At FIAF's CinéSalon in September and October: BEYOND THE INGENUE as girls become women

What looks like yet another in FIAF's continuing stream of extremely interesting and well-curated (by Charlotte Garson and Delphine Selles-Alvarez) CinéSalon series of terrific Tuesday afternoon-and-evening movie sessions -- Beyond the Ingenue -- made its debut this past Tuesday with a film by and starring one of France's current cinema treasures, Noémie Lvovsky (most recently stealing the show in Summertime). Next Tuesday (September 20) will see the Pialat classic, À nos amours, then Céline Sciamma's Water Lilies on September 27, followed by that ever-watchable classic, Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach on October 4. You can view the entire series schedule by clicking here.

What has piqued TrustMovies' interest most, however, is the double bill of short films that has its U.S. Premiere on Tuesday, October 11 at 4 and 7:30pm: HARAMISTE (which I believe translates roughly as "forbidden to Muslims"), a shockingly delightful 40 minutes directed and co-written by Antoine Desrosières (shown at left), which will be shown in tandem with the 1994 made-for-French television film U.S. GO HOME, directed and co-written by Claire Denis. Both movies tackle the sexuality of adolescent girls on the verge of womanhood, but the twenty-year difference between the times in which these films were made speaks volumes, both about what is currently "permissible" -- even in France, forever the amour capital of the western world -- and how France (and everywhere else) has changed due to the results of immigration.

Further, the fact that Haramiste is inhabited by two young Muslim girls -- older and younger sisters -- makes what happens here just about jaw-dropping for those of us trained to think of Muslim females who cover their heads as somehow more "religious" and/or demure and sedate than their western counterparts.

And yet because these girls have lived in France for maybe their entire (or close to that) lives, aside from covering their heads, they seem, well, quite French. And quite teenage. And quite sexual. And quite verbal. The film's first scene takes place at a bus stop where the two are awaiting their mother, as they are accosted by a group of boys. They hold their own, while seeming both "interested" and properly staid and retiring. Yet, as soon as the boys leave and the girls open up to each other, all bets are off.

The bus stop scene, however, is nothing compare to what we get in the second scene, which takes place in the girls' bedroom. Yikes. This is so revelatory, and so funny, and so disarming, and so, well, scandalous, that I am somewhat surprised that a fatwa has not been taken out against the filmmaker and his cast. (Golly, maybe one has been.) In any case, Haramiste should turn topsy-turvy a lot of your pre-conceived notions and (hopefully) make you laugh your head off in the process.

Desrosières' cast -- Souad Archane (above, left) and Inas Chanti (above, right) --  could hardly be better (both girls contributed to the dialog and screenplay, as did Anne-Sophie Nanki), and the technical aspects of the film are just fine. But it's the very idea of the film, as well as its execution, that seals the deal.

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Ms Denis' movie, U.S. GO HOME (the filmmaker is shown above), though now twenty-two years old, is actually set back some fifty years -- during a time when the Vietnam War raged and the French (who had their own previous bad experience over there) were having none of it. Here, two young girls of the day (played by Alice Houri, below, left, and Jessica Tharaud, right) engage in their own sexual awakenings and experiences, helped (more like hindered) along by one of them's brother (a young and hugely charismatic Grégoire Colin, shown two photos below, who would go on, five years later, to star in Denis' Beau Travail).

Budding sexuality competes with political, social and economic concerns, all of this very nicely enmeshed by Denis. As is her wont, the filmmaker offers up behavior above all, and we watch, fascinated, as these two girls -- friends, but probably not for much longer -- pursue their own course with men, women, and each other.

Along the way, we encounter an American soldier (played by Vincent Gallo, below, right, with Ms Houri) who will appear again later, and quietly, rather sweetly (for Mr. Gallo) connect with Ms Houri's character. In one sense, not much happens here; in another, everything does. The night turns into morning and a new day in so many ways.

Made for French television in 1994, U.S. Go Home has, over the years, assumed a place in the canon (television-wise, at least) -- and rightfully so. Full of life and the fabulous music of the time, the 68-minute movie shows off these fine actors, at least three of whom would move on to other challenging and effective performances (Ms Tharaud appears to have stopped acting after Denis' Nenette and Boni, in which she, Houri and Colin also starred.)

I would call this double bill a must-see, and since it most likely will not be opening in theaters anytime soon, I suggest, for those of you in the tri-state area, heading for FIAF on Tuesday, October 11 -- and getting your tickets soon. Click here to see the entire Beyond the Ingenue series, and here to get tickets for the Denis/Desrosière double bill.

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Antoine Desrosières, Claire Denis, FIAF, France in the 1960s, HARAMISTE, Muslims, must-see movies, sexuality, sisters, The Vietnam War, U.S. GO HOME,

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Alix Delaporte's THE LAST HAMMER BLOW -- another winner screens at FIAF's CinéSalon

With a single exception so far, Burning Bright -- the new series from FIAF's CinéSalon that introduces the next generation of French auteurs -- is proving to be every bit as good as is that popular yearly series from the FSLC, Rendez-vous With French Cinema. This week's film is another little gem: THE LAST HAMMER BLOW from a filmmaker, Alix Delaporte (shown below), with whom TrustMovies is only now getting acquainted.

Ms Delaporte has written for French television and co-written and directed two movies, the latest of which is this 2014 film, which tackles the tale of an adolescent boy named Victor (played by a simply terrific newcomer, Romain Paul, above and below) in the French provinces finally coming into contact with his birth father, whom he has never met.

Dad  (played by Grégory Gadebois) is a fairly famous orchestra conductor, who may not even know he has a son. Victor's mom (the always fine Clotilde Hesme), who wants nothing to do with his dad, is recovering (well, we hope she is) from what looks like a bout with cancer of some sort, and when Victor learns that his father is guest conducting the local symphony in a performance of Mahler's Sixth, he determines to meet the man, come hell or high water.

That's the set-up, which sounds interesting enough but perhaps nothing we haven't seen previously. But how Ms Delaporte chooses to tell her story -- in swift, sharply observed scenes in which the exposition is mostly buried within the actions and behavior of the characters -- is something else.

This means we have to stay quite alert for fear of missing any telling moments, of which there are plenty. But the filmmaker makes this easy to do, via her casting of the three leads, each of whom shines, and all the subsidiary characters, as well. (That's Spanish actress Candela Peña, above, left, with Ms. Hesme; also in the cast is noted Spanish actor Tristán Ulloa.)

The lead performances -- that's M.Gadebois, above, and Ms Hesme, below -- are so immediate and real, without ever being "showy," that the film often appears to be something close to a documentary. (Gadebois rather resembles a French answer to our own Peter Sarsgaard, if a little heavier, and he gives a most interesting performance here.)

While her film unfurls in logical, first-this/then-that order -- no back-and-forth flashbacks or anything super-stylish here -- Ms Delaporte instead chooses to give us scenes that may seem almost random but are actually very well chosen to further her story and build her characters, while avoiding the typical and sentimental.

Characters grow and perhaps change, but only in small increments. All this makes what happens in the course of the film seem both believable and "earned." Consequently the joy we experience at the finale comes from a place much deeper and more genuine than often happens in stories like this one.

Young Monsieur Paul is quite a find. He has one of those wonderful faces that seem to want to hide feelings yet can't. They keep seeping through, as much as he tries for disguise. The IMDB does not show any further acting work for him post this film, but I do hope we'll see more of this young man as he grows up.

Gadebois and Hesme give performances of wonderful specificity and emotion. Though we never learn specifics about what happened between their characters, this seems yet another smart choice on the filmmaker's part. And the actors bring such depth to their roles -- they make their quite different situations seem understandable -- that we don't miss, even one tiny bit, the more standard exposition many moviemakers would offer. (The scene, above, in which Dad has his son come up and watch the orchestra from the conductor's standpoint is fascinating and rich. I've never seen anything quite like it in a film before.)

The way the movie handles music -- the love of it and the making of it -- seems to me exemplary. Combining Mahler, soccer, cancer and parenting, The Last Hammer Blow weaves all this together with such spirit and grace that we can only sit back and marvel. And care. And enjoy.

This film really ought to have been picked up for U.S. distribution, so FIAF's bringing it to us now can only be seen as a gift. It plays this coming Tuesday, July 5, at Florence Gould Hall in Manhattan, twice only at 4 and 7:30 PM. Click here to learn more and/or purchase tickets. And remember: FIAF members attend free of charge.

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Alix Delaporte, cancer, CinéSalon, coming-of-age tales, FIAF, Gustav Mahler, movies about music, parenting, soccer, THE LAST HAMMER BLOW,

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At FIAF this coming Tuesday: Brigitte Sy's deep, dark and beautiful ASTRAGAL

Coming up at FIAF's CinéSalon this Tuesday, July 21, is a film of which I'd never heard but am very pleased to have now experienced. ASTRAGAL (L'Astragale) is a gift from actress/ writer/director Brigitte Sy, who, as director and adapter of a landmark French autobiographical novel of the same name (by Albertine Sarrazin), brings us the adventures, usually pretty dark, of a smart Algerian girl in France during the 1950s. TrustMovies best knows Ms Sy as an actress (Genealogies of a Crime, Regular Lovers, Declaration of War) but he has also seen her earlier work as writer/director, Free Hands. He finds Astragal an enormous improvement over that former film.

What seems most remarkable is how well Ms Sy (shown at left) succeeds on every level she attempts, all the more surprising because Astragale is a period piece, and Sy captures that period, with the help of her cinematographer (Frédéric Serve) and production and costume designer (Françoise Arnaud) so very well. The look, the feel, the detailing all seem extraordinarily precise and right. Even better, though, is the casting of the film, which includes two fine French actors: the beautiful Leila Bekhti, whom I've often enjoyed (A Prophet, All That Glitters) but had no clue that she possessed the ability to the handle a complex role like this one, and Reda Kateb (Me, Myself and Mum and Far From Men, among his many other choice roles) 

Ms Bekhti (above and below, right) plays Albertine, the heroine of the film, whom we first meet escaping from prison and taking a fall that will damage her ankle for life. Rescue comes in the form of M. Kateb (above and below, left), who plays Julien, a criminal with a kind heart but former obligations. And so begins a relationship that will start and stop and start again for a decade or more, as Julien attends to his life and loves and Albertine, constantly in hiding, finds employment as a prostitute, even as she begins writing poetry and prose that show a distinct and deepening talent.

Astragal is one of the more genuinely poetic films I've seen in a long time, and its poetry extends not only to the writing we occasionally hear spoken, but to the look of the film (the black-and-white cinematography is splendidly of its time and simply gorgeous to view); the "feel" of the period that Sy, along with her crew and actors, conjure; in the performance of the two leads and their supporting cast; and the entire "spirit" of this project -- in which incipient feminism appears on the French scene and the "place" of women begins to change. Albertine, of course, is in that double bind of being both female and Algerian.

Our heroine spends the film "on the lam," as it were, not exactly running from the authorities (she has broken out of prison, after all) but keeping quietly under wraps (she's often in a blond wig, as above, for disguise). As the small incidents build, so do the characters of Albertine and Julien. When her best friend from prison, Marie (Esther Garrel, above and below, left), suddenly reappears, Albertine must choose and grow.

How this works out and what happens to both the novelized and actual Albertine we learn as the end credits roll and more information is passed to us. The effect is sad because all this seems so unnecessary, but Astragal is about both the past and the change to come. The latter, I suppose is what makes the former more bearable. That, and this film's enormous truth, beauty and spirit.

You have the chance to view Astragal, this coming Tuesday, June 21, at FIAF in New York City. (There's one showing only, at 4pm!) Click here to learn more and/or to purchase tickets. (And remember: FIAF members get into the the CinéSalon programs free of charge.)

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Algerians in France, ASTRAGAL, Brigitte Sy, feminism on film, FIAF, France in the 1950s, French cinema, gorgeous cinematography, poetry,

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BURNING BRIGHT: On June 7, FIAF's CinéSalon begins a fine series by new French filmmakers

For eight consecutive Tuesdays, beginning June 7 and ending on July 26, CinéSalon -- which I think one might call the "cinema arm" of FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française) -- will be showing an exciting new series that ought to appeal to French film buffs, perhaps in particular the younger set, by introducing them and us to a new generation of French filmmakers. Entitled Burning Bright, the series features nine relatively new films made in 2013, 2014 and 2015, one of which -- The Cowboys -- will be released in theaters later this month by Cohen Media Group (so this FIAF screening is a kind of "advance look" opportunity for aficionados).

You can view the entire series here and then click on each of the films that interest you. TrustMovies has managed to view only three of the films at this point in time, of which two are definitely worth a look. The series opens this coming Tuesday, June 7, with screenings of THIS SUMMER FEELING (Ce sentiment de l'été), a really lovely, quietly alive movie about what an unexpected and untimely death does to a close-knit family and their friends. What surprises most about this film is how buoyant it remains, despite its seemingly grim subject.

What makes the movie, directed and co-written (with Mariette Désert) by Mikhaël Hers, so interesting and unusual is how -- despite its melancholy nature due to the attempt of the characters to somehow recover from this signature event -- it is still consistently full of life and energy. This is because M. Hers seems to prize honest behavior above all else, and so we watch these characters simply "behave" in the world. And because the filmmaker has chosen his times, places and people so smartly and well, even given that the movie is rather low on "events," it still holds attention.

Those "places" mentioned above includes Berlin, Paris and New York, and this, too, adds luster and variety to our viewing. The characters are played with easy-going, near-improvisational reality by the entire cast, with the excellent Anders Danielsen Lie (two photos up) and Judith Chemla (above) in the leading roles, as, respectively, the deceased's boyfriend and sister. In supporting roles (in the New York City segments), excellent work is done by our own Josh Safdie and Marin Ireland.  With its running time of 103 minutes, the movie still manages to move along in sprightly fashion. It's a thoughtful, quiet film that I suspect you'll remember fondly. Click here for more information and ticket procurement.

Next week, on June 14, a film from one of France's most interesting women writer/directors will be shown: Axelle Ropert's follow-up to her marvellous family drama, The Family Wolberg, the equally unusual and cliché-defying Miss and the Doctors (Tirez la langue, mademoiselle). Another of Ropert's movies that goes in odd directions and offers an unusual but not at all unbelievable look at human beings trying to somehow "work things out," the film gives us a look at a mother trying to raise her diabetic daughter, as the pair becomes involved with two brothers, each a doctor and each equally smitten with this beautiful mom.

It would be easy to call Ms Ropert feminist due to her thoughtful and far- reaching look into the female psyche, but that word doesn't begin to describe the filmmaker's unusual rapport with and understanding of all her characters. What happens in the movie is unexpected and will not satisfy those looking for cheap emotion and easy closure. But it will make you stop and consider.

The cast is top-notch, with the always gorgeous and intuitive actress Louise Bourgoin (two photos above) in the role of the mother, and two equally smart and unusual choices -- Laurent Stocker (above, left, of Chic!) and filmmaker/actor Cédric Kahn (above, right) -- playing the doctor brothers. Neither of Ms Ropert's films seem to be available any longer in this country for purchase or rental. A shame -- which makes this FIAF screening all the more precious. Click here to view screening times.

The continuing war in Afghanistan conflated with the supernatural (or in this case maybe religion) would not seem to make particularly engaging films -- if the two examples I've seen constitute reliable evidence. First we got Daniel Myrick's The Objective (back in 2009), and now we have NEITHER HEAVEN NOR EARTH (Ni le ciel ni la terre), which, if nothing else, at least has a more interesting cast than the earlier film. Directed by and with a screenplay from Clément Cogitore, this hugely slow-moving movie gives us the almost-always-good Jérémie Renier as the commander of a small group of men trying to hold down their position on a hilltop while winning the hearts and minds of the local villagers. They are not, it would seem, doing well at either job.

I have never seen M. Renier, above, give a bad performance; he usually rivets. Here, however, he and the rest of cast come close to putting us to sleep, as the very dawdling story very slowly unfolds. The commander's men are disappearing, two or one at a time, and nothing accounts for this. The single example we are made privy to would seem to involve something magical, and one of the local kids insists to the soldiers that this is the "place of Allah," and that if you sleep lying down, you'll be "taken."

Turns out that the local Taliban crew are missing men in their own camp, and our boys must join with them to find the missing men. The movie does not work on any level-- not as thriller, not as war film, not as a supernatural tale, and especially not as philosophy-cum-religious tract. You could say that the film is trying to prove the existence of god. Good luck with that. At the very least, you'd need to be alert and awake to take a crack at this. M Gogitore seem to be of the moviemaking mind-set that less is more. And though there is somewhat of a surprise in the manner in which the movie resolves itself, I'd call the whole thing too little too late. Neither Heaven nor Earth is neither fish nor fowl. But I wish the filmmaker better luck next time. You can click here to learn more about the movie, along with its FIAF screening times. (We've just learned that this film will be getting a theatrical release in New York City, opening on August 5th at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.)

I'll hope to see more in this CineSalon series if time permits (especially the movie entitled Vincent, above, which is said to resemble what a super-hero film might look like if directed by Eric Rohmer). If I can manage more viewings, you'll find the results here, if and when I add them to the end of this post. Meanwhile, you can view the listing for the entire nine-film series here, and then click on the whichever films you want to learn more about.  As always, these films are free to FIAF members. For information about FIAF membership, click here.

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Axelle Ropert, CinéSalon, Clément Cogitore, FIAF, French cinema, French Institute Alliance Française, Mikhaël Hers, MISS AND THE DOCTORS, NEITHER HEAVEN NOR EARTH, THIS SUMMER FEELING,

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