23/11/2011

There is a major gridlock in French theatres with a wave of 18 new releases hitting screens, a variety that is certainly laudable at first sight but which spells disaster in terms of admissions for certain quality films that risk quickly disappearing from screens that are still largely overrun by this autumn’s big hits.

However, the panorama of new releases is certainly appealing, starting with Jean-Jacques Annaud’s dramatic Black Gold [+see also:
trailer
interview: Riz Ahmed
film profile] (see news), starring Tahar Rahim, Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong and Freida Pinto. Distributed by Warner, this blockbuster has nonetheless met with less critical approval than Djinn Carrénard’s astonishing Donoma [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see news - distributed by Commune Image Média and Donoma Guérilla on a 50-print run), self-produced on a shoestring budget.

Four other French productions have won over the press this week, particularly Jean-François Laguionie’s French/Belgian animated co-production Le Tableau [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The Painting”), which traces the misadventures of characters that emerge from an unfinished painting to set out in search of their creator in other works by him. The film has splendid graphics inspired in particular by Matisse, Derain and Bonnard (distributed by Gebeka Films on 100 prints).

There have also been rave reviews for Emmanuel Mouret’s comical The Art of Love [+see also:
trailer
film profile], in which the director of Change of Address [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Shall We Kiss? [+see also:
trailer
film profile] continues in the vein of his offbeat humour that wins over actors. These five love stories unveiled on the Piazza Grande at Locarno star François Cluzet, Ariane Ascaride, Gaspard Ulliel, Judith Godrèche, Julie Depardieu, Pascale Arbillot, Frédérique Bel, Elodie Navarre, Stanislas Merhar and Laurent Stocker. Pyramide is releasing the film on a 119-print run.

There has also been a positive press reception for romantic, melodramatic film The Adopted [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news), the debut directorial feature by actress Mélanie Laurent, who stars alongside Denis Ménochet and Marie Denarnaud (StudioCanal). And there has also been enthusiasm surrounding Christian Rouaud’s documentary Leader-Sheep [+see also:
trailer
film profile], unveiled at the latest Cannes Film Festival (Ad Vitam on 64 prints).

This Wednesday’s abundant panorama of European releases is completed by Norwegian director Marius Holst’s gripping King of Devil’s Island [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news - Les Films du Losange on 15 prints); Javier Fuentes-León’s Colombian/Peruvian/French/German co-production Undertow [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (distributed by Outplay); Agnès Merlet’s French/Irish fantasy film Hideaways [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news - Wild Bunch Distribution); Miaoyan Zhang’s Chinese/French co-production Black Blood (Arizona Films Distribution); and Olivier Azam’s documentary Grandpuits & Petites Victoires (Les Films des Deux Rives).

(Translated from French)