Villa Amalia

Seems that lately I have been choosing to watch films where female protagonists leave everything behind to start a “new life”. First was Nothing Personal and now Villa Amalia. Is someone sending me a message? (LOL!) Anyway this Benoît Jacquot film couldn’t be more different than the Irish film as not only is a great example of what I can call very-very French cinema but the lead character is played by none other than Isabelle Huppert.

Film tells about Ann (Huppert) that what she sees in one night detonates not only the rupture of her love life but also propels a decision that as you get to know her story and circumstances you will totally understand why she does what she does. This is a story that explores themes of identity and fugue. Yes Ann leaves her live-in boyfriend, her successful concert pianist and composer career, and her possessions to search for a new meaning for her life. Not totally willingly helped by Georges -a childhood friend she re-encounters in that one night- she ends up at the island of Ischia in Italy.

This is a film with what some have called “gay subtext” because Georges ‘seems’ gay as well as Ann meets Giulia and she ends up sharing her bed. But I believe is not subtext as I was able to clearly see that Georges is gay and it was very clear what happened to Ann with Giulia. In a sense I regret that the treatment to the lesbian interest moments was so superficial, but if I take into account Jacquot storytelling technique absolutely understand why he chose to do those moments the way he did them.

As always extraordinary performance by Isabelle Huppert that more than with words is with her body language and facial expressions that make you feel all kind of emotions that range from numbness to total sympathy for whatever the character is doing, feeling or living. As a movie has good cinematography, slow pace, many extraordinary silences (most notably during Ann’s last visit to her mother), is full of narratives ellipses plus truncated conversations which transmits fracture and makes the storytelling technique quite extraordinary.

I liked the film for the story, great performance by Huppert and her co protagonists, and beautiful sights of the Italian island; but most of all I liked for Jacquot narrative and visual storytelling technique and as such I do recommend it to those that enjoy great –but very particular- French cinema. Also I don’t recommend the movie to those that enjoy the lesbian or gay interest genre as absolutely is not the ‘normal’ genre film; still is important to share that the film has been in the European LGTB fest circuit, so some maybe dare to give the film a try.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

63rd Locarno Film Festival Award Winners

Just a few minutes ago winners were announced and here they are as published in the official fest site.

Golden Leopard: Han Jia (Winter Vacation), Li Hong qi, China (Watch film excerpt @ Storyteller facebook wall, link in first column)

Special Jury Prize: Morgen, Marian Crisan, Romania, France and Hungary

Best Director: Denis Côté for Curling, Canada

Leopard for Best Actress: Jasna Duric in Beli Beli Svet (White White World), Oleg Novkovic, Serbia, Germany and Sweden
Leopard for Best Actor: Emmanuel Bilodeau in Curling, Denis Cote, Canada

Filmmakers of the Present

Golden Leopard: Paraboles (The Art of Speaking), Emmanuelle Demoris, France (documentary)
Special CineCinema Jury Prize: Foreign Parts, Verena Paravel and JP Sniadecki, USA and France
Special Mention: Ivory Tower, Adam Traynor Canada and Frace

Best First Film: Foreign Parts, Verena Paravel and JP Sniadecki, USA and France
Special Mention: Aardvark, Kitao Sakurai, USA and Argentina

FIPRESCI Award: Han Jia (Winter Vacation), Li Hong qi, China
Special Mention: Karamay, Xu Xin, China

Ecumenical Jury Award: Morgen, Marian Crisan, Romania, France and Hungary
Arte & Essai CICAE: Beli Beli Svet (White White World), Oleg Novkovic, Serbia, Germany and Sweden
FICC/IFFS Award: Morgen, Marian Crisan, Romania, France and Hungary

Variety Piazza Grande Award: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, Jalmari Helander, Finland, Norway, France and Sweden.

Audience Award: The Human Resources Manager, Eran Riklis, Israel, Germany and France

Settimana della Critica Award: Reindeer Spotting - Escape from Santaland, Joonas Neuvonen, Finland
Special Mentions
Blood Calls You, Linda Thorgen, Sweden
The Furious Force of Rhymes, Joshua Litle, France and USA

To check other awards and the short film winners please go here.

63 Festival del Film Locarno - Open Doors Awards

Today the fest co-production lab announced the award winners of the 2010 session devoted to cinema from Central Asia. A total of 12 projects, selected from 114 applications from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan participated in the Open Doors Factory.

These are the winners of the grants for production or development.

Production: Sunny Days, Nariman Turebayev, Kazakhstan
Development: Aral, Ella Vakkasova, Uzbekistan
Development: Barzagh, Saodat Ismailova, Uzbeistan

To read the announcement at the official site go here.

2010 Settimana della Critica at Locarno Film Festival

The independent and parallel section of the Locarno fest will screen the usual seven (7) films -only 'state of the art' documentaries- at their competition and here they are.

Article 12 - Walking Up in a Surveillance Society, Juan Manuel Biaiñ, UK and Argentina, 2010
Auf Wiedersehen Finnland, Virpi Suutari, Finland, 2010
Blood Calls You, Linda Thorgren, Sweden, 2010
Das Schiff des Torjägers, Heidi Specogna, Germany and Switzerland, 2010
Reindeer Spotting - Escape from Santaland, Joonas Neuvonen
Summer Pasture, Lynn True, Nelson Walker and Tsering Perlo, USA and China, 2010
The Furious Force of Rhymes, Joshua Atesh Litle, France and USA, 2010

To read about each of the films go here . The section runs from August 4th to 14th.

63rd Locarno Film Festival Lineup

Yesterday the fest opened with the premiere of much awaited (by me) of Benoit Jacquot's Au fond des Bois (Deep in the Woods) starring none other than Isild Le Besco, who also directed a film in the main international competition.

Today the International Competition opened and here are the films in competition.

Bas-Fonds, Isild Le Besco, France (lesbian interest and first time that I see in a fest: Not suitable for those under 18!! yep, will be heavy!)
Beli Beli Svet (White White World), Oleg Novkovic, Serbia, Germany and Sweden
Beyond The Steppes, Vanja d'Alcantara, Belgium and Poland
Cold Weather, Aaron Katz, USA
Curling, Denis Cote, Canada
Han Jia (Winter Vacation), Li Hong qi, China
Homme Au Bain, Christophe Honoré, France (Gay interest, again not suitable for those under 18)
Im Alter von Ellen (At Ellen's Age), Pia Marais, Germany (story seems interesting)
Karamay, Xu Xin, China (Documentary) (must be very hard to watch)
L.A. Zombie, Bruce LaBruce, USA, Germany and France (obviously gay interest and the no under 18 notice, lol! yep, been reading about this film that has been called 'pornography')
La Petite Chambre, Stéphanie Chuatand and Véronique Reymond, Switzerland and Luxembourg
Luz Nas Trevas - A Volta Do Bandido Da Luz Vermelha (Light in Darkness - The Return of Red Light Bandit), Helena Ignez and Icaro C. Martins, Brazil
Morgen, Marian Crisan, Romania, France and Hungary (yes will watch)
Periferic, Bogdan George Apetri, Romania and Austria (Yes, Must Be Seen for me)
Pietro, Daniele Gaglianone, Italy
Saç (Hair), Tayfun Pirselimoglu, Turkey and Greece
Songs of Love and Hate, Katalin Gödrös, Switzerland
Womb, Benedek Fliegauf, Germany, Hungary and France

To check the list and read information about the films go here and select Films & Screening Schedule then Concorso Internanazionale, film info is in English. Some films have trailers or scene videos. Have to say that there are some quite strange and weird stories in some movies, just the synopsis made me gasp when reading, some absolutely will have to see them just to find how the filmmaker dealt with the story.

There is also the Cineasti del Presente Competition (Filmmakers of the Present Competition) dedicated to emerging directors from the world; check the films in the competition section. The shorts competition Pardi di Domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) has up to 40 minutes shorts by directors who haven't yet made feature films and has an award for international filmmakers and another for Swiss filmmakers.

The fest runs until August 14 and will be checking for the winners as soon as they're published.

63rd Festival del Film Locarno

Today festival organizers announced the complete lineup as the fest will run this year from Augus 4 to 14. To check the 50 World Premiers plus many more films in the several sections, that include three competitive sections, please go here. Can't do my regular post but wanted to let you know.

Enjoy!

Tulpan

What an unexpected pleasure as this Sergey Dvortsevoy film is a drama that has very gentle comedy, the best is that it made me softly laugh and enjoy a lot more the splendid cinematography, great performances by one actor and many non-actors, and a story that’s refreshing especially from the few films that I have seen that happen in steppes or in the middle of nothing!

Basically tells the story of Asa that after serving in the Russian navy goes back to the steppes and his dream of being a herdsman with his own ranch. To have his dream come true, he has to find a bride and with the help of friends he goes to ask for Tulpan’s hand. But Tulpan doesn’t like Asa, he has way too big ears! Obviously the story is the excuse to show everyday life in the solitude of the Hunger Steppes and you have no idea how desolated Kazakhstan steppes can be; that’s it if you have never seen a film from Mongolia.

Yes most compare this film to other Kazahstan movies that unfortunately haven’t seen, but to me the style (blending reality and fiction), pace, cinematography and story (without the humor) seem similar to Mongolia’s films like The Cave of the Yellow Dog. This comment is only meant as a reference and does not demerit the absolutely well-deserved honors that Tulpan collected since winning the Un Certain Regard award at the 2008 Cannes.

Have to share that everyone talks about one particular scene related to the birth of a sheep. The scene perfectly fits the story, but most of all is like a catharsis to everything that has happened before. Still, be aware that yes it’s a little hard to watch and perhaps is not for the weak of heart.

So if you wish to experience life in a remote and desolated area of the world you have to watch this fantastic movie that will definitively surprise you with the gentle and naïve humor. A must be seen film for everyone that like the word art in their movies.

I waited more than a year to have the opportunity to watch this movie and I had high expectations. The film surpassed my expectations by far as I really enjoyed this drama, comedy, recording of traditions and beautiful scenery; but must of all I absolutely enjoyed the realistic –yet magical- poetry of the visual and narrative storytelling from the debut feature film of a mostly documentary director. Bravo Dvortsevoy!! Hope he does many more movies.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch Trailer @ Movie On Companion.

62nd Locarno Film Festival Award Winners

Yesterday the fest had its awards ceremony and here are the winners.

International Competition

Golden Leopard: She, A Chinese, Xiaolu Guo, UK, France and Germany, 2009

Special Jury Prize: Buben Baraban, Aleksei Mizgiryov, Russia, 2009
Best Director: Aleksei Mizgiryov for Buben Baraban, Russia, 2009
Leopard for Best Actress: Lotte Verbeek in Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands and Ireland, 2009
Leopard for Best Actor: Antonis Kafetzopoulos in Akadimia Platonos, Filippos Tsitos, Greece and Germany, 2009

Leopard for Best First Feature: Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands and Ireland, 2009

Filmmakers of the Present Competition

Golden Leopard: The Anchorage, C. W. Winter and Anders Edstrom, USA and Sweden, 2009
Silver Leopard: Variaciok, Krisztina Esztergályos, Hungary, 2009 (short)
Special Jury Prize: Piombo Fuso, Stefano Savona, Italy, 2009 (documentary)

Youth Jury Awards

First Prize: Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands and Ireland, 2009
Second Prize: La Donation, Bernard Emond, Canada, 2009
Third Prize: Akadimia Platonos, Filippos Tsitos, Greece and Germany, 2009

Audience Award: Same Same But Different, Detlev Buck, Germany

Netpac Prize: Sham Moh (At The End of Daybreak), Ho Yuhang, Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Korea, 2009
Special Mention: Ye Dian (One Night in Supermarket), Yang Qing, China

FIPRESCI Prize: Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands and Ireland, 2009

Ecumenical Jury Prize: Akadimia Platonos, Filippos Tsitos, Greece and Germany, 2009
Special Mention: Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands and Ireland, 2009

FICC/IFFS Prize: La Donation, Bernard Emond, Canada, 2009
CICAE Prize: Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands and Ireland, 2009

Critics Week Prize: Auf der Suche nach dem perfekt Klang (Pianomania), Robert Cibis and Lilian Franck, Austria and Germany, 2009 (documentary)

To check awards for shorts go here and open the pdf file with your language of preference to read about the other awards. All award winners have trailers (except one) @ Movie On Companion.

20th Semaine de la Critique at Locarno Film Festival

This year the parallel section of the fest celebrated its 20th Aniversary and if you feel like reading what former delegates wrote about their time with the Semaine go here. As a reminder, this section is devoted to review the state of the art documentary film making and its purpose is provoking debate and opening up new perspectives of awareness and approach.

This year the seven documentaries in competition are the following.

17 sierpnia (17 August), Alexander Gutman, Russia, Poland and Finland, 2009
Auf der Suche nach dem perfekten Klang (Pianomania), Robert Cibis and Lilian Franck, Austria and Germany, 2009
Breath Made Visible, Ruedi Gerber, Switzerland, 2009 (impressive visuals!)
Crips, Strappend’n Strong, Joost Van der Valk and Mags Gavan, Netherlands, 2009
El Milagro del Papa, Jose Luis Valle, Mexico, 2009
The Moon Inside You, Diana Fabianova, Spain, France and Slovakia, 2009
We Don’t Care About Music Anyway… , Gaspard Kuentz and Cedric Dupire, France, 2009

The award winners will be announced today. To check info about the documentaries go here.

2009 Open Doors Award Winners

The Locarno fest co-production lab this year was devoted to cinema from Greater China and recently they announced the winners.

One grant for production winner: Wo Shi Yi (Eleven Flowers), Wang Xiaoshuai, Hong Kong

Two grants for development
Gong Lu Ba Hao (Bus No. 8), Yan Qing, China
Zhan Mei Cong Ming (Don’t Expect Praises), Yang Qing, China

To read the official announcement go here and if you feel to watch the Forum Open Doors 82 minutes video in English go here.

La Stella Che Non C'è (The Missing Star)

A poignant film with a story that feels like an excellent excuse to take us into a rarely seen China as not only is the vision of an Italian director but also of an Italian cinematographer that uses an exquisite palette of greens, blues and hazy grays to produce a very realistic feel of locations that include Chinese countryside, industrial sites and cityscapes.

This Gianni Amelio film tells the story of maintenance worker at a steel company, Vincenzo (Sergio Castellitto), who worries about a deficient control unit of an Italian blast furnace that has been sold to China. Vincenzo fixes the problem and decides to travel to China to tell the new owners how to solve the defect. Once in China he finds that the buyers he met in Italy were intermediaries, the main buyer chief was fired and nobody knows where the furnace went. So with the aid of an Italian speaking guide, Liu Hua (Tai Ling), that he met in Italy, he goes into the quest to find where the furnace is. In his quest he takes us inside a not often seen China and allows us to follow a silent drama between two very different characters that slowly –very slowly- unravel their own lives drama with very little dialogue and great silences where actor’s face expressions tell all.

I have always enjoyed Castellitto performances but here I believe that is one of his best ever, as he truly excels with his face expressions and gorgeous silences; just because this performance the movie is more than worth to be seen. But newcomer Tai Ling performance is highly remarkable and in my opinion has moments where she overshadows great Castellitto. That’s how good she is. Tech specs are really impeccable and the entire film becomes truly mesmerizing.

The movie premiered at 2006 Venice fest where was in competition for the Golden Lion and was honored with the Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award and the Pasinetti Award.

Definitively a “surprising” –and very unexpected- great Italian film that I know that everybody that like serious and art cinema will enjoy; which makes it not for all audiences, but also because has a great finale that it’s left to viewers to finish as they wish.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

62nd Locarno Film Festival Line-up

As expected the fest announced today the line-up and noteworthy is that has 24 world premieres. Just in the International Competion there are 14 world premieres and 4 international premiers.

International Competition

A Religiosa Portuguesa (The Portuguese Nun), Eugène Green, Portugal and France, 2009
Akadimia Platonos, Filippos Tsitos, Greece and Germany, 2009
*Au Voleur, Sarah Leonor, France, 2009 (with Guillaume Depardieu)
Buben Baraban, Aleksei Mizgiryov, Russia, 2009
*Complices, Frédéric Mermoud, France and Switzerland, 2009
*Frontier Blues, Babak Jalali, Iran, UK, Italy, 2009
La Cantante de Tango, Diego Martinez Vignatti, Belgium and Argentina, 2009
La Donation, Bernard Emond, Canada, 2009
La Invencion de la Carne, Santiago Loza, Argentina, 2009
*L’Insurgee, Laurent Perreu, France, 2009
*Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands and Ireland, 2009
*Os Famosos e Os Duendes Da Morte, Esmir Filho, Brazil and France, 2009
Sham Moh (At The End of Daybreak), Ho Yuhang, Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Korea, 2009
She, A Chinese, Xiaolu Guo, UK, France and Germany, 2009
*Shirley Adams, Oliver Hermanus, South Africa and USA, 2009
Summer Wars, Mamoru Hosoda, Japan, 2009
The Search, Pema Tseden, China, 2009
Wakaranai (Where Are You?), Masahiro Kobayashi, Japan, 2008

Out of Competition
La Paura, Pippo Delbono, France, 2009

The Jury of the International Competition
Jean-Marie Blanchand, former Director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève (France)
Pascal Bonitzer, screenwriter and filmmaker (France)
Nina Hoss, actress (Germany)
Luis Miñarro, producer (Spain)
Jonathan Nossiter, filmmaker (Brazil/USA)
Alba Rohrwacher, actress (Italy)
HONG Sangsoo, filmmaker (South Korea)

Filmmakers of the Present Competition

*A Fuga, A Raiva, A Danca, A Boca, A Calma, A Vida da Mulher Gorila, Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande, Brazil, 2009
Castro, Alejo Moguillansky, Argentina, 2008
*Hälsningar Från Skogen (Greetings From the Woods), Mikel Cee Karlsson, Sweden, 2009
Ivul, Andrew Kotting, France and Switzerland, 2009
Kærlighedens Krigere (Warriors of Love), Simon Staho, Denmark, 2009
Koprudekiler (Men on the Bridge), Asli Ozge, Germany, Turkey, Netherlands, 2009
*La Reine Des Pommes, Valerie Donzelli, France, 2009
Mirna, Corso Salani, Italy, 2009
Miiyamoto Musashi: Soken ni haseru yume (Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai), Mizuho Nishikubo, Japan, 2009
Nikotoko Tou (Nikotoko Island), Takuya dairiki and Takashi Miura, Japan, 2008
*October Country, Michael Palmieri and Doanl Mosher, USA, 2009
Piombo Fuso, Stefano Savona, Italy, 2009
Sogno il Mondo il Venerdi, Pasquale Marrazzo, Italy, 2009
*The Anchorage, C. W. Winter and Anders Edstrom, USA and Sweden, 2009
The Marsdreamers, Richard Dindo, Switzerland and France, 2009
Todos Mienten, Matias Piñeiro, Argentina, 2009
*Un Transport en Commun, Dyana Gaye, France, 2009

The Jury of the Filmmakers of the Present Competition
Matías Bize, filmmaker (Chile)
Denis Côté, filmmaker (Canada)
Brillante Mendoza, filmmaker and producer (Philippines)
Angela Schanelec, filmmaker (Germany)
Ghassan Salhab, filmmaker (Lebanon)

The Jury for the Best First Feature
Esmeralda Calabria, film editor (Italy)
Sepideh Farsi, filmmaker (Iran)
Enrique Rivero, filmmaker (Mexico)

(*) First Feature

The section Ici & Ailleurs has around thirty programs of new short, medium length and feature films (26 world premiers) and here is the list of some programs.

Shorts
Jeonju Digital Project 2009
Voyages read aloud, the masterpieces of Japanese Literature
Anime Now
Le Fresnoy Program
Pointligneplan
D-Generation Program
Cinema/Image

There is a huge Japanese Manga program with many films, shorts, TV series and a book that will be published in the fall, as well as an exhibition.

To check the amazing program go here and select the language of your preference, as the program is available in English, Italian, French and German.

I’m going to try to find information about the movies but with so many first films it’s going to be hard. As soon as I have the info ready, I’ll post the link here.

Not many films have trailers, but if you want to check the synopsis and some videos from the films go Movie On Companion

62nd Locarno Film Festival News

The fest this year will run from August 5 to 15 and tomorrow, July 16, the official line-up will be annouced.

While we wait for tomorrow’s announcement here are some news.

Opening Film: 500 Days of Summer, Marc Webb, USA, 2009; the film was premiered at the 2009 Sundance and since then ha been screened at many USA fests. The international premiere was at Sydney fest. Not that I’m really looking forward to watch it but probably will be entertaining with all the music/songs involved.

The 2009 Leopard of Honour goes to American director William Friedking and the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A. will be screen during the fest to mark the occasion. A masterclass will also take place at the Spazio Cinema and is open to the public.

The 2009 Excellence Award goes to none other than laurated Toni Servillo! Here is an excerpt from the press release.

Italian actor Toni Servillo will be one of the guests of honour at the 62nd edition of the Locarno International Film Festival, where he will receive an Excellence Award and will also conduct a conversation with the audience.

Open Doors Factory 2009

The jury for the Locarno Festival’s Open Doors co-production lab has selected 12 projects (out of 114 applications from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Island) to participate in the final phase of the 2009 session. This year the Open Doors Factory is devoted to Greater China, and will take place from 9 to 11 August 2009, during the 62nd edition of the Locarno International Film Festival.

The selected projects are:

ABERDEEN by PANG Ho-cheung – Hong Kong
AN EVERLASTING DAY by Wanmacaidan – Mainland China
BLOODSHED by GUAN Hu – Mainland China
BUS N°8 by YANG Qing – Mainland China
DON'T EXPECT PRAISES by YANG Jin – Mainland China
ELEVEN FLOWERS by WANG Xiaoshuai – Hong Kong
FATHER by ZHANG Lu – Mainland China
HELP by LI Ying – Mainland China
LITTLE WINGS by Emily Tang – Hong Kong
TREE by HAN Jie – Mainland China
UFO IN HER EYES by GUO Xiaolu – Mainland China
WINTER VACATION by LI Hongqi – Mainland China

I know that summer is the worst time for good movies, but I’m glad that we have only one more month to come and summer will be almost over! Still in August there are some very interesting festivals like Locarno’s that help to pass this dry season faster.

I’ll be posting the official line-up plus the films in the different sections as soon as they become available.

Home

Very disturbing movie by Ursula Meier that the only thing that gives away that’s going to be disturbing is that the star is none other than Isabelle Huppert and you know that this is going to be a hard to digest drama.

The film starts in paradise with a loving and happy family that shares together. There is total bliss in a house in the middle of nowhere that is close to what looks like an abandoned highway. There is a long time where you watch how happy they are and you start to wonder when “something” is going to happen. But you know that things will change when crews arrive to remove the family belongings from the highway and slowly, very slowly you will find what traffic, noise and pollution could do to a family after the highway is open.

Isabelle Huppert is truly manifique -as always- and definitively steals the movie, but performances by all the cast that includes actors who play her husband and three children are great. By the way this is a movie carried by the five family members and there are no more characters, except for the highway that to me is the lead character that drives the story with as many metaphors to real life as you wish to find in this very disturbing story about what could happen when you do not want to leave your home.

As a movie is beautiful to watch with great outdoors cinematography that adds to the family happiness and peaceful living; with the same intensity cinematography slowly covers the changes in their lives and surroundings and there was one moment that I was totally asphyxiated even when everything was the same… well, except for the traffic.

I found this movie truly fascinating because the story, the tech specs and the great director that also co wrote the script. This is a film that could be suited for all audiences as is so well done that will very fast grab your attention in the happy moments, will start to make you nervous in the transition act and will make you very uncomfortable with the third act. But I believe that have to mention that has a very liberating finale.

I do recommend the multiple award winning movie that was La Semaine de la Critique special screening at 2008 Cannes especially to those that enjoy the great Isabelle Huppert, enjoy European cinema and do not mind watching a disturbing but very relevant to modern life story.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Le Cahier Volé (The Stolen Diary)

This 1993 Christine Limpinska movie based on a short story written by Régine Deforges is a “strange” movie for me as tries to go so many places while avoiding going into the explicit romance and that doesn’t make much sense as a film and particularly much less as a French film. Then Deforges is recognized as an erotic writer but I couldn’t tell from Limpinska adaptation, as there is nothing erotic in the film and as matter of fact she decided to do some scenes that looked like she got inspiration from David Hamilton G-rated photography’s that are beautiful to watch but nothing else.

The film set after WWII in one summer in a small provincial French village tells about Virginie experimenting love for the first time and three childhood friends that are in love with her, Anne, Maurice and Anne’s brother Jacques. But she’s in love with “Paul” as she writes in her diary. As you can easily imagine, Paul is Anne but unfortunately there is nothing in the film that really explains why she writes in masculine and as with many other things, the director leaves the viewer to fill the gaps with whatever prejudice or reasons you wish to think.

I particularly found the end to be out of touch with the broken story and with the little development of Anne’s character, as I couldn’t find a believable reason to make Anne a victim; so it was no surprise to find that in the original Deforges story the end is different and because Limpinska was impressed with the large amount of adolescent suicides in France she decided to change the end. But the artistic license does not make any sense within the story. If you feel like reading more about the movie check the book Cinema and the Second Sex by Carrie Tarr and Brigitte Rollet, pages 33 and 34.

Performances are not exceptional, but I couldn’t help enjoying watching a very young Benoît Magimel playing the recent released from the war camps Maurice; for me that’s about the only good thing in this movie, as tech specs are on the not so good side -especially editing and the script.

Definitively not a great French movie that perhaps could have been better if the script respected the original story, had a better director and a lot better actors’ performances. Still I know that some of you would like to watch the film, but I can only recommend it as a good opportunity to watch young Benoît Magimel

Enjoy.

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion