Jacques Audiard’s Godfatheresque prison drama “Un Prophete” (A Prophet) won big Saturday night at France’s version of the Oscars, taking home nine of its record tying thirteen nominations for the coveted César Awards. Here’s the list of winners for Un Prophete: Best Actor in a Leading Role: Tahar Rahim Most Promising Actor: Tahar Rahim Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Niels Arestrup Best Director: Jacques Audiard Best Cinematography: Stephane Fontaine Best Editing: Juliette Welfling Best Film: A Prophet- Jacques Audiard Best Production Design: Michel Barthelemy Best Writing, Original Screenplay: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit Two of Hollywood’s most beloved actors/filmmakers took home awards as well: Honorary César: Harrison Ford Best Foreign Film: Gran Torino-Clint Eastwood
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Chances are you’ve seen at least one of his movies. As a director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is the man behind Delicatessen (1991), The City of Lost Children (1995), Alien Resurrection (1997),  Amélie (2001), A Very Long Engagement (2004), and the soon to be released in the U.S. Micmacs à tire-larigot (2009). Of those films, Alien Resurrection was the only one he didn’t have a screenwriter’s credit on as well. Most of Jeunet’s films have a distinct look to them, due in part to his frequent collaboration with cartoonist and filmmaker Marc Caro. Sometimes having a signature look can work against a director, but in Jeunet’s case it’s a definite plus. As a viewer you know that you will soon be transported into a fairy tale of sorts, albeit a sometimes dark one. STV recently interviewed the filmmaker during the United Kingdom premiere of Micmacs. Perhaps it’s a measure of the...
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An unintended but not unexpected consequence of running this website is that it makes me want to go back to France now. Traveling via cinema, at least for me, is a second-best option, and some days I prefer to remember a favorite trip rather than experience a new film. Today is one of those days. Here’s an excerpt from my travel journal, written during my first trip to Paris: I woke up early, still suffering from the Lufthansa Flu. Even at 5am there is life on the Boulevard du Montparnasse, although the pharmacies and patisseries are still closed. I walked for a few hours, watching the street sweepers remove a million cigarette butts from the sidewalk as the recycling trucks slowly prowled the boulevard to make room for another night of wine enhanced joie de vivre. I got back to the hotel at 7am and rested up while Jan...
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We’ve all heard the stories. A friend returns from Paris smitten with the city but completely turned off by the inhabitants. “They were so rude! Everywhere I went they were mean to me, and I’ll never go back! Paris was beautiful, though.” Sound familiar? Ever think that it’s possible that it is sometimes us and not them? Read on. Whenever someone relates a similar story to me, this is the first question I ask them: “When you walked into a shop, or a restaurant, did you greet the people inside with a friendly ‘bonjour’ or ‘bonsoir’?” Invariably the answer is a bewildered “no”. I then explain to them that in France, shops and restaurants are treated as private spaces, rather than public, and it is considered rude to walk into an establishment without greeting the people inside (this information, by the way, is mentioned in every guidebook on France)....
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Un Prophete has received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and will be released in the U.S. by distributor Sony Pictures Classics on Friday, February 26th. Click here to watch the trailer. Also released by Sony Pictures Classics (limited release on May 28th, 2010) is Micmacs. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the man that gave us Amelie and A Very Long Engagement, wrote and directed this film. Jeunet is one of he most inventive filmmakers working today; based on this trailer he hasn’t lost his touch. Here’s the synopsis: Centers on a character named Bazil (Dany Boon) who is the son of a bomb disposal expert who died in in the middle of the Moroccan desert as a result of a an explosive device. Years later Bazil is in a club and receives a stray bullet in the head. He survives but must live with the bullet wedged in his...
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The dollar is taking a beating against the euro, airline seats are shrinking, and you’re just too dang busy anyway. What’s a Francophile to do? Break out the wine, warm up the DVD player and conduct your own mini filmed in France festival with these five American movies shot on location in France, with the City of Light an integral part of each film. Ronin Robert De Niro and Jean Reno star as a couple of spies turned mercenaries in this well-written action flick. The movie begins and ends in Paris, but much of the film is set in the French Riviera. Directed by master filmmaker John Frankenheimer, Ronin contains one of the most thrilling chase scenes in the history of cinema, and there is a nice camaraderie between De Niro and Reno. French Kiss Meg Ryan goes to Paris to win back her errant fiancé and meets con...
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