Every year around Bastille Day the MSP Film Society hosts their Lumières Françaises Festival du Cinema - it's a showcase for French and francophone films focusing largely on newer releases with the occasional rep feature. I've caught a screening here and there during previous festivals but this year I wanted to make it out for a more significant chunk of the fest. Some of that is driven by my enthusiasm for what's going down at the Main Cinema these days but the film selections were also intriguing. I managed to catch five movies over the weekend and wanted to do some write ups for anyone interested. Most importantly, the festival is through July 19th, so if you're local to the Twin Cities you absolutely still have a chance to head out and get your French film fix. Whether you're interested in romance, zombies, or the greatest film of all time - there's something of interest for just about anyone this year.
Freestyle (2022) - I was very impressed with Marina Foïs' performance in The Beasts which I saw during MSPIFF back in April. I didn't have much other than that and a brief plot synopsis to go on but that was sufficient to get me to check out Freestyle. The feature debut of director Didier Barcelo has Foïs playing a woman suddenly and acutely possessed by a neurosis that keeps her from leaving her automobile. Stuck in a carpark after running out of gas, the situation gets more complicated when a thief (Benjamin Voisin) attempts to steal the car with Foïs still inside. The two initially struggle against each other but eventually become unlikely allies in a bizarre cross-country journey. Freestyle is frequently funny, touching, occasionally melancholy, and primarily a solid platform for Voisin and Foïs. Being trapped in a car for even 89 minutes is a personal nightmare, but the charm and chemistry between the two leads was enough to keep me invested even if things do start to meander a bit towards the end. Recommended for some solid character work and one of the best scenes of backseat psychoanalysis at gunpoint I've witnessed.
The Innocent (2022) - I wrote about The Innocent back in May when I picked it as one of my favorite new-to-me films of the month. I liked it well enough that I jumped at the chance to see it theatrically. It's become an impossibly easy recommendation to make to people due to its earnest, entertaining blend of heist and romantic comedy genre elements. It doesn't hurt that the soundtrack is overflowing with cool needle drops from a combination of movie soundtracks and 80s/90s europop. Louis Garrel and Noémie Merlant are excellent together and the supporting cast are terrific. Definitely catch this either in the theater (Stelvio Cipriani and Gianna Nannini jams via surround sound are where it's at!) or check it out on Criterion.
Scarlet (2022) - A lush, fable-like story set in post WWI France. Scarlet features some gorgeous compositions, stylistic flourishes, and what appears to be restored/colored footage from the period. Pretty pictures aside, I found Raphael Thierry's performance as a wounded vet returning from war only to learn that he's both a father and a widower to be worth the price of admission alone. It's hard not to make comparisons to Michel Simon and though the films are very different I couldn't help but be reminded a little of Panique. Juliette Jouan acquits herself well and I was happy to see more of Louis Garrel, but honestly missed Thierry's presence when he wasn't on the screen. I'm going to have to hunt down more of his work. The plot trajectory gets a bit murky in the final third or so but there's enough intrigue and magic to make Scarlet worthwhile if you can appreciate something closer to a fairy tale than a realistic drama.
La Syndacaliste (2022) - For fans of realistic dramas, La Syndicaliste is based on actual events. Isabelle Huppert stars as a hardnosed union rep for a nuclear power conglomerate in France. She discovers some clandestine dealings with China that could put the careers of her fellows in jeopardy and starts making waves. I don't want to give away too much of the plot as I truly found myself on a journey while watching this, unsure which way the film was headed. It's a bit of political intrigue, true crime procedural, and genre thriller. Huppert is naturally superb and she gets to share some screentime with Marina Foïs which I enjoyed tremendously.
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) - I'm certain that in a fit of hyperbole I've said something to the effect that I'd gladly watch Delphine Seyrig peel potatoes. Thanks to Chantal Akerman's most famous film, you can experience the joy of Seyrig preparing spuds, mixing meatloaf, and washing dishes along with a myriad of other daily rituals. I've seen Dielman before but never theatrically and I felt that amongst the other dedicated souls who turned up for an 11am screening that I must be among my people. It is a fascinating, engrossing, intimate, frustrating, and somehow still surprising work. I don't know that I could successfully watch it at home again so being forced to sit with it in the dark, with no pauses or smartphones available to me was a genuine treasure. It's not going to be for everyone but if you have an inkling to see it, I can't recommend it enough. I'm half tempted to take some time off of work to see it again on Wednesday.
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