That great comic director, Pierre Salvadori, is back--with a strange, sad IN THE COURTYARD

While TrustMovies does not have a favorite director, he certainly has favorite directors, and among those who make comedies, he would place the splendid Pierre Salvatore at the top of the list. From Cible Emouvant through Après Vous and Priceless, this guy makes us laugh buoyantly while grounding his movies in very human/ humane terms. His films are a joy in so many ways. No wonder I was greatly looking forward to his newest film, IN THE COURTYARD. Surprise: There are a few laughs in the movie but many more smiles, and finally, if there are no outright tears, I suspect that, once seen, this quiet and unusual film will stay with you in odd ways for some time to come.

M. Salvadori, shown at right, has here made his most elusive film to date -- one that deals with depressed people (his other films do this, too, but in a much more comedic manner) in ways that seem both believable and empathetic. Further, the filmmaker is blessed to have at his disposal two top-notch stars, both of whom are pictured below: one a long-time icon of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve; the other an actor who has been working in film for years but may at last have a role in which he makes an indelible mark, Gustave Kervern.

The two play off each beautifully and effortlessly, Ms Deneuve in that rare role in which she is neither wise nor strong, and in fact is not at all in charge of her life. Kervern essays a musician who has suddenly given up his career and his life -- to disappear into some place where he can be left alone. Via the efforts of one of those French civil servants who actually cares about the people she serves (this scene and the actress who plays it -- I believe it is Carole Franck -- are keepers indeed), our "hero" finds his way into the good graces of the couple who owns a mid-size apartment building in town (Ms Deneuve and, as her husband, Féodor Atkine).

The building is peopled with an odd assortment of folk whom we get to know but fleetingly -- with the exception of a sad and sexy, drug-addled ex-sports star (played by Pio Marmaï). There's a blind man, a chronic complainer, and a Russian emigre (in the penultimate picture) with a troublesome dog who stars in the film's most inventive and amusing fantasy sequence. A crack in the owner family's apartment wall (below) leads to more depression, humor and odd plot developments. All along the way, Salvadori keeps a gentle but firm hold on everything from event to character, never allowing the former to circumvent the latter.

How the movie develops is part of its low-key charm. It goes places -- after that crack in the wall, for instance -- that broaden and deepen, but toward character rather than situation, which makes the movie much less "funny" but more real in terms of the people we're getting to know. Exactly how real we won't discover until the finale -- on one level unexpected (if we are viewing all this as "comedy"), on another quite determined by everything that has come before.

The movie -- running 97 minutes, in French with English subtitles and released to DVD this past week via Cohen Media Group -- has, on the DVD "extras," a fine and supremely well edited Q&A with the director which is one of the best filmmaker interviews I've so far seen. In it, Salvadori speaks of how the movie came about, why it is so intentionally different from his other films and how Ms Deneuve proved instrumental in helping it along. (The icon is known for her generosity to French filmmakers and her willingness to take a chance on their projects.) He also tells us why his second most recent movie, Beautiful Lies, made its debut amidst the worst possible circumstances. (This may account for why we've never seen the film on this side of the pond,)

If you, too, are Pierre Salvadori fan, In the Courtyard, will be a don't-miss in terms of understanding the artist's complete oeuvre. While it might not be an appropriate place for PS newcomers to begin, stick the film on your "watch-it-later" list. As for me, I am now wondering just where -- and why -- this talented filmmaker will venture next.

Signe Baumane's ROCKS IN MY POCKETS: dark tales animated with colorful, ironic joie de vivre

A rather bizarre surprise, given its subject and themes -- women, education, suicide, depression, insanity and possible coping mechanisms -- ROCKS IN MY POCKET, the new animated film (her first full-length) from award-winning filmmaker Signe Baumane, proves a genuinely interesting and different kind of animated movie. This one is very time-and place-specific: Latvia in the early and later part of the century past. It is also a movie that is almost completely narrated by its protagonist: a young woman trying to ferret out her own identity and place in the world, even as she investigates the history and place of her grandmother in that same, stifling, what-will-the-neighbors-say? culture in which she has come of age.

Ms Baumane (shown at left) uses, I believe, her own heavily-accented Latvian voice to narrate her movie, and it is quite a winning one, bringing a sometimes wicked sense of humor, tartness and irony to the sound track. That voice is also sheerly enjoyable to hear, making what could be a rather heavy-going narration more of a pleasure than you might expect, had a typically American voice narrated the proceedings.

The animation, too, while made of fairly simple line drawings in various media, is so colorfully shaded and vividly imagined -- characters morphing into animal versions of themselves, a chicken wearing high heels -- that much of it gives extraordinary viewing pleasure.

The movie concentrates most on Signe herself (above, right), though it gives ample time to her grandmother (below, left) and to a number of other characters, mostly female but occasionally male.

There's cousin Linda (below, as a would-be bridal bird), the smart, beautiful and successful girl who grows into an utterly crazy young woman,

along with little Irbe (below) who hears voices intent on giving her perhaps not the best advice.

Craziness does seem to run in this family, and Baumane tracks it as best she can. She comes down hard on a society that favors conformism, laziness, the male prerogative, and the politically correct attitude -- which of course changes as one country after another conquers little Latvia.

The movie is "adult" in the best sense -- not overly sexual, though desire and need do figure in -- and more about sheer survival and making progress in a society in which women were supposed to be male "help-meets" and baby producers above all else.

If the lessons our heroine finally learns turn out to be less than profound -- friendship is a fine outlet by which to share life's pain; follow your dream and do what you most need to; take your drugs to help stave off their highs and lows of the bi-polar personality -- at least our girl seems to have come by these lessons honestly and via some hard work. Plus, the animation gives us all this in a most fertile and imaginative manner.

Rocks in My Pockets -- the title refers to what you'll need if you plan to drown yourself properly -- from Zeitgeist Films and running 89 minutes, opens this Wednesday, September 3, here in New York City at the IFC Center, and the following Friday, September 12, in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal theater. To view all currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters listed, simply click here.

TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE hits theaters at last; five Romanian short films

When TrustMovies first saw the Romanian omnibus movie, TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE, it was nineteen months ago and the film had no definite U.S.distribution arranged, so it's a treat to be able to welcome it into theaters today, via IFC Films. Sporting what must surely be a winner in the Ironic Film Title competition, the movie -- set in Romania during the halcyon days of President Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena -- takes the form of five short tales or "legends," all written by Christian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days).

Each has been directed by one of these five filmmakers -- Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru and one by Mungiu himself, but I am sorry to say I don't know who directed which. However, since Mr. Mungiu (shown below) wrote all of them and was in change of one segment, I'll credit him first -- but not only.

According to Variety, the producers wanted to keep the identities of who-directed-what a secret. Well, OK, but credit is still due. Fortunately, every one of these "tales" is terrific. Each segment offers a typical situation from the good old Commie days when you could count on things not working, each in its own special way. The tales include The Official Visit, in which top party brass is said to be paying a visit to a little town that tries so hard to be prepared, with the expected results that literally fly off in their own merry manner.

The Party Photographer (above) is a deadpan hilarious spoof of retouched photography and a visit to the Romanian Prez  from France's Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The Chicken Driver (see below) is not a coward; he's simply driving poultry cross country in a sweet, sad tale of a decent guy trapped by circumstance.

The Greedy Policeman (see photo with pig, at top) -- the funniest of the bunch, in which we watch everyone from kids to grown-ups use each other badly -- takes place at Christmas, as Uncle Fane has promised to bring some pork for the holiday meal. The final episode is titled The Air Sellers, though The Empty Bottle Sellers would have been closer to the point. All about making money in Romania, this one's romantic, funny and dark -- and stars a young actress (shown in the photo below) we're certain to be seeing again soon.

Tales from the Golden Age, opens today at Manhattan's IFC Center .As with so many IFC Films, you might have the chance to see it via VOD, starting, uh,.... damned if I can figure this out. We expect the big studios to occasionally "dump" a movie. But one of our most important providers of independent films doing this, too? Not nice.