A Weekend at the French Film Festival

I attended the French Film Festival Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, giving myself the chance to see multiple French films which I greatly enjoyed.  On Friday, a friend from class and I attended the showing of Assistance Mortelle at 7:00.  This documentary concerning the rebuilding efforts from various nations in response to the Haiti Earthquake.  It was very interesting, however not something I would view again.  It explained the pros and cons of many of the relief efforts before questioning if many of them actually helped the country in the long run.  It did however, provide a good look at the Hatians struggle in the aftermath of the quake.

On Saturday, I spent my entire day at the festival, from 11am to 8pm, viewing such films as Sport de Filles, Nos Plus Belles Vacances, as well as Mes Heroes.  I enjoyed Filles, which concerned an aspiring horse rider whose determination could set off her career.  It was slightly inspiring, but also very humorous.  The actor who portrayed German horse trainer Franz Mann turned in an especially exceptional performance, using his pessimistic nature to create a very enjoyable and ironic dry sense of humor throughout the film.  Nos Plus Belles Vacances was most definitely my favorite film screened at the festival.  It involves a group of families vacationing on a secluded island.  Over the course of this vacation drama occurs, summer love buds for the old and the young, friends are made, and the families become much closer.  The humor in this film is very enjoyable and light hearted, but serious turns are taken, keeping the film realistic on a personal level.  The acting was very good in this film as was the script.  The characters seem very realistic and relatable, much more so than American cinema.  Mes Heroes was also a light-hearted comedy with some serious undertones.  The plot concerns a woman, her husband, and their grown child who shelter and care for a young child whose mother is a fugitive.  They begin to become close to him and all spend time with him.  The film is laced with silly humor, especially from Josiane Balasko who captured the essence of the mother greatly with her performance.

On Sunday I only viewed Le Prenom, which was also one of my favorite films in the festival.  I did miss some of this film and plan to view it in its entirely online.  I managed to catch the ending however, and it kept me laughing.  Overall, the French Film Festval was a great experience for me, particularly because I love film and plan on majoring in French.

Bienvenue parmi nous

Perhaps waiting until the very last movie wasn't the best idea on the part of my group. Perhaps I should not have chosen to go with a group of friends as lazy as I am. Perhaps it worked out the best either way. As the snow started coming down on Sunday, we didn't actually think that it would start to stick, it had been 50 degrees the day prior. But, as the clock kept approaching seven, the snow kept accumulating and the two mile walk seemed less and less enjoyable. Surprisingly, the walk wasn't bad. I'm actually kind of glad it snowed, the little side streets of the fan seem completely different and showed another side to Richmond. This town is certainly interesting.

It's safe to say the movie was well worth the trek, though. I had read the summary before leaving, thinking it to be a typical movie of middle age angst. "Bienvenue parmi nous" (Or "Welcome Aboard") definitely blew away any expectation I had about it. The story starts with 60 year old painter Taillandier living his bland daily routine, and then leaving because he "couldn't take it." (It being his repetitive, seemingly mundane life in slump shown in the beginning.) From his darkest moment of being a twitch away from a suicide he couldn't bear himself to commit, he finds a teenager named Marylou who has her own share of problems to be faced. The movie focuses mainly on Taillandier though, showing Marylou through his interactions with her. At first, their partnership is shakey and confusing (the artists make light of the sight of a sixty year old man and a teenager going for hotel rooms), and growing into a father-daughter relationship. After settling on a beachside property, Taillandier finds an inspiration to draw again, rekindled with the help of his new acquaintance. At the same time, the writers do a great job of showing his health and mood gradually improve as he stays at the house. He even has enough energy to defend Marylou from a group of local guys with malicious intentions. The movie starts to conclude soon afterwards with news that Marylou's mother was severely injured by her abusive boyfriend, causing both Marylou and Taillandier to return from their retreats in better state than they left. While recovering, Marylou was able to stay with Taillandier and his wife in temporary custody, making him seem even more like a father figure. The movie ends with tears as they part, but generally there are good feelings involved.

The plot is not something I can do justice by this simple summary, however. The writers of this movie do an incredible job of character development as well as plot development, making the audience feel connected not only to the characters but as well as the story that they're living. It is quite possibly one of the best movies I have seen, and I would recommend it to anyone with the ability to sympathize or empathize. A view of this movie which I though especially interesting being a musician, is that the story is a sort of metaphor for the development of an artist as explained by Taillandier. He says that the aspiring artists first "mimics, steals, and takes" ideas that they find interesting until they find something that captivates them, a muse of sorts. The creative bursts that follows will help define them as artists, until they find another muse. In this story you have Taillandier, an artist in a 10 year strong slump of repeating the same paintings, who finds inspiration in his new companion. That is just my view however. I deeply encourage whoever is reading this to watch that movie and find out for themselves.

Therese Desqueyroux

Therese Desqueyroux was quite interesting for someone who wasn't familiar with such a type of show. Going into this, i was skeptical of whether or not i wanted to sit and watch this foreign, french movie. However, to my surprise, it turned out to be an entertaining display and i'm glad i could take part in it. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't until i got there that i realized i didn't have my phone with me and thus could not find a way to take pictures of anything. It also didn't help that I had nothing to do while waiting for the show to start due to the lateness of the show since it was the last day and they had been running late. Anyways, Therese Desqueyroux was a drama by Claude Miller that took place in France, in the 1920's. Therese marries a man named Bernard and is fascinated by his opinions and forceful personality. However, over time she becomes bored of his mediocrity and wishes for more such as Paris and tries to find ways to escape. Eventually, Bernard is almost poisoned accidentally which almost turns into an attempt at poisoning. Therese is then disgraced by her family and husband. The show was very well acted and displayed a great drama that completely blew me away. I was not expecting this as it is not something i do normally; however I enjoyed this show and being able to finally watch a show at the byrd theater. I will definitely be going back soon.

And... Therese Desqueyroux

Last day of the festival was definitely not the best day in terms of weather and the movie actually started very late! even though, it was for a good reason. In fact, I liked the short movie from Melies we got to watch with the music being played in front of us and story narrarated I found it interesting.
I chose Therese Desqueyroux because I loved Audrey Tautou in "Coco avant chanel" which was also a drama but also because I wanted to watch two different  genres. This movie was all that I expected, sad, a lot of understatements, complex characters, crudity everything that a good drama is expected to have . It was very well acted. The story was a sad but relatively true one because it is known that during that period of time arranged marriages were the preferred form of marriage in many societies and France was not an exception.It depicts strong, I would say, aristocratic family values and norms in so many ways. For example, the fact that the family’s honor and name should not compromised at all cost. I also liked how my hypotheses of the rest of the movie at some point were not true because I do not like knowing ahead of time what’s coming in a movie. The movie involved a bit of ‘ reading between the lines’ and “walking in the character shoes” especially when trying to understand her motive for wanting her husband dead. The last scene was a total ‘deja vue’ but it was my favorite scene because she was finally free to be her complicated, free spirited, mysterious self.  Overall, great great drama.

A Slice of France

This weekend was jam packed with homework, projects, and studying, but one of the few assignments I was actually looking forward to going to the French Film Festival.  I have heard friends and teachers rave about how lovely it is and how Cary Town truly changes into a little slice of France.  I am currently taking French and love different cultures, so I was already looking forward to seeing the foreign movies.  Unfortunately, I only had time on Sunday to go, and since none of my friends that live nearby were going I decided to bike to Cary Town.  One truly does not notice how badly paved the sidewalks are until you are forced to bike for such an extended period of time!  Regardless, I arrived half an hour before the film began.  I am currently taking French, and it was such a treat when I was able to automatically translate certain words or recognize common sayings.  There was a very large group of French students in one section and it was quite interesting overhearing them talk to one another or comment on the movie. 

The first film I watched is called Prénom, (literally translated means “first name” but the translation showed it as “what is in a name”), and I felt that it was a very accurate representation of a very well made French film.  It is a comedy about 5 family members and a close friend having dinner one night and what begins as a joke becomes a small family feud that leads to secrets being revealed and shocking surprises.  The entire movie takes place in the apartment where they have dinner but there is never a dull moment in the movie.  I did not expect to laugh so much or enjoy it as I did. I am usually picky about the movies I watch and rarely go out to see films, but I am say that I was very pleased with buying a ticket for this movie.

The second movie I saw is called Thérèse Desqueyroux.  I recently saw Audrey Tautou in Hors de Prix in my French class last week, so I was looking forward to this movie. Although it was not a bad movie, it was a much slower, patient, artistically sad, and elegantly beautiful film about life in the 1920’s through the perspective of a married woman in a wealthy family whose life is to be devoted to her husband and the family.  Although it was neat having a glimpse into the life of women back in those times, seeing how it was not all pretty dresses and big houses but many hardships, it went on for quite some time.  Regardless, it was still a good film and Audrey Tautou’s performance was noteworthy. 

I was quite happy to have been a part of the French Film Festival this year.  It snowed most of Sunday, making Cary Town a much quieter place than usual with far fewer people there.  I very much enjoyed going, even if I had to bike over two and a half miles back to my apartment in the snowy weather and three inches of slush!

My thoughts on Mes Heros

     

I got at the Bird theater almost an hour before the movie but the line was already long! But thankfully I got in and after at least half an hour of settling down and a presentation of the French delegation,  Film maker Eric Besnard and actress Josiane Balasko presented us 'Mes Heros'.

 I have to say that the movie was just awesome!! The story itself touched on sensitive subjects like immigration, corruption, infidelity, unconformity... but also on daily phenomenas such as family issues, forgiveness, pursuit of happiness and love. It was a mix of all that displayed in the most funny way possible. I was really impressed by the way he tried AND succeeded -in my opinion-at talking about all the sensitive topics without being offensive but again the comic genre of the movie played a big role in that. As of the 'Mise en scene', smooth is the right way to describe it. Mr. Besnard gave an example during the question series that reinforced my opinion which was about how at the beginning scenes " the young boy would not separate from his ski-mask at all and then when he finally saw his mother he was able to remove it completely because it was only a symbol of her presence". The actors were great, especially Josiane Balasko and Ibrahim the little boy. As a matter of fact I wonder how he learned the script because he was illiterate at the time. I didn't get a chance to ask although.

I expected to see "abstract" humor and to be easily bored when I went but I was nicely surprised. I also loved the theater, very beautiful.

I really wanted to add a link of a voice memo I have from the principal actress on her role but I can't... so she talks about the fact that "the character exist in real life and that she tries to resemble the lady in real life; she felt honored to play such a role".

Bienvenue Parmi Nous

The movie that I saw was Bienvenue Parmi Nous. I didn't read the synopsis before hand, my schedule got messed up this weekend and I was lucky and fortunate to make it to a movie at all, but it was fantastic!
First off, this was my first time at the Byrd and I was incredibly impressed with the architecture and style of the theater. It still has the classic feel of a movie theater that the new ones just don't have. I loved feeling like I time travelled back in time to when going to the movies was about the experience and not the action. When I was sitting in my seat, before the movie started, I couldn't stop looking around at all the architecture. The chandelier and the lighting around the auditorium were magnificent.
The first thing I noticed about the movie was the unique cinematography. The camera was a little shaky, but in a natural way. The lighting was also bright and the colors were calm.

The movie started with establishing how Taillandier, the main character, had recently started acting depressed and out of character.  He is a famous painter with a loving family. His paintings always have the same subject- a woman, sometimes in a hat, looking out across the ocean. After finally having enough of no longer being satisfied with his life, even though he keeps being told it's perfect, he decides to leave. His first night out it's rainy and he tries to kill himself on a in front of the house where he was introduced to painting at a young age by an older hatted woman, the subject of his paintings, but chickens out of it and aimlessly drives through town. As he's stopped at a stoplight, a girl knocks on his door and lets herself in to his passenger side of his car. She says that she has been kicked out of her house by her mother, who was acting on the wishes of a "bastard" step-father, and just wants to be driven anywhere she can be. We later learn her name is Marylou. After an unsuccessful encounter with Marylou's mother and step-father, the pair start driving. They end up in a sea-side town and rent a house, starting new lives together with a quickly-formed father-daughter bond. Taillandier takes up art again, as he is inspired by Marylou, and Marylou decides that not all adults are bad. They help each out. But after they finally get comfortable, Taillandier finds an article in the newspaper about Marylou's mother. She's in the hospital because the step-father beat her and threw her out the window. Taillandier and Marylou both decide to go visit Marylou's mother in the hospital. She's in terrible condition and can't open her eyes, but there's a quick shot of he clutching Marylou's hand. A sign that she still loves her. While Marylou is in the ICU with her mom, Taillandier finally calles is wife and lets her know that he'll be on his way home soon. He talks to Marylou after she's done visiting and lets her know that her step-father has a criminal record, is in custody, and will get the maximun time in jail. He also suggests that she stay with a foster family while her mom recovers, of course meaning that Marylou continue to stay with him. Flash-forward an unestablished amount of time and Taillandier's wife is waking Marylou up in the morning saying that she is about to miss breakfast, like a mom. The room looks like a teenager's room so it is assumed that she has been there for a while. That same day is the day that Marylou is dropped back off at her mother's. Her mother is so happy to see her and thanks Taillandier for taking care of Marylou. Taillandier and Marylou both try to stay strong but it's obvious that they've grown close and will miss each other. They have impacted each other in ways that they'll never forget.

I really liked the movie because it had such a different subject matter from what I normally see in American movies. It was more personal and more about a real story rather than a generic comedy or action movie that is always showing at an American theater. It was a nice change of pace. I really really wish that I had seen more movies because this one impressed me so much. I will definitely attend the festival next year.

 I saw this movie "The Day of the Crow" on Saturday at 10:20 a.m.  I read the synopsis briefly before going in so I had a general idea of what the plot was going to be like.

 First off, I enjoyed the animation very much, I thought that was very well done.  The story reminded me of the Jungle Book, in the sense that we begin with a young boy who is raised in the forest.  He is raised with his father, who is stern and tells him not to venture outside of the forest because he will disappear.  The boy obeys but is on the edge of the forest one day and sees people walking in the distance.  He is unsure so he asks his father about it and his father says that it can not be true.  Now if this were American cinema then they boy would venture there out of curiosity alone, disobeying his father, however he does not.  His father is injured during a thunderstorm and the gets a broken leg, the boy is desperate and leaves the forest, with his father, to go and find the people he saw and ask if they knew how to fix legs.  It is only in desperate need that the boy disobeys his father, otherwise he would die.  The boy finds a town and leads his father to a doctor who takes them both in.  The doctor is kind, gentle, and sweet and gets his daughter, of similar age to the boy (perhaps 10??), to watch after him while his father is recuperating.  It is here that the plot thickens because there is this old woman who sees the father and says that he is "pumpkin" and is rallying to have him killed or run out of town because she says that he killed her daughter and burned down their barn.  The boy meanwhile is basically getting to know the girl better and becoming very good friends with her.  When the boys father, "pumpkin", wakes his is angry but convinced by the sweet doctor to stay until his leg is healed and out of a cast.  All pumpkin wants to do is leave as soon as possible.  When he does leave, we learn that pumpkin was in love with the old woman's daughter and was caught in the barn with her by her father.  He then was extremely angry and ended up trying to shoot pumpkin, and in doing so burned the barn down out of rage on accident and died.  Then pumpkin and the girl run to live in the forest.  We don't know how the mother dies but we do see, throughout the film, beings that have the body of a person, with normal clothes, but the heads of animals.  These people are people who have died, they are ghosts and the boy can see them.  The father becomes ill shortly after arriving in the forest and the boy gets a crow to take a handkerchief to the girl, and bring her back.  The only significance of crows in the story.  She does and is trying to heal his father when he wakes, thinks she is wife for an instant, and then when he sees that she is not he lashes out in anger and sadness because he is kind of going crazy because he basically became a hermit when the mom dies.  In lashing out he sets fire to the hut, but sacrifices himself to save the children, and in doing so joins his wife and finds peace.  The boy returns with the girl to her town.

 The biggest difference between this and American cinema is the reference to death.  In our films, especially children's films, we tip toe around the subject and when someone does die, it is a huge thing.  In this film, the subject of death seems to be less crucial.  It doesn't seem to be a big deal.  The boy can see ghosts and sees his mother all of the time, so he is not phased by death at all.  I like this approach because I agree that we should teach children that death is natural, since it is unavoidable and is natural after all. I enjoyed seeing this movie a lot at the festival!

FFF Jour de la grenouille: Aaron Seal

I saw this movie called "The Day of the Frog" on Sunday at 10 a.m.  I do admit that I did not get a chance to read the synopsis before viewing so I went into the theater without knowing what the plot was but I figured that could be good because then I can judge whether or not the plow was clear to someone who had no clue. 

 The format was past-present cinematography, in the sense that they began with the present, and went back and forth with small scenes from the "past" in order to let the viewer know what is going on and to move the plot forward.  The "present" is a team of archaeologists are taken to a hospital and the main girl, Anna, will not wake up.  You learn that this is due to a cave in.  She is the leader of the team and is all about her work and, since the recent death of her mother, is very distant from others.  The basic progression of the story is that she is working with a man, Peter, who she does not trust or care for but then falls in love with him.  She is hesitant to let her feelings run free because she has been hurt before and is distraught by her mother's death still.  In the end she chooses to let herself love him.  He is unsure of how he feels until the end, and goes out with another team member in the middle of the film, continuing with Anna's being upset.

 The movie could have done with background music, I could tell that it was not "big budget" because of that, it would have also helped the story not drag.  I do not specifically know why it is called "The Day of the Frog" as frogs are seldom seen, only interacting in like one or two short scenes and they don't help the plot at all.  The fragmentation of the story was also somewhat confusing, or at least could have been much more clear and straight forward.  As far as comparison to American cinema I do not feel that it was very different.  There were not idioms that I did not understand and there were not a whole lot of different places and things that seemed out of the ordinary ( apart from the frogs).I appreciated it and loved seeing the film at the festival though! 

Therese Desqueyroux

I walked into the bird theater to watch Therese Desqueyrouxand when I came out the streets were covered in snow!

Even though the acting was good- restrained performances and palpable tensions, at times I could only see Audrey Tautou instead of Therese.It didn’t help that I had just seen Coco Before Chanel (which she also stars in) so all I could think about were the differences between her characters and their styles especially since they were both set in the 1920s in France.

The movie makes me want to read the book. It is about individuality, social expectations, and it is definitely about religious faith, specifically Catholicism. I have a feeling the movie doesn’t do the Nobel Prize winning novel justice but it was well thought out and the metaphors were there. For example, Aunt Clara’s death happens exactly at the moment Therese is about to take poison and commit suicide. Clara basically gives up her life for her niece and in a sense absolves her sin. The Desqueyroux family makes a show of going to church on Sundays but they barely tolerate Aunt Clara to the point of marginalizing her.

Visually, it was full of beautiful scenes of the countryside of France I really liked the red sailboat floating along the water and the gorgeous Portuguese neighbor Jean Azevedo.

The picture is of the actors, directors and everyone involved at both universities that were being recognized before the movie started.

I have enjoyed being forced to watch French cinema over the last few days and have opted to watch other French movies in my spare time like: Trois Couleurs: Rouge, Coco Before Chanel, and after watching Renoir I plan to see Jean Renoir's masterpiece The Rules Of The Game which follows Citizen Kane and Vertigo as one of the best movies of all time. 

After living in Richmond for two years I can finally say I have been to the Byrd and witnessed Bob Gulledge in action playing the Mighty Wurlitzer organ. 

Pre Therese Desqueyroux

Thérése Desqueyroux is based on the French novel by François Mauriac. It is about a woman who is tried for poisoning her husband Bernard by overdosing him with a medicine containing arsenic. It isn’t fatal, unfortunately for her, and despite the evidence against her the case is dropped. Mostly because Bernard’s sister is to be married and he doesn’t want a scandal to prevent it. Thérése just wants her freedom while living in the 1920s and eventually it is granted to her. Oh yeah, it is also suggested that she is a lesbian in love with her sister-in-law.

So, this film is based on the novel that has been called one of the best pieces of French literature of the 20^th century. The author Mauriac said in an interview, back in the day, that he was inspired by techniques of silent films like flashbacks. The novel has other structural devices like internal monologues so it will be interesting to see how it translates to film.

Audrey Tautou is the star and having just finished watching her in Coco Before Chanel I am sure she will play the part very well. As for the rest of it we will see. 

Un Soir au club and Renoir

Bonjour!



  My name is Taylor Forr and a couple of days ago on March 21st, I attended the French Film Festival in Richmond at the Byrd Theatre. I went to see Un Soir au Club (a 2009 film) and Renoir (from 2012).
   First, let me say that the Byrd theatre was absolutely beautiful and old fashioned, and it made for a great film experience. I could hear many conversations in French all around me, and it definitely added to the foreign feeling.

   Both the producer, Charles Paviot, and the director, Jean Achache, of Un Soir au Club were there to talk a little bit about the film and answer questions. Jean Achache has directed 6 french films and has been an assistant director for 22 more. He commented on the incredible jazz music in the movie and also how happy he was that it got the chance to be shown in Richmond. The film was based on the Un Soir au Club a novel by Christian Gailly, about a jazz musician who can't pull himself away from a jazz bar and begins to have an affair on his wife.

   Personally, I was not a huge fan of this movie. I thought the music was beautiful, but other than that it wasn't too impressive. I found the two main characters to be almost unlikable. The ending was also very cliche. (I won't spoil it for those who have yet to see it.) I found myself getting bored and waiting and waiting for something to happen. I don't think I would recommend this movie to anyone, but it was a new experience.
   Renoir, directed by Gilles Bourdos, was a totally different experience. I loved this movie. The cinematography was absolutely stunning. The movie follows the famous painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in 1915. Renoir is an old man at this point in his life but still paints. The story tells of Renoir's desire to paint, despite a crippling illness, and the romance between one of his models Andrée, and his son, Jean Renoir. I would recommend this movie to anyone, and would buy it in an instance. The scenery is magnificent, and makes you wish you lived in France. This movie made me feel for the characters much more than Un Soir au Club, and I even cried at one point towards the end of the movie. It is a must see.
   Overall, I had a great time at the 2013 French Film Festival, and I hope to attend next year. It was an experience that will be remembered, and I encourage others to go, especially those who live in Richmond.
Vive la France!

French Film Festival Experience

On Thursday evening I ended up watching the movie Un Soir Un Club instead of Renoir due to the earlier timing. This movie I found very depressing, due to the main characters struggle in coming into and back to the jazz genre. It showed elements of the struggle of musicians who want to make a living out of the career. I was not much of fan about the romance aspect with the woman Debbie, but I suppose most movies need that element of romance included. Overall I was more impressed with the movies cinematography and lights rather than the story. I found it quite mediocre and the movie seemed to drag on.  The Byrd Theater, however had beautiful atmosphere. The architecture was beautiful and rich. It looked very formal and vintage. The rouge red carpets went very well with the gold detailed interior. I was actually surprised that their was not a lot of people that showed up, I was hoping that it would have been a bigger venue because the scheduled looked so busy. Also I was shocked to find out that they only took cash instead of credit cards, that element was more of a pain to me than an compliment to the olden time vintage atmosphere.

After I left the movie I grabbed myself a program and took it home to keep.

The following day I went to the free lecture on Friday morning. Marc Nicolas the General Director of La FEMIS film school-Paris, was talking about the support of the film industry in France. The national government directly supports the film industry with a system called a CNC and they are supported by imposing taxes on movie tickets, tv providers and some of that tax money was given to film makers to make more films. However due to modern technology today people would much rather do other activities than watch a flim, thus reducing the amount of tickets sold. This was an interesting lecture to listen to and was worth going to due to the convenience of proximity and price range. I found it quite enlightening because it showed similarities between the french film industry and the one in the U.S. I never really thought about how the tax on films worked. This was a good subject lecture to attend to.

While I was at the lecture, I found out my friend Jay, a cinema major attended the lecture as well. Due to the lack of time I was only able to put together a short interview about his interested in the French Film Festival.

Question 1: What was the most interesting topic of the lecture?

I found the most interesting topic about the lecture was the discussion about the taxes of film.

Question 2: Do you think that the tax on films in France is similar to the tax films in the U.S?

Yes, I feel as if they are similar in certain ways.

Question 3: Describe your french film experience.

I did not watch other films, but I did enjoy the content of the lecture. 

Over all the French Film Festival was better than expected, I learned a lot of new things and was able to see a movie that was foreign. From this whole entire experience I was able to broaden my horizons culturally and practice my comprehension of the French language.

Sport de filles

The comment about this being a 'feminist' movie was so off the mark.  Le sport de filles is all about money and it has no gender, like museums and their patronage.  What it did say about the economy of the horsey set is on the mark.  What I liked was the single-mindedness of the young woman, but I seriously doubt if a jumper can become a dressage master in 3 weeks....

SPECIAL!!!!! Saturday night 10 pm!

The spectacle for Saturday night, 10 pm, will be a colorized Meliès film AND the famous Byrd Theater  organ will rise to accompany the film!!
If you haven't see the Byrd organ, it's a Richmond treat.

Assistance mortelle

Listening to the director, Raoul Peck, talk about his documentary.

38Tėmoins

So is it mass human cowardice or is it that we are afraid for our own safety, our own vulnerability?

friday movies ready to start!

Please read Lynda's post. It's good background.

About the French Film Festival

 I have been around a reasonable amount of French entertainment but I did not really approach it with a "studying eye" I pretty much just watched movies or TV shows that seemed interesting so for my blog I will talk about what I do know about the topic along with the research I made. In fact, I got to learn about how cinema progressively became what it is nowadays; It all started around the end of the 19th century when Joseph Plateau discovered that the retina could hold image longer than we thought. Based on that other inventions were made such as the following:

However, they all had flaws so in 1895, les freres Lumiere or “Lumiere brothers” came with this brilliant machine based on a sewing machine mechanism: the cinematograph

The two brothers made a lot of money with this invention therefore they did not want to share their secret. It turned out to be a good decision because people started to try and copy if not surpass the lumiere’s invention and come up with a better, more sophisticated version of it. I thought it was important to learn that when the brothers tried to win the American market they were sadly surprised because Thomas Edison had created a similar version of the Vitascope. A lot of progress will happen in French cinema from 1895 to 1930; movies will become longer, and their content will become more diverse influenced by hollywood in some part. Ideas such the Cannes Festival will also become reality.

Today’s French cinema is something I know a little more and like. I am always struck by how much understatement is involved in some movies or how crude others can be. I also had a hard time understanding the humor in the comics.But I do love the “mise en scene” of dramas, I can easily become emotional watching those. That’s why I’m excited about the French Film Festival this week-end. I had planned to go see my favorite actor Gerard Jugnot in Mes Heros but instead I hope I will go see Cigarettes et bas nylons  tonight if I ever get a ticket... and on Sunday I will see Therese Desqueyroux. Looking at the trailers I already know that I will have a lot to say!

Renoir

Last night I was able to go see Renoir at 10:10pm. Since it was late they didn't do a question/answer series afterwards unfortunately, I think that would have been interesting.

First, I enjoyed the cinematography of the film. There were quite a few scenes of trees and grass blowing in the summer wind on the countryside of France that were calming and beautiful.

In the movie Pierre-Auguste Renoir is depicted as having really bad arthritis in his old age which is true but that he had to have a paint brush tied to his hand is in fact erroneous based on some research I did. I thought it was funny to see that he paints his nudes as fatty's and not to the ladies real body type. I enjoyed peering into who Renoir was with lines like "Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world" - he painted children, beautiful landscapes, women. It also ties into the fact that the ugly first World War was going on.

One scene got big laugh- The Renoir son's are all together walking along the beach and the eldest son says to Jean (future famous film maker) - Cinema is not for the French- we can understand how that is funny.

Overall, I enjoyed the film though at times I thought a bit more drama might make it more interesting like- the love affair between Renee and Jean, the anguish in the relationship between Coco (youngest son) and father Renoir. It was pretty tame and towards the end of the hour and fifty minute movie I was ready for it to end.

Renoir- Pre movie

This film, Renoir, is one of the flicks I want to see since it is about the famous artist. It is directed by Gilles Bourdos and I read that the cinematographer is very talented. He is Taiwanese - Mark Ping Bing Lee so at least the movie will be visually pleasing. Based on the reviews I read there isn't much drama and nothing seems to happen in the movie. This makes sense based on what we talked about in class- less drama and more about the relationships between people - in French films, also it is about an old man in his 70s. I also expect there to be plenty of nudity since Renoir painted nudes and compared to Americans, the French aren't as squeamish about it.

From earlier today: Round Bertrand Tavernier

This roundtable had the feel of a 'roast': he's apparently a hard-nosed director, but he's got vision.

Impress me!

Use the Google Blogger Mobile App (free on iTunes, Google) to post during the French Film Festival (iPads, Android tablets, iPhones, Android phone apps). But NOT during a film (you'll get thrown out!!) Next movie starts at 8pm: Un soir au club. So, Avoir 20 ans a Richmond was 'homegrown'. Lots of scenes of Richmond. The Director, Pierre-William Glenn has roots from our town, even has ancestors in the Hollywood cemetery here. The connexions (French uses an X in the word) between France and USA, especially around cinema, are legion. Interesting story in the film: during the Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold (boo-hiss-famous traitor) came to Richmond and burned down much of the town, trying to drive out Thomas Jefferson. While being out of Tidewater, the French with Lafayette were able to disembark and help us whoop the British. So much histoire! (means both story and history, en français)

Festival starting!

Here goes.

French Film Festival

I'm actually really excited about the French Film Festival.  I was pretty apathetic about it in the beginning of the semester when you told us we had to go, but my feelings have changed.  Actually, to be honest, I was initially a little bit apprehensive about the festival because I took French for four years, went to France for 2 months, yet I can barely speak it anymore, and I was a bit nervous that this would just be rubbing in my face how little I remember.  My family at home actually has a Corsican exchange student with whom I lived when I was in France (she's a family friend) and while I was in Corsica I saw a lot of French films/attended mini festivals with her and her mother because they are both very into film.  So, after viewing some of the trailers for the films at the festival, I perked up a bit and remembered how much I enjoyed what I saw while I was abroad.

Tonight I'm going to see Un soir au club and Renoir.  I have to say, the Renoir trailer is very well done, and I'm really excited about seeing it--I actually got chills watching the trailer.  If I can, I'd like to see Main dans la main on Friday or the short films on Saturday.  When I read the description/summary for Main dans la main ("Hand In Hand"), I though "Aw, a love story!" But after seeing the trailer I realized it's closer to 500 Days of Summer than it is to The Notebook.  That is, it looks like a witty love story, and it also incorporates fine art into it, which I found interesting.  That's also good because I'm a total sap for romantic movies and I didn't really want to start crying in the middle of a large crowd.

I'll be bringing my camera to the French Film Festival to take pictures and video.  I really like photography (and film, to an extent) and I think documenting most anything about a film festival has the potential to be displayed in a very interesting way.  I'm a psychology and sociology double major, so such a gathering of people intrigues me and piques my interest about patterns in how people act, the customs of such an event, the culture, etc.  I can't promise I'll emerge from the festival with a compilation video, but I will certainly have photographs.

Plans for the French Film Festival

For the French Festival I plan to take a lot of pictures and possibly create a video since I am into photography and such. I think the visual appeal will make my blog post eye catching and interesting. I personally have not been looking forward to the festival because I am afraid I wont be able to understand much from the movie that I watch, however if this gives me an opportunity to explore and enlighten my view on the world then I will take my chances. The first movie I plan to watch is on Thursday. Its called Renoir, it is based on the impressionist artist. Since I have a great interest in art I find that this may be a film I would be interested in seeing. I have also seen the movie before it came out in the festival but it would good to see it in theaters. The next movie I want to watch is the free presentation that is on Friday morning at the Grace Street Theater. This is presented by Marc Nicolas, General Director of La Fémis. Overall, I think this festival will become a new experience.

My French Film Festival Expectations

I am looking forward to attending the French Film Festival this weekend.  At first I was not too excited about having to attend the festival for class but as the semester has progressed, I decided that starting next year, I will be taking French at VCU and hopefully taking French classes for the rest of my college career.  I have always wanted to learn another language and French is the only one that really interests me.  Because of this, I asked for my festival pass for my birthday.

This film festival should be a good experience for me because of this and the fact that I am very interested in film, American or foreign.  The first film I plan on seeing is Le Jour des corneilles, an animated film directed by Jean-Christophe Dessaint and starring prominent French actor Jean Reno, whom I have previously seen in American films Godzilla and Leon: the Professional.  After reading an interview conducted with the films screenwriter and director, which explains the symbolism at work in this children's movie, I am interested to actually see the film.

Another film being screened at the festival that I am interested in seeing is Cigarettes et bas nylon.  This film is directed and co-written by Fabrice Cazeneuve and will be presented by Salome Stevenin, one of the movies stars.  Set in World War II, this film concerns camps that were made for French women who married American soldiers.  These camps intended to "Americanize" these women before they moved back to the states with their new husbands.  This sounds like a very interesting piece, presenting a side of the war that I have not yet seen on film or even heard of before.

I plan on attending the festival for the majority of the weekend and these are just two of the films that I would like to see.  Many of the other films also seem like they would interest me and I would also like to see some of the short films as well.  I am glad that this class gave me the opportunity to attend such an event.

Bernard Tavernier Table Ronde

A director with over 32 films to his name: he has something to say about cinema. I've seen some of older films (he started in 1963) and he's kept up the pace. The title of the Master Class, 'Round Bernard Tavernier', refers to his film 'Round Midnight (about Dexter Gordon).

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Bonjour!

Welcome to our interactions with French film through the French Film Festival 2013 in Richmond, VA. Please use this blog to talk about what you think you're going to see in the 2 films/master classes/set of shorts that you've chosen to see next week. (Label/tag them for us, OK? See the "Labels" tag to the right of this text box?). Use this blog to input research that you do on French cinéma, the directors, the stars, the trailers, the music, FEMIS, whatever! (and TAG it!!!) Then, during the Festival, write your thoughts, reactions, critiques, questions, pictures, videos (use your phones/iPads/tablets/iPods/w/e), interviews, voice recordings/memos. Have fun, record, post and share!