French Films at the 2013 Virginia Film Festival

This year's lineup for the Virginia Film Festival includes many notable French-language films.  Like last year's, the 2013 program includes this year's Palme d'Or winner La vie d'Adèle (Blue is the Warmest Color) along with various other films that premiered at Cannes.

If you would like to meet up to chat about these films, 2 meetups are proposed by the AFC on November 9 and 10. Click here to see our calendar and RSVP.

AFC co-vice president Ariane Hailey-Hiribarne offers her round up of French movies at the Film Festival this year:

Stranger at the Lake

Thursday 10:00 p.m., Regal 4 Downtown Mall

2013. France. 100 min. Director: Alain Guiraudie.Cast: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d'Assumçao.

At a cruising spot in a picturesque lakeside in rural France surrounded by rugged woodland, twenty-something Franck becomes fixated on the muscular, mustachioed Michel. One evening, he catches Michel drowning his lover in the middle of the lake. But rather than contact authorities, Franck becomes further infatuated with him and the two ignite a passionate affair. Blinded by passion, Franck remains silent during the police investigation after the body is found. Guiraudie’s stylish thriller a uniquely moody and absorbing experience.

Supported by U.Va. LGBTQ Center 

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Le Joli Mai

Friday 4:00 p.m., The Paramount Theater

1963. France. 145 min. Directors: Pierre Lhomme,

Chris Marker. Cast: Chris Marker, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret

Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme’s Le Joli Mai (The Lovely Month of May) is a portrait of Paris and Parisians during May 1962, the first springtime of peace after France’s ceasefire with Algeria and the first time since 1939 that France was not involved in any war. The film has several thousand actors including a poet, a student, a housewife, a stockbroker, a competitive dancer, two lovers, General de Gaulle and several cats. Part documentation, part investigation, the film studies the faces of the people of Paris as they struggle to make sense of their moment in history.  

Blue is the Warmest Color

Saturday 2:00 p.m., Regal 4 Downtown Mall

2013. France. 179 min. Director:

Abdellatif Kechiche. Featuring:Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche.

Based on the French graphic novel Blue Angel by Julie Maroh, Blue is the Warmest Color covers six years in the life of Adèle (Exarchopoulos) who is a quiet 15-year-old girl living northern France. Her life is turned upside down when she encounters Emma (Seydoux), a mysterious, blue-haired art student at a nearby college. What follows is a passionate, poignantly handled, and heartbreaking love story. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the film has received near-universal acclaim and features breakout performances from Léa Seydoux and newcomer Adèle Exarchopoulos.

Presented by Regal Entertainment Group  

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The Past

Saturday 6:00 p.m., Regal 4 Downtown Mall

2013. France/Iran. 130 min. Director: Asghar Farhadi Featuring: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa.

From Iranian writer-director Ashgar Farhadi, comes a follow-up to the Academy Award-winning A Separation. After four years, Ahmad has returned to Paris to finalize the dissolution of his marriage with his estranged ex-wife Marie (Bejo, The Artist) so she can marry her boyfriend Samir. However, a revelation by her eldest daughter Lucie soon complicates matters. She lashes out in opposition to her mother’s impending marriage because she thinks her mother is responsible for what led to Samir’s wife coma.

 

The Zigzag Kid

Saturday 6:45 p.m., Regal 3 Downtown Mall

2012. The Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Spain, France. 95 min. Director: Vincent Bal. with Isabella Rossellini

A witty and action-packed adventure about Nono, a boy whose world of confusions, fears, and fantasies is unleashed on the eve of his bar mitzvah. Brought up by his single father, a famous police inspector, Nono dreams of being a great detective like his dad. On the train to visit boring Uncle Shmuel, Nono learns his father has created a detective challenge just for him. Playing along, Nono follows twinkly-eyed criminal Felix Glick, only to discover the escapade was not part of his father’s plan at all.

Supported by Congregation Beth Israel   

The Missing Picture     Sunday 11:30 a.m., Regal 2 Downtown Mall     2013. Cambodia, France. 90 min. Director: Rithy Panh. Featuring: Randal Douc. Cambodian-French director Rithy Panh has spent his adulthood searching for images of his past. The only member of his family to survive the Khmer Rouge regime, Panh is unable to locate even one photo of his childhood spent in the midst of the Cambodian genocide. With this “missing picture” in mind, Panh artfully uses hand-crafted clay figures to stage these actions and memories. Monochrome propaganda photos eerily juxtapose with these colorful, miniature clay people to convey a chilling preoccupation with a past that has been forever lost. Winner of Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.  

Bicycling With Moliere

Sunday 1:00 p.m., Regal 1 Downtown Mall

2013. France. 104 min. Director: Philippe Le Guay.Cast: Fabrice Luchini, Lambert Wilson, Maya Sansa.

Retired actor Serge Tanneur has withdrawn from show business to live like a hermit in a run-down house on the Ile de Re off France’s Atlantic coast. Years later, Gauthier Valance, a well-loved TV actor, shows up to offer Serge a role in Moliere’s classic, The Misanthrope, as Serge perfectly embodies the play’s main character, Alceste. Though Serge is reluctant, rehearsals begin. The two actors size each other up and challenge one another’s approach, torn between the pleasure of acting together and their clashing natures.

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To learn more about the Virginia Film Festival and the 2013 program and to buy tickets to screenings, visit the VFF website.