Film Socialisme (2010)
★★★☆☆
JLG is back to his impenetrable best with Film Socialisme, a cascading multi-lingual mosaic of ideas and comment presented as a symphony in three reassuringly dense movements.
France
Potiche (2010)
★★★★★
A return to form for François Ozon, Potiche is a melting pot of satire, farce and high camp with a sprinkling of stardust.
Love Like Poison / Un Amour Violent (2010)
★★★★☆
Ivorian director, Katell Quillévéré’s first feature, Love Like Poison is a tender coming of age tale set amid the religious fervour of small-town Brittany.
Two In The Wave / Deux de la Vague (2009)
★★★☆☆
Travelling from the love between Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut to a bitter hatred, Emmanuel Laurent’s Two In The Wave is a breathless histoire(s) du cinéma.
Nénette (2010)
★★★☆☆
Nicolas Philibert’s latest documentary observes the supreme diva, Nénette, a 40-year old orang-utan and the star attraction at Paris’ Jardin des Plantes zoo.
On Tour / Tournée (2010)
★★★☆☆
Like neo-burlesque dancer Dirty Martini, Mathieu Amalric’s On Tour is a fictional cocktail with a documentary twist.
Des Hommes Et Des Dieux / Of Gods And Men (2010)
★★★★☆
A sublime look into the hearts and minds of tormented monks, Xavier Beauvois’ Of Gods And Men reveals the battle between humanity and divinity in all of us.
L’Illusionniste / The Illusionist (2010)
★★★☆☆
Based on a script by Jacques Tati, Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist is a lyrical love story for sugar daddies and sweet dreamers. As well as residents of Dunedin.
Hideaway / Le Refuge (2009)
★★★☆☆
With a heroin junkie and her dead lover’s gay brother hiding away together, François Ozon’s Le Refuge is a subdued meditation on parenthood and loss. It’s baby boom and bust.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)
★★★☆☆
As a passionate affair between two 20th century icons, Jan Kounen’s Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is a perfumed symphony of style. But where are the heart notes?
Gainsbourg (Vie Héroïque) (2010)
★★★★☆
From chanson to reggae, Joann Sfar’s Gainsbourg is a soul-staking odyssey through Serge’s life and conquests, through Docteur Jekyll Et Monsieur Hyde.
Film Review: Bluebeard / Barbe Bleue (2009)
★★★☆☆
A faithful adaptation of Perrault’s fairytale, Bluebeard nevertheless conceals a bevy of Catherine Breillat’s favourite themes. But where’s the eroticism?
Wild Grass / Les Herbes Folles (2009)
★★★★☆
Alain Resnais, the great grand-monsieur of French cinema is de retour with Wild Grass a complex, lilting tale of the power of chance.
Villa Amalia (2009)
★★★☆☆
Cheerfully nihilistic, Benoît Jacquot’s Villa Amalia stars Isabelle Huppert as a pianist reinventing her life from scratch on the coast of Naples. O sole mio.