Franco-Israeli documentaries by Shlomi Elkabetz (1h48 & 1h40).
They are known as “darling” You can live between Tel-Aviv, Paris and their Parisian apartment. Listen to “The Mask and the Feather”, the prediction by a Berber mage and the music of Bernard Herrmann’s “Ghost” in “Cold Sweats” by Alfred Hitchcock. Shlomi Elkabetz was the sister of actress Ronit Elkabetz and director. Ronit Elkabetz was an Israeli Magnani who had an anti-naturalist strategy. She died in 2016 from cancer. Shlomi Elkabetz had filmed Ronit Elkabetz for twenty years.
He has made a powerful documentary from 600 hours of rushes. It is divided into two parts. The first part is anchored in everyday life and repents of their close relationship. They also co-directed a trilogy that aims to eliminate the boundary between movie theater and existence. It depicts a woman playing chess with time. We know she will go away. The Hebrew word for “notebooks” is feminine. Here, Ronit is almost as author of the story than Shlomi.
The first part takes us back to “Prendre femme”, the film about Viviane, a Moroccan Jewish haircutdresser who struggles against patriarchal screed. It was a critical success in France but received surprisingly little in Israel. Shlomi’s archives reveal that the Elkabetz were inspired to make this film by their mother Myriam. We quickly learn that Shlomi has compiled a lot of information about Shlomi. Diktat spoke from the kitchen, where zucchini are simmering.
READ ALSO> The face of Israeli cinema, Ronit Elkabetz’s death
The second chapter is about the emotional ordeal that Viviane endured after being diagnosed with cancer. It was set on the set “Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem”, a sequel to “Prendre femme”. Viviane attempts to get a divorce order from a rabbinical tribunal without her husband’s permission. The actress-director is exhausted, afflicted by a persistent cough, and in tears. She fights relentlessly to finish each shot – pushing by her team, who insists that she save the film.
READ ALSO> The Trial of Viviane amsalem, Israeli Divorce
Shlomi, whether she questions her or isn’t, watches her wear scarves and chat with her children via Skype. She also gets to taste her delicious stories, a return to a nightclub with Eli, her curious father. Everything becomes more beautiful and larger with Ronit Elkabetz who fled her homeland to escape the poverty. Even a simple taxi ride is a scene from a movie. These memories from beyond, with their constant modesty and science of editing, are the foundation of the first Shlomi-signed feature film. It is a love song to Shlomi’s black flame, his divine diva. She is an untamed warrior, extraordinary actress, and born tragic. Sophie Grassin
South Korean policeman, Park Chan-wook with Tang Wei and Park Haeil. Go Kyung-pyo (2h18).
The “Old Boy’ director gets better over time. After the romantic “Mademoiselle”, the camera’s virtuoso shows his age and his sentimental side. You can’t miss a self-portrait between the fifty-something South Korean detective and the young Chinese widow who is the main suspect in the murder investigation. The story’s past and present, true as well as false, intertwine and the story shifts perspective halfway through. The whole point of the platonic “Basic Instinct”, where sharing lip balm is the pinnacle sexual tension, is to make a love story fantasy into an entertaining puzzle for those who are looking for pure cinematic challenges. “Decision To Leave” was one of them and won the Cannes Film Festival director’s award. Nicholas Schaller
French comedy by Jerome Commandeur with Jerome Commandeur and Laetitia Gosch, Pascale Abillot (1h25).
The Minister of Labor decided once more to reduce the size of the mammoth. One civil servant who found enough in his career to satisfy his lazy and helped nature decides to fight for his job. We feared for the worst. It was near the border of populist Poujadism. This film, which is a remake from an Italian production is not the worst. It is animated by a strong but never awkward comic line. Jerome Commandeur is a good-natured actor who can share the screen with his little friends. He’s a perfect match for their humor and eloquence. So, Valerie Lemercier and Gerard Darmon as well as Pascale Arbillot, Laetitia Gosch, are delightful supporting characters of assumed pastiche. Xavier Leherpeur
Belgian thriller by Giordano Gederlini with Antonio de la Torre and Marine Vacth. Olivier Gourmet (1h35).
What is Leo, a Spanish Metro driver, doing in Brussels then? In a suicide gesture, her son threw himself in front his oar. Who is the hooded man who threatened him? Why is the police keeping their feet on the ground? Giordano Gederlini is a director who was born in Chile and raised in Paris. It is smart and extremely effective. While the story is violent, it gains an amazing dimension. We also learn little by little about the reasons behind this affair with multiple funds. The chief op Christophe Nuyens is seen in bitterness as Gederlini, the screenwriter of “Killers”, a Francois Troukens film, signs a dark film. As we like. Francois Forestier
READ ALSO: Why is Belgian Cinema so Black?
British drama by Kieron Walsh with Louis Talpe and Matteo Simoni. Tara Lee (1h35).
Dom (impressive Louis Talpe), after a long career as a “domestic”, cyclist (one who must promote and protect the victory of his team leader) is supposed to retire. A defection gives him the chance to finish his race and maybe even win a yellow jersey. The story of the Phoenix is not as interesting as the behind-the scenes description of an opaque sport. The English filmmaker captures hypervirility and the cultof the dry body. He also evokes doping and rivalries between athletes as well as the hierarchical pyramid which structures the discipline. It also shows the sacrifices made by this little queen. X.L.
French documentary by Anne Cisse (1h20)
This film, which was produced by Brut (media partner for the Festival), was launched in Cannes to great fanfare. It is shown in theaters for 2 days, July 1, and 2. The ex-rapper views it with an open (and sometimes touching) honesty about her conversion to Islam. She talks about her mental health, her struggles to find faith, her suicide attempt, and her feelings of depression. There are images of her naked body taken by Paris Match and an outcry that reveals Islamophobic attitudes. The music side is hard to hear the lyrical asides where she bashes her reflections on synthetic choirs. The most striking thing is that “Salam”, which means “peace” in Arabic, is not shown onscreen. Twitter was where the Islamophobic ayatollahs like Caroline Fourest quickly stole his feathers, without ever seeing him. In the film’s interstices, the word “Salafism”, which is not used in the movie, is never said. This is due to a clever use of lights and framing.
French dramatic comedy by Didier Barcelo with Marina Fois and Benjamin Voisin. Jean-Charles Clichet (1h29).
Louise, a paralysed nurse, cannot (and does not want) to get out her yellow Volvo station wagon. Paul, a tiny car thief kidnaps her. They travel together on the road… We can’t help but wonder if their mutual hostility will lead to a love affair. Although the idea is great, Didier Barcelo stretched it for his first film. He alternated comic situations (how could Louise pee?). Stormy conflicts. Some other bizarre characters include grafted, hot hitchhiker and little old mule heads, as well as a picturesque shrink. It’s funny, sometimes telephoned, and often whimsical. Marina Fois, Benjamin Voisin and F.F. F.F.
Varante Soudjian’s French comedy with Alban Ivanov and Lucien Jean-Baptiste. Audrey Pirault (1h45).
L’Hay-les-Roses is home to five troubled teenagers. Their educator, Lucien Jean-Baptiste, takes them on a short sailboat trip. Ex-BAC Alban Ivanov, a skipper with strong views about suburban scum, compromises the expedition. It is rare that a comedy features young people from the city. And even though it charges the sectarian ex–cop as much as its well-meaning pedagogue. How can you not regret a story so stuffed with thread white and his drudgery. N.S.
Kurdish drama comedy, Hiner Saleem with Galyar Neway, Dilin Peter, and Alend Nazim (1h37).
The films of Hiner Saleem (“My Sweet Pepper Land”) have all the elements that make them strong: the struggle for Kurdish identity and the sense of absurd, comedy, and tragedy of human condition. The story of Avdal is a peshmerga who has been injured and finds that he cannot perform on his wedding day. He borrows his old tricks (rival families, happy ending), and plays down the background (the fall Saddam, the presence the Islamic State organization). It’s still fascinating. While we hesitate between political metaphor and boulevard comedy, we admire the bravery of the director who shot in Iraqi Kurdistan. This was a country in war and the film was finished during a pandemic. F.F.
READ ALSO > Hiner Salesem: “My father owned a gun. “I have a camera.”
British sketch fantasy film by Alberto Cavalcanti and Charles Crichton. Also starring Robert Hamer, Robert Hamer, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer, and Mervyn Johns. (1945, 1h42).
Six sketches were created by the best British directors at the time around the theme of the recurring horror (in black and white). We are in the midst of the greatest phantasmagoria. There is “the Christmas Party”, in which sobs can be heard in an empty space (inspired by a true news article from 1865), “the Haunted mirror”, in which a mirror reflects another universe, and “the Golf Party,” in which two men take the possession of a female on the green. The film will be the birth of a new generation of English cinema as well as certain episodes of “The Twilight Zone”. The exhibitors stated that some sketches were cut from the American release because the film was too long. In “The Ventriloquist’s Dummy”, Elisabeth Welch, actress plays a courageous and strong-willed black woman. This is not an easy role (roles that are traditionally reserved for actors of colour). It was the first time it had been done in 1945. F.F.
Sentimental thriller by Wong Kar–wai with Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung (1988; 1h42).
Wong Kar-wai presented his first film at the Critics Week of the Cannes Film Festival 1989. It has never been seen in theaters. It is faithful to the Hong Kong thrillers of the time and depicts the underworld. Wah (Andy Lau), Fly (Jacky Cheng), and their relationship are modeled after those of Harvey Keitel in “Mean Streets”, directed by Martin Scorsese. The flashy aesthetic and neon lights borrowed from Tony Scott’s cinema; the soundtrack was inspired by Hollywood hits of that era – hello, “Slave to Love” to get the “Nine and a Half Weeks.” Because “As Tears Go By” is more than just a rudimentary, repetitive plot set against the backdrop of gang warfare, which John Woo does not glorify – it also includes the entire story of a tragic love between a small striker and her cousin Maggie Cheung, whose unexpected visit turns her life upside-down. This series film has an extra soul, already infused with the touch of the director of In the Mood for Love’s romanticism, slow motion, and moments of suspenseful wandering. The filmmaker’s second film, “Our wild years”, is also shown. N.S.
