Sibyl
Woman as Volcano
No wonder there is so much mistrust of psychiatrists when the French keep making films like Sibyl, directed by Justine Triet. Sibyl (Virginie Efira) is a novelist turned shrink who wants to write another novel, so she dumps most of … Read More
#Female Pleasure
Sex Crimes Uncovered
The documentary #Female Pleasure doesn’t have much to do with France per se (except that a few scenes were shot in Paris), but its themes are universal, and I was dismayed to learn that this well-made documentary of compelling interest has had only … Read More
Lourdes
Believe It or Not
Ever wonder what really goes on at Lourdes, aside from a roaring trade in bottled holy water, statuettes of the Virgin Mary, rosaries and a multitude of kitschy souvenirs? The new documentary Lourdes, by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai (both … Read More
J’Veux du Soleil
Just People
I went to see the documentary J’Veux du Soleil! (I Want Some Sun!) hoping to find an answer to the question that seems to be on everyone’s mind in France these days: what do the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) want? Directors … Read More
Paris Est à Nous
Garbled Message from Parisian Youth
On February 22, Netflix released the film Paris Est à Nous (Paris Is Us), directed by Élisabeth Vogler, which was filmed on a shoestring in Paris against the backdrop of real events that were taking place at the time, among … Read More
Celle que Vous Croyez
Woman on the Edge
The latest vehicle for French actress Juliette Binoche is Celle que Vous Croyez (Who You Think I Am), directed by Safy Nebbou and based on the novel of the same name (reviewed here) by Camille Laurens. Binoche plays Claire, a 50-year-old literature professor … Read More
Pau
In Search of the Lost Father
How do you make grief visible onscreen? Showing a character crying or looking sad for the length of a feature-length film is, of course, out of the question. A very young French-American filmmaker, Alexandre Leter, who was only 17 when … Read More
L’Ordre des Médecins
Operating without a Scalpel
L’Ordre des Médecins (Breath of Life), the first feature film directed by David Roux, takes place almost entirely in the closed world of a French hospital. Simon, played by the handsome and always convincing Jérémie Renier, is a self-assured 37-year-old pulmonologist … Read More
Une Jeunesse Dorée
The Palace Years
The Paris nightclub Le Palace, which had its heyday in the 1980s, has taken on mythic status in the French imagination in the way that Studio 54 did in the United States. Now we have an autobiographical film, Une Jeunesse Dorée (Golden … Read More
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