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RELEASES Belgium

Johnny meets Johnnie with a Vengeance

by 

Fresh from the Croisette, Johnnie To’s Vengeance [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(see review) is being launched on Belgian screens.

Having met with a mixed reception at Cannes – where there was praise for the Hong Kong master’s virtuoso direction but reservations about the lead performance – the film is set to attract fans of choreographed shoot-outs and Johnny Halliday. With his crocodile skin, ice-blue stare and French accent, Halliday appears in a role tailor-made for Alain Delon, but not necessarily right for him.

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Vengeance was co-produced by the director’s company and France’s ARP Sélection, who are renowned for their eclectic slate (including titles as diverse as Taxi, With a Little Help from Myself [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and 21 Grams). Alternative Films, whose line-up also includes two other Cannes contenders (Xavier Gianolli’s In the Beginning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, set for release in June, and Alain ResnaisWild Grass [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), are launching the film on 15 screens.

On the same number of prints, Cinéart is releasing Erreur de la banque en votre faveur [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(“Bank Error in Your Favour”), the third film by Michel Munz and Gérard Bitton, who co-wrote the screenplay to Would I Lie To You?. This is also the fourth film by Charles Gassot’s new production company Produire à Paris.

Another French release is Costa-Gavras’ Homeric reinterpretation Eden Is West [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, distributed by Alternative Films. Here, the French-Greek director adopts a surprisingly light tone in recounting a young immigrant’s journey across Europe.

Finally, last year’s Danish hit Flame & Citron [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
has a limited release on only one screen. Looking back at two emblematic figures of the Danish Resistance, Ole Christian Madsen’s film drew over 660,000 Danish viewers and won honours at the Robert Awards, the local Oscars. The title stars two Scandinavian actors who have made a name for themselves internationally: Thure Lindhart (discovered in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild), and Mads Mikkelsen (soon to appear in Jan Kounen’s Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
).

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(Translated from French)

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