05/05/2010

Launched today on 30 screens by Wild Bunch Distribution, Gaspar Noé’s French/German/Italian co-production Enter the Void [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], unveiled in competition at last year’s Cannes Film Festival (see review), has totally divided critics.

The hallucinatory cocktail of drugs, sex and spiritual journey concocted in Japan by the director of Irreversible has dazzled some and irritated others, with supporters citing its virtuosity (with special effects by BUF) and detractors pointing out only empty technical feats. All these ingredients reinforce the cult reputation of a filmmaker who doesn’t swerve from his path in the storm of controversy.

This week’s other new releases include Juan José Campanella’s Spanish/Argentinean co-production The Secret In Their Eyes [+see also:
trailer
making of
Interview Juan José Campanella [IT]
Interview Ricardo Darín [IT]
Interview Soledad Villemin [IT]
film profile] (see news), which won this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and is being released on a 71-print run by Pretty Pictures.

French releases include Alexandre Charlot and Franck Magnier’s spy comedy Imogène McCarthery [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news), starring popular actress Catherine Frot and Lambert Wilson (UGC Distribution on over 400 screens). Meanwhile, StudioCanal is launching Dominique Farrugia and Arnaud Lemort’s romantic comedy L'Amour C'est Mieux à Deux [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Love Is Better With Two”), whose cast includes Clovis Cornillac, Virginie Efira, Manu Payet and Annelise Hesme.

Also hitting screens are Delphine Gleize and Jean Rochefort’s documentary Cavaliers Seuls (“Lone Riders”, distributed by Chrysalis Films) and three co-productions: Sophie Barthes’s French/US feature Cold Souls [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (co-produced by Arte France Cinéma and Memento Films, who are releasing it on 20 screens); Philippine director Brillante Mendoza’s Lola [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (in competition at Venice – produced by France’s Swift – released by Equation on 19 screens); and John Kani’s Nothing but the Truth (co-produced by France’s Odelion Films and distributed by Hévadis Films).

At the box office, Mammuth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustave Kervern, Benoî…
film profile] has seen its audience figures rise in its second week, reaching a total of almost 375,000 admissions in 12 days. Its print-run has been increased to 232 by Ad Vitam.

The comedy Camping 2 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] clocks in at 2.22m admissions in 12 days (Pathé Distribution on 782 screens), while The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is showing staying power at 1.19m viewers in 19 days (EuropaCorp Distribution on 636 screens). Finally, Heartbreaker [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] is still in ninth place in the weekly rankings in its seventh week on release (Universal on 415 screens), with a total of 3.27m admissions.

(Translated from French)