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LISTS / 2012 FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL AUSTRALIA
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OMAR M'A TUER - OMAR KILLED ME
DIRECTOR : Roschdy Zem
CAST : Sami Bouajila, Denis Podalydes
A compelling dramatization of a famous crime that took place in Mougins (north of France) in 1991. Sixty-five year-old Ghislaine Marchal was found stabbed and beaten to death in her comfortable villa, located in an affluent suburb north of Cannes. Chief amongst the clues was a grammatically incorrect inscription which roughly translated as “Omar Kill me”, written in her blood and seemingly incriminating her gardener, Omar, a poorly educated Moroccan immigrant. Despite the fact that Omar had an alibi and many questioned why an educated woman would write her last words, even under dire circumstances, with such poor grammar, the authorities were keen to put the case to rest and an illiterate immigrant proved an all-too easy suspect.
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TOUTES NOS ENVIES - ALL OUR DESIRES
DIRECTOR : Philippe Lioret
CAST : Vincent Lindon, Marie Gillain, Amandine Dewasmes, Yannick Rénier
Coco Avant Chanel’s Marie Gillain stars as Claire, a 30-year-old judge at Lyon magistrates’ court who, despite battling incredible personal odds, becomes locked in a fight for justice for citizens impacted by the unscrupulous practices of the financial services industry. Her plight piques the interest of disenchanted colleague Stéphane (Vincent Lindon), who becomes drawn into the case. Something emerges between them: a mixture of rebellion, outrage, and above all an urgent need to live life to
the fullest.
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MA PART DU GÂTEAU - MY PIECE OF THE PIE
DIRECTOR : Cédric Klapisch
CAST : Karin Viard, Gilles Lellouche
Two worlds collide in this contemporary drama from Cédric Klapisch (L’Auberge Espagnole). Working-class single mother France (Karin Viard) finds herself at a crossroads when she loses her job when the local factory closes following a corporate merger. With few prospects in her small seaside town, she moves to Paris and secures a position as a housekeeper for Steve (Gilles Lellouche) - a handsome and successful businessman who leads a lavish lifestyle in Paris - and soon finds herself looking after his young son. But there is more to Steve than meets the eye. What really lies behind his bravado?
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LE CHAT DU RABBIN - THE RABBI’S CAT
DIRECTOR : Joann Sfar & Antoine Delesvaux
CAST : François Morel, Maurice Bénichou, Hafsia Herzi, Jean-Pierre Kalfon
Against a bright visual backdrop of Algeria circa 1930, the film tells the tale of a quick-witted kitty (François Morel), the pet of local rabbi (Maurice Bénichou) and his daughter Zlabya (Hafsia Herzi), who learns to speak after swallowing the family parrot. His owners are shocked by his gift of speech, not to mention his desire to convert to Judaism and his request for a bar mitzvah! Through the adventures of this satirical loud-mouthed cat, Sfar brings together three volumes of the original comic. It is packed with creative humour and provocative questioning of religion, addressing themes of Jewish identity on both an individual and wider socio-political level |
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LA CONQUÊTE - THE CONQUEST
DIRECTOR : Xavier Durringer
CAST : Denis Podalydès, Florence Pernel, Bernard Le Coq, Hippolyte Girardot
Flashing back and forth between Sarkozy’s victory and his five years of struggle leading up to this point, Durringer divides the film into two strands. One involves the breakdown of his marriage to Cécilia (Florence Pernel), who has grown to despise politics subsequently becoming distraught by the state of their lives, which she compares to a reality television show. The second strand reveals his struggle for respect within the Union for a Popular Movement as he is competing with power-hungry peers. This is a unique look into the life of a man who ultimately gains power, but in the process loses his wife.
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PATER - PATER
DIRECTOR : Alain Cavalier
CAST : Alain Cavalier, Vincent Lindon, Bernard Bureau
Vincent Lindon and Alain Cavalier star in this verbose and witty postmodern satire.
The boundaries between fiction and reality are blurred as their fictional relationship runs parallel to their actual relationship. The two men don their power suits and ties and make the film they’ve always dreamed of. Cavalier plays a version of himself, who is beginning to work on a film in which he will play the President of France. Lindon also plays a version of himself, who is preparing to play a politician who will be prime minister. The two men share a father-to-son bond, with Cavalier articulating a sense that he will soon be supplanted by his younger successor.
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LE FILS À JO - JO’S BOY
DIRECTOR : Philippe Guillard
CAST : Gérard Lanvin, Olivier Marchal, Vincent Moscato, Jérémie Duvall
Grandson of a rugby legend, son of a rugby legend and himself a rugby legend, Jo Canavaro (Gérard Lanvin) is raising his thirteen year-old son, Tom, on his own in a small village in the southwest of France. Much to Jo’s disappointment, Tom is as good in math as he is bad on a rugby field. For Jo, the family legend cannot end now, even if it means starting a rugby team just for Tom... despite the opposition of the entire village... and even that of his own son!
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UN BAISER PAPILLON - BUTTERFLY KISS
DIRECTOR : Karine Silla Perez
CAST : Valeria Golino, Elsa Zylberstein, Vincent Perez, Cécile de France, Gérard Depardieu
Focusing on three Parisian households, BUTTERFLY KISS examines the bonds of friendship and family when strained by illness and the oft trying demands of day-to-day life. From the impact that cancer can place upon a tight-knit family unit, to the love of a mother for her son, to the discord between a husband and wife when one yearns for a child and the other doesn’t, this moving, yet at times joyous, film weaves a compelling tapestry as we experience the high and lows of ordinary people who cope with life’s travails as best they can.
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J’AIME REGARDER LES FILLES - 18 YEARS OLD AND RISING
DIRECTOR : Frédéric Louf
CAST : Pierre Niney, Audrey Bastien, Lou de Laâge
It’s the eve of 10 May, 1981. Mitterand’s election has the nation divided. Primo meets Gabrielle. They are both 18. She is from bourgeois Parisian family. He is the son of a provincial florist. Blown away by Gabrielle and her entourage of pretty girlfriends, Primo decides he must invent a new identity for himself. Compensationg for his empty pockets with a grand imagination and a teaspoon of audacity, Primo pretends that he too is a rich right-winger. Will his stunt win him a place in Gabrielle’s heart?
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