19/11/2014 - Pathé is releasing Matthieu Delaporte’s film, while Eden, Walesa: Man of Hope, What Now? Remind Me and Human Capital also come out today

Quality, quantity and diversity are all present and correct in the 14 new releases hitting French screens this Wednesday, which is certainly good news for French film-lovers; but unfortunately, this also poses the risk of the various titles cannibalising each other’s admissions sales, reviving the age-old question of how to achieve a better staggering of releases throughout the year.

Some distributors prefer to gamble on the best dates in terms of attendance levels, and then have to contend with intense competition while they hope to become part of the select group of winners following the first week of release – a strategy that sometimes seems to resemble Russian roulette. This approach creates a glut of supply that ends up being to the detriment of audiences, who no longer have the time to go and discover all of these first-rate films before they vanish from cinema screens.

Featuring among the new releases this week is the novel thriller Nobody from Nowhere [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Matthieu Delaporte, whose previous feature, Le Prénom [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (co-directed with Alexandre de La Patellière, who this time limited himself to writing the screenplay and producing the movie), was a box-office smash in 2012 (taking 3.3 million admissions in France and achieving some impressive figures abroad). Starring the remarkable Mathieu Kassovitz, who is joined in the cast by Marie-Josée Croze, the film explores identity and depersonalisation disorder through a character who adeptly assumes other peoples’ identities and behaves “like a serial killer who never goes through with it”. Produced by Dimitri Rassam for Chapter 2, Nobody from Nowhere was co-produced by Pathé Films (which is distributing it in over 300 theatres), Orange Studio, Fargo, Galfin and Belgian outfit Nexus Factory.

Also coming out this Wednesday are the excellent Eden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charles Gillibert
interview: Mia Hansen-Løve
film profile] by Mia Hansen-Løve (unveiled at Toronto and screened in competition at San Sebastian - Ad Vitam across 120 screens), the fanciful L'Oranais [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Lyes Salem (Haut et Court in 52 cinemas), Human Capital [+see also:
trailer
interview: Paolo Virzì
film profile] by Italian director Paolo Virzi (read the interview – his country’s hopeful for the next Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film - Bac Films in 109 theatres), the enthralling Walesa: Man of Hope [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by veteran Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda (revealed last year out of competition at Venice - Version Originale/Condor across 72 screens) and the astonishing documentary What Now? Remind Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Joaquim Pinto (winner of the Special Jury Prize at Locarno last year and Portugal’s contender in the Oscar race – read the review – distributed by Epicentre Films).

Also of note are the conceptual title Casanova Variations [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Austrian director Michael Sturminger (also revealed in competition at San Sebastian – read the review – distributed by its French co-producer, Alfama Films), the Franco-Argentinian co-production Natural Sciences [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Matias Lucchesi (Urban Distribution), the British-US-German-Belgian feature Third Person [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Paul Haggis (distributed by Synergy Cinéma), as well as the French documentaries Pôle Emploi, Ne quittez pas ! by Nora Philippe (Ciné-Sud Promotion) and M et le 3ème secret by Pierre Barnérias (distributed by Tprod).

(Translated from French)