New York, NY, United States (Ahn Entertainment) - The French box office hit Romantics Anonymous will be released in the U.S. after a well-received international premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Fesitval.
Romantics Anonymous, directed by Jean-Pierre Améris and co-written by Améris and Philippe Blasband, is the story of two shy, yet talented chocolate-makers (played by Angélique Delange and Jean-René Van Den Hugde) whose social inhibitions prevent them from sharing their creations.
When the pair start working together, they must overcome their shyness in order to save the business and their relationship.
Romantics Anonymous has already earned million in France and was referred to as "one of this year's Tribeca Film Festival word-of-mouth sensations" by IFC.com.
Romantics Anonymous, directed by Jean-Pierre Améris and co-written by Améris and Philippe Blasband, is the story of two shy, yet talented chocolate-makers (played by Angélique Delange and Jean-René Van Den Hugde) whose social inhibitions prevent them from sharing their creations.
When the pair start working together, they must overcome their shyness in order to save the business and their relationship.
Romantics Anonymous has already earned million in France and was referred to as "one of this year's Tribeca Film Festival word-of-mouth sensations" by IFC.com.
- 5/18/2011
- icelebz.com
Tribeca Film Festival has announced the line up of this years competition categories, including World Narrative Feature, World Documentary Feature, and the brand new Viewpoints which highlights eleven independent features and nine documentaries.
Tribeca Film Festival is one of leading film festivals located in New York City, showcasing many films not screened in any other U.S. film festival along with forty three world premieres and fifty four directorial debuts. Cameron Crowe’s premier of his concert documentary, The Union, will start the festival followed by a performance by Elton John. The rest of the lineup will be announced March 14th, and look out for coverage of the festival in April. Below you can find the complete press release on the lineup.
10th Tribeca Film Festival Announces World Narrative
And Documentary Competition Selections, And New Viewpoints Section
Tribeca Expands Awards Scope
2011 Festival to Present 88 Feature-Length and 61 Short Films April 20 – May...
Tribeca Film Festival is one of leading film festivals located in New York City, showcasing many films not screened in any other U.S. film festival along with forty three world premieres and fifty four directorial debuts. Cameron Crowe’s premier of his concert documentary, The Union, will start the festival followed by a performance by Elton John. The rest of the lineup will be announced March 14th, and look out for coverage of the festival in April. Below you can find the complete press release on the lineup.
10th Tribeca Film Festival Announces World Narrative
And Documentary Competition Selections, And New Viewpoints Section
Tribeca Expands Awards Scope
2011 Festival to Present 88 Feature-Length and 61 Short Films April 20 – May...
- 3/9/2011
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival (April 20-May 1) on Monday announced the first 44 feature films of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival slate, comprising the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections, and one new section: Viewpoints.
In a record year for submissions, the 2011 film slate was chosen from a field of 5,624 entries. Tff 2011 will include feature films from 32 countries, including 43 world premieres, 10 international premieres, 19 North American premieres, seven U.S. Premieres and nine New York premieres.
“It’s our 10th Tribeca Film Festival, and in our relatively brief existence we have evolved dramatically,” said Tff executive director Nancy Schafer in a statement. “The festival has become an integral part of the cultural landscape of New York City as well as a globally recognized platform for storytelling.”
A complete list of the films announced Monday follows, with descriptions provided by the festival.
World Narrative Features
“Angel’s Crest”
Directed by Gaby Dellal
Written by Catherine Trieschmann
(UK,...
In a record year for submissions, the 2011 film slate was chosen from a field of 5,624 entries. Tff 2011 will include feature films from 32 countries, including 43 world premieres, 10 international premieres, 19 North American premieres, seven U.S. Premieres and nine New York premieres.
“It’s our 10th Tribeca Film Festival, and in our relatively brief existence we have evolved dramatically,” said Tff executive director Nancy Schafer in a statement. “The festival has become an integral part of the cultural landscape of New York City as well as a globally recognized platform for storytelling.”
A complete list of the films announced Monday follows, with descriptions provided by the festival.
World Narrative Features
“Angel’s Crest”
Directed by Gaby Dellal
Written by Catherine Trieschmann
(UK,...
- 3/7/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival (April 20-May 1) on Monday announced the first 44 feature films of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival slate, comprising the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections, and one new section: Viewpoints.
In a record year for submissions, the 2011 film slate was chosen from a field of 5,624 entries. Tff 2011 will include feature films from 32 countries, including 43 world premieres, 10 international premieres, 19 North American premieres, seven U.S. Premieres and nine New York premieres.
“It’s our 10th Tribeca Film Festival, and in our relatively brief existence we have evolved dramatically,” said Tff executive director Nancy Schafer in a statement. “The festival has become an integral part of the cultural landscape of New York City as well as a globally recognized platform for storytelling.”
A complete list of the films announced Monday follows, with descriptions provided by the festival.
World Narrative Features
“Angel’s Crest”
Directed by Gaby Dellal
Written by Catherine Trieschmann
(UK,...
In a record year for submissions, the 2011 film slate was chosen from a field of 5,624 entries. Tff 2011 will include feature films from 32 countries, including 43 world premieres, 10 international premieres, 19 North American premieres, seven U.S. Premieres and nine New York premieres.
“It’s our 10th Tribeca Film Festival, and in our relatively brief existence we have evolved dramatically,” said Tff executive director Nancy Schafer in a statement. “The festival has become an integral part of the cultural landscape of New York City as well as a globally recognized platform for storytelling.”
A complete list of the films announced Monday follows, with descriptions provided by the festival.
World Narrative Features
“Angel’s Crest”
Directed by Gaby Dellal
Written by Catherine Trieschmann
(UK,...
- 3/7/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival revealed the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections for the 10th annual Tff, which will be held April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan.
In addition, Tff organizers unveiled the first edition of the new section — Viewpoints.
Forty-four of the 88 feature-length films that will screen during the fest have been announced. Much more information on each title can be found below.
“It’s our tenth Tribeca Film Festival, and in our relatively brief existence we have evolved dramatically,” said Nancy Schafer, Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival. “The Festival has become an integral part of the cultural landscape of New York City as well as a globally recognized platform for storytelling.”
So what will screen at Tribeca this year? In part, the following:
World Narrative Feature Competition
· Angels Crest, directed by Gaby Dellal, written by Catherine Trieschmann. (UK, Canada) – World Premiere.
Hollywoodnews.com: The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival revealed the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections for the 10th annual Tff, which will be held April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan.
In addition, Tff organizers unveiled the first edition of the new section — Viewpoints.
Forty-four of the 88 feature-length films that will screen during the fest have been announced. Much more information on each title can be found below.
“It’s our tenth Tribeca Film Festival, and in our relatively brief existence we have evolved dramatically,” said Nancy Schafer, Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival. “The Festival has become an integral part of the cultural landscape of New York City as well as a globally recognized platform for storytelling.”
So what will screen at Tribeca this year? In part, the following:
World Narrative Feature Competition
· Angels Crest, directed by Gaby Dellal, written by Catherine Trieschmann. (UK, Canada) – World Premiere.
- 3/7/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
And the festival beat marches on… nothing on this list immediately jumps out at me… no titles I recognize. These are just the World Narrative and Documentary competition selections, so, there’ll be more announcements made later. I do see representation from South Africa, Egypt and Rwanda. As I always do, I’ll be taking a closer look at the lineup for any titles worth profiling on this website. The festival runs from April 20th to May 1st. It’s in my backyard, so you know I’ll be covering it!
For now, here’s the full press release:
New York, NY [March 7, 2011] – The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express®, today announced the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections and the first edition of the new section—Viewpoints. Forty-three of the 87 feature-length films were announced. The 10th edition of the Festival will take place from April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan.
For now, here’s the full press release:
New York, NY [March 7, 2011] – The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express®, today announced the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections and the first edition of the new section—Viewpoints. Forty-three of the 87 feature-length films were announced. The 10th edition of the Festival will take place from April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan.
- 3/7/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
The Tribeca Film Festival announced selections for its World Narrative, World Documentary, and Viewpoints competitions at its 10th annual event, running from April 20 to May 1 in New York. Eighty-eight features (such as Angels Crest, with Jeremy Piven) and 61 short films from 32 different countries were selected from more than 5,600 submissions to screen at the festival. “In programming the Festival this year we had to make some incredibly difficult decisions, but we are excited about the quality, ingenuity, risk-taking and diversity of this year’s program,” David Kwok, Director of Programming, said in a statement. “We are particularly proud that we have...
- 3/7/2011
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Getty Robert DeNiro
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, which will run from April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan, has announced the films that will play in this year’s World Narrative and Documentary Competition film categories, which are both competition sections. The also named the films that will will play in its new, out-of-competition section “Viewpoints.”
Now in its tenth year, this year’s festival features movies from 32 different counties and 99 different filmmakers, who were selected from a pool of 5,624 entries.
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, which will run from April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan, has announced the films that will play in this year’s World Narrative and Documentary Competition film categories, which are both competition sections. The also named the films that will will play in its new, out-of-competition section “Viewpoints.”
Now in its tenth year, this year’s festival features movies from 32 different counties and 99 different filmmakers, who were selected from a pool of 5,624 entries.
- 3/7/2011
- by WSJ Staff
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
BERLIN -- Marianne Faithfull is unforgettable as a middle-class, middle-aged frump who takes a job at a sex club in order to raise enough money for her grandson's life-saving operation in Sam Garbarski's crowd-pleasing comedy-drama "Irina Palm".
Cheers and applause erupted following the Berlinale press screening Tuesday, and that reaction should accompany this competition film on the way to awards and audiences everywhere.
Mixing pathos and comedy expertly, with many funny lines, the screenplay by Martin Herron and Philippe Blasband, based on an original script by Blasband, shows a knowing hand in scenes involving stuffy Little England villagers and the cynical operators of the sex business in London's Soho.
The situation is established quickly. Maggie's small grandson Olly (Corey Burke) will die unless he gets to Australia for an operation that's only available in Melbourne. The treatment is free, but it will take £6,000 for Maggie's son Tom Kevin Bishop) and his wife Sarah (Siobhan Hewlett) to get him there.
The boy's parents are broke and Maggie, a widow, already has sold her home to pay for Olly's treatment. Turned down by her bank and employment agencies, Maggie spots a job offer for a hostess in a Soho doorway.
Full of trepidation, she enters a world she has never experienced and of which she has not the slightest knowledge. In a very funny scene, the world-weary Eastern European club owner, Miki (Miki Manojlovic), patiently explains that "hostess" is a euphemism for "whore." He examines her smooth hands and says she could make a lot of money by masturbating men that she wouldn't see as they placed their organs through a hole in the wall.
Outraged, Maggie flees. But seeing once again how distraught her family is, she returns and takes the job. Another sex worker, Luisa (Dorka Gryllus), patiently instructs her in the techniques of the job. "The first time is embarrassing, but after that you'll wank for England," Luisa says.
Miki gives Maggie her own booth and the professional name Irina Palm, and soon men are lining up for her exceptional ministrations. She even decorates her little booth with pictures and knickknacks from home. With the promise of making a lot of money, Maggie decides to keep doing it though she is desperate to make sure no one in her family or her village finds out what she's doing.
That, of course, is where the tension lies as both her son and the prissy members of her bridge foursome become ever more curious about her daily activities in the city. The inevitable revelation and the various reactions to it are hilarious, sad and warming. The only discordant note in the picture is in Tom's behavior when learning of his mother's sacrifice, but it does serve to heighten the response of Sarah and the other women.
The film's guitar score by Ghinzu does much to amplify Maggie's path from obeying conventional mores to casting away worries about what people will think. Garbarski does not shrink from the harsh realities of the sex industry, but he also takes time to develop an unlikely romance between Maggie and Miki.
Manojlovic deserves high praise for his handling of the club owner's reluctant corruption, but it is Faithfull's compassionate and knowing performance that will leave audiences smiling.
IRINA PALM
Entre Chien et Loup, Pyramide International
Credits:
Director: Sam Garbarski
Screenwriters: Martin Herron, Philippe Blasband
Based on an original script by: Philippe Blasband
Producer: Sebastien Delloye
Cinematographer: Christophe Beaucarne
Editor: Ludo Troch
Music: Ghinzu
Production designer: Veronique Sacrez
Costume designer: Anushia Nieradzik
Cast:
Maggie: Marianne Faithfull
Miki: Miki Manojlovic
Tom: Kevin Bishop
Sarah: Siobhan Hewlett
Luisa: Dorka Gryllus
Jane: Jenny Agutter
Olly: Corey Burke
Julia: Meg Wynn-Owen
Beth: Susan Hitch
Edith: Flip Webster
Shopkeeper: Tony O'Brien
Art: Jules Werner
Old Women: Ann Queensberry, June Bailer
Dave: Jonathan Coyne
Franck: Tim Plester
Dunia: Malina Ebert
Running time -- 103 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Cheers and applause erupted following the Berlinale press screening Tuesday, and that reaction should accompany this competition film on the way to awards and audiences everywhere.
Mixing pathos and comedy expertly, with many funny lines, the screenplay by Martin Herron and Philippe Blasband, based on an original script by Blasband, shows a knowing hand in scenes involving stuffy Little England villagers and the cynical operators of the sex business in London's Soho.
The situation is established quickly. Maggie's small grandson Olly (Corey Burke) will die unless he gets to Australia for an operation that's only available in Melbourne. The treatment is free, but it will take £6,000 for Maggie's son Tom Kevin Bishop) and his wife Sarah (Siobhan Hewlett) to get him there.
The boy's parents are broke and Maggie, a widow, already has sold her home to pay for Olly's treatment. Turned down by her bank and employment agencies, Maggie spots a job offer for a hostess in a Soho doorway.
Full of trepidation, she enters a world she has never experienced and of which she has not the slightest knowledge. In a very funny scene, the world-weary Eastern European club owner, Miki (Miki Manojlovic), patiently explains that "hostess" is a euphemism for "whore." He examines her smooth hands and says she could make a lot of money by masturbating men that she wouldn't see as they placed their organs through a hole in the wall.
Outraged, Maggie flees. But seeing once again how distraught her family is, she returns and takes the job. Another sex worker, Luisa (Dorka Gryllus), patiently instructs her in the techniques of the job. "The first time is embarrassing, but after that you'll wank for England," Luisa says.
Miki gives Maggie her own booth and the professional name Irina Palm, and soon men are lining up for her exceptional ministrations. She even decorates her little booth with pictures and knickknacks from home. With the promise of making a lot of money, Maggie decides to keep doing it though she is desperate to make sure no one in her family or her village finds out what she's doing.
That, of course, is where the tension lies as both her son and the prissy members of her bridge foursome become ever more curious about her daily activities in the city. The inevitable revelation and the various reactions to it are hilarious, sad and warming. The only discordant note in the picture is in Tom's behavior when learning of his mother's sacrifice, but it does serve to heighten the response of Sarah and the other women.
The film's guitar score by Ghinzu does much to amplify Maggie's path from obeying conventional mores to casting away worries about what people will think. Garbarski does not shrink from the harsh realities of the sex industry, but he also takes time to develop an unlikely romance between Maggie and Miki.
Manojlovic deserves high praise for his handling of the club owner's reluctant corruption, but it is Faithfull's compassionate and knowing performance that will leave audiences smiling.
IRINA PALM
Entre Chien et Loup, Pyramide International
Credits:
Director: Sam Garbarski
Screenwriters: Martin Herron, Philippe Blasband
Based on an original script by: Philippe Blasband
Producer: Sebastien Delloye
Cinematographer: Christophe Beaucarne
Editor: Ludo Troch
Music: Ghinzu
Production designer: Veronique Sacrez
Costume designer: Anushia Nieradzik
Cast:
Maggie: Marianne Faithfull
Miki: Miki Manojlovic
Tom: Kevin Bishop
Sarah: Siobhan Hewlett
Luisa: Dorka Gryllus
Jane: Jenny Agutter
Olly: Corey Burke
Julia: Meg Wynn-Owen
Beth: Susan Hitch
Edith: Flip Webster
Shopkeeper: Tony O'Brien
Art: Jules Werner
Old Women: Ann Queensberry, June Bailer
Dave: Jonathan Coyne
Franck: Tim Plester
Dunia: Malina Ebert
Running time -- 103 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/14/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Thomas in Love" is a low-budget, scruffy Belgian equivalent of "Rear Window", where the hero, who is never seen, spends all of his days -- and, seemingly, most of his nights -- connecting with people via a 24-hour video telephone. The point of view is always our hero's "visiophone" screen, and the movie's characters are all isolated from one another, engaged in two-way conversations over this communication device of the not-too-distant future.
As with any experimental film playing around with time, space and point of view, "Thomas" necessarily has a limited art house audience. But for adventure seekers, the film has a comic kick.
Pierre-Paul Renders, a documentary and video director from Belgium making his first feature, benefits from a witty script by Philippe Blasband. The two filmmakers create a substantial network of characters and develop a workable plot despite (because of?) a visual gimmick that forces much of the action to take place off-camera. At 97 minutes, they manage to get about all they possibly can out of this unusual narrative ploy. But let's hope no one demands a sequel; it's a one-shot deal.
At 33, Thomas (voiced by Benoit Verhaert) is an acute agoraphobe with a pathological fear of open spaces and human contact. But he was certainly born in the right time and place.
The wired world of cyber cocooning, virtual reality, Internet shopping and dating and "visiophones" seems almost de-signed for his pathology.
The movie cuts among several key characters: the animated "virtual girlfriend" Clara; a nagging mother (Micheline Hardy); his aloof shrink (Frederic Topart); the abrupt insurance agent (Alexandre von Sivers) who seems to run his life; and various receptionists, repair guys and delivery boys seen on his apartment's closed-circuit television as they deliver goods in the corridor between his inner and outer doors. Then two women enter his life.
Things have reached a crisis for Thomas. Everyone believes the time has come for him to get over his agoraphobia.
To push this social development, the insurance agent signs him up for a government-sponsored prostitution service, while his shrink submits his name and number to an Internet dating service.
Against his better judgment, Thomas gets hooked on a woman from each service. From the dating service, Melodie (Magali Pinglaut), a young free spirit, sees his affliction more as a challenge than a handicap. But his insistence that their sexual encounter be a virtual one dampens her enthusiasm.
Eva (Aylin Yay), a prostitute he first glimpses onscreen in tears, intrigues him. Withdrawn and secretive, she is more closeted (emotionally) than even he is.
The movie doesn't try to explain some things in its future world. Why an insurance rep directs his life and why people wear Indian henna painting on their faces and bodies are un-solved puzzles.
The implied critique by the film of our present society is, of course, that the Internet, cable television and everything else in our plugged-in world isolate people socially and stunt people's emotional growth. We are all being turned into agoraphobes.
This is clever science fiction but not very deep or demanding. You get the point right away, and all that remains to figure out is how a guy in isolation is going to experience a love life.
A handful of sets and a few actors are exactly what the movie demands. Like "The Blair Witch Project", the modestly budgeted film turns its liabilities into an artistic statement.
THOMAS IN LOVE
IFC Films
Entre Chien & Loup/JBA
in association with R. TBF
Producer: Diana Elbaum
Director: Pierre-Paul Renders
Screenwriter: Philippe Blasband
Director of photography: Virginie Saint Martin
Production designer: Pierre Gerbaux
Music: Igor Sterpin
Costume designer: Anne Fournier
Editor: Wein Ryckaert
Color/stereo
Cast:
Thomas: Benoit Verhaert
Eva: Aylin Yay
Melodie: Magali Pinglaut
Nathalie: Micheline Hardy
Insurance agent: Alexandre von Sivers
Psychologist: Frederic Topart
Running time -- 97 minutes
No MPAA rating...
As with any experimental film playing around with time, space and point of view, "Thomas" necessarily has a limited art house audience. But for adventure seekers, the film has a comic kick.
Pierre-Paul Renders, a documentary and video director from Belgium making his first feature, benefits from a witty script by Philippe Blasband. The two filmmakers create a substantial network of characters and develop a workable plot despite (because of?) a visual gimmick that forces much of the action to take place off-camera. At 97 minutes, they manage to get about all they possibly can out of this unusual narrative ploy. But let's hope no one demands a sequel; it's a one-shot deal.
At 33, Thomas (voiced by Benoit Verhaert) is an acute agoraphobe with a pathological fear of open spaces and human contact. But he was certainly born in the right time and place.
The wired world of cyber cocooning, virtual reality, Internet shopping and dating and "visiophones" seems almost de-signed for his pathology.
The movie cuts among several key characters: the animated "virtual girlfriend" Clara; a nagging mother (Micheline Hardy); his aloof shrink (Frederic Topart); the abrupt insurance agent (Alexandre von Sivers) who seems to run his life; and various receptionists, repair guys and delivery boys seen on his apartment's closed-circuit television as they deliver goods in the corridor between his inner and outer doors. Then two women enter his life.
Things have reached a crisis for Thomas. Everyone believes the time has come for him to get over his agoraphobia.
To push this social development, the insurance agent signs him up for a government-sponsored prostitution service, while his shrink submits his name and number to an Internet dating service.
Against his better judgment, Thomas gets hooked on a woman from each service. From the dating service, Melodie (Magali Pinglaut), a young free spirit, sees his affliction more as a challenge than a handicap. But his insistence that their sexual encounter be a virtual one dampens her enthusiasm.
Eva (Aylin Yay), a prostitute he first glimpses onscreen in tears, intrigues him. Withdrawn and secretive, she is more closeted (emotionally) than even he is.
The movie doesn't try to explain some things in its future world. Why an insurance rep directs his life and why people wear Indian henna painting on their faces and bodies are un-solved puzzles.
The implied critique by the film of our present society is, of course, that the Internet, cable television and everything else in our plugged-in world isolate people socially and stunt people's emotional growth. We are all being turned into agoraphobes.
This is clever science fiction but not very deep or demanding. You get the point right away, and all that remains to figure out is how a guy in isolation is going to experience a love life.
A handful of sets and a few actors are exactly what the movie demands. Like "The Blair Witch Project", the modestly budgeted film turns its liabilities into an artistic statement.
THOMAS IN LOVE
IFC Films
Entre Chien & Loup/JBA
in association with R. TBF
Producer: Diana Elbaum
Director: Pierre-Paul Renders
Screenwriter: Philippe Blasband
Director of photography: Virginie Saint Martin
Production designer: Pierre Gerbaux
Music: Igor Sterpin
Costume designer: Anne Fournier
Editor: Wein Ryckaert
Color/stereo
Cast:
Thomas: Benoit Verhaert
Eva: Aylin Yay
Melodie: Magali Pinglaut
Nathalie: Micheline Hardy
Insurance agent: Alexandre von Sivers
Psychologist: Frederic Topart
Running time -- 97 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Thomas in Love" is a low-budget, scruffy Belgian equivalent of "Rear Window", where the hero, who is never seen, spends all of his days -- and, seemingly, most of his nights -- connecting with people via a 24-hour video telephone. The point of view is always our hero's "visiophone" screen, and the movie's characters are all isolated from one another, engaged in two-way conversations over this communication device of the not-too-distant future.
As with any experimental film playing around with time, space and point of view, "Thomas" necessarily has a limited art house audience. But for adventure seekers, the film has a comic kick.
Pierre-Paul Renders, a documentary and video director from Belgium making his first feature, benefits from a witty script by Philippe Blasband. The two filmmakers create a substantial network of characters and develop a workable plot despite (because of?) a visual gimmick that forces much of the action to take place off-camera. At 97 minutes, they manage to get about all they possibly can out of this unusual narrative ploy. But let's hope no one demands a sequel; it's a one-shot deal.
At 33, Thomas (voiced by Benoit Verhaert) is an acute agoraphobe with a pathological fear of open spaces and human contact. But he was certainly born in the right time and place.
The wired world of cyber cocooning, virtual reality, Internet shopping and dating and "visiophones" seems almost de-signed for his pathology.
The movie cuts among several key characters: the animated "virtual girlfriend" Clara; a nagging mother (Micheline Hardy); his aloof shrink (Frederic Topart); the abrupt insurance agent (Alexandre von Sivers) who seems to run his life; and various receptionists, repair guys and delivery boys seen on his apartment's closed-circuit television as they deliver goods in the corridor between his inner and outer doors. Then two women enter his life.
Things have reached a crisis for Thomas. Everyone believes the time has come for him to get over his agoraphobia.
To push this social development, the insurance agent signs him up for a government-sponsored prostitution service, while his shrink submits his name and number to an Internet dating service.
Against his better judgment, Thomas gets hooked on a woman from each service. From the dating service, Melodie (Magali Pinglaut), a young free spirit, sees his affliction more as a challenge than a handicap. But his insistence that their sexual encounter be a virtual one dampens her enthusiasm.
Eva (Aylin Yay), a prostitute he first glimpses onscreen in tears, intrigues him. Withdrawn and secretive, she is more closeted (emotionally) than even he is.
The movie doesn't try to explain some things in its future world. Why an insurance rep directs his life and why people wear Indian henna painting on their faces and bodies are un-solved puzzles.
The implied critique by the film of our present society is, of course, that the Internet, cable television and everything else in our plugged-in world isolate people socially and stunt people's emotional growth. We are all being turned into agoraphobes.
This is clever science fiction but not very deep or demanding. You get the point right away, and all that remains to figure out is how a guy in isolation is going to experience a love life.
A handful of sets and a few actors are exactly what the movie demands. Like "The Blair Witch Project", the modestly budgeted film turns its liabilities into an artistic statement.
THOMAS IN LOVE
IFC Films
Entre Chien & Loup/JBA
in association with R. TBF
Producer: Diana Elbaum
Director: Pierre-Paul Renders
Screenwriter: Philippe Blasband
Director of photography: Virginie Saint Martin
Production designer: Pierre Gerbaux
Music: Igor Sterpin
Costume designer: Anne Fournier
Editor: Wein Ryckaert
Color/stereo
Cast:
Thomas: Benoit Verhaert
Eva: Aylin Yay
Melodie: Magali Pinglaut
Nathalie: Micheline Hardy
Insurance agent: Alexandre von Sivers
Psychologist: Frederic Topart
Running time -- 97 minutes
No MPAA rating...
As with any experimental film playing around with time, space and point of view, "Thomas" necessarily has a limited art house audience. But for adventure seekers, the film has a comic kick.
Pierre-Paul Renders, a documentary and video director from Belgium making his first feature, benefits from a witty script by Philippe Blasband. The two filmmakers create a substantial network of characters and develop a workable plot despite (because of?) a visual gimmick that forces much of the action to take place off-camera. At 97 minutes, they manage to get about all they possibly can out of this unusual narrative ploy. But let's hope no one demands a sequel; it's a one-shot deal.
At 33, Thomas (voiced by Benoit Verhaert) is an acute agoraphobe with a pathological fear of open spaces and human contact. But he was certainly born in the right time and place.
The wired world of cyber cocooning, virtual reality, Internet shopping and dating and "visiophones" seems almost de-signed for his pathology.
The movie cuts among several key characters: the animated "virtual girlfriend" Clara; a nagging mother (Micheline Hardy); his aloof shrink (Frederic Topart); the abrupt insurance agent (Alexandre von Sivers) who seems to run his life; and various receptionists, repair guys and delivery boys seen on his apartment's closed-circuit television as they deliver goods in the corridor between his inner and outer doors. Then two women enter his life.
Things have reached a crisis for Thomas. Everyone believes the time has come for him to get over his agoraphobia.
To push this social development, the insurance agent signs him up for a government-sponsored prostitution service, while his shrink submits his name and number to an Internet dating service.
Against his better judgment, Thomas gets hooked on a woman from each service. From the dating service, Melodie (Magali Pinglaut), a young free spirit, sees his affliction more as a challenge than a handicap. But his insistence that their sexual encounter be a virtual one dampens her enthusiasm.
Eva (Aylin Yay), a prostitute he first glimpses onscreen in tears, intrigues him. Withdrawn and secretive, she is more closeted (emotionally) than even he is.
The movie doesn't try to explain some things in its future world. Why an insurance rep directs his life and why people wear Indian henna painting on their faces and bodies are un-solved puzzles.
The implied critique by the film of our present society is, of course, that the Internet, cable television and everything else in our plugged-in world isolate people socially and stunt people's emotional growth. We are all being turned into agoraphobes.
This is clever science fiction but not very deep or demanding. You get the point right away, and all that remains to figure out is how a guy in isolation is going to experience a love life.
A handful of sets and a few actors are exactly what the movie demands. Like "The Blair Witch Project", the modestly budgeted film turns its liabilities into an artistic statement.
THOMAS IN LOVE
IFC Films
Entre Chien & Loup/JBA
in association with R. TBF
Producer: Diana Elbaum
Director: Pierre-Paul Renders
Screenwriter: Philippe Blasband
Director of photography: Virginie Saint Martin
Production designer: Pierre Gerbaux
Music: Igor Sterpin
Costume designer: Anne Fournier
Editor: Wein Ryckaert
Color/stereo
Cast:
Thomas: Benoit Verhaert
Eva: Aylin Yay
Melodie: Magali Pinglaut
Nathalie: Micheline Hardy
Insurance agent: Alexandre von Sivers
Psychologist: Frederic Topart
Running time -- 97 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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