When these festivals are on every year, I find it difficult to choose which films to watch as there are so many of them to choose from and there is so little time to watch all of them. Anyway, I do have a trusty French pal who gives me tips to help narrow the selection and also a pal who has watched a few already. It really does depend on what genre you like, but after a long hard days work, give me anything that’s funny, quirky and light hearted and I’ll happily watch it. I’m sure there will be quite a few people in the same category.
Here are my Top 3 picks to go and see this year and extracts of what these films are all about:
1. Me, Myself and Mom: This film has won many awards this year and last: Cannes International Film Festival 2013: Director’s Fortnight; Cesar Awards Nominations 2014: Best Film, Best Actor, Best First Film, Best Editing and Best Writing. It’s a short film (about 1 hour 20 minutes) and it is very funny. It is a one-man stage show where award-winning actor-writer-director Guillaume Gallienne plays a young manner struggling with his sexuality and also, plays his domineering mother who raised him to be gay before he had a chance to define his own sexuality. An engaging comedy that will ensure you will never see a massage the same way again (I didn’t when I was scheduled for one the following day!).
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| Scene from Me, Myself and Mom |
2. Cycling with Moliere: Serge (Fabrice Luchini) is a retired great actor, living as a recluse amid the windswept landscape of the Île de Ré. Gauthier (Lambert Wilson), a fellow actor currently enjoying a career high as a TV heartthrob, visits Serge and tempts him to make a comeback with a production of Molière’s play, The Misanthrope. Before agreeing, Serge insists on seven days of rehearsal. Will Serge finally say yes? Will the pair of ego-centric actors survive their week of intense readings and occasional bike trips around the picturesque island? The addition of a mysterious Italian divorcée (Maya Sansa) as a love interest adds a deliciously romantic frisson to this hilarious and brilliantly acted take on the classic French comedy of manners.
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| Scene from Cycling with Moliere |
3. It Boy: It Boy takes a hilarious look at sex, ambition and age differences in the glamorous world of Parisian publishing. Beautiful and talented Alice (Virginie Efira) is in her late thirties, with her sights set on the top job at the haute couture fashion magazine, Rebelle. Unfortunately her uptight attitude makes her boss Vincent (Gilles Cohen) doubt she has what it takes. However when she meets the 20-year-old Balthazar (Pierre Niney), a chain of misunderstandings suddenly finds her with a newfound cougar persona that changes her image, and her career chances, for the better. Can Alice keep up her new man-eating appearance? And what happens when her sham relationship with Balthazar becomes something more serious? There’s real chemistry here between TV presenter turned comedian Virginie Efira and Pierre Niney, the twice César Award nominated star of the 2012 hit, Romantics Anonymous. This is a funny and frothy movie that’s sure to appeal to lovers of fast-paced romantic comedies.
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| Scene from It Boy |
More information? Alliance French Film Festival 2014 website
Sydney: 4-26 March
Melbourne: 4-27 March
Canberra: 6-27 March
Brisbane: 6-28 Mar
Perth: 18 March – 6 Apr
Adelaide: 20 March – 8 Apr
Byron Bay: 24-28 Apr