Tuesday, April 28, 1998
French film festival alights in City of Angels
FILM: Promotional event features works extolling sensuality of
country
By Warren Tessler
Daily Bruin Contributor
There is a mystique about the French. They have a certain "je ne
sais quoi." Maybe it’s the cool attitudes or the en vogue style.
And for those who haven’t been to France, where better to
experience French life than through film?
Starting today and running through Saturday, "City of Lights,
City of Angels: A Week of French Films," will premiere at The
Directors Guild of America. The film festival is being funded by a
cultural agreement between France’s Society of Authors, Composers
and Editors of Music (SACEM), the Directors Guild of America (DGA),
the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Writers Guild of
America (WGA) to promote French films in the United States. And the
UCLA Film and Television Archive chose the films that will be
screened.
The very first "City of Lights, City of Angels" festival was
held last year.
"Last year’s festival did really well," says David Pendleton,
the UCLA Film and Television Archive program coordinator. "Last
year we had to have second screenings of many of the films, and in
some cases, third screenings."
During the five-day event, six films will be shown: five from
last year, and one restored classic.
Director Jacques Tati’s old favorite "Jour de Fete," which plays
on Saturday, was released in 1949. Originally, the film was shot in
Thomsoncolor, which was to become a rival to Technicolor. But
Thomsoncolor went out of business by the time the film was done
shooting, and subsequently, "Jour de Fete" was released in black
and white. The newly restored color print is being screened for the
first time in Los Angeles.
"En Garde (Le Bossu)" will open up the festival today and is
actually the fourth film version of the classic French tale. Daniel
Auteuil plays Lagardere, the bodyguard of the Duke of Nevers,
played by "The Crow II’s" Vincent Perez. The Duke is murdered, and
his friend must avenge his death in full swashbuckling fashion.
Tomorrow "La Vie de Jesus" by Bruno Dumont will be shown. Set in
a tiny town in Flanders near the Belgian border, it is the story of
how a group of bored young men passes the time when they are not
riding their motorcycles or playing in a local brass band. The
group is outraged when another local boy, Kader, develops an
interest in the epileptic Freddy’s girlfriend Marie. They decide to
put Kader in his place as Marie begins to respond to him.
Anne Fontaine’s "Dry Cleaning," which shows on Thursday, is the
story of a young couple that leads a quiet life running a dry
cleaning business until they meet a performer and his sister who
both dress in drag and perform as the opposite sex. The couple,
intrigued by the brother and sister act, invites them out for
drinks. But soon afterward, a triangle develops between the couple
and the brother, played by Stanislaus Merhar, who received the
Cesar award for best new male star.
"Just for a Laugh," directed by Lucas Belvaux, screens on
Friday. The film chronicles the life of Nicolas, a content,
middle-aged man with a younger wife. But his life changes when he
finds out that his wife is having an affair with Gaspar, a man the
wife’s age. Nicolas begins to spy on the adulterous couple and ends
up becoming part of Gaspar’s life without revealing who he is.
The last film of the festival is Alain Corneau’s "Le Cousin," in
which a Parisian detective commits suicide to avoid facing an
investigation regarding the protection of a drug dealer. Out of
loyalty to his deceased partner, another detective, Gerard, begins
to protect the same dealer, and a friendship ensues between the
two.
On the third day of the festival there will be a panel
discussion between French and American filmmakers on the state of
their respective film communities. Directors Bruno Dumont, Lucas
Belvaux, Alain Corneau and actor Vincent Perez will all be
attending the Festival.
"The French are able to combine wit and intelligence and
sexuality better than we can," Pendleton says of the importance of
the festival. "In some cases it’s more important to watch films
from other countries so we can learn about other cultures. I think
we’ve been a little too colonized by Hollywood."
FILM: "City of Lights, City of Angels: A Week of French Films"
begins today at the Directors Guild of America. For more
information, call (310) 206-8013.