Barbara and Babycall in cinemas

by Fabien Lemercier

02/05/2012 - After a Silver Bear for Best Director at the last Berlinale, Barbara [trailer, film focus] by German filmmaker Christian Petzold is out in France this Wednesday, distributed by Pyramide on 83 copies. The critics have raved about the director’s Hitchcockian minimalism and actress Nina Hoss’s subtle performance.

Psychological thriller Babycall [trailer] by Norwegian filmmaker Pal Sletaune has also been very well received. The film won Noomi Rapace Best Actress at the last Rome Film Festival, and has been launched by Jour2Fête on 36 copies.

Among the other novelties this week, there are also Franco-Italian feature La cerise sur le gâteau [trailer] (lit. “The cherry on the cake”) by Laura Morante (read the review - distribution: Rezo), Le secret de l’enfant fourmi (lit. “The secret of the ant-child”) by Christine François (article - Bac Films), the comedy Dépression et des potes [trailer] (lit. “Depression and friends”) by Arnaud Lemort (StudioCanal), American-Belgian-French co-production Walk Away Renée by Jonathan Caouette, unveiled last year at the Critics’ Week in Cannes (UFO Distribution), and Il cuore grande delle ragazze [trailer] (lit. “The big heart of girls”) by Italian filmmaker Pupi Avati (article - Les Films de l’Astre).

At the box office, comedies are in the lead with Sur la piste du marsupilami [trailer] by Alain Chabat continuing to do extremely well with 4.47 million admissions in 26 days (Pathé Distribution), and What’s in a Name? [trailer] by Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte selling 716,000 tickets in just its first five days (Pathé), besides Radiostars [trailer] by Romain Levy (477,000 admissions in 19 days – Mars Distribution) and Ducoboo 2 - Crazy Vacation [trailer] by Philippe de Chauveron (440,000 admissions – UGC Distribution).

Meanwhile, Farewell, My Queen [trailer, film focus] by Benoît Jacquot (Ad Vitam) has reaped 480,000 admissions in five weeks, 2 Days in New York [trailer] by Julie Delpy (Rezo Films) has sold 374,000 tickets in four weeks, and Spanish film [REC]³ Genesis [trailer] (Le Pacte & Wild Side Films) has attracted 343,000 cinema-goers in three weeks. Sister [trailer, film focus] by Ursula Meier (Diaphana) has registered 60,000 admissions in its first week, while The New Watchdogs [trailer] (Epicentre Films), a documentary about the media, has managed to attract an impressive 200,000 cinema-goers in 15 weeks.

(Translated from French)