Le Grand Bain
A Plunge into Implausibility
Isn’t it just typical? You wait so long for a film about a middle-aged male synchronized swimming team, then two come along at once. In Britain, Swimming with Men, starring comedian Rob Bryden, has received middling reviews (“likably daft,” said … Read More
Amin
A Life Torn in Two
Following his award-laden outing with Fatima, director Philippe Faucon returns with yet another finely observed immigrant drama. The title character of Faucon’s Amin, played with winningly stoic charisma by Moustapha Mbengue, is an alpha Senegalese who splits his time between … Read More
Sauvage
Wild Child
We may all have had our fill of movies about a tart with a heart, but Sauvage is something different. The central character, Léo (Félix Maritaud), is a 22-year-old gay male prostitute who, despite being obliged to perform degrading acts … Read More
Transit
History Repeated?
The French-German production Transit, directed by Christian Petzold, is an odd bird of a film. It takes place in present-day France (oddly, no one has a cellphone, however), where unidentified “Fascist” occupiers are moving through the country arresting foreigners. The … Read More
Le Retour du Héros
Handsome Cad vs. Jane Austen Stand-in
I’m not a big fan of French comedies, which tend to be broad and slapsticky to the point of ridiculousness and sometimes offensiveness – don’t forget that this is the country that famously adores Jerry Lewis – but I was … Read More
Un Beau Soleil Intérieur
Let the Love Light In
Un Beau Soleil Intérieur (Let the Sunshine In), directed by Claire Denis, opens with a closeup on a man and woman having sex. At first, only the woman’s body is visible, but we soon see the man on top of her, … Read More
Le Redoutable
Taking the 'God' Out of Godard
The title of the film Le Redoutable comes from a radio play Jean-Luc Godard (played by Louis Garrel) listens to every morning in his kitchen. He repeats its catchphrase in a voice dripping with radiophonic drama from time to time … Read More
Barbara
Worshipping at the Altar of a Departed Chanteuse
Mathieu Amalric’s Barbara is less of a biopic than a worshipful homage to the chanteuse who won the hearts of the French with her plaintive songs of heartbreak and incest. So what, you might say, who needs another straightforward biopic anyway? The … Read More
Visages Villages
Seeing the Power of the Imagination
What a surprising pleasure to see the new documentary Visages, Villages, by 89-year-old Agnès Varda, made with 34-year-old artist JR and first shown out of competition at this year’s Cannes Film festival. Throughout the course of the film, both Varda … Read More
L’Amant Double
Psychosexual Gothic Romance
I hate reading reviews of films before I see them because I like to be surprised and want to avoid being influenced by someone else’s opinion. I do, however, try to get a sense of whether a film is a … Read More