12/12/2012 - Humorous winds of change from Michel Leclerc, and great European animation with Ernest & Celestine and Crulic: The Path to Beyond

“Up to what point should one give up one’s ideals to become a cynic?” After the surprise success of The Names of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Critics’ Week at Cannes 2010, 813,000 admissions in France, 2011 Cesars for Best Screenplay and Best Actress), Michel Leclerc is back with Pirate TV (original title: Télé Gaucho), released today by UGC Distribution in 274 cinemas.  Mostly well-reviewed by the critics for its freshness and anarchical good humour, the film is inspired by the misadventures of a Parisian associative television channel in the mid-1990s and stars young newcomer Félix Moati alongside Sara Forestier, Eric Elmosnino, Maïwenn, and Emmanuelle Béart.

"I have always been fascinated by ensemble cast films that tell the story of three or four friends over several years and that mix politics, passionate love, and coming of age," explains the director. "Above all, it’s the tale of a young man confronted with his ideals, his artistic ambitions, his first loves, fatherhood and who, in the end, is not the same person as in the beginning. Through him, the film poses the question of how one can reconcile idealism and ambition."

Among the other new releases, the press is excited about European animation. The critics have completely fallen under the charm of Ernest & Celestine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benjamin Renner, Vincent Pa…
film profile], a France-Belgium-Luxembourg co-production directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, and Stéphane Aubier and penned by Daniel Pennac, that was discovered at the Directors’ Fortnight and has now been released by StudioCanal in 596 cinemas, and they have also given good reviews to Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian’s animation documentary Crulic: The Path to Beyond [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anca Damian
film profile], a film that was awarded a Special Mention last year in Locarno.

Two other films are also worth mentioning: Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia’s caustic As Luck Would Have It [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álex de la Iglesia
interview: Álex de la Iglesia
film profile] (DistriB Films on 24 copies) and Hiam Abbass’ Heritage (watch the interview), which premiered at the Venice Days and has been released by Diaphana on 54 copies. Other European productions include Eric Besnard’s comedy Mes héros [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (with Clovis Cornillac, Josiane Balasko, and Gérard Jugnot - Pathé Films in 325 cinemas), Jean-Pierre Delépine’s Article 23 (distribution: Art Cinefeel), and three documentaries: Swiss director Ruedi Gerber’s Anna Halprin : le souffle de la danse (Nour Films), Kamir Meridja’s Rude Boy Story (Diversité Films), and Camille Clavel’s Vers où, Israël? (Les Films de l’Atalante). All this among a flurry of 21 new titles that also includes American director Benh Zeitlin’s Cannes Caméra d’Or winner Beasts of the Southern Wild (ARP Sélection).

(Translated from French)