19/11/2008

While Jean-François Richet’s highly successful Public Enemy Number One (Part 1) [+see also:
trailer
film profile] nears the 2m admissions mark (€11.76m in box office takings) after four weeks on release, Pathé Distribution are today launching Public Enemy Number One (Part 2) [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in French theatres.

Made for €22.3m, this second instalment is a 100% French production, unlike its predecessor which was co-produced by Canada and Italy. Public Enemy Number One (Part 2) is the second part of a diptych focusing on the life of gangster Jacques Mesrine, who is played by a superb Vincent Cassel.

The film also features a host of new characters portrayed by Mathieu Amalric, Olivier Gourmet, Ludivine Sagnier, Gérard Lanvin, Samuel Le Bihan and Anne Consigny.

Among the ten other new releases hitting French screens this Wednesday is Moscow, Belgium [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Belgian director Christophe van Rompaey (see interview). The film – which won acclaim in the latest Cannes Critics’ Week – is being launched by Bac Films.

Non-domestic European film also makes an appearance with Spanish director Pere Portabella’s The Silence Before Bach, which was unveiled in the Horizons section at the 2007 Venice Film Festival and was mainly shot in Germany (distributed by Medula Films); and Aaron Fernandez’s Mexican/Spanish/French co-production Partes Usadas (“Used Parts”, distributed by Epicentre Films).

French films nevertheless take pride of place, with a line-up headed by Jean-Michel Ribes’ satirical comedy Musée haut, musée bas [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Museum High, Museum Low”), which is adapted from a stage hit. The film stars Michel Blanc, Victoria Abril, Pierre Arditi, Josiane Balasko, Isabelle Carré, Yolande Moreau, André Dussollier, Gérard Jugnot and Fabrice Luchini.

Produced by Epithète Films and Mon Voisin Productions in co-production with France 3 Cinéma, the €8.9m film is being released by Warner.

Meanwhile, Rezo Films are launching Didier le Pêcheur’s Home Sweet Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which they co-produced with Program 33. The film – which received an advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC) – stars Judith Godrèche, Patrick Chesnais and Daniel Prévost and centres on a reunion between a father and daughter which is complicated by a policeman’s revelations.

Documentaries also feature on this week’s line-up. Walt Disney Studios are hoping for success with Hollywood, I’m Sleeping Over Tonight, directed by and starring Antoine de Maximy (produced by Bonne pioche), while Unlimited are releasing François Caillat’s Welcome to Bataville.

Finally, among this week’s three US releases is James Gray’s Two Lovers, which was generously financed by French company Wild Bunch, who are launching the film in theatres.

(Translated from French)