Lucas Belvaux's THIS IS OUR LAND: the frightening growth of the French far right

A uniquely disturbing (because it is so plausible) movie, THIS IS OUR LAND (originally titled as the better, simpler and more ironic Chez Nous) shows us, bit by bit, how a smart, caring, well-liked nurse in a typical provincial French town is slowly and cleverly conned into running for mayor under the banner of the "new" far-right party and its leader (think Marine Le Pen).

Though the far right, along with its neo-Nazis cohorts, has yet to win the major election in France, as Donald Trump and the Republican Party have done here in the USA, their strength in France -- as well as all across the European community -- continues to grow.

Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux (of 38 Witnesses and Rapt) who co-wrote (with Jérôme Leroy, from his novel) and directed the movie has given it a remarkably true-to-life, near-documentary-like approach filled with so many on-the-nose details of small town life -- at work, at home, in relationships with friends and lovers -- that reality is captured almost at once and remains grounded throughout, despite some melodramatic turns and a finale that seems too sudden, coincidental and easy. The movie's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, however, and what is likely to remain with you is a cautionary tale par excellence.

In the leading role is that fine Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne (above and on poster, top), who began her career in the Dardennes' Rosetta and has been giving crackerjack performances during the near 20 years since. This is another of her best, and it is hard to think of an actress (maybe Adèle Haenel in a few years) who could be any better in this role.

What the movie is particularly good at is showing us the route, led by a very successful right-wing doctor, played with his usual savoir faire by André Dussollier (above), via which the national front party seduces our heroine, along with so much of the populace, many of which are interested in populist ideals but unable (maybe unwilling) to differentiate between those and the racist, xenophobic underlay that accompanies them.

Catherine Jacob's performance -- the actress is shown above and below, center -- as the Le Pen stand-in is impressive in both its subtle conniving and its power to rouse the masses. This Is Our Land is also quite adept at demonstrating how a smart and caring woman could be seduced by this combination of praise, attention, and the support of friends already in the hands of the far right. In fact, what makes the film so particularly disquieting is how heavily we identify with our nurse/heroine and then must watch as she (and, yes, maybe we would, too) begins compromising the very bedrock principles upon which she has lived so far.

Now, all political parties do this same thing (god knows, America's Democratic Party compromised what few principles it had left by forcing Hillary Clinton upon us rather than going with the more progressive candidate whose appeal, according to all the early polls, trumped even that of Trump. But there are bad political parties and worse ones. And the French right-wing, along with America's Republicans, are clearly the worse.

The film's wild card is the character of the Dequenne character's old boyfriend (Guillaume Gouix, above and below) who suddenly appears back in her life as a possible mate.  Alternately violent and kindly, the latter especially to her children, he quickly becomes as much of a problem for the party and their candidate, as he may be for our heroine, too.

In the supporting cast, Patrick Descamps (above, left) is particularly notable as Dequenne's layabout Communist-Party father, whose reaction to her new political affiliation will not surprise you. A movie that is, as they used to say, ripped from today's headlines, This Is Our Land seems not to be asking could-it-happen-here? (it already has) than simply to be questioning how, in this "modern" age, we might hang on to whatever is left of our minuscule democracy.

From Distrib Films US, in French with English subtitles and running 117 minutes, the movies gets its U.S. theatrical premiere this Wednesday, April 18, in New York City at Film Forum. On April 27 it opens in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Monica Film Center. Click here, and then scroll down and click on Watch Now to view all upcoming playdates, cities and theaters.

Maïwenn's MY KING explores amour fou from a female viewpoint -- less crazy, more loving

The movies of French film-maker Maïwenn keep getting better and stronger. From Pardonnez-moi through All About Actresses to Polisse and now MY KING (Mon roi), she seems to have become more disciplined as she has grown more mature. Her films have always been fun -- their overwrought moments often their most enjoyable -- but in her latest she tackles the subject of amour fou with a directness and clarity that is at once sad and bracing.

The filmmaker, shown at left, has cast her two leads actors about as well as you could want. Her leading lady, Emmanuelle Bercot, who won a deserved Best Actress award at this past year's Cannes fest, is herself a fine film director (Standing Tall, On My Way, Student Services, Backstage), while her leading man, Vincent Cassel (below), always sexy and charismatic, simply tops himself here. He's phenomenal: glowing, growing, then exploding with energy and charm beyond measure. Our king, indeed. (He actually played one in another of his recent films, Tales of Tales.)

Maïwenn's film begins with a mother named Tony (short for Marie-Antoinette: royalty is all over the place here) about to ski downhill. The next scene takes us to the office of physical therapist who offers up some holistic-sounding psycho-babble that might send some of us out the door. But mom has had a bad injury, the healing of which will take us right through to the end of the film, as she (and we) think back to earlier days and how she met and stuck with and by the guy who will become the love of her life.

The filmmaker does her back-and-forth between the past and present quite gracefully, so that we're never jarred and easily know where we are. We meet the group of injured young people with whom Tony will rehab, and we also meet the most important people in her circle as she negotiates the trying and tricky years with Georgio (Cassel).

These include her brother, who, regarding the great love of his sister's life, seems the most rational in the bunch -- and as he is played by the usually quite irrational, Louis Garrel (above), you've got to credit Maïwenn's ability to bring out surprising new layers in her actors.

What makes My King succeed especially well is that the entire viewpoint and attitude are coming to us via the character of Tony -- who is, given all that she's going through, pretty rational herself. (She is certainly more so than Georgio.) We understand her and root for her, even when her decisions are the wrong ones.

For his part Cassel simply makes his character everything Tony wants -- and more (and finally less), with such sex appeal, charm and often great good humor that there is no question why these two keep trying to make it work. Even when Georgio cannot let go of an old model-gorgeous but unhealthily-clinging girlfriend (Chrystèle Saint Louis Augustin, below, right) who seems constantly in need of his help, Tony tries to look the other way.

How things resolve themselves -- and they do -- proves bittersweet and quite real, leaving us feeling the same caring for both these characters as we've felt all along, watching them change and grow, try and fail, and now maybe even succeed. But in a different configuration.

Thanks to the director, the writers (Maïwenn and Etienne Comar) and the performers, the movie works on all kinds of levels. It will stand the test of time, I suspect, as a simultaneous love story and cautionary tale, a character study, and a look at the way the French well-to-do lived and behaved at a certain point in human history. (Were the film to have dealt with the working class or the poor, I doubt it would have been made.)

From Film Movement and running a long but never boring 124 minutes, My King opens this Friday, August 12, in New York City at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and in Los Angeles on Friday, August 26, at Laemmle's Royal. Here in South Florida it opens in Miami at the Tower Theater, also on August 26, and in Boca Raton at the Living Room Theaters on Friday, September 9. Elsewhere? Absolutely. Click here and scroll down to see currently scheduled playdates, arranged alphabetically by state.

Cautionary tale for dummies: Lazar-Lea & Del Prete's THE TRUTH ABOUT ANGELS

Just what is THE TRUTH ABOUT ANGELS? After watching the straight-to-DVD movie co-written (with its star and producer, Antonio Del Prete) and directed by Lichelli Lazar-Lea (shown below), I don't have a clue. I don't even know who the angels are. Unless the title refers to Los Angeles, where the film takes place. Even then, this "truth" would be applicable only to the supposedly rich-and-famous characters who -- with the exception of the artist named Pablo (Del Prete), a "regular guy" being tempted by the naughty r-&-f's -- populate this exceedingly silly little movie that has, however, an interesting idea at its core.

That idea is that there are anything-goes parties being organized for the Southern California "in crowd" who want to play hot-and-hard but do not want any journalists or paparazzi around to shoot and report on them. Where such a party takes place and how it has been organized is brought to somewhat interesting and believable life by the filmmakers, although, on their rather tight budget, both the crowd and the accoutrements look a little skimpy. Still, we could forgive all that if the movie delivered, which it does not.

The set-up, however, hold us for awhile, and the actors on view, particularly Mr. Del Prete, shown above, are attractive and generally presentable, so the movie isn't hard to watch until it "sillies" up beyond measure in time for the finale. (No spoilers here, so I'll just say that, if the party's powers-that-be really needed to keep what happened "under wraps," they could not have picked a stupider manner in which to resolve their problem.)

Along the way we meet a supposedly famous actor (played with not nearly enough charisma, smarts or looks by a fellow named Simon Rex, above, center) and one of his nutty, nasty hangers-on (Michael Azria, below, center). There's also a strange girl with fake eyes (see bottom of post) on display throughout, whom we expect will figure into the mix in some interesting way. (She's a nice visual touch, but don't get your hopes up.)

We also get a couple of scenes of our hero's home life, with wife (Monique Gabriela Curnen, below, center) and new baby, and in terms of acting honors, Ms Curnen walks away with the film, even though what her character has to tell us is fairly standard stuff.

The latest among the Hemingway dynasty (Dree, below) makes an appearance halfway along and becomes the movie's game-changer. Ms Hemingway is very pretty and, considering her rather circumscribed role (she's high throughout), manages to make something of an impression.

It's clear here that the filmmakers want to provide us with a cautionary tale about how the allure of fame and fortune can obscure the important things in life (love, family, you know the routine). But the manner in which they shovel this down our throats is likely to make many movie-watchers gag, or at least laugh. (This is especially true in the case of Del Prete's final, dramatic scene -- which is likely to produce a guffaw rather than the emotion that is clearly hoped for.) I'm afraid that only the very young or untutored will find The Truth About Angels surprising, provoking -- or truthful.

From Indican Pictures, the film streets this Tuesday, October 11, for sale or rental.