child, the two women face an impossible situation in a country where abortion is legally and morally condemned.

(Country: France, Germany, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun; Writer: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)

OSS 117: From Africa With Love

Spy spoof sees the secret agent forced to team up with a young colleague.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Nicolas Bedos; Writer: Jean Bruce, Jean-François Halin; Stars: Jean Dujardin, Pierre Niney, Melodie Casta, Natacha Lindinger, Wladimir Yordanoff, Fatou N'Diaye, Pol White, Ricky Tribord, Hersi Abdirizak)

Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades)

Review preview for Paris, 13th District

Audiard captures the fluid nature of relationships for a younger generation navigating both on and offline opportunities and, because this is French, it also features plenty of gracefully worked sexual encounters.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Émilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. Three girls and a boy - They're friends, sometimes lovers and often both.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Jacques Audiard; Writer: Jacques Audiard, Léa Mysius, Céline Sciamma; Stars: Noémie Merlant, Stephen Manas, Geneviève Doang, Lumina Wang)

Full review See: Lucie Zhang on intimacy and acting techniques in Paris, 13th District , Love and sex in lockdown - Jacques Audiard on Paris 13th District

Peaceful (De Son Vivant)

A doctor tries to bring a mother and son to acceptance of the mother's illness.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Emmanuelle Bercot; Writer: Emmanuelle Bercot, Marcia Romano; Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Benoît Magimel, Gabriel Sara, Cécile de France, Oscar Morgan, Lou Lampros, Melissa George, Julie Arnold, M.D. Gabriel A. Sara, Catherine Deneuve, Benoît Magimel, Gabriel Sara, Cécile de France, Oscar Morgan, Lou Lampros)

Petite Maman

Review preview for Petite Maman

The autumn setting fits it perfectly, because although this is the change of the year as things die back for winter, it is also blazing with colour and hopefulness.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Something magical happens to a young girl after the death of her grandma.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Céline Sciamma; Writer: Céline Sciamma; Stars: Gabrielle Sanz, Joséphine Sanz, Nina Meurisse, Stéphane Varupenne, Margot Abascal,)

Full review

The Restless (Les Intranquilles, De Peur qu'Il Ne Sauve)

Review preview for The Restless

Lafosse makes excellent choices with his editor Marie-Hélène Dozo (long-time collaborator of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) in what is shown on screen and what is left out for us to fill in.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A family struggles with the father's bipolar disorder.

(Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg; Year: 2021; Director: Joachim Lafosse; Writer: Lou Du Pontavice, Juliette Goudot, Pablo Guarise, Joachim Lafosse, Chloé Leonil, Anne-Lise Morin, François Pirot; Stars: Damien Bonnard, Leïla Bekhti, Gabriel Merz Chammah Patrick Descamps, Alexandre Gavras)

Full review

Spread Your Wings (Donne moi des ailes)

A sulky teenager finds himself unexpectedly involved in his father's project to train a flock of geese to take a new migration path.

(Country: France, Norway; Year: 2019; Director: Nicolas Vanier; Writer: Lilou Fogli, Lilou Fogli, Christian Moullec, Matthieu Petit, Nicolas Vanier, Nicolas Vanier; Stars: Jean-Paul Rouve, Mélanie Doutey, Louis Vazquez, Lilou Fogli, Frédéric Saurel, Grégori Baquet, Dominique Pinon, Ariane Pirié, Philippe Magnan, Cédric Meusburger, Jean-Paul Rouve, Mélanie Doutey, Louis Vazquez, Lilou Fogli, Frédéric Saurel)