FIAF hosts Belgian Cinema series; In-person! Yolande Moreau with a Q&A

French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is hosting another set of sublime CinémaTuesdays with The Whimsical World of Belgian Cinema which began this past Tuesday and will continue through March 30 at FIAF's Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, NYC.

The program, part of the celebration of Francophone Month, offers a special CinémaTuesdays series spotlighting contemporary Belgian cinema: nine works representative of Belgium’s film industry, including a New York/U.S. premiere and a presentation of When the Sea Rises, featuring its star and director, the critically acclaimed and award-winning Yolande Moreau (shown above), who will make an in-person appearance for an audience Q&A.

The Belgium film industry has risen to international prominence in the past twenty years – particularly in the region of Wallonia, which has released numerous films to widespread critical praise. On the FIAF program is a New York and a U.S. premiere of a movie based on a popular Belgian comic book, Largo Winch will debut on March 9, 2010, in its New York premiere, followed by the topical black comedy Louise-Michel on March 30, 2010, which was a hit at both the 2009 Sundance Festival and New Directors/New Films here in NYC.  Also on March 30, FIAF will welcome Louise-Michel star Yolande Moreau, who will conduct a Q&A session following a 7pm presentation of her 2004 award-winning film, When the Sea Rises.

The series The Whimsical World of Belgian Cinema was curated by Marie Losier and produced in cooperation with L’office de tourisme belge: Bruxelles-Wallonie and with Wallonie-Bruxelles International.

Out of the series listed below, TrustMovies has seen -- and highly recommends -- When the Sea Rises, Toto the Hero, Ma Vie en Rose and (to a lesser extent) Man Bites Dog.  He'll be out of town, sadly, for Largo Winch but will be back in time to catch Louise-Michel.  Here's the remaining program for your delectation:


Largo Winch
New York Premiere Event
March 9 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
Directed by Jérôme Salle. 2008. Color. 108 min.

With Tomer Sisley, Kristin Scott Thomas, Miki Manojlovic and Mélanie Thierry.

A hugely successful Belgian comic book, Largo Winch now brings its trademark tales of international espionage to the screen. Sisley stars as the unjustly jailed son of a murdered billionaire who now must crawl out of prison to prevent those who attacked his family from stealing a fortune.


“Epic and well directed, Largo Winch is a true good popular French-y entertainment. Why ask for more?”— Gaël Golhen, Première

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Il court… il court le monde
March 16 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. 1987. Color. 10 min.
With Jean-Paul Dermont, John Dobrynine, François Duisinx.

The Dardenne brothers’ first foray, after years of documentary projects, into fiction was this short about a television director who suffers a car crash, interrupting his work on a special about…speed. Even in this early film, the Dardennes’ hallmark themes of time and chance are very much present.

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Man Bites Dog (C’est arrivé près de chez vous)
March 16 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
Directed by Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel. 1992. B&W. 95 min.
With Benoît Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert
Note: This film contains R-rated material

Three filmmakers track the daily activities of Ben, who loves poetry and philosophy. He is also an unrepentant serial killer. Winner of the International Critics’ Prize at Cannes (1992), Man Bites Dog is an unsettling portrait of the media and its relationship to the subjects it covers that remains frighteningly relevant today.

“An offbeat, darkly hilarious portrait.” —Variety

“A black comedy that's as dark as night, Man Bites Dog is a worthy successor to A Clockwork Orange as this generation's most telling and unflinching look at our views on violence. But Man Bites Dog filters that through the lens of the media in a biting damnation of our fascination with televised tragedy -- the more real the better” – Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

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Ma vie en rose
March 23 at 4pm
Directed Alain Berliner. 1997. Color. 88 min.
With Michèle Laroque, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Hélène Vincent and Georges Du Fresne

Ludovic is a 7-year-old boy who longs to be a girl. As parents, teachers, and friends react to his changing behavior, Ludovic remains resolute. His simple (yet inevitably complicating) wish stands at the center of this marvelous, profound film that won a Best Foreign Film Golden Globe and other international awards.


"Ludovic takes refuge in dreams and imagination. For him, it's like breathing. The older we get in life, the more barriers spring up, narrowing the range of possibilities. I see life as a kind of funnel. That is why I make movies, so that I can go on inventing everything." – Alain Berliner

“An entertaining and thought-provoking debut effort with near-universal emotional resonance…[Du Fresne] renders Ludo’s search for acceptance poignant and compelling.”—Variety

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I’m Hungry, I’m Cold (J’ai faim, j’ai froid)
March 23 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
Directed by Chantal Akerman. 1984. B&W. 12 min.
With Maria de Medeiros
Note: No English subtitles

Two young runaways head toward Paris from Brussels only to realize that the excitement of their journey can quickly sour into frustration. Originally part of the omnibus film Paris Seen By…20 Years After, which also included work by Philippe Garrel, this wry short now comfortably stands on its own.

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Toto the Hero (Toto le Héros)
March 23 at 12:30 & 7:30pm
Directed by Jaco van Dormael. 1991. Color. 91 min.
With Michel Bouquet, Jo De Backer, Thomas Godet.

A success at Cannes, the Césars -- and in the USA -- Toto the Hero is a mystical tale, told through flashbacks and flash forwards, of a man who believes his life is not his own. Seemingly switched at birth, Thomas endured tragedy and poverty while neighbor Alfred grew up carefree.


“A three-ring look at life as a confluence of unrelated acts. Whether it goes off on time or not, depends entirely on the ringmaster. And van Dormael knows how to please the crowd.”—The Washington Post

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Louise-Michel
March 30 at 12:30 & 4pm
Directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern. 2008. Color. 94 min.
With Yolande Moreau, Bouli Lanners, Mathieu Kassovitz, Benoît Poelvoorde and Albert Dupontel.


A group of factory workers show up for their shift one morning and discover their jobs have been outsourced. They pool together their severance pay and do the reasonable thing—they hire a hit man to kill their former boss. Yet Louise-Michel is darkly, brilliantly comic, halfway between the Coen and Dardenne brothers.

“Our aim is to create a hilarious jet-black comedy…We want a social western where the best of people can become villains, and where the villains are criminals on a never-seen before level. We want a film that affects the audience. If it is successful, all the better!” – Director’s Note

“Side-splittingly funny and constantly outrageous…a wickedly hilarious, marvelously calibrated exercise in deadpan style owing as much to Bunuel as to the Coen brothers” – Variety

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When the Sea Rises (Quand la mer monte…)
March 30 at 7pm
Directed by Yolande Moreau and Gilles Porte. 2004. Color. 90 min.
With Yolande Moreau, Wim Willaert, Olivier Gourmet and Jackie Berroyer

Note: Leading Belgian actress, comedian, and film director Yolande Moreau comes to FIAF to introduce the 7pm presentation. Winner of two César Awards for this film, Moreau will participate in a Q&A session following the screening.

Traveling performer Irene is a quiet loner, comfortable only onstage. A parade float operator proves to be a kindred spirit and lover who soon accompanies her on tour, but her husband and child waiting at home overshadow her newfound happiness. Winner of two César Awards, including Best First Work, When the Sea Rises proves veteran actress Moreau to also be a gifted filmmaker.

“A delightfully off-kilter love story…if you want a bittersweet but cheerful pick-me-up on a cold winter evening, it's just the ticket.” – Andrew O’Heir, Salon.com

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About Yolande Moreau
The wonderfully talented, award-winning actress and director Yolande Moreau has been an active player on the Belgian stage and screen for thirty years. She has received three César Awards, winning both Best New Film and Best Actress in 2004 for Quand la mer monte..., and winning Best Actress again in 2009 for Séraphine. In 1989, Moreau joined the troupe of Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeieff, finding great success as star of the TV program Les Deschiens. Her extensive body of work includes roles in the films Louise-Michel, Amélie, and Paris, Je T’aime, as well as in Agnès Varda’s 1985 film Vagabond (Sans toit, ni loi). Moreau is currently working on a new project by Joann Sfar, Serge Gainsbourg, Vie Héroïque, due to be released in 2010.

About FIAF
FIAF, a not-for-profit organization created in 1898 by American Francophiles, is one of the largest and most respected centers of French-American activities in the United States, widely known as the home of New York’s foremost French language school, the leading all-French library in the country, and New York’s only performing arts center dedicated to French and Francophone culture. FIAF is dedicated to encouraging interaction and better understanding between French-speaking and American communities by creating programs in the arts and education that promote and enhance knowledge of French and Francophone culture.

CinémaTuesdays is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Special thanks to Annette Choynacki and L’Office de tourisme Belge: Bruxelles-Wallonie in NYC (visitbelgium.com), to Wallonie-Bruxelles International and Emmanuelle Lambert, to Yolande Moreau, to Funny Balloons and to the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Admission:
$10; $7 students; Free for FIAF Members

Tickets:
fiaf.org | 212 307 4100

Information:
fiaf.org | 212 355 6160

Transportation:
Subway - 4, 5, 6, N, R and W to 59th Street & Lexington Avenue;
F to 63rd Street & Lexington Avenue; E to 53rd Street & 5th Avenue
Bus - M1, M2, M3, M4, Q31 to 59th Street; M5 to 58th Street

DVDebut: Peter Lennon's ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN arrives via Icarus Films

Ireland of a half-century past is the subject of the newly restored and unmissable (if you have any interest in that country then and now) documentary ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN, made by a then-young filmmaker named Peter Lennon.  Since 1968 when the film was first seen -- to much acclaim, at Cannes -- Mr. Lennon appears to have made his living somewhere other than in the world of film, as his IMDB profile is, well, short.  No matter. This single work of his (so far, at least: He says he wants to return to film-making) will remain important to Ireland, and to the art of the documentary.

What surprises TrustMovies most about this 69-minute film is how full of energy it is, how alert and alive it -- and everyone in it -- seem.   RR2D is also full of insight, some of this rather sad, considering how much and how little seem to have changed for the country in the course of the 40-plus years since filming took place.  Lennon gives us a good dose of Irish history from the decades prior to the 1960s and then shows us Irish life -- the poor, the gentry, the middle class; and the changing face of culture, politics, youth, women and the church. 

Lennon, affectionate but also stern and incisive, focuses at length on Irish censorship and how this stifles creativity, continually causing the best of the country's artists to depart its shores.  We hear at length from one of its censors, a clearly troubled old man who tries to foresee the coming changes but can barely wrap his mind around them.

One of the things that helps the documentary remain timely is its look at what happens when church and state grow far too cozy. When that church in question is Irish Catholic, troubles just seem to mount.  Of course, as we see, the church itself was trying to change back in the 60s, and so we find ourselves confronted with a relatively young priest (above) and his quietly presumptive ego who sings soft rock and folk songs to entertain his parishioners.  But when he rambles on at length about marriage and the like, we also understand how little the church philosophy has really changed.  (But wait: What we learn about this fellow in "The Making of" documentary that accompanies the film does change our view considerably -- though not necessarily for the better.)

Feminism, Irish version at least, if not on the rise at this time was nonetheless beginning to bud.  We hear the voice of a young married woman trying to explain herself as she wrestles with her own needs as well as those of her husband, the church and that oh-so-reliable means of birth control: the withdrawal method. Lennon speedily mixes old newsreels and photos with talking heads and scenes of life being lived in the bars and dance halls.  It's a heady concoction, ensuring that our attention never flags. And then it's over, the final splendid scene being one of Irish children running and running toward....  the future, perhaps?

The cinematographer of this little gem is none other than the great Frenchman Raoul Coutard, who does a fine job of capturing the moment, up-close or distanced.  How Coutard came to shoot the film is part of what makes The Making of (shot by Paul Duane) that accompanies the main feature such a treat.  The history of RR2D is very nearly as interesting as the film itself, and Lennon and Coutard reunite to reminisce about the movie and its debut and Cannes and elsewhere. (Coutard's remarks about giving up smoking are hilarious and explain perhaps why his fruitful collaboration with François Truffaut suddenly ended.)

Not being Irish, if you'd asked me prior to watching the movie and its companion piece, if I had any interest in it, I'd have probably said no. Don't you make that same mistake. Rocky Road to Dublin -- which made its DVD debut this week from Icarus Films -- is one whopping good piece of documentary film-making, not to mention an amazing time-capsule of a people and an era.  You can purchase it from Icarus itself or from Amazon, and soon, I hope, rent it from your favorite video source (as of this writing, Netflix lists it as "Saved: release date unknown").

All photos courtesy of Icarus Films, and yes, 

that last one is indeed John Huston, 

photographed while in Ireland making a film 

and telling the Irish why they should be making their own films.

On-Demand: Safy Nebbou's ANGEL OF MINE with Frot and Bonnaire

Two expert perfor-
mances from French actresses Catherine Frot and Sandrine Bonnaire anchor ANGEL OF MINE (L'empreinte de l'ange), a film based on real events co-written (with Cyril Gomez-Mathieu) and directed by Safy Nebbou.  Although the title card telling us that this story is "real" does not ap-
pear until film's end, you may, as did TrustMovies, come to the same conclu-
sion earlier on.  This tale is simply too bizarre to be fiction.

Fortunately M. Nebbou (shown at right) has the good sense to let his story tell itself, slow-
ly and quietly building ques-
tions, along with suspense.  The filmmaker provides neither the bells nor the whistles -- overwrought music, copious tears, melodramatic moments -- usually supplied in a tale that, however close to reality it might be, still approaches what we moviegoers of many years used to call a "woman's weepie."  No: Safy elects to turn his movie into more of a mystery -- what's happening, and why? -- and then leave it in the hands of his actors who are good enough to carry it off.

All I'll say about the plot is that it concerns two families, the little girl that brings them together, stalking, possible insanity and a past fraught with a major event. The adult characters we see have clearly gone through a lot (though we viewers don't learn for awhile just what this has entailed), hence their gravity and suspicions.  The younger set, on the other hand, have been protected well by their parents and so are free to laugh, play and enjoy life to the hilt, which they do.  (Safy has drawn lovely performances from all three children: Héloïse Cunin, a newcomer who has the pivotal role, Arthur Vaughan-Whitehead and Zacharie Chasseriaud.)

Ms Bonnaire (from Vagabond through the upcoming Queen to Play), shown above and elsewhere on this post, is capable of just about anything, and that's what she gives us here, fielding it all like a pro. Ms Frot, below and elsewhere (fabulous in Chaos, The Page Turner and Les soeurs fâchées to name but three of her many films) remains clench-jawed and just this side of frightening throughout.  Her eyes are remarkably agile, however, and so we feel her pain.  When she finally relaxes, this arrives like a blessing on the audience.

In the fine supporting case are Wladimir Yordanoff (below, left, with Ms Bonnaire), Antoine Chappey and the wonderful Michel Aumont, filling their roles to its brim -- given the small amount of screen time each is offered.

Angel of Mine is available now On-Demand from IFC Films via most major TV reception providers. You can click here to learn if yours has the film -- and if so, how to get it.

Art About Art: Moore/Twomey's surprise Academy pick THE SECRET OF KELLS opens

Standing tall next to Disney, Pixar, Focus and Fox is now GKIDS.tv with a film that is surely the surprise nomination of the year: THE SECRET OF KELLS, an animated narra-
tive movie from director/story guy Tomm Moore (shown below), co-director Nora Twomey and screenwriter Fabrice Ziolkowsky. Done in what TrustMovies calls old-fashioned flat, colorful, highly stylized animated line drawing (supplemented, according to the director's statement, by some computer anima-
tion), the film probably cost what Pixar pays for its press materials.  And yet so rich in story, ideas, and beauty is this little 75-minute film that it certainly gives the other nominees a run for their money. So far as simplicity is concerned, it wipes the floor with them.

The Secret of Kells combines Celtic mythology, an illuminated manuscript, history and magic into a kid's adventure tale that is short on dialog and explanation but long on lovely visuals.  I found this enchanting and often gripping but I do wonder what young kids will make of it.  Will they "get" it?  Probably not completely, but they should understand enough to carry them along and then use their own imagination to complete the parts of the tale they may not fully comprehend.

The movie takes place in a multi-cultural, multi-colored monastery in which the abbot is having constructed a huge wall to protect his flock and the locals from marauding Vikings.  His nephew (and our hero) little Brendan becomes involved with a master "illuminator," who, with his cat, has come to take shelter in the Abbey.  As Brendan learns about illumination and drawing, he also visits the forbidden forest outside the abbey where he meets a strange and magical little girl and her wolf pack.  Complications ensue.

The animation -- all of it wonderful -- ranges from frightening and awesome (lots of red and black and jagged edges) during the siege, to bright and earthy-colors when the environment is front and center (below), to the highly geometrical (further below) when magic -- and art -- are needed.  All the while, color choices are vital, as is the abstract style necessary to give the proper tone to the various scenes and their differing moods.

The movie finally offers a very smart mix of adventure, scares (which most young kids love), fantasy and magic (also high on their list) -- and art.  In fact the movie succeeds in being art about art: acquainting its viewers with the beauty of illuminated manuscripts in a manner that I suspect may stick with them for life.  On one level the "secret" of kells has to do with myth and magic.  On another, that secret is simply the importance of art to our individual lives and to the life of the world.

The Secret of Kells open Friday in New York City at the IFC Center and will open in Boston and Philadelphia on March 19th. A nationwide roll-out will follow, beginning April 2.

Felix Moeller's HARLAN: In the Shadow of Jew Süss opens at Film Forum

Viet Harlan (1899-1964) was a German filmmaker/
actor most promi-
nent during the the time of the Third Reich.  I wager that a good portion of film buffs, TrustMovies included, will not have heard of Herr Harlan prior to viewing the docu-
mentary by Felix Moeller (shown below) entitled HARLAN: In the shadow of Jew Süss.  First seen at a documentary festival in Germany in the fall of 2008, the film was then given a German theatrical release a year ago.

So far as I can detemine it has not been released anywhere else -- until now, thanks to Zeitgeist Films, which is opening it this Wednesday at New York City's Film Forum for a two-week run. The weird thing is, now that I have seen this documentary, I rather wonder why.  I do not mean that this film about Harlan, his "work" and his family is uninteresting (it's hard to recall anything Holocaust-related that does not possess a modicum of fascination).  And the fact that Harlan's oeuvre, as we learn here, included perhaps the most infamous of the anti-semetic diatribes of German Nazi-era cinema -- the 1940 narrative film Jew Süss -- would seem to make this guy a shoo-in for the spotlight.

Yet Moeller's movie is less about Harlan than about his remaining family (photos of whom are shown above and below, throughout this post). The filmmaker has obviously spent a lot of time tracking these people down and engaging them in conversations about their progenitor's film -- how they feel about it, and him.  From these conversations, and there are many, we see just about every response imaginable to the "burden" this family now bears: guilt, anger, resignation, excuses, leave-us-the-fuck-alone, near-silence, befuddlement, sorrow, let's-get-on-with-our-lives and maybe a dozen more "variations on a theme."

All of this is utterly to be expected and there is barely a surprise in the bunch.  Intelligent viewers, aware of history and the human condition, could probably write most of these conversations themselves and perhaps make them a lot juicier, pointed, caustic and moving.  Of course, this is why we have narrative films. Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Süss runs only about 100 minutes, but it seems much longer.  By the end, I was more than ready to remove myself from this family who accomplishes little else than proving itself unworthy of a documentary -- just as Viet Harlan, on the basis on what Moeller shows us here, appears a second-rate filmmaker who, though he may have aspired to it, was unlikely to touch the hem of Douglas Sirk's garment. 

It is not that these family members are stupid or unintelligent; it's simply that, even as they take opposing viewpoints, they give us again and again little more than the expected.  I suppose you can view them as a microcosm of German society and its "take" on the Holocaust and German guilt. But if you've been following this story as long as I have, a shrug is likely to be your response, followed by, "Yes. And...?"  Harlan's first wife, it turns out (or maybe his second, I wasn't entirely clear on this point) was Jewish, so out of "necessity" he divorced her.  His granddaughter from this marriage Jessica Jacoby, shown below, is the only character we meet who seems to represent the "other."  And, no surprise, she's angry.

Toward the middle of the movie there is a scene, just post-WWII, in which Harlan and his wife are thrown out of a theater when the audience realizes who they are.  The fine irony here, which goes unmentioned, is that the same people who were now jeering Viet were but a few years before cheering him for the very thing they now condemn.  What does this say about the German citizenry-at-large?  Pretty much the same thing you could say about the citizenry of any country -- who would likely behave the same way -- pre-, during, and post-Holocaust.  Yes, it's the same' ol same ol':  hypocrisy, denial and a very short memory.

I wonder what Herr Moeller, the son of renowned German director Margarethe von Trotta (whose films include Marianne and Juliane and Rosa Luxemburg), expected to learn from this family -- most of whom, with a couple of exceptions, draw into themselves and shut their communicative doors, as families under perceived threat are wont to do.  They would prefer that all this would simply go away.  For the most part, it has.  But something always remains.  A few more generations down the road it will all -- or most -- be forgotten, which is, of course, a blessing.  And a curse.

What the film finally accomplished, for me, is to engender a bit of a desire to view in its entirety the actual Jew Süss (the poster art for which is shown below) to find out exactly what kind of experience Harlan (shown above, in his heyday) offered to his more-than-willing-to-watch German public.

You can view the Film Forum playdates and screening times for Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Süss here.

On-Demand: Ilan Duran Cohen's THE JOY OF SINGING finally gets its U.S. chance

Making its New York debut last year as part of the FSLC's annual Rendez-vous with French Cinema (my review from 2009 is here), THE JOY OF SINGING -- that very odd combo of espionage, music, sex farce and philosophy (yes, it's French!) by Ilan Duran Cohen (shown below) can finally be seen again on our shores via IFC's On-Demand program. And maybe just in time to create a little buzz for this year's Rendez-vous series which begins mid-March. (TrustMovies will have much more on that subject next week.)

Even though it has taken this film a year to reach us (and without a theatrical release, at that) I'd still advise anyone with a taste for the outré and/or the pan-sexual, not to men-
tion an appreciation of music of all kinds, to take a look at this little treat.  Watching Cohen's movie a second time, I was struck with how important music is to everything here -- from the classical (that the music teacher insists her students learn) to the pop espoused by the character played by Jeanne Balibar (who sings, quite well, her songs).

The whole starry cast is made up of beautiful and talented actors, but it's Balibar (shown above in white) who shines brightest.  Her sleek physicality, warm voice and purring little smile are all so enticing, no wonder she wins over everyone from Julien Baumgartner (below, right, as a well-hung whore) to Caroline Ducey (as a voluptuous espionage agent).  Marina Fois (shown at bottom, right) and Lorànt Deutsch (bottom, left) make a charming pair of sparring intelligence agents, and Dominique Reymond and Natalie Richard (below, left) are aces as, respectively, the intelligence courier and Balibar's corrupt sister-in-law.

The Joy is Singing is certainly not for every taste. As with Cohen's earlier Confusion of Genders, the film is full of in-your-face sexuality of all sorts, with more full-frontal shots of M. Baumgartner than perhaps any other actor I can recall. Of course, I also don't recall any other actor (non-porno, at least) who is more deserving of these.  My second viewing of the movie, perhaps because I was prepared for the nudity, brought more of the film's sweet, giddy quality to the fore, as well as its music. From a charmingly home-
made Lakme duet to Crowded House's Don't Dream It's Over, this mix is a winner.


The Joy of Singing is available now from IFC On-Demand. Check your local TV reception supplier or click here to learn how (and if) you can access IFC's ever-increasing number of worthwhile foreign and independent films.