For crisp tension or thematic clarity, nothing in “The Balconettes” quite outdoes the nearly self-contained, minutes-long short that opens actor-director Noémie Merlant’s frenzied, heatstruck genre mashup. On a 115-degree summer afternoon in a wilting, AC-challenged Marseilles apartment block, a put-upon middle-aged wife passes out on her balcony. Roused with a splash of water by her boorish husband, who demands she get back to her chores, the poor woman breaks: Getting to her feet, she whacks him unconscious with a steel dustpan, smothers him with a towel, and sits on him for good measure until all life seeps out of his body. With not a scrap of backstory required, this immensely satisfying vignette earns the film an early round of cheers.
That’s the last we see of this character’s plight, save for a brief shot later of her being led away from the building by police. (Cue some...
That’s the last we see of this character’s plight, save for a brief shot later of her being led away from the building by police. (Cue some...
- 5/21/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Pathé and Chapter 2 have announced the start of shoot in Morocco today for Martin Bourboulon’s Afghanistan evacuation drama In The Hell Of Kabul: 13 Days, 13 Nights and unveiled new cast additions.
Rising French actress Lyna Khoudri (French Dispatch) and Danish Bafta-winning Borgen star Sidse Babett Knudsen have joined the cast, which is led by Roschdy Zem, and also features respected theatre actor Christophe Montenez of The Comédie Française.
Set against the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan of U.S. troops in August, 2021 as the Taliban march on Kabul, the film recounts the true story of French Commander Mohamed Bida, who oversaw security at the French embassy, the last Western mission to remain open.
Trapped, Commander Bida decides to negotiate with the Taliban to organise a last-chance convoy with the help of Eva, a young French-Afghan translator. There is a race against time to lead the evacuees to...
Rising French actress Lyna Khoudri (French Dispatch) and Danish Bafta-winning Borgen star Sidse Babett Knudsen have joined the cast, which is led by Roschdy Zem, and also features respected theatre actor Christophe Montenez of The Comédie Française.
Set against the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan of U.S. troops in August, 2021 as the Taliban march on Kabul, the film recounts the true story of French Commander Mohamed Bida, who oversaw security at the French embassy, the last Western mission to remain open.
Trapped, Commander Bida decides to negotiate with the Taliban to organise a last-chance convoy with the help of Eva, a young French-Afghan translator. There is a race against time to lead the evacuees to...
- 5/20/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Noemie Merlant, best known beyond France for her performances in Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Todd Field’s Tár, made her debut as a writer-director-actor a few years back with Mi Iubita, mon amour, which starts with a bachelorette party. Merlant offers up another female-solidarity story in the shape of The Balconettes (Les femmes au balcon), a comedy with a very dark streak or a giggly drama depending on how you look at it.
Given at one point that a writer character in the film rejects the supposed rules of storytelling, which require clear acts and so forth, Merlant obviously knows she’s taking risks with a free-form, genre-bending structure, and that’s cool. It’s just a shame that the end product is so loosey-goosey it’s less a bold sui generis experiment than a hot mess.
Then again, most of the female characters...
Given at one point that a writer character in the film rejects the supposed rules of storytelling, which require clear acts and so forth, Merlant obviously knows she’s taking risks with a free-form, genre-bending structure, and that’s cool. It’s just a shame that the end product is so loosey-goosey it’s less a bold sui generis experiment than a hot mess.
Then again, most of the female characters...
- 5/19/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It’s one of those perfect Cannes mornings. The sun is shining, there’s a slight breeze off the sea and the streets are not yet stuffed with pedestrians hustling towards screenings or official festival business. Lucas Bravo matches the city’s calm energy when he emerges from a back room of an airy second-floor apartment just a stone’s throw from the Croisette. He takes a seat on the sofa opposite The Hollywood Reporter for what will be his first conversation about his Cannes Film Festival selection, The Balconettes.
Writer, filmmaker and actress Noémi Merlant, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed Balconettes, which centers on a Marseille neighborhood during a summer heat wave. Three roommates gleefully meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their balcony until a late-night drink turns into a bloody affair. Bravo — who broke out as dashing love interest Gabriel on Netflix...
Writer, filmmaker and actress Noémi Merlant, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed Balconettes, which centers on a Marseille neighborhood during a summer heat wave. Three roommates gleefully meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their balcony until a late-night drink turns into a bloody affair. Bravo — who broke out as dashing love interest Gabriel on Netflix...
- 5/18/2024
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
France tv distribution has boarded “Christmas Carole” (“Noël au balcon”), a comedy starring Didier Bourdon (“Alibi.com 2”) and Noemie Lvovsky (“Camille Rewinds”). The company has launched sales on the project at the Cannes market.
“Christmas Carole” is directed by Jeanne Gottesdiener, and produced by Belga Studios (“Waiting for Banjangles,” “Benedetta”) and Polaris Film Production, in co-production with M6 Films.
Set around Christmas, the movie revolves around a small-town mayoress, Carole, who is helping the inhabitants of her municipality with the festivities while her devoted husband Alain organizes the Christmas Eve celebrations at home. The kids are arriving, soon all hopes of a peaceful Christmas melt away as the family traditions are called into question.
The cast also includes Jules Sagot (“Hashtag Boomer”), Christophe Montenez (“For my country”), Alice Daubelcour (“Love (and Trouble) in Paris”) and Janaïna Halloy-Fokan (“Inexorable”).
“Christmas Carole” is produced by Christophe Mazodier at Polaris Film Production, Patrick Vandenbosch...
“Christmas Carole” is directed by Jeanne Gottesdiener, and produced by Belga Studios (“Waiting for Banjangles,” “Benedetta”) and Polaris Film Production, in co-production with M6 Films.
Set around Christmas, the movie revolves around a small-town mayoress, Carole, who is helping the inhabitants of her municipality with the festivities while her devoted husband Alain organizes the Christmas Eve celebrations at home. The kids are arriving, soon all hopes of a peaceful Christmas melt away as the family traditions are called into question.
The cast also includes Jules Sagot (“Hashtag Boomer”), Christophe Montenez (“For my country”), Alice Daubelcour (“Love (and Trouble) in Paris”) and Janaïna Halloy-Fokan (“Inexorable”).
“Christmas Carole” is produced by Christophe Mazodier at Polaris Film Production, Patrick Vandenbosch...
- 5/22/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Anaïs, the charmingly frustrating heroine of Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s directorial debut “Anaïs in Love,” is always on the run. Hair flying, sundress whipping in the wind, sandals slapping on the Paris pavement, Anaïs would be the first to admit she’s chronically late. But her constant running is more than just a consequence of her tardiness — it’s a reflection of her restless mental state.
She’s always running towards someone, but the real question is: what, or who, is she running away from? And what might happen if she stops to stay for a while?
Anaïs’ running calls to mind other cinematic heroines we’ve seen in motion, most recently Renate Reinsve’s Julie in “The Worst Person in the World,” and Greta Gerwig’s Frances in “Frances Ha.” This trio are young women with big dreams, little ambition and complicated love lives that often stymie their creative output.
She’s always running towards someone, but the real question is: what, or who, is she running away from? And what might happen if she stops to stay for a while?
Anaïs’ running calls to mind other cinematic heroines we’ve seen in motion, most recently Renate Reinsve’s Julie in “The Worst Person in the World,” and Greta Gerwig’s Frances in “Frances Ha.” This trio are young women with big dreams, little ambition and complicated love lives that often stymie their creative output.
- 4/28/2022
- by Katie Walsh
- The Wrap
What comes to mind when you picture the likely protagonist of a film titled “Anaïs in Love?” If it’s not a flighty, free-spirited young Frenchwoman, cycling around Paris with flowers in her bike basket, completing a Masters literature thesis (long past deadline) on “17th-century descriptions of passion,” and wearing bright floral sundresses in all weathers, you’ve tried too hard to avoid the obvious — not something you could easily accuse Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s blithe, gossamer-light debut feature of doing in imagining said heroine. Is it too on the nose if she’s played by reliably winsome starlet Anaïs Demoustier? Don’t answer that: she is.
At first rosy blush, then, “Anaïs in Love” appears to gently parody an idealized screen vision of Gallic femininity (a manic pixie dream fille of sorts) that has endured in various incarnations from the French New Wave to “Amelie” and beyond. To what end is harder to determine,...
At first rosy blush, then, “Anaïs in Love” appears to gently parody an idealized screen vision of Gallic femininity (a manic pixie dream fille of sorts) that has endured in various incarnations from the French New Wave to “Amelie” and beyond. To what end is harder to determine,...
- 4/27/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
"A film that feels like a holiday." Well that sounds lovely! Magnolia Pictures has unveiled a new US trailer for a French indie romance titled Anaïs in Love, originally known as Les amours d'Anaïs. It premiered in the Critics' Week sidebar at last year's Cannes Film Festival, and played at a few other French festivals throughout last year. The film follows Anaïs, a 30-year old woman that is broke and has a lover she doesn't think she loves anymore. Then she meets Daniel, who immediately falls for her. But Daniel lives with Emilie - whom Anaïs also falls for. Sounds like trouble? Or maybe just love? It stars a woman actually named Anaïs - actress Anaïs Demoustier, along with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Denis Podalydès, Jean-Charles Clichet, Xavier Guelf, and Christophe Montenez. This looks fresh and fun, another French film about the complexities of romance and desire. The final line in...
- 3/8/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
One of the most delightful films I’ve seen thus far in this early year is Anaïs in Love, Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s Cannes selection which was picked up by Magnolia Pictures for a release this spring. Ahead of the debut next month, the first trailer has now arrived.
The French comedy examines modern romance and erratic youthful passions with a Rohmerian touch as we follow a spirited young woman (a great Anaïs Demoustier) who falls in love with the novelist wife of the man with whom she’s having an affair. If you’re in the NYC area, the film plays this Friday at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, otherwise one can check it out starting April 29 in theaters and May 6 on VOD.
Also starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Denis Podalydès, Jean-Charles Clichet, Xavier Guelf, and Christophe Montenez, see the trailer and poster below.
Anaïs in Love opens on April 29 in theaters and on May 6 on demand.
The French comedy examines modern romance and erratic youthful passions with a Rohmerian touch as we follow a spirited young woman (a great Anaïs Demoustier) who falls in love with the novelist wife of the man with whom she’s having an affair. If you’re in the NYC area, the film plays this Friday at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, otherwise one can check it out starting April 29 in theaters and May 6 on VOD.
Also starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Denis Podalydès, Jean-Charles Clichet, Xavier Guelf, and Christophe Montenez, see the trailer and poster below.
Anaïs in Love opens on April 29 in theaters and on May 6 on demand.
- 3/8/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Magnolia Pictures has nabbed U.S. rights to “Anais in Love,” a French-language comedy that marks the feature directing debut of Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet. The film is a Cannes Critics’ Week selection and centers on a spirited young woman who falls in love with the novelist wife of the man with whom she’s having an affair. Anaïs Demoustier, who previously appeared in “Les Grandes Personnes” and “Marguerite & Julien,” leads the cast.
“Anaïs Demoustier is spectacularly incandescent in this incredibly entertaining film about the vagaries of love as only the French can do,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles.
The film has earned strong reviews since screening at the festival.
“As light and airy as a summer breeze, ’Anais In Love’ captures a portrait of a young woman impulsively navigating the unpredictable twists of life and love,” wrote Screen’s Allan Hunter. “Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s elegant debut feature is pitched between the...
“Anaïs Demoustier is spectacularly incandescent in this incredibly entertaining film about the vagaries of love as only the French can do,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles.
The film has earned strong reviews since screening at the festival.
“As light and airy as a summer breeze, ’Anais In Love’ captures a portrait of a young woman impulsively navigating the unpredictable twists of life and love,” wrote Screen’s Allan Hunter. “Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s elegant debut feature is pitched between the...
- 7/16/2021
- by Brent Lang and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Dominique Blanc, Gaël Kamilindi, Clément Hervieu-Léger, Michel Vuillermoz, Jennifer Decker, Florence Viala, and Christophe Montenez in Tony Kushner’s Angels In America, directed by Arnaud Desplechin at the Comédie-Française Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage
In the final instalment of my in-depth conversation with Arnaud Desplechin on Oh Mercy!, which received six César nominations, we discussed how a Bob Dylan album and a joke by Kent Jones inspired the title. The director and co-screenwriter (with Léa Mysius) spoke about the influence of Emmanuel Lévinas, the performance by Lumière winner Roschdy Zem as Commissaire Daoud, the costumes by Nathalie Raoul, and the dynamic between Sara Forestier as Marie and Léa Seydoux as Claude.
Lieutenant Cotterel (Antoine Reinartz) confronts Marie (Sara Forestier) and Claude (Léa Seydoux)
Anne-Katrin Titze: Now we’ve chatted more about the animals than about your marvellous actresses. I would like to talk about the frown. The permanent frown on Sara’s face.
In the final instalment of my in-depth conversation with Arnaud Desplechin on Oh Mercy!, which received six César nominations, we discussed how a Bob Dylan album and a joke by Kent Jones inspired the title. The director and co-screenwriter (with Léa Mysius) spoke about the influence of Emmanuel Lévinas, the performance by Lumière winner Roschdy Zem as Commissaire Daoud, the costumes by Nathalie Raoul, and the dynamic between Sara Forestier as Marie and Léa Seydoux as Claude.
Lieutenant Cotterel (Antoine Reinartz) confronts Marie (Sara Forestier) and Claude (Léa Seydoux)
Anne-Katrin Titze: Now we’ve chatted more about the animals than about your marvellous actresses. I would like to talk about the frown. The permanent frown on Sara’s face.
- 2/4/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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