André Téchiné's new jewel, BEING 17, may mark the top of his illustrious career -- with some help from Céline Sciamma

A great, unfolding love story, as well as a wondrous coming-of-age film, BEING 17 is the latest addition to the oeuvre of one of France's gifts to cinema, André Téchiné. Working steadily for over fifty years, Téchiné, shown below, is now 73 years old and his abilities only seem to grow stronger and more assured. Even what may look, upon initial viewing, like a misstep usually prove better with an additional watch. His are some of the best coming-of-age movies ever made: rich, wise and bone-deep. This filmmaker offers behavior above all, then lets us, along with his characters, struggle with the meaning of that behavior until it is somehow sorted out. Not always to the best ends. But always with truth, feeling and even, sometimes, humor.

In his latest film two boys, toward the end of their school years and on the cusp on young adulthood, find themselves engaged in angry competition and even physical fighting. This is brought on more by one -- Tomas, the mixed-race, adopted son of a kindly, hard-working farm family in the mountains -- than by the other, Damien, who is the son of the town's doctor mom and soldier father, the latter most often found abroad in some area of conflict.

Téchiné usually works with some of his country's best and most iconic actors -- from Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche to André Dussollier and Gérard Depardieu, as well as discovering and making the most of young talent that then goes on to find its own impressive career (Gaël Morel, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet and Roschdy Zem, among many others).

So it is again, as one of France's finest and most versatile actresses, Sandrine Kiberlain stars here as that doctor mom (the still boyish and beautiful Alexis Loret, above, right, of Alice and Martin, plays the soldier dad). Ms Kiberlain (two photos up and above, center) is as eloquent, exotically lovely and engulfing as ever, but the movie belong rightly to its two young stars: Kacey Mottet Klein (above, left, who already has a major resumé behind him, including Sister, Home and Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life) playing Damien, and newcomer Corentin Fila (below), who plays Tomas.

These two young men are terrific actors, representing that oh-so-tricky age of 17 to alternately ferocious and moving affect. There is not a false moment in any of their work nor in any of Téchiné's -- along with Ms Sciamma's who collaborated on the sensitive but never too-explanatory screenplay. Where these feelings of anger are coming from and why are the questions that keep arising, and the filmmaker lets the answers come haltingly and very believably.

I am not certain there is another movie-maker who understands any better how character-building is a thing that goes on and on, revealing itself in small increments along with the growth and change that occurs. And he has found two young actors who can embody this halting growth and change quite splendidly -- coming as it does at the most pivotal and difficult time of life. The two young actors keep us with them, held in an alternately angry and loving embrace, through events minor and major.

The film takes place over four seasons at school, in the home, on the farm and throughout the countryside. Being 17 is a visually beautiful movie (could there be a more gorgeous place to live than here?) but also an equally intelligent one. And it takes its place -- along with an earlier film this year, Summertime -- as one of, maybe the finest of dramas/earned-love-stories of our new millennium.

The movie -- from Strand Releasing and running a just-about-perfect 116 minutes (In French with English subtitles) -- opens this Friday, October 7, in New York City at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the IFC Center, and in Los Angeles on Friday, October 14, at Laemmle's Royal and Playhouse 7. Here in the South Florida area it will open on Friday, October 21,at the Bill Cosford Cinema in Coral Gables, the Tower Theater in Miami, the Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale, and at the Lake Worth Playhouse in Lake Worth.  Click here, then scroll down to click on Screenings, to view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters across the country where the movie will be shown over the next few weeks.

André Téchiné's IN THE NAME OF MY DAUGHTER -- glamour, nostalgia, crime, and maybe justice

Of the 22 mostly excellent movies made by French director André Téchiné, at least a half-dozen of these have starred the iconic actress Catherine Deneuve, and his latest, IN THE NAME OF MY DAUGHTER, if not one of his best, is certainly worth seeing and mulling. Taken from a real-life crime tale that is evidently very well-known to the French, the movie will not resonate so strongly here in America, and yet its odd and transfixing story should grab foreign-film audiences nonetheless.

M. Téchiné, shown at right, tells the tale in his usual clear-eyed manner, allowing us to view only what observers to these events might have seen and heard, without unduly pushing us in any positive or negative direction involving the characters. Instead of heroes and villains, we get something much more in-between: people with their own agenda who do things good and bad, kind or crappy, toward goals of which we (maybe sometimes even they) can't always be certain. This lends the movie not merely a particular kind of unhinged suspense but also leads to its satisfying-in-some-ways, not-so-in-others conclusion.

This sort of keeping us off-balance, while giving his characters room to expand, deflate or simply surprise us, has been one of the hallmarks of Téchiné's oeuvre, and it is why some of us so treasure the filmmaker. It has also kept him rather firmly out of the art-film mainstream -- even though his films are often set in particularly beautiful locations. But screw that. Téchiné is better -- richer, smarter and finally more genuinely humane -- than mere mainstream.

Here he brings to pulsating life the mid-1970s-set story of a problemed relationship between a mother (played by Ms Deneuve, two photos above) and her daughter (Adèle Haenel, shown just above), a failing gambling casino (the film takes place on the French Riviera) that the Mafia would dearly love to take over, and the involvement in all this of an up-and-coming young man who intends to get much farther ahead (the ubiquitous Guillaume Canet, below).

Class, entitlement, sexism, and some generally inappropriate behavior from nearly all concerned set the movie on a course toward collision. Why and by whom is part of its somewhat nasty charm and sadness. All could have worked out so differently, of course, if behavior from even one of these participants had been a bit different. Which is part of the Téchiné experience, and why some of us we keep coming back to him for more.

The threesome of lead actors does a superb job of keeping us off-balance, with Deneuve giving one of her fiercest performances in some time: such strength put to poor and ill-considered employ. Ms Haenel, whose beauty can stop traffic, is more correctly subdued here: angry but tentative, alternately hopeful and depressed. M. Canet uses his feral side quite well; we may not like him but we certainly understand his motives and actions.

The look of the film is on target, too, as the 70s come back in a rush of color and rather poor (but fun) taste. Everyone smokes, of course, and very large cars -- even for Europe -- are a must.

For the French, this is a story that simply would not die. Many of the movie's most telling moments arrive in more modern-day dress, as some of our characters -- aged quite well by the make-up artists -- live to feint and parry once again.

In the Name of My Daughter -- distributed in the USA by Cohen Media Group and running 116 minutes -- opens tomorrow, Friday, May 15, in New York City at the IFC Center and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema, and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal. In the weeks following, it will open in another 18 cities. To see them all, with theaters and playdates included, click here. 

André Téchiné's latest -- UNFORGIVABLE -- opens in New York City and Los Angeles

 

One of the reasons this year's Rendez-vous With French Cinema seemed so special is that several world-class filmmakers were represented by movies that show them working at, or close to, the top of their form: Lucas Belvaux with 38 Witnesses, Benoît Jacquot's Farewell, My Queen, Robert Guédiguian and The Snows of Kilmanjaro and André Téchiné with his newest, UNFORGIVABLE (Impardonnables).

Téchiné (shown at right) and Guédiguian are similar in the manner in which their movies often span a wide canvas of characters, though the former is never nearly so overtly political as the later. This does not mean that Techine is not political, but he always arrives there via different routes than other filmmakers. His new film is so utterly fascinating, so perfectly cast, and so full of humor, surprise, sadness and mystery (the mystery of character) that, moment to moment, I believe it may be his very best. It is also about change, and how we had better -- we must -- keep accepting, in fact, engaging it. This movie may also be the filmmaker's most accessible (for a relatively mainstream audience, at least) in some time.

Unforgivable gives the classic beauty and fine French actress Carole Bouquet (above) her best role in years as an ex-model who now deals in real estate in Venice, Italy, and early on in the film becomes involved with a writer of mysteries, played by another grand old Frenchman André Dussollier (below, left), who has come to Venice to find a way around his current writer's block.

Into the mix are introduced that remarkable Italian actress Adriana Asti (above, right), whose relationship with Bouquet goes way back; her son, a very troubled youth, played by Mauro Conte (below, right, with dog*); Dussolier's daughter, Mélanie Thierry (an equally troubled adult) and the impoverished-but-sexy Italian royalty, Andrea Pergolesi, with whom she is involved.

There are more, but these half-dozen characters are enough to set the game in motion, allowing the filmmaker (he co-adapted the scenario from the novel by Philippe Djian) to explore again, and so very well, our needs and desires, and why we betray others, even as we inevitably inflict the worst damage upon ourselves.

In a way, the movie is slice-of-life, Téchiné-style, in that it cuts a wide swatch and burrows deep. A number of unforgiveable things are done along the way, the biggest, perhaps, by the character played by Dussolier. And yet, I suspect that this filmmaker would tell us -- hell, he's shown us -- that very nearly nothing is unforgive-able. Not when we fully understand where it comes from. And Téchiné, maybe more than any other movie-maker I can think of, is always in there, probing, questioning, making sure that we do.

Unforgivable , from Strand Releasing and running 112 minutes, opens this Friday, June 29, in both Los Angeles (at Laemmle's Royal Theater, Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5) and New York City (at the Beekman and the IFC Center).

*That dog is amazing -- much better than the little guy in The Artist (same breed, too, if I am not mistaken). But this one is so incredibly lively and funny, plus he has a scene that will nearly destroy you. He's a don't-miss, all on his own.

At Rendez-vous: Téchiné's masterwork? UNFORGIVEABLE comes pretty damn close

One of the reasons this year's Rendez-vous With French Cinema seems so special is that several world-class filmmakers are represented by movies that show them working at, or close to, the top of their form: Lucas Belvaux with 38 Witnesses, Benoît Jacquot with Farewell, My Queen, Robert Guédiguian with The Snows of Kilmanjaro -- and now André Téchiné's UNFORGIVEABLE (Impardonnables) joins this group. Téchiné and Guédiguian are similar in how their movies often span a wide canvas of characters, though the former is never nearly so overtly political as the later. This does not mean that Techine is not political, but he always arrives there via different routes than other filmmakers. His new film is so utterly fascinating, so perfectly cast, and so full of humor, surprise, sadness and mystery (the mystery of character) that, moment to moment, I believe it may be his very best. It also may be his most accessible for a relatively mainstream audience.

Unforgiveable gives the classic beauty and fine French actress Carole Bouquet her best role in years as an ex-model who now deals in real estate in Venice, Italy, and early on in the film becomes involved with a writer of Gothic mysteries, played by another grand old Frenchman André Dussollier (below, left), who has come to Venice to find a way around his current writer's block.

Into the mix are introduced that remarkable Italian actress Adriana Asti (above, right), whose relationship with Bouquet goes way back; her son, played by Mauro Conte (below, right, with dog*), a very troubled youth; Dussolier's daughter, Mélanie Thierry, and the impoverished-but-sexy Italian royalty, Andrea Pergolesi, she becomes involved with.

There are more, but these half-dozen characters are enough to set the game in motion, allowing the filmmaker (he co-adapted the scenario from the novel by Philippe Djian) to explore again, and so very well, our needs and desires, and why we betray others, even as we inevitably inflict the worst damage upon ourselves.

In a way, the movie is slice-of-life, Téchiné-style, in that it cuts a wide swatch and burrows deep. A number of unforgiveable things are done along the way, the biggest, perhaps, by the character played by Dussolier. And yet, I suspect that this filmmaker would tell us -- hell, he's shown us -- that very nearly nothing is unforgive-able. Not when we fully understand where it comes from. And Téchiné, maybe more than any other movie-maker I can think of, is always in there, probing, questioning, making sure that we do.

Unforgiveable screens only twice at Rendez-vous -- Wednesday, March 7, at 6:30pm at IFC Center and Friday, March 9, at 8:45pm at the Walter Reade.  But Téchiné's oft-U.S.-distributor Strand Releasing, has picked this one up, so we will be seeing it again -- and soon I hope.  Oh, yes: Carole Bouquet will be making a personal appearance at both screenings!

*That dog is amazing -- much better than the little guy in The Artist (same breed, too, if I am not mistaken).  But this one is so incredibly lively and funny, plus he has a scene that will nearly destroy you. He's a don't-miss, all on his own.

André Téchiné's GIRL ON THE TRAIN opens; Deneuve, Dequenne and Blanc shine

It's been ten months since TrustMovies first viewed André Téchiné's THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (the original review is here; click and scroll down), yet the film, as do most from this director, contin-
ues to haunt his thoughts.

Téchiné (shown just below) is a movie-maker who seldom spells things out:
not the theme nor the moral nor even sometimes the plot itself.

The latter is true this time around, as the key event happens late in the film, yet it packs such a wallop that, were it to occur in any other filmmaker's movie, it would set the entire tone as well as our view of title character.  That this does not happen here is due to the director and co-writer (with Odile Barksy and Jean-Marie Besset) having earlier pre-
sented such a rich and full view of the young woman of the title -- played well, as she does all her roles, by Émilie Dequenne (below) -- and of her world. Consequently, we viewers cannot perform the usual rush-to-judgment done by the media, politicians, even some of those people close to the girl and the event.

Téchiné gives us perspective -- plus the links we need to family, society, politics and the like. Dequenne's mother is played by the great actress Catherine Deneuve, who continues to find, with the help of some of France's best directors (Téchiné, Desplechin, Ozon) interesting and varied roles to play well into her senior years.

Deneuve is aided by actors like Michel Blanc, Mathieu Demy, Ronit Elkabetz, and especially Nicolas Duvauchelle (shown at right, who plays Dequenne's boy-
friend). They all help make Girl on the Train one of the more unusual -- and troubling about the way we live now -- foreign language films in some time.

Thanks to Strand Releasing, the movie opens Friday, January 22, in New York City at the IFC Center and at City Cinemas 1 2 3. A national rollout will follow, so you may get this one in or near your city.