Christian Vincent's HAUTE CUISINE proves both food heaven and Frot heaven (Catherine variety)

Newly available via Netflix streaming, the succulent HAUTE CUISINE (Les saveurs du Palais) is even better than I imagined, while viewing it on a particularly crummy video link provided by The Weinstein Company (its distributor) in which the company logo was plastered over the subtitles, making them difficult to read. Once that was fixed, the movie came across our streaming facility so poorly that everything was blurred almost to non-recognition. One phone call to the tech department resulted in a helpful move of the logo away from the subtitles, but a second call about the blurred images proved no help at all. (This is perhaps not the best manner in which to present your film to critics.) Now, seeing it again in hi-def, with its incredibly delicious-looking cooking in sharp relief, I would call this film a must-see for the foodie audience. For the rest of us, thanks to the reasons detailed below, it's a whole lot more.

As directed and co-written (with Etienne Comar, from the book by the chef herself, Danièle Mazet-Delpeuch) by Christian Vincent (La séparation, La discrète), Haute Cuisine tells us of the woman who served as the first female chef for a French President (in this case, François Mitterrand). Though the names of both Mitterand and Delpeuch have been changed, this is clearly their story, and it's a good one: filled with the kind of feminism that has no ax to grind, save the simple demand that this chef (below) be allowed the right to do her job.

The film is organized as a flashback during the final days of this chef's later job, feeding a large group of workers on a post in the Antarctic, during which we're fed flashbacks of how Hortense, as the film names her, came to be employed at the palace and what then transpired. Running but 90 minutes, Haute Cuisine moves fast, too: M. Vincent is no piker in the pacing department.

The film is mostly about work. We learn almost nothing about the personal life of our chef. But so genuinely interesting is her job cooking for the President -- discovering what he wants and likes and then preparing it, sometimes surmounting sizable obstacles -- that there's no need for more. And thank the lord, this is no piece of food porn, as have been a number of recent films covering famous restaurants and/or chefs. Instead, we see and feel here a genuine love of food and French cooking by both the chef and the President. The movie is also too much fun for food porn, filled as it is with juicy characters and enough drama to easily carry us along.

Vincent and his casting director Aurélie Guichard have brought together an exquisite cast, small roles to stars, then properly stepped aside and let the actors do their work. The real glory of the film, however rests in the performance of its star, Catherine Frot (above), a fine French actress we see far too little of here in the USA. For whatever reason, most of her movies don't make it to the States; the last time we saw her was in The Page Turner (2006) and Angel of Mine (2008). Ms Frot is an immense talent but she's not the showy kind. She does what's needed and makes every moment real. She's particularly gifted at playing intelligent, thoughtful characters; watching her, you always feel a deep interior life below the surface. And she can do everything from comedy -- high and low -- to dark drama equally well.

Frot is the movie, but huge help is provided by a couple of other actors: the charming little fellow who portrays the President, Jean d'Ormesson (above and below), an 88-year-old man making only his second acting appearance here. Short, slight and quite elfin-like but bristling with energy and charm, he and his scenes with Frot are the film's highlights -- along with those mouth-watering food preparations.

The only other actor with a role large enough to register strongly is that gorgeous young performer Arthur Dupont (shown below with Ms Frot), of One to Another (Chacun sa nuit) and Bus Palladium, playing Hortense's assistant and budding pastry chef. It's always fun to see actors run the gamut, and Dupont proves as sweet and cheerful here as he was dark and/or sexually transgressive in those earlier movies.

Haute Cuisine was still playing in theaters as recently as last week; what a nice surprise to find it already available on Netflix streaming.

From the Philippines: Jade Castro's gay hoot, REMINGTON and the CURSE of the ZOMBADINGS

Better be clear about this upfront: The best way to appreciate (or for some, to merely tolerate) this new movie from the Philippines, REMINGTON AND THE CURSE OF THE ZOMBADINGS, is to already have some understanding or appreciation of this country's culture, or to have seen a few Filipino films (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, for instance), or to have an interest in gay culture from countries other than your own. (Another reason: the gorgeous kid with the great body who appears on the poster above.) Any one of these will ensure that the film goes down a bit easier; all four will probably make the movie a must-see. If, however, you lack any interest in the Republic of the Philippines, its movies or gay culture, then this one is probably a best-to-avoid. For the record, I enjoyed it and laughed a good deal, but my spouse (we're gay, by the way) could easily have lived without the experience.

I also admit that a number of Philippine films I've taken in, particularly those with a gay bent, are given to the style of acting you might best describe as wide-eyed and open-mouthed (yes, just like that cute kid --Mart Escudero is the actor who plays the titular Remington-- shown above). A little of this goes a long way, but fortunately Mr. Escudero is playing an ostensibly straight young man who -- due to a curse placed upon him in childhood that only comes to life in his young manhood -- turns him overnight into a raving queen, who then tries to somehow disguise what is going on so that his friends, not to mention his new girlfriend, won't notice. This makes for fairly funny stuff, and were the writer/director Jade Castro (above), along with co-writers Raymond Lee and Michiko Yamamoto and the various cast members able to really spin this all into clever, well-timed jokes with a more professional gloss, the movie might have flown.

As it is, it hops and stops and stutters and starts but never quite takes off the way you'd like. It seems more a big-budgeted home-movie than anything else. But even these have their charms. And so it with Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings. What's a Zombading? The term is never specifically defined, but I would guess it's a gay zombie, Philippine style. Other than that aforementioned curse, the story whisks us away to the small town in which Remington lives where one of the citizens has stolen a student's science fair invention of a raygun (below) that can tell you if your goat is gay. (Yes: Don't ask. But I think this is part of the culture thing. Goats are evidently big in little country towns.)

Anyway, someone has stolen this raygun and is using it to wipe out all the homosexuals in town. Some of the funnier moments come when the raygun is not pointed at the typical over-the-top hairdresser but instead begins to target the more closeted gays. (Does this movie teach us tolerance, as well as the need to be who we are? You bet.) And then, yes, those dead gays return to life as Zombadings (below). And can they dance! I think you may be coming 'round to the kind of silliness this movie conveys. And if you can lose a few critical inhibitions, you might just start giggling, along with some others of us.

Or, you might, like my companion, roll your eyes heavenward, rise from the sofa and say, "Excuse me, dear: I'm going to do the dishes." Yet there are some small-but-tasty moments scattered throughout, especially when Remington can't help himself and begins coming on to his best friend (below). It's soon clear that sexuality and friendship may be a bit more encompassing that certain of these characters had imagined.

As I say, if you're interested in the culture of elsewhere, particularly the gay variety, there are reasons to watch, when Remington and Curse of the Zombadings -- from Ariztical Entertainment, in Filipino and Tagalog with English subtitles and running a little too long at 96 minutes -- opens in New York City (at the Quad Cinema this Friday, October 25) and in Los Angeles (at Laemmle's Noho 7 on November 8). Eventually, too, you'll be able to get it on DVD and/or VOD.

The photos above are from the film itself, 

with the exception of that of Mr. Castro, 

which comes courtesy of www.rappler.com

Chico Colvard's moving shocker FAMILY AFFAIR is exactly that -- and in so many surprising ways

Since viewing, via Netflix streaming, FAMILY AFFAIR, the all-about-my-dysfunctional-family documentary by Chico Colvard, TrustMovies has been thinking about the film ever since, wondering why -- among many other topics for discussion -- this 2010 movie has not received wider acclaim and much more popularity. It is a remarkably brave endeavor, for both the filmmaker and his many family members, who contributed to the documentary with their honest and straight-forward interviews about a subject that is not all that often discussed, and certainly not with the truthfulness and attempt at genuine understanding that is found here. The film is about family violence and incest, where these comes from and how they move from one generation to the next (we see four generations here).

The reason, I suspect, that Family Affair is not better known, is that it's simply too strange, surprising and complex in what it shows and tells us about a subject that is usually handled in the most broad, obvious, single-note and knee-jerk manner. The tale the film tells, while it may seems stagger-ingly "original," is probably not unlike many others out there. The difference can be found in the details, of course, but also in the deci-sion of Mr. Colvard (shown at left) and his siblings, father and other relatives to not only "spill the beans" but then to try to figure out what those beans add up to and why they turned out the way they did.

Now, Chico Colvard, it should be said straight out, is no psychologist. Nor is he any brilliant filmmaker. He is simply a man who has tried the best he can to bring to light the story of his family. His "best" turns out to be plenty good enough, for this movie will stay with you and, if you watch it with others, provide reams of discussion. When Chico was ten years old -- with thanks, he feels to the old Chuck Connors TV show Rifleman that he loved watching -- the boy took a gun belonging to his father and shot one of his sisters several times in the leg. This was not any kind of "anger release," it seems, but more an accident in which the boy misunderstood the reality of a gun (and just one more reason, though the movie does not state this, for better gun control).

The incident, which drew the police to the home, also brought to light the father's violence and sexual abuse of the three sisters (Chico himself was not abused physically nor sexually). What happened after, and why -- to the children's mother (a white German woman the black father had married while in the military service abroad), to the children, and to the father himself -- is riveting and rich in history, social and otherwise.  What has happened to the extended family, meanwhile, is every bit as odd and amazing. Or maybe not, when you stop to think about what family means and how much so many of us want it in our lives, come hell or high water.

How the people we see here have accommodated "family" -- through abuse, guilt, payback and self-hurt, among other reactions -- makes for one hell of a story, fractured as it is. Colvard himself can't make complete sense of it, understand or even empathize totally with the many different viewpoints we see and hear. Who -- save an all-seeing, all-knowing deity -- could? But he gives all this to us, raw and undigested, and simply asks that we try to understand. The great amazement and strength of this 80-minute movie is that somehow we do.

Family Affair -- a don't-miss documentary -- is available now via Netflix streaming. Miss it, and you will miss one of the more unusual family stories of our times.

Costa-Gavras' CAPITAL is capital indeed -- fast, frisky, angry and ironic -- plus a Q&A with the director and his surprise star, Gad Elmaleh

He's still got it. And he's still giving it out, too. The Greek-born, works-in-France, Oscar/BAFTA/Cannes/
Berlin-winning (among many other awards) filmmaker who goes by the name of Costa-Gavras remains at 80 years of age a writer/director to know and reckon with. His new film CAPITAL harks back to his nifty 2005 film The Ax (Le couperet) in its use of irony and humor while dealing with a dark subject (sudden unemployment in the earlier movie, the uber-entitled world of one-per-cent in this new work).

In his latest film, Costa-Gavras (pictured at right) is joined in screenwriting by Karim Boukercha and Jean-Claude Grumberg (their adaptation is of the novel, Le Capital, by Stéphane Osmont). Its twin themes are once again what this filmmaker most often seem to tackle: justice and power -- how these intertwine, together with their effects upon each other, with the former so often falling to the latter.

This time, rather than evil taking the form of brutal fascist government suppression (Z, State of Siege, Missing), the filmmaker, as he has more lately done, takes a look at power and justice via-a-vis the way we live now: globalization and outsourcing (The Ax), immigration (Eden is West) and in this latest venture, money.

Capital's biggest surprise, however, lies in just whom Coasta-Gavra has cast as his star. He's chosen an actor, Gad Elmaleh (above and below), most familiar to U.S. fans of foreign film as the comedian who graced both The Valet and the even better Priceless. In France Elmaleh is evidently a hugely popular performer who does stand-up comedy (see interview below), in addition to his film and TV work. Capital is the first major serious role he has undertaken, and he proves quite effective in the part.

As Marc, the mid-level corporate guy and assistant to the big boss, who is suddenly elevated into a position of power because those in control imagine him to be properly subservient, Elmaleh brings things to the table that many other actors wouldn't and couldn't. First of all, his persona is that of a nice guy, and though what he does in the film is anything but, we keep expecting this out of him (as do his bosses), and this makes for some particularly juicy irony and humor.

How he responds to everyone from those in power (his firm has been bought out by a larger corporate entity led by Gabriel Byrne, above, right) to his kind and caring wife (Natacha Régnier, below, center left)...

to the very hot model (Liya Kebede, below) after whom he lusts rabidly is all just part of the game for our guy. Yet we keep hoping we're wrong and that he'll see the light. But what might that light be, in this age in which only money and power count as important?

The machinations Marc must manage in order to hold on to his power are fraught and involve the usual combo of money, shares, and gossipy double-dealings that come with the territory. If these are not quite as interesting as Emaleh's ever-mysterious performance -- which never lets go of the mystery of this man, who he is and why -- the plot shenanigans prove funny and fascinating enough to keep us watching. This is particularly true of those that include the genuinely kind and intelligent "Japan expert" played by Céline Sallette, below, right.)

The movie finally has a very odd effect: You root for Marc, even as you're appalled at his behavior. He may be a money-grubbing cad, but nearly everyone else on the grid in which he operates is ten times worse (but not half so clever).

Capital -- from Cohen Media Group and running 114 minutes -- opens this Friday, October 25, in New York City (at the Paris Theater and Regal's Union Square). It hits Los Angeles the following Friday, November 1 (at Laemmle's Royal, Town Center 5 and Playhouse 7), as well as nine other territories around the country.

***********************

What a treat to meet a director I have admired for most of my adult life. Despite what must have been a grueling day of meeting the press and putting up with our foibles and fantasies, Costa-Gavras (shown below, whom we'll now refer to as G-C) was in fine form, even toward the end of the day. Below, TrustMovies appears in boldface, while C-G 's words are in standard type.

TM: I thoroughly enjoyed your movie. I’ve seen almost all of your films since Sleeping Car Murders, and in this new one, stylistically it seems you’ve moved to a different level or realm.

C-G: This depends on the situation. We now live in a kind of rich world where things are… where there is a lot of power, so things move more slowly and people are seemingly relaxed. We live in surroundings that are so rich. For instance, I tried to find a very expensive watch for the character. And I discover that this watch now costs half a million dollars.  (We both laugh.)  Finally we settle on a watch that costs only $80,000.

And you had to give it back after the film?

Of course. And we kept it in a safe each night!

It seems that these days your films –particularly this one and the one you made before Eden is West…

The Ax?

Yes, The Ax! These are going more for, well, satire…

I would say more irony than satire, This is probably due to my age, and seeing things differently now. Seeing how people live and hearing them say, "We have to do this, we have to do that." And I say, "But why: We could live with so much less."  So I like the irony.

Your irony is a kind of weapon, the way you use it.

Exactly.  But it is not always easy. You have to find the right way.

Did you choose Gad Elmaleh for this role?

Absolutely.  I chose him. I say this to my producers, in Europe, and over here: The condition is the relationship with the actor. It’s a major thing. The two of you create a third character. 

Did you also choose Riccardo Scarmarcio (at left) for Eden Is West?

Yes.

And the actor for The Ax?

Yes, José Garcia (shown below) is a very big comedian in France. And Elmaleh only did comedy before this film. Except for a very small role in La Raffle.

If there was one theme I had to pick from your films over the years, it would be that of seeking justice.

I would say: justice and power.

Yes, of course.

Justice because it is the only way to respect the freedom and dignity of other people.  The most important thing for democracy is justice.  But for me it is also the power.  Because it is all over. It is not only political power for me. We have power over some and others have power over us. And this can make us happy. Or make us miserable.

Or at least make ourl ives decent enough that we don't notice it so much. Which is OK, I guess.  But all this seems to changing now.

It is, unfortunately.

And this power is then competing with the justice, so now it's whether we accept that justice or not.

(CG nods agreement) What have you found most different in making movie now, as an older man.

There is too much respect. Which I don’t like so much. (I laugh aloud)

Really?

Yes, of course, a director has to be in some way respected. But I like also people coming to me and saying, "Well, you know, this thing here, it could be different. So I say, "Yes. it could" or "No, this thing cannot be changed. It must remain as is. Just accept it." But these days, there is too much respect to come to me and say anything.

I wonder if this is your age, partly. But also it may be that people are more sheep-like these days.

Maybe. Probably.

So Costa Gavras would prefer less respect!

(He laughs) Except on occasion.

Ah: so people just have to know when that occasion arises.

Exactly!

Do you have anything planned that you'll be working on next?

I am trying.  I have a subject. The problem is always the same thing: You have a good idea, but in cinema you need a story. And characters to make the evolution of this story. And sometimes this good idea does not have a good story. So it all this takes time.

But at this point you at least have the idea?  So you are just now trying to flesh it out.

Yes.

When you look back at all of your many films, is there any one that is your favorite now. I’m sure at the time you are making them everyone was your favorite. But now.

I used to say that movies are passions, from the moment you are doing it, and for that while. I also would say that they are like children. I have two sons and a daughter. And l always say that, if I have a son that is, say, not doing very well in life. Then that is the son I most care about.  Movies are like that. The movie that did not do very well, or that people did not go to see. That one is special to me.

(We get the signal that our time is up, and so we bid adieu to this fine and oh-so-seasoned director.)

*********************

Downstairs in the hotel lobby, we get a few minutes with Capital's star Gad Elmaleh (below) and break the ice by talking about the horrible humidity on this particular day. The temperature’s not so high, but the humidity seems around 90%.  Below, TrustMovies appears in bold, and Emaleh in standard type.

GE: That’s odd isn’t it, this humidity, because you don’t have the sea.

TM: Oh, sure – we have the sea. It’s all around us. You just don’t see it most of the time, what with all the hi-rises and skyscrapers and huge buildings all around.

Ah, that’s right.  (He laughs.)  I think you see it more downtown.

Right – or at the East River or the Hudson River.

On this trip to NYC, it seems so different because of all the different neighborhood I have seen. The differences between them is so great here: the dfferences between the lower east side and the upper west side, or even right here. 

Isn’t it that way in Paris, too. From arrondissement to arrondissement?

No. I don’t think so. Not so much. You don’t see a great difference. Before, when I come for just a short time,  I do not notice.  But when you come for two months—

Two months! Is that how long you’ve been here?

Yes.

You’re making a movie?

Well, I am shooting making a documentary I am directing about doing stand-up in English. So I went to the Comedy Club to do stand-up.

So you do stand-up in France?

Yes, yes: I do.

I didn't realize. I am used to seeing you in comedies like The Valet (above) and Pricelesss (below) …

I LOVE Priceless!

Me, too. That director is just so wonderful. I think he makes the best comedies. Like Cible émouvante!  What a great movie. And the one with Auteiul and Kiberlaine....

Apres Vous!

Yes! I think this guy is the most under-sung director—

What is 'undersung'?

Like the least heralded, the least well-known. But he should be well-known!

Ah, yes.  Agree -- he is so talented and educated and is passioned by movies!

What’s his name? Salvatore…

Pierre Salvadori.

Right -- thanks! Now, this movie, Capital. For you, this is something very different....

Oh, yeah: It’s the most serious part I have ever done in a movie.

And mysterious, too.  I still don't understand it all.

Yes, (he laughs). Me, too!

I wanted so much to believe in the character you play. But I don’t know if I can. And we don’t get this kind of ambivalence from very many movies. Or a character this oddly mysterious.

No, no. I understand. I think it is strange. I don’t know why exactly. But one day I asked Costa-Gavras, Why me?  Why did you choose me?

Wow—I asked him that, too!

Well, he said to me, "Why? Aren’t you pleased? Aren’t you happy with this…?"

I tell him, "I am so happy with it. And excited and honored. But I am a comedic actor."

And he tell me, "That’s why!  Because you are a comic actor, people in Europe will need to see you as a sympathetic guy. They need this. So I will put you in, and it will be worse.  He will be the worse guy ever because he will smile at you and then stab you in the back at the same time!"
Well, this is his vision...

Your character does do this… and yet he doesn’t.  It’s true he cheats on his wife (or at least tries to, even if he doesn’t get to do it).  And with that gorgeous, amazing actress…

Liya Kebede.  She’s a New Yorker, eh?

No?  Really.  I didn't realize that. I’ve seen her in three films now, and she so versatile and different I wouldn’t recognize her from movie to movie. 

Yes, yes.

And now, we think you’re versatile, too! So tell me about the stand-up that you are doing here. 

I am doing shows in both French and English in New York. In French for the French-speaking in New York City, and in English, just to try this in front of an audience at the Comedy Club. We shot a documentary over two months that is all about this. 

Wow-- great! Will it be shown here?

Yes, I think so. Because we also have conversations with other comedians in it:  Woody Allen, Eddie Izard and others. It's all about comedy, and all about my job.

How did Capital do in France?

I think the movie was a surprise to my fans. They went: OK: Now, when is the next movie.  It was very interesting to see the reaction.  The reviews were good for my acting, like I never have when I do comedy.

But you get good reviews!

Well, sometimes.  But this was different. To get all this praise.

Well, comedy is never appreciated the way “dramatic acting” is, I'm afraid. What are you doing next, after this documentary?

I have five more shows here in NYC, then Toronto, Montreal, then back to France.

Will you do more dramatic roles?  Or will your fans not like that?

It’s not about my fans. But maybe not. I am a comedian.  I really like comedy.  Like when Adam Sandler did that change with Punch Drunk Love.

Or Spanglish.

Was Spanlish serious, too?

Yes, more so than not.

But then he went back to comedy.  I find I really like the documentary genre, too.  Yesterday I spent half the day watching documentaries.  One was about the Amish…  

Maybe you'll have a whole new career. Please let me know when your documentary comes out. I’d love to see it.

We’ll do some screenings, so I definitely will.

This was a real treat. It was great to meet you, Gad.

Me, too. Thank you so much. And I will let you know when the documentary is screened.

New on Netflix Streaming, the don't miss -- for its costumes, cars & colors alone -- POPULAIRE

Seeing Régis Roinsard's magical POPULAIRE a second time (my original review is here) simply increased my appreciation for and enjoyment of what may be the most beautiful movie of the year, certainly so far as set design and art decoration are concerned. The Great Gatsby? Forget that piker. This is the movie to revel in visually. While perusing what was new to the foreign film catalog on Netflix streaming last night, up came this title -- which only recently appeared in theaters. Since my spouse hadn't yet seen it, we clicked immediately on "play" and settled in for this 111-minute delight. I swear: the movie looked better on our big-screen TV in high definition than it looked in theaters.

The amazing colors pop all over the place, and perusing the wonderful and various sets will make you appreciate how incredibly on-target were those who designed and accessorized here. For me, the absolute highlight of the film is a night club scene in which the band plays a song about secretaries, while their outfits in bright blue against the orange background, make for a riot of contrasting colors used as well as I've ever seen them. This may sound silly and way too specific, but for the manner in which M. Roinsard has designed his film, this particular scene hits the jackpot--& then some.

There are plenty of other memorable moments visually, but fortunately, they're not nearly all the movie has on offer. Watching its three leads -- Romain Duris (above, left), Déborah François (above, right) and Bérénice Bejo (below) -- at work and play proves even better the second time around. All three are simply wonderful in this tale of a young girl (François) who wants more than life in her quiet little town can provide and so goes to the larger town next door, is hired as a secretary, and, becasue of her rather extraordinary talent for fast typing, is soon entered into one contest after another by her boss (Duris), while getting piano-lesson coaching from his best friend/confidante (Bejo).

It's an odd tale, certainly -- who knew about typing contests? -- but one that allows the filmmaker to do just about everything he wants in the way of beauty, storytelling and entertainment. It's like taking a vacation back a half-century in time with a bunch of truly charming characters. I reviewed this one once already when it opened this year's Rendez-vous With French Cinema, but its sudden stream-ability and re-viewing makes me realize what a rare treat it truly is.

So, for those of you who can stream Netflix -- which now has some sort of exclusive contract with The Weinstein Company, who distributes the movie here in the States -- see it soon.