François Truffaut goes deep and morbid adapting a Henry James story about a man who chooses to ‘devote himself to his beloved dead.’ He builds an altar-shrine to a departed bride and comrades that didn’t survive the Great War. A sympathetic woman considers aiding him, but his obsession keeps choosing life-negating directions. It’s a weird, morbid but highly understandable tale from the edge of the fantastic. The cinematographer is Néstor Almendros; the film is part of a 4-title François Truffaut Collection.
The Green Room
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
Part of Kino’s François Truffaut Collection, with The Wild Child, Small Change and The Man Who Loved Women
1978 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date February 14, 2023 / La chanbre verte, The Vanishing Fiancée / available through Kino Lorber / 59.95
Starring: François Truffaut, Nathalie Baye, Jean Dast´, Patrick Maléon, Jeanne Lobre, Antoine Vitez, Jean-Pierre Moulin, Serge Rousseau, Annie Miller, Nathan Miller, Marcel Berbert.
Cinematography:...
The Green Room
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
Part of Kino’s François Truffaut Collection, with The Wild Child, Small Change and The Man Who Loved Women
1978 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date February 14, 2023 / La chanbre verte, The Vanishing Fiancée / available through Kino Lorber / 59.95
Starring: François Truffaut, Nathalie Baye, Jean Dast´, Patrick Maléon, Jeanne Lobre, Antoine Vitez, Jean-Pierre Moulin, Serge Rousseau, Annie Miller, Nathan Miller, Marcel Berbert.
Cinematography:...
- 2/25/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Telluride — It's impossible to see every movie at a film festival, but you can certainly come close if you're able to catch a few of the main centerpieces beforehand. At Telluride, the benefit of having viewed "Foxcatcher," "Mr. Turner," "Mommy" and "The Homesman" at Cannes allowed this pundit to catch a few of the lower profile titles that are still worthy of your attention. Here are a few short capsule reviews for some films that will also screen at the Toronto and New York film festivals and that should most definitely be on your radar. "Madame Bovary" Grade: C+ Reaction: Sophie Barthes' adaptation of the classic Gustave Flauber novel is a sight to behold. The cinematography from Andrij Parekh ("Blue Valentine") and the costumes from Christian Gasc and Valérie Ranchoux are Oscar-worthy, and the score by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine memorably adds to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, Barthes wants to...
- 9/4/2014
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
Here’s a first look of Mia Wasikowska in Madame Bovary, directed by Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls) from a screenplay by Rose Barrenche & Sophie Barthes, who adapted Gustave Flaubert’s classic novel Madame Bovary.
The passionate drama tells the tragic story of Emma (Wasikowska), a young beauty who impulsively marries a small-town doctor to leave her father’s pig farm behind. But after being introduced to the glamorous world of high society, she soon becomes bored with her stodgy mate and seeks excitement and status outside the bonds of marriage.
The cast includes Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland, Jane Eyre), Ezra Miller (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Academy-Award nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man, Sideways), Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-man) Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Anna Karenina), Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus), Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Winner and Cesar Award nominee...
The passionate drama tells the tragic story of Emma (Wasikowska), a young beauty who impulsively marries a small-town doctor to leave her father’s pig farm behind. But after being introduced to the glamorous world of high society, she soon becomes bored with her stodgy mate and seeks excitement and status outside the bonds of marriage.
The cast includes Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland, Jane Eyre), Ezra Miller (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Academy-Award nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man, Sideways), Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-man) Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Anna Karenina), Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus), Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Winner and Cesar Award nominee...
- 11/1/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus), Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Winner and Cesar Award nominee Olivier Gourmet (The Son) and Laura Carmichael (“Downton Abbey”) have joined the all-star cast of Madame Bovary featuring Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland, Jane Eyre), Ezra Miller (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Academy-Award nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man, Sideways), Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-man) and Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Anna Karenina).
Principal photography on the film commences on September 30th on location in Normandy, France.
Madame Bovary tells the tragic story of Emma (Wasikowska), a young beauty who impulsively marries a small-town doctor to leave her father’s pig farm behind. But after being introduced to the glamorous world of high society, she soon becomes bored with her stodgy mate and seeks excitement and status outside the bonds of marriage.
Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls) directs...
Principal photography on the film commences on September 30th on location in Normandy, France.
Madame Bovary tells the tragic story of Emma (Wasikowska), a young beauty who impulsively marries a small-town doctor to leave her father’s pig farm behind. But after being introduced to the glamorous world of high society, she soon becomes bored with her stodgy mate and seeks excitement and status outside the bonds of marriage.
Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls) directs...
- 9/30/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Logan Marshall-Green, Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Winner and Cesar Award nominee Olivier Gourmet and Laura Carmichael have joined the all-star cast of "Madame Bovary" featuring Mia Wasikowska, Ezra Miller, Academy-Award nominee Paul Giamatti, Rhys Ifans and Henry Lloyd-Hughes.
Principal photography on the film commences on today on location in Normandy, France.
"Madame Bovary" tells the tragic story of Emma (Wasikowska), a young beauty who impulsively marries a small-town doctor to leave her father’s pig farm behind. But after being introduced to the glamorous world of high society, she soon becomes bored with her stodgy mate and seeks excitement and status outside the bonds of marriage.
Marshall-Green will play The Marquis. Gourmet will star as Monsieur Roualt and Carmichael has been cast as Henrietta. Sophie Barthes ("Cold Souls") directs the passionate drama from a screenplay by Rose Barrenche & Sophie Barthes who adapted Gustave Flaubert’s classic novel.
The producers...
Principal photography on the film commences on today on location in Normandy, France.
"Madame Bovary" tells the tragic story of Emma (Wasikowska), a young beauty who impulsively marries a small-town doctor to leave her father’s pig farm behind. But after being introduced to the glamorous world of high society, she soon becomes bored with her stodgy mate and seeks excitement and status outside the bonds of marriage.
Marshall-Green will play The Marquis. Gourmet will star as Monsieur Roualt and Carmichael has been cast as Henrietta. Sophie Barthes ("Cold Souls") directs the passionate drama from a screenplay by Rose Barrenche & Sophie Barthes who adapted Gustave Flaubert’s classic novel.
The producers...
- 9/30/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Hollywood's Costner takes home Honorary Award Speaking of Hollywood, the French Academy has frequently given its Honorary César (an equivalent to the Lifetime Achievement Award) to some curious group of Hollywood celebrities. Among those are Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Quentin Tarantino, Hugh Grant, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Spike Lee, Andie McDowell, and Sylvester Stallone. This year, they've made another curious choice: Kevin Costner, whose Honorary Award was a tribute to his "fabulous contribution to cinematic history." Costner, among whose movie credits as actor and/or director are Dances with Wolves, Bull Durham, JFK, The Bodyguard, The Postman, and Waterworld, thanked the French Academy of Film Arts and Sciences for embracing him "for who I am." Other César winners Among this year's other César winners were, in the supporting categories, Valérie Benguigui and Guillaume de Tonquédec for What's in a Name? / Le Prénom, directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patelliere.
- 2/23/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Michael Haneke’s Amour won five César awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best original screenplay. The award ceremony was held on Friday night.
Les Invisibles by Sébastien Lifshitz won the Best Documentary and Argo by Ben Affleck won the Best Foreign Film.
2013 César winners:
Best film: Amour
Best director: Michael Haneke, Amour
Best original screenplay: Haneke, Amour
Best actress: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Best actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
Best foreign film: Argo, Ben Affleck
Best supporting actress: Valérie Benguigui, What’s In A Name
Best supporting actor: Guillaume de Tonquedec, What’s In A Name
Best upcoming actress: Izia Higelin, Mauvaise Fille
Best upcoming actor: Matthias Schoenaerts, Rust And Bone
Best first film: Louise Wimmer, directed by Cyril Mennegun
Best animation film: Ernest And Celestine, directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier
Best documentary: Les Invisibles, Sébastien Lifshitz
Best adaptation: Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain,...
Les Invisibles by Sébastien Lifshitz won the Best Documentary and Argo by Ben Affleck won the Best Foreign Film.
2013 César winners:
Best film: Amour
Best director: Michael Haneke, Amour
Best original screenplay: Haneke, Amour
Best actress: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Best actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
Best foreign film: Argo, Ben Affleck
Best supporting actress: Valérie Benguigui, What’s In A Name
Best supporting actor: Guillaume de Tonquedec, What’s In A Name
Best upcoming actress: Izia Higelin, Mauvaise Fille
Best upcoming actor: Matthias Schoenaerts, Rust And Bone
Best first film: Louise Wimmer, directed by Cyril Mennegun
Best animation film: Ernest And Celestine, directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier
Best documentary: Les Invisibles, Sébastien Lifshitz
Best adaptation: Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain,...
- 2/23/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The nominations for the César Awards aka the French Oscars were announced. "Farewell, My Queen," "Amour," "Camille Redouble," "In the House," "Rust & Bone," "Holy Motors," and "What's My Name" are competing for the Best Picture category. We'll find out the winners on February 22nd.
Here's the full list of nominees of the 2013 César Awards:
Best Picture
Farewell, My Queen
Amour
Camille Redouble
In The House
Rust & Bone
Holy Motors
What.s In A Name
Best Director
Benoît Jacquot, Farewell, My Queen
Michael Haneke, Amour
Noémie Lvovsky, Camille Redouble
François Ozon, In The House
Jacques Audiard, Rust & Bone
Leos Carax, Holy Motors
Stéphane Brizé, Quelques Heures De Printemps
Best Actress
Catherine Frot, Les Sauveurs Du Palais
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Noémie Lvovsky, Camille Redouble
Corinne Masiero, Louise Wimmer
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Léa Seydoux, Farewell, My Queen
Hélène Vincent, Quelques Heures De Printemps
Best Actor
Jean-Pierre Bacri, Cherchez Hortense
Patrick Bruel, What...
Here's the full list of nominees of the 2013 César Awards:
Best Picture
Farewell, My Queen
Amour
Camille Redouble
In The House
Rust & Bone
Holy Motors
What.s In A Name
Best Director
Benoît Jacquot, Farewell, My Queen
Michael Haneke, Amour
Noémie Lvovsky, Camille Redouble
François Ozon, In The House
Jacques Audiard, Rust & Bone
Leos Carax, Holy Motors
Stéphane Brizé, Quelques Heures De Printemps
Best Actress
Catherine Frot, Les Sauveurs Du Palais
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Noémie Lvovsky, Camille Redouble
Corinne Masiero, Louise Wimmer
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Léa Seydoux, Farewell, My Queen
Hélène Vincent, Quelques Heures De Printemps
Best Actor
Jean-Pierre Bacri, Cherchez Hortense
Patrick Bruel, What...
- 1/27/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" danced atop the 17th Annual Satellite Awards winning Best Picture, Editing, Director, Actor (Bradley Cooper), and Actress (Jennifer Lawrence). In the supporting acting categories, Anne Hathaway took home the Best Supporting Actress award for "Les Miserables," while Javier Bardem won Best Supporting Actor for playing the big bad in "Skyfall."
Winners were announced Sunday, Dec. 16, at the InterContinental Hotel at Century City in Los Angeles.
Here's the complete winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 17th Annual Satellite Awards (for a complete list of Awards Season winners/nominees, click here):
Motion Picture
Argo .
*** Silver Linings Playbook
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Les MISÉRABLES
Skyfall
Moonrise Kingdom
The Sessions
Lincoln Dreamworks/Touchstone
Life Of Pi
Zero Dark Thirty
Director
*** David O. Russell -- Silver Linings Playbook
Ben Affleck -- Argo
Kim Ki-duk -- Pieta Drafthouse Films
Ben Lewin -- The Sessions
Steven Spielberg --...
Winners were announced Sunday, Dec. 16, at the InterContinental Hotel at Century City in Los Angeles.
Here's the complete winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 17th Annual Satellite Awards (for a complete list of Awards Season winners/nominees, click here):
Motion Picture
Argo .
*** Silver Linings Playbook
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Les MISÉRABLES
Skyfall
Moonrise Kingdom
The Sessions
Lincoln Dreamworks/Touchstone
Life Of Pi
Zero Dark Thirty
Director
*** David O. Russell -- Silver Linings Playbook
Ben Affleck -- Argo
Kim Ki-duk -- Pieta Drafthouse Films
Ben Lewin -- The Sessions
Steven Spielberg --...
- 12/17/2012
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The International Press Academy has announced the nominees of the 17th Annual Satellite Awards. "Les Miserables" led the pack with 10 nominations including Best Picture.
Winners will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 16 at the InterContinental at Century City in Los Angeles.
17th Annual Satellite Awards Nominees:
Motion Picture
Argo .
Silver Linings Playbook
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Les MISÉRABLES
Skyfall
Moonrise Kingdom
The Sessions
Lincoln Dreamworks/Touchstone
Life Of Pi
Zero Dark Thirty
Director
David O. Russell -- Silver Linings Playbook
Ben Affleck -- Argo
Kim Ki-duk -- Pieta Drafthouse Films
Ben Lewin -- The Sessions
Steven Spielberg -- Lincoln
Kathryn Bigelow -- Zero Dark Thirty
Actress in a Motion Picture Name
Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook
Emilie Dequenne Our Children
Keira Knightley Anna Karenina
Emmanuelle Riva Amour
Laura Birn Purge
Laura Linney Hyde Park On Hudson
Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty
Actor in a Motion Picture
John Hawkes The Sessions...
Winners will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 16 at the InterContinental at Century City in Los Angeles.
17th Annual Satellite Awards Nominees:
Motion Picture
Argo .
Silver Linings Playbook
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Les MISÉRABLES
Skyfall
Moonrise Kingdom
The Sessions
Lincoln Dreamworks/Touchstone
Life Of Pi
Zero Dark Thirty
Director
David O. Russell -- Silver Linings Playbook
Ben Affleck -- Argo
Kim Ki-duk -- Pieta Drafthouse Films
Ben Lewin -- The Sessions
Steven Spielberg -- Lincoln
Kathryn Bigelow -- Zero Dark Thirty
Actress in a Motion Picture Name
Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook
Emilie Dequenne Our Children
Keira Knightley Anna Karenina
Emmanuelle Riva Amour
Laura Birn Purge
Laura Linney Hyde Park On Hudson
Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty
Actor in a Motion Picture
John Hawkes The Sessions...
- 12/3/2012
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Jean Dujardin, Missi Pyle, The Artist The Artist Wins, Jean Dujardin Loses: César Awards Best Film La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War produced by Edouard Weil, directed by Valérie Donzelli Le Havre produced by Fabienne Vonier, directed by Aki Kaurismäki * The Artist produced by Thomas Langmann, directed by Michel Hazanavicius Intouchables / Untouchable produced by Denis Freyd, directed by Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache L'exercice de l'État / The Minister produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun, directed by Pierre Schöller Pater produced by Michel Seydoux, directed by Alain Cavalier Polisse produced by Alain Attal, directed by Maïwenn Best Foreign Film Drive (United States) directed by Nicolas Winding Refn Black Swan (United States) directed by Darren Aronofsky Incendies (Canada) directed by Denis Villeneuve Melancholia (Denmark / Sweden / France / Germany) directed by Lars von Trier * A Separation (Iran) directed by Asghar Farhadi The King's Speech (United Kingdom) directed by Tom Hooper Le...
- 2/25/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
François Cluzet, Intouchables / Untouchable The 2012 César winners will be announced on February 24. The ceremony will be presided by Guillaume Canet; Antoine de Caunes will act as master of ceremonies. Best Film La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War produced by Edouard Weil, directed by Valérie Donzelli Le Havre produced by Fabienne Vonier, directed by Aki Kaurismäki The Artist produced by Thomas Langmann, directed by Michel Hazanavicius Intouchables / Untouchable produced by Denis Freyd, directed by Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache L'exercice de l'État / The Minister produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun, directed by Pierre Schoeller Pater produced by Michel Seydoux, directed by Alain Cavalier Polisse produced by Alain Attal, directed by Maïwenn Best Foreign Film Drive (United States) directed by Nicolas Winding Refn Black Swan (United States) directed by Darren Aronofsky Incendies (Canada) directed by Denis Villeneuve Melancholia (Denmark / Sweden / France / Germany) directed by Lars von Trier A Separation...
- 2/21/2012
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
BERLIN -- In "Changing Times", veteran director Andre Techine takes the power of love and subjects it to the greatest possible stress -- that of passing time.
With a fine ensemble cast, including those stalwarts of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, and a fascinating setting in Tangiers, a city where change and time have proved a mixed blessing, Techine pulls together a multi-layered drama that sharply contrasts the idealistic with more realistic aspects of love.
Techine's films invariably find their way into international distribution, propelled by festival exposure and critical acclaim. "Changing Time" will follow that path.
Antoine (Depardieu) is a hard working and successful executive largely estranged from life. Thirty years before, when the love of his life left, he embraced loneliness as a state in which he can remain close to his beloved by dreaming of her. He comes to the Tax Free Zone of Tangiers to oversee construction of an audiovisual center. His secret mission though is to look up his long-lost love, Cecile (Deneuve), and offer her the gift of a love that time has only enlarged.
But Cecile has all but forgotten about Antoine. While she will in the course of the movie acknowledge that he too was the love of her life, she is more than distracted by her marriage to Nathan (Gilbert Melki), a doctor younger than herself, and their son Sami Malik Zidi), newly arrived from Paris and unexpectedly accompanied by his Moroccan girlfriend Nadia (Lubna Azabal) and her young son.
The strain of these surprise houseguests reveals cracks in her marriage, just as Tangiers rekindles old passions for Sami and Nadia. For Sami, it is his homosexuality and his deep attraction to Bilal (Nadem Rachati). For Nadia, it is her unfortunate passion for tranquilizers in a life lived apart from a twin sister, who refuses to see her.
The abrupt reappearance of Antoine -- made all the more dramatic by his accidentally running into a glass door and requiring the attention of Cecile's physician husband -- throws Cecile for a loop. She would prefer the past to remain there and not pop up in the present. The ideal, the mad passion these two once shared, should not compete with a love and marriage of some 20 years, where much of the passion has drained away.
Each character struggles with the past and loss of a romantic ideal. Only Antoine remains "pure" but at what cost? Which is worse: the loss of an ideal or the loss of one's life by clinging to that ideal?
The script by Laurent Guyot and Pascal Bonitzer exposes all the characters' human flaws of indecision, betrayal and self-abuse. No one is on the same page. Everyone has wounds he tries to conceal.
The movie's epiphany is caused by a kind of authorial intervention in which one character suffers an unlikely accident. This moves the movie uncomfortably closer to fable and makes for a pat ending that few are likely to swallow. The filmmakers' own romanticism may have gotten the better of them.
Tangiers makes a great locale for this story as that North African metropolis is feeling the pangs and joys of modernization. The audiovisual center may be another sign of prosperity, yet it clearly is being built on unstable ground and the project itself is running far behind schedule. The twins on divergent paths make a perfect metaphor for schizophrenia of its citizens, a self divided between the old Muslim ideals and the new soulless technocracy. Thus, production design, story and the actors conspire to present us with a provocative meditation on what changing times can do to relationships, cultures, cities and love itself.
CHANGING TIMES
A Gemini Films, France 2 Cinema co-production
Credits: Director: Andre Techine; Writers: Laurent Guyot, Pascal Bonitzer; Producer: Paulo Branco; Director of photography: Julien Hirsch; Production designer: Ze Branco; Music: Juliette Garrigues; Costumes: Christian Gasc, Catherine Leterrier; Editor: Martine Giordano.
Cast: Cecille: Catherine Deneuve; Antoine: Gerard Depardieu; Nathan: Gilbert Melki; Nadia/Aicha: Lubna Azabal; Sami: Malik Zidi; Said: Jabir Elomri; Nabila: Nabila Baraka; Bilal: Nadem Rachati.
No MPAA rating, running time 98 minutes.
With a fine ensemble cast, including those stalwarts of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, and a fascinating setting in Tangiers, a city where change and time have proved a mixed blessing, Techine pulls together a multi-layered drama that sharply contrasts the idealistic with more realistic aspects of love.
Techine's films invariably find their way into international distribution, propelled by festival exposure and critical acclaim. "Changing Time" will follow that path.
Antoine (Depardieu) is a hard working and successful executive largely estranged from life. Thirty years before, when the love of his life left, he embraced loneliness as a state in which he can remain close to his beloved by dreaming of her. He comes to the Tax Free Zone of Tangiers to oversee construction of an audiovisual center. His secret mission though is to look up his long-lost love, Cecile (Deneuve), and offer her the gift of a love that time has only enlarged.
But Cecile has all but forgotten about Antoine. While she will in the course of the movie acknowledge that he too was the love of her life, she is more than distracted by her marriage to Nathan (Gilbert Melki), a doctor younger than herself, and their son Sami Malik Zidi), newly arrived from Paris and unexpectedly accompanied by his Moroccan girlfriend Nadia (Lubna Azabal) and her young son.
The strain of these surprise houseguests reveals cracks in her marriage, just as Tangiers rekindles old passions for Sami and Nadia. For Sami, it is his homosexuality and his deep attraction to Bilal (Nadem Rachati). For Nadia, it is her unfortunate passion for tranquilizers in a life lived apart from a twin sister, who refuses to see her.
The abrupt reappearance of Antoine -- made all the more dramatic by his accidentally running into a glass door and requiring the attention of Cecile's physician husband -- throws Cecile for a loop. She would prefer the past to remain there and not pop up in the present. The ideal, the mad passion these two once shared, should not compete with a love and marriage of some 20 years, where much of the passion has drained away.
Each character struggles with the past and loss of a romantic ideal. Only Antoine remains "pure" but at what cost? Which is worse: the loss of an ideal or the loss of one's life by clinging to that ideal?
The script by Laurent Guyot and Pascal Bonitzer exposes all the characters' human flaws of indecision, betrayal and self-abuse. No one is on the same page. Everyone has wounds he tries to conceal.
The movie's epiphany is caused by a kind of authorial intervention in which one character suffers an unlikely accident. This moves the movie uncomfortably closer to fable and makes for a pat ending that few are likely to swallow. The filmmakers' own romanticism may have gotten the better of them.
Tangiers makes a great locale for this story as that North African metropolis is feeling the pangs and joys of modernization. The audiovisual center may be another sign of prosperity, yet it clearly is being built on unstable ground and the project itself is running far behind schedule. The twins on divergent paths make a perfect metaphor for schizophrenia of its citizens, a self divided between the old Muslim ideals and the new soulless technocracy. Thus, production design, story and the actors conspire to present us with a provocative meditation on what changing times can do to relationships, cultures, cities and love itself.
CHANGING TIMES
A Gemini Films, France 2 Cinema co-production
Credits: Director: Andre Techine; Writers: Laurent Guyot, Pascal Bonitzer; Producer: Paulo Branco; Director of photography: Julien Hirsch; Production designer: Ze Branco; Music: Juliette Garrigues; Costumes: Christian Gasc, Catherine Leterrier; Editor: Martine Giordano.
Cast: Cecille: Catherine Deneuve; Antoine: Gerard Depardieu; Nathan: Gilbert Melki; Nadia/Aicha: Lubna Azabal; Sami: Malik Zidi; Said: Jabir Elomri; Nabila: Nabila Baraka; Bilal: Nadem Rachati.
No MPAA rating, running time 98 minutes.
- 2/14/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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