18/03/2015 - Rising star Pierre Niney is the main attraction of Yann Gozlan’s thriller, while Gente de Bien by Franco Lolli also stands out on the cinema listings

Equipped with the César Award for Best Actor (for Yves Saint Laurent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jalil Lespert
film profile]) that he was given recently by the French film-industry professionals, Pierre Niney (26 years old) has set a lot of tongues wagging this week. As the topliner of the hard-hitting thriller A Perfect Man [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Yann Gozlan (read the article, released today in 280 cinemas by Mars, which is still in first place in the 2015 distributor rankings), the rising star has also just announced that he will be leaving the Comédie-Française, which he joined in 2010, thus becoming the youngest member of the troupe. His resignation was caused by an increasingly hectic schedule that he had to balance between the demands of the famous theatrical institution and those of an on-screen career, a situation that is not all that different from the departure of Isabelle Adjani in 1974, after she chose to leave the Comédie-Française so that she could shoot The Story of Adele H by François Truffaut.

Nevertheless, the frenzied media coverage surrounding the case of Pierre Niney (with his legions of fans and all those green-eyed newcomers) is primarily a reflection of a French film industry that is currently seeking new male faces that are able to charm a broad audience, foreign viewers included. Having been nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actor in 2012 and 2013 for J'aime regarder les filles [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lou de Laâge
film profile] and Comme des frères [+see also:
trailer
film profile], but also partly responsible for the theatrical success of 20 ans d'écart [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Pierre Niney really appeals particularly to the television companies (which are the number-one film financiers). It’s now up to him to make the right career decisions and swing skilfully between arthouse films and mainstream productions in order to deliver on all his promises and avoid falling into the same trap as his character in A Perfect Man, an imposter who rises to fame in the world of literature and gets caught up in the downward spiral of his lies. 

This Wednesday, the critics also seem to be backing the Franco-Colombian production Gente de bien [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Franco Lolli, which was revealed last year in the Cannes Festival Critics’ Week (read the review) and is being distributed by Ad Vitam across 43 screens.

Also hitting screens are Anton Tchékhov - 1890 by René Féret (read the article – JML Distribution in 40 theatres), L'antiquaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by François Margolin (Margo Cinéma in 47 cinemas), Indésirables by Philippe Barassat (Zelig Films Distribution), La double croisée by Jean-Charles Atzeni (Les Films du Saint-André-des-Arts), Louise by Jean-François Gallotte (Les Films des deux rives) and the documentary Les Chebabs de Yarmouk by Axel Salvadori-Sinz (Docks 66).

Lastly of note are The President [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
film profile] by Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, which was popular at Venice in the Orizzonti section (read the review – produced by Germany, France, the UK and Georgia – distributed by Bac Films), and the Franco-Estonian co-production A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ben Russell and Ben Rivers (Zootrope Films).

(Translated from French)