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A selection
of the latest albums
and films from France |
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Bénabar Infréquentable This is the fourth studio album from the self-described “chroniqueur de la vie” and member of the nouvelle chanson movement, whose Paris concerts have been known to sell out within a day. Bénabar’s buttery voice and comic timing are well suited to his songs, which touch on such topics as day-to-day life, failed romance and miscommunication. (Sony BMG)
Vincent Delerm Quinze Chansons This is a deceptively simple title for an album that covers everything from Martin Parr to Milan Kundera to Shea Stadium. The charismatic Delerm shows his emotional range with evocative melancholic songs such as la vie est la même, but his forte is comedy, as showcased in the vaudevillian le coeur des volleyeuses bat plus fort pour les volleyeurs. (Tôt ou Tard)
Olivier Messiaen Olivier Messiaen In celebration of what would have been the 100th birthday of the innovative composer, orni-thologist and devout Catholic Olivier Messiaen, Naïve has released a six-CD box set featuring seven of his masterworks—including a live performance from his 80th-birthday concert. The compositions are interpreted by renowned conductor Pierre Boulez and pianist Yvonne Loriod (Messiaen’s wife), among others. (Naïve)
elodieO Stubborn With her unique blend of electronica and ’60s French pop sounds, Paris-born Elodie Ozanne has made a name for herself in New York’s music scene as elodieO. Stubborn is the former French soap actress’s self-produced full-length debut, and all but two songs—remixes of The Cure’s “Home” and Serge Gainsbourg’s “L’eau à la bouche”—are her own compositions. (Mulatta Records)
LILI AND THE BAOBAB (2008) In director Chantal Richard’s 2008 film, Romane Bohringer stars Lili, a photographer whose work assignment in Africa proves to be life-altering when she befriends Aminata, a young woman who has become pregnant with an illegitimate child. Lili begins a fight to keep Aminata and her baby from being shunned by community and forced into a life of poverty and destitution in Dakar. (Casque d’Or)
FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (2008) The Flight of the Red Balloon, the first in a new series of films produced by the Musée d’Orsay, stars Juliette Binoche as Suzanne, a career-driven puppeteer who hires a Chinese student to care for her young son. Director Hou Hsaio-Hsien (Three Times) counts not only Albert Lamorisse’s film The Red Balloon (1956) as an influence, but Adam Gopnik’s book Paris to the Moon as well. Fans of Gopnik’s prose will enjoy seeing the “Machine for Drawing the World” in one scene. (IFC Films)
THE GROCER’S SON (2008) Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé) must return home to the French countryside after his father falls ill from a heart attack. Largely estranged from his family, sullen Antoine takes on the role of the local traveling grocer, driving a rickety van and peddling canned goods and vegetables to the eccentric locals. This comedic coming-of-age film is directed by Eric Guirado and also stars Clotilde Hesme. (Film Movement)
LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIAL (2007) Drawn from more than 300 hours of film footage, Rodolphe Marconi’s stylishly filmed documentary shows much more than the requisite glimpse behind Karl Lagerfeld’s signature sunglasses, revealing much about the designer's sexuality, his collaboration with Chanel and the inspiration behind his creativity. (Koch Lorber)
A LITTLE FAMILY CONVERSATION (1999) Just three years before her death from cancer at age 47, actress Hélène Lapiower completed Petite Conversation Familiale, a series of interviews with her family of Polish-Jewish immigrants. Lapiower, who moved to France at age 20 to study drama, filmed during the course of 10 years, traveling to the U.S. and Belgium to bring together her relatives’ stories. (Facets Video)
IRMA VEP (1997) Not to be confused with The Mystery of Irma Vep, the campy 1984 play by Charles Ludlam, Olivier Assayas’s Irma Vep (an anagram for “vampire”) gives its audience a fictionalized account of the process of re-making a Louis Feuillade serial. Comparisons to François Truffaut’s La Nuit Américaine are inevitable as Assayas explores the complexities of filmmaking—egos, finances, character development and on-set sexual tension, to name a few. Assayas’s former wife, Hong-Kong action star Maggie Cheung (clad in a vinyl cat-suit), stars as herself in the main role. (Zeitgeist)
LIFE THE WAY IT IS (1980) Set in a brutal housing project in the Paris suburb of Bagnolet, Jean-Claude Brisseau’s Life the Way It Is is not for the faint of heart. Brisseau, a protegé of Eric Rohmer, doesn’t shy away from scenes depicting graphic violence and rape, along with near-constant psychological abuse, as he tells the story of Agnès Tessier (Maria Luisa Garcia) a young woman working in a corrupt chemical factory. (Facets)
NATHALIE GRANGER (1972) Disappointed with the film adaptations of her literary works, in 1967 Marguerite Duras began to direct. Nathalie Granger, her fourth film, is a meditative study of household tension and fear in cool, contrast-rich black and white. Two friends, played by Jeanne Moreau and Lucia Bose, who share a home (Duras’s own residence), must decide how to handle Bose’s daughter, a young child with violent tendencies. Gerard Depardieu plays the role of a salesman. (Facets)
10 YEARS OF RIALTO PICTURES (1954-2000) Rialto Pictures has spent the past decade meticulously restoring and premiering previously unreleased classic films to American audiences. To celebrate this anniversary, the Criterion Collection has released a box set of 10 films (seven are French), most of which explore the darker side of human existence. Highlights include Jean-Pierre Melville’s Oscar-winning French Resistance masterpiece, Army of Shadows, and the bone-chilling Murderous Maids (2002). (Criterion Collection)
FANFAN LA TULIPE (1952) Christian-Jacque’s beloved Fanfan La Tulipe, set during the Seven Year’s War, stars legendary French actor Gérard Philippe as the cocky, fast-talking and swashbuckling title character, and Italian bombshell Gina Lollabrigida (dubbed into French) as the fortune-telling Adeline. The black-and-white original version of the film (which has been colorized and re-made in recent years) has been digitally restored for this special edition, which also includes a program on Philippe, whose life was cut tragically short when he succumbed to liver cancer at age 36. (Criterion Collection)
THE CLASS Laurent Cantet took top honors at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival—earning the first Palme d’Or for France in more than 20 years—for Entre les murs, set exclusively in a rough Parisian high school. The film is adapted from François Bégaudeau’s non-fiction book of the same name, and the exceptional cast of non-actors includes the author himself as Monsieur Marin, the persevering (and imperfect) teacher. The students, many of whom are immigrants or first-generation French citizens, reveal personalities that are as fully formed as two hours of screen time permits—wrestling not only with homework and hormones but also their varied cultures and religions. Slated release: December 26, 2008. (Sony Pictures Classics)
ZIDANE, A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT Little more than a year before Zinédine Zidane’s infamous World Cup head-butt, Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno filmed this arty documentary that follows “Zizou” throughout a 90-minute championship game in Madrid. With the help of 17 cameras that create a 360-degree perspective, the directors use only match footage and an instrumental soundtrack from the post-rock Scottish band Mogwai to convey Zidane’s experience. Select screenings. (Katapult Films)
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