A 19th-century French farming village, minus the men, in Marine Franssen's THE SOWER

How this little village comes to be missing all its adult males is a nasty part of French history involving the coup d'état of 1851, during which males thought to be sympathizers with the republican cause were rounded up and either killed or imprisoned. As usual with coups of this sort, those in charge could care less what happens to either the men or the villages left "male-less" due to an would-be emperor's craving for power.

In THE SOWER (as ironic and double-edged a title as you're likely to find), a movie directed and co-written by Marine Franssen, the women of this bereft little farming town take into their own very capable hands matters involving everything from sowing and harvesting to school-teaching and sex.

That last, of course, proves both pivotal and the raison d'être of the film that Ms Franssen, shown at left, has given us -- adapted from the short story, L'Homme semence, by Violette Ailhaud.

I suppose it is not too much of a spoiler -- since the tag line at the bottom of the poster, top, points this out -- to mention that the women of this village have made a pact: We agreed, if a man come someday, he'd be all of ours.

As you will expect, a man does indeed come, and before long, as you will also expect, some sexual sharing is in the offing.

If this sounds a little too much like a century-old, costume version of something as sleazy as Indecent Proposal or its more current and not-to-be-missed version (if you enjoy exquisitely attuned trash), What/If on Netflix streaming, you can rest easy. Because The Sower is ripe, all right, but with the genuine feeling of sisterhood between the women of this little village, both the younger set and the older, all of whom work together to achieve what needs to be done to keep things intact, until -- if ever -- their men return.

When a single man does appear -- nicely played by the very-attractive-if-intentionally-closed-off Alban Lenoir (above) -- this fellow does what you'd expect, especially as he is initially "courted" by the most attractive and virginal of the town's young ladies, given a precise yet muted performance by an actress new to me, Pauline Burlet (below), who brings a pleasing combination of beauty and keen intelligence to her role.

What happens here is both expected and maybe not, with a result that is primal and completely understandable, given the unusual circumstances of this village. Best of all, there are no villains here -- except of course the royal powers-that-be. Instead, people act in their own best interests but also, finally, in the interests of the village.

By the quietly moving finale, The Sower has become a kind of unusual, unending love story in which there is sorrow and parting but also regeneration and hope. Ms Franssen has given us a tale that could have easily degenerated into mere, if pleasing, eroticism and instead suffused it with compassion, morality, humanity and a deep understanding of desire, need and what you might call not merely mutual sexual satisfaction but something a good deal more "overall."

From Film Movement, in French with English subtitles and running an appropriate 98 minutes, The Sower seems to have bypassed any U.S. theatrical release to go straight to home video, hitting the street on DVD and digital streaming this past Tuesday, June 11 -- for purchase or rental. Seek this one out, it you enjoy intelligent, thought-provoking love stories.

All about art, architecture, storytelling, owner-ship, sharing and love: Jill Magid's one-of-a-kind THE PROPOSAL opens

Are you aware of the work of the late Mexican architect, Luis Barragán? I was not until I saw the new documentary, THE PROPOSAL, in which what we view of Barragán's architecture reminded me quite a bit of the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico: full of beauty, simplicity and solitude. The film was conceived and directed by visual artist and writer Jill Magid, pictured below. Since this is the artist's first film, I am linking her name to her Wikipedia page rather than to the IMDB. For a first film, however, this is one whoppingly good and original piece of work.

From what we learn and see in this documentary, there is a limited amount of Barragán's work (the architect is shown below) available to be appreciated by the public, thanks to ownership of his archives and "brand" by a corporation located in Switzerland. Ms Magid wants to visit that archive and explore what's there, but the corporation -- via a woman named Federica, who is in charge of the archives -- says no. Ms Magid is a persistent little thing, however, and this one-of-a-kind, funny, provocative, unsettling documentary tells us the story of what happens after this request is refused. And -- oh, boy-- Magid is a very good storyteller.

Storytelling, in fact, is part of what this doc is all about. In it, we meet the artist, of course, along with quite a few members of the Barragán family (one of whom is now in memoriam, as we learn via the end credits) and see that they, as well as the Mexican government, want the archives returned to Mexico. So we travel from the USA to Mexico to Switzerland and back, as Magid attempts to help this process along. To talk a lot about content here would simply give away too many spoilers, and the movie is really so much fun that we oughtn't do that.

We do learn that Magid has her "artistic" quirks -- a mystical side, that includes includes leaving a plate of Barragán's favorite cookies by the bedside in the room he used to sleep. If that provokes, an "Oh, please" response, just remember that all artists (human beings, after all) have their quirks -- Picasso on down (or up, depending on your taste). Artists are crazy, right? And Magid often proves crazy like a fox. How she has organized her documentary, so that viewers learn just what we need to know, and in the way and time we need to know it, proves exemplary storytelling.

Along the way the architect's ashes (well, some of them, anyway) are turned into something quite wild and wonderful, and what happens to what-they-become is paramount here. We follow along as Jill chases the elusive Federica, and all this is like a marvelous mystery somewhere between Hitchcock and Nancy Drew. And by movie's end, its title takes on enough delight and irony to have you leaving the theatre walking on air.

That titular proposal is quite something. We learn part of it, but Magid wisely leaves all of it until the finale -- which could hardly be more mouth-agape perfect if some storied, award-winning filmmaker had done this work. By the end of The Proposal, you will have confronted art and ownership, morality, the meaning of provenance and control, seen and heard greed and hypocrisy in action, witnessed an art installation that you suddenly become part of, and been treated to some unusual ideas about love of art (and artists), plus so much more. And you'll have viewed a documentary that TrustMovies thinks is one for the ages. It's that special.

Distributed via Oscilloscope Films and running 86 minutes,  the doc opens theatrically on Friday, May 24, in New York City at the IFC Center, and the following Friday, May 31, in the Los Angeles area at the Monica Film Center. As of now, it will also hit a few other cities and theaters; click here to view currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.

DVDebut: Jacques Doillon's 2010 whopper about theatre, THE THREE-WAY WEDDING

Only the French, bless 'em, could have come up with a movie like THE THREE-WAY WEDDING (Le mariage à trois), in which a quintet of characters talk incessantly and intelligently about themselves, their ideas, their feelings and in particular their sexual and emotional needs but make it so goddamned interesting that you hang on almost every word. France, after all, is the country that gave us Molière and Marivaux -- to whom this film, written and directed by Jacques Doillon, owes plenty.


M. Doillon, shown at right, who recently gave us the not-so-well-received Rodin but earlier brought us the very well received Ponette, has created a tale of theater folk -- playwright, producer, actors and a novice assistant who, by film's end will soon be an actress, too -- who quite literally can't keep anything to themselves.

It's as though they have to give vent, via actions and words, to literally everything they think and feel. The fact they they're in the theater makes this somehow more believable (you know how theater people behave!), as well as making almost everything they say sound like dialog from a play. Fortunately, it's a rather good play.

Even better, Doillon has cast his film with a group of actors who could hardly be improved upon. In fact, their work here proves a near high-water mark for some of them (in TrustMovies' estimation, at least). The estimable Pascal Greggory (above, left, whose work in Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train and Doillon's Raja you may remember) is the playwright, and he is pitch perfect throughout: smart, witty, narcissistic beyond belief and every bit as controlling (and vulnerable) as you might expect a playwright to be.

As his "ex" and still-possible-paramour, Julie Depardieu (above, right, and further above) matches him moment for moment. Ms Depardieu is better here than I have ever seen her: emotionally on-point through so many highs, lows, and middles that her performance astounds. (One of the several fine things that Doillon's spill-it-all-out dialog succeeds in doing is giving us enormously full-bodied characters by allowing us to see and hear their innermost thoughts and desires.)

Louis Garrel (above, left) plays Depardieu's young actor/lover, and he is as fine as always, bringing his penchant for semi-snotty self-love to the fore and making the most of it. Each actor here manages to make fun of himself/herself (and amuse us in the process), even as s/he rounds out the character to its fullest.

As the pretty little assistant with the porcelain skin and gorgeous red hair, Agathe Bonitzer (above and below) imparts just the right sense of naivete coupled to the power that comes with the realization that one is desired. She makes a lovely and not-yet-too-theatrical addition to this little group.

I only wish that the excellent actor Louis-Do de Lencquesaing (at left in bottom photo) had been given a bit more to do. He is fine as far as his character is allowed to go, but that's not quite far enough.

A word must be said for Doillon's interesting "choreography" of his actors. They almost never stop moving about -- when they're talking, thinking, even in bed. This adds an extra little surge of energy to the film and to the performances  Nothing is ever static here.

The Three-Way Wedding is such an oddball film for specialized tastes that I must recommend it with that caveat. But for folk who appreciate something brave, unusual and very well-executed, do take a chance on this one!

From Film Movement (but good luck trying to find it on that company's website) and running 109 minutes, the movie hits DVD and digital this coming Tuesday, July 24 -- for purchase and/or rental.
Perhaps via Amazon Prime...?

DVDebut: Denis Dercourt's low-key but lovely and moving comeback tale, IN HARMONY

A dozen years ago French actors Cécile De France and Albert Dupontel delighted international audiences with their special chemistry and charm in Danièle Thompson's wonderful ensemble piece, Avenue Montaigne. How very nice to see these two fine actors together again in the leading roles of Denis Dercourt's 2015 film (just now getting a U.S. DVD release), IN HARMONY (En équilibre). This is one of those quiet, low-key movies about us humans that the French do so very well.

As directed and with a screenplay adapted (from the memoir of his career by stuntman/equestrian Bernard Sachse and Véronique Pellerin) by M. Dercourt (shown at right), the movie unfolds with an easy, graceful flow that never pounds home any point or moral, even as it keeps us wondering exactly where it might be going.

The same year that Avenue Montaigne appeared, M: Dercourt gave us a splendid and low-key psychological thriller about career and revenge entitled The Page Turner. That film, as does this one, also kept us guessing about outcome and motive -- though in a completely different genre.

After equestrian/stuntman Marc Guermont (played by Dupontel, above and below) is involved in an accident on a movie set, he is left in a wheelchair, with his stuntman career suddenly cut short. (Names have been changed here, either to protect certain reputations or to better make this a fictionalized account)

A visit from the woman from the insurance company (Ms De France, below) that represents the movie studio sets in motion a tale that encompasses everything from accepting responsibility to past and future career choices to making the best of a not-so-hot situation.

How the filmmaker weaves all this together -- loosely but lovingly, without pushing any moment or any moral too hard -- turns the film into a particularly quiet and thoughtful meditation on how our lives and careers, from generation to generation, find their way to fulfillment. It is also an odd kind of love story -- consummated only briefly and then left as memory.

The love of horses is deeply felt here, and those who feel the same should embrace the movie thoroughly. Ms De France has a lovely scene in which her character mounts a horse for the first time, and the actress is, as always, spot-on from moment to moment.

Dupontel, as ever the consummate man's man, brings his whole arsenal of feelings to the fore, even as music and piano playing enter the picture and help bring the movie's themes to fruition.

This is not a great film by any means, but it is a good, solid one -- providing 87 minutes well spent. From Distrib Films US with its DVD arriving via Icarus Films Home Video, In Harmony hits the street today, Tuesday, July 10 -- for purchase or rental.

Mackenzie Davis shines in Christian Papierniak's offbeat knockout of a film

It should be clear by now to anyone who has seen her performance in either Tully or IZZY GETS THE FUCK ACROSS TOWN that the young actress Mackenzie Davis is quite a find. What she needs (as do so many actors), however, is a role strong enough to allow her talent and range to be properly displayed. TrustMovies must admit that, though he 'd seen Ms Davis in a number of earlier films, she'd never really stood out in his memory. Well, she's on his radar now.

Writer/director Christian Papierniak 
(shown at left), whose first full-length film this is, has given the actress a no-holds-barred role that she embraces with just about every ounce of energy and versatility that I have seen displayed in quite awhile. By turns angry, kind, caring and crazy, Ms Davis is so focused and frenetic that, were she not so believable and oddly endearing, she would tire you out within moments. But she doesn't. Nor does this strange film. Oh, it'll have you holding on for dear life at times. But pay proper attention -- the seeds that later bloom are all planted early on -- and I think you'll be very glad you went along for the ride.

Davis, above, plays the title role of Izzy, a young woman whose reputation seems to precede her at all times. At film's start she learns a bit of information about her ex-boyfriend and best girlfriend, and so must somehow -- in Los Angeles, with no car or money at hand -- get far across town to a necessary destination.

From the film's opening -- a nice dream sequence featuring Davis and Dolly Wells, above, right, in which some of those seeds first appear ("It's about a boy? It's always about a boy.") straight through to its low-key but very "earned" conclusion, the movie -- despite all its bizarre riffs and delightful detours -- knows where it's going and why.

Davis' talent and energy holds the film together without a single hitch, but it is also the lovely, surprising, and equally oddball turns from the ensemble supporting-cast that makes it such wonderful, additional fun. Players include the likes of Lakeith Stanfield (above, left) and Alia Shawkat (below, left), both of whom are as fine as always, with Ms Shawkat managing a fine philosophical scene that detonates just about perfectly.

Haley Joel Osment (below, right) and Ms Davis do wonders with another scene that's as sweet and finally funny as you could want, while Carrie Coon (further below), as Davis' sister, brings a fine ferocity, as well as a great singing voice to the proceedings.

The movie is full of fun, surprise and idiosyncrasy as it builds toward its real theme: modern love/relationships and the necessaity of growing up to accept what, yes, we already know and understand but maybe do not want to admit.

It's clear from the outset that Izzy knows exactly who and what her would-be boyfriend (played with just the right amount of sex appeal and emptiness by Alex Russell, below) really is. But it takes some maturation (and repetition) on her part to own up to this.

Annie Potts gets a lovely scene midway along that adds to the both the sweetness and the depth of the film, and for those of us who know L.A. and its environs, Izzy's journey will take on added familiarity and zest.

Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town is definitely a one-of-a-kind movie, but for those of you who appreciate something different, alive and hugely kicking, this one's a must-see. From Shout! Studios  and running 86 minutes, the movie opens this Friday, June 22, in New York City at the Village East Cinema and in the Los Angeles area at Laemmle's Monica Film Center and the Playhouse 7.                                   

Shakespeare, love, and a lot more mix in Matías Piñeiro's latest, HERMIA & HELENA

When I first saw Matías Piñeiro's charming, unusual and short (just 61 minutes) film, Viola, back in 2013, I was very taken with the work of this Argentine filmmaker. Since then Señor Piñeiro has made The Princess of France (all of 67 minutes) and now his latest film, HERMIA & HELENA, which lasts a nearly-normal 88 minutes. Unfortu-nately, he is not quite ready for full-length.

While his themes and concerns -- everything from Shakespeare to theater productions to love relationships of all sorts -- are on display, as usual, the movie runs downhill as it expands to include other Shakespearean devices such as the discovery of parentage.

As usual, the writer/director (shown at left) has again cast as his leading character, Camila, with the alluring and talented Augustina Muñoz (shown below), who provides beauty, appeal and some surprise as the young woman -- a theater grad student (or maybe already professional) working in New York City on a new Spanish translation of A Midsummer Night's Dream -- at the center of a whole bunch of ongoing and/or would-be relationships. Ms Muñoz, is always a pleasure to watch, but the actress cannot easily carry as much baggage as Piñeiro has given her here. All the relationships and characters we meet end up with so little weight or importance that they seem to disappear into thin air even as we're watching them. (Shakespeare could get away with this because he had such gorgeous, literate, amazing verbiage to offer. Piñeiro's dialog, while sometime clever, hardly comes close.)

Still, this worked well enough in Viola, where the themes were simply love and theater, and where the movie ended before it had time to curdle or bore. Here -- even with the added use of a little "magic" (à la that Midsummer Night's Dream) -- it all adds up to less than the sum of its many parts.

The scene involving the connection of Camila with the father she's never met proves so slight and bizarrely ungrounded by anything other than mere plot contrivance that what might be pivotal in most movies proves no more important nor deeply felt than anything else in the film.

The cast includes some of Piñeiro' usual Argentine actors, along with some new American and international actors (and filmmakers) from the indie scene such as Keith Poulson, Dan Sallitt, Dustin Guy Defa and Mati Diop. Everyone comes through nicely. But the movie -- for all its charm, smart performances and lovely visuals -- simply floats away.

From Kino Lorber, in English and Spanish (with English subtitles), Hermia & Helena opens this coming Friday, May 26, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Metrograph. Elsewhere? We'll have to wait and see. You can update the currently scheduled playdates by clicking here and then scrolling down.

François Ozon's FRANTZ: an elegant, sad period piece from a masterful movie-maker

French filmmaker François Ozon has now made 18 full-length movies since his first one back in 1998 (roughly one per year) and at least as many short films, beginning in 1988. He has tackled a slew of genres -- fantasy, mystery, drama, comedy, satire, love story -- while some of his films jump and/or mash genres or simply create their own. He is consistently one of the most interesting and challenging filmmakers of our time, and I await each new work of his with pleasure and expectation. His latest to reach our shores, FRANTZ -- based upon an earlier movie by Ernst Lubitsch which itself was based upon a play by Maurice Rostand (son of Edmond) -- adds one more wonderful feather to M. Ozon's rather full cap.

Frantz is an exquisite, quietly beautiful period piece -- Ozon's third in this genre, I believe, after Angel and Potiche -- a near love story, as well as a soulful study of the after-effects of war on society at large, in this case that of Germany and France immediately after World War I. The filmmaker, shown above with the painting (Manet's The Suicide) that figures prominently in the movie, has given us a near-perfect production design (Michel Barthélémy) and art direction (Susanne Abel), costumes, sets and all the rest. The film was nominated for a slew of Césars but brought home only one (for the fine cinematography by Pascal Marti).

That cinematography is in mostly black-and-white, with occasional cuts to color as dictated by Ozon for emphasis on, well, perhaps happier moment/fantasies in the lives of these characters, or when the art of the movie captures some museum-level fine art. Whatever the motivation, the change from b/w to color and back works very well, most particularly at the film's quiet, moving and profound conclusion. The tale told is that of a grieving German family whose only son -- the titular Frantz --has been killed during the war. One day at the son's grave site, above, a strange young man appears who seems to be grieving, too.

The man, Adrien (played by Pierre Niney, above, of Yves Saint Laurent and other films) is French, and this fact is enough to outrage the German townspeople, especially the young man's father, played by Ernst Stötzner, below), even though Frantz's fiancee wants to know more about this stranger and his connection to her late and greatly lamented love.

The fiancee, Anna. is played by the lovely German actress Paula Beer (below), and as the film moves on it becomes more and more Anna's story, even though the mystery continues regarding just who Adrien really is and what his relationship with Frantz actually was. Anna. meanwhile, has become an integral part of Frantz's family, helping his parents through their grief, even as she tries to manage her own. Ms Beer proves exceptional, drawing us into her character and making us care deeply about what is going to happen, especially and finally to her.

Though M. Ozon maintains a stately pace, one's interest does not lag, and the filmmaker captures the time and place about as well as I have seen it yet done, without every unduly pushing for "period" effect. This may be his most elegant movie to date, and it is certainly among his best. It is also among the stranger and sadder of love stories -- or near love stories, at least -- one in which lies told for the good of all concerned, along with behavior dictated by social mores and "keeping the peace," all work against the desires and well being of both protagonists.

M. Niney is exemplary, as is usually the case (his YSL movie was a rare misfire), and the rest of cast fill out their roles graciously and well. Along with its story of love lost and love unrequited, Frantz is also enormously anti-war, yet has but one single gunshot fired throughout. As is true in so many of Ozon's movies, the obvious and expected are not what carry the weight. It's those after-effects that linger longest and point up the real damage.

Frantz, from Music Box Films and running 116 minutes, opens tomorrow, March 15, in New York City at Film Forum and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema; in Los Angeles on Friday, March 24, at the Landmark NuArt. Here in South Florida look for the film to open all over the place on March 31: in Miami at the Coral Gables Art Cinema and the O Cinema; in Hollywood at the Cinema Paradiso and Fort Lauderdale at the Savor Cinema; in Boca Raton at the Regal Shadowood and the Living Room Theaters, and at the Movies of Delray and Lake Worth. Over the weeks and months to come, the film will play all across the country. To find the theater nearest you, simply click here, then click on THEATERS on the task bar midway down your screen, and then keep scrolling down.