Samsara is a visual documentary filmed over a period of almost five years, in twenty-five countries. What’s a visual documentary? Well, it’s a lot like a normal documentary, except without any dialogue. Zilch. No narration, no interviews and no Morgan Freeman.
Zero Dark Thirty is one ambitious piece of work. Directed by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, the film is a procedural police drama blown up to a world-spanning, history-defining scale…
We have 2 Double passes to giveaway for the AF French Film Festival!
Much like the other films we’ve seen at this year’s AF French Film Festival, this film has no qualms with it’s slow pace and uncertain message. For most of the film, you’re left wondering whether there is actually a point to the loose story or whether it’s just a collection of well scripted scenes that don’t necessarily lend to each other. Fortunately, the script does tie up everything towards the end (don’t worry, we won’t tell you what happens).
Blocked investigative crime writer, David Rousseau (Jean-Paul Rouve), visits small town Mouthe and finds inspiration in local star Candice Lecoeur’s (Sophie Quinton) apparent suicide. Rousseau suspects foul play and sets out on an investigation along with an unlikely ally in local gay cop Bruno Leloup (Guillaume Gouix).
EVERY once in a while you come across a movie that will actually challenge your knowledge about a common issue. In the case of Ismaël Ferroukhi’s Free Men, the subject matter is one that had been portrayed in countless screen renditions – the Holocaust. Most of us think that we know a lot about the tragic historic event, but did you know that there very many Muslims in North Africa who helped save hundreds of thousand of Jews from extermination by the Nazi’s?
Benoît Poelvoorde gives us the hilarious Ruben Vandavoorde, a Belgium customs officer who’s disdain for the French is probably only matched by his hatred of drug smugglers. As comic-fate would have it, the newly formed Eurozone needs a unified customs team and Vandavoorde has to team up with Mathais Ducatel (played by Dany Boon himself), who, to add to the hilarity, also happens to be his brother-in-law.
This movie is essentially a rom-com. Fans of the genre will definitely find it a really enjoyable flick. But I feel like even critics of the genre will find that the movie deserves more merit than it’s IMDb rating.
The Alliance Française French Film Festival is here.
That means it’s time to bring out your inner French, put on your cravat and don a beret and let’s get up to speed with the French movie scene.
