The 33rd Alliance Française French Film Festival kicks off on the 1st March, running through until 6th April. 42 films will be shown, including several Australian premieres, and many world premieres. This years program features four directors who are making their feature film debut. In a time when our enjoyment of the arts has been…
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If Love, Actually had a child with Around the World in Eighty Days, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir would be that child. It throws its trickster and street magician protagonist Aja (Dhanush) into a chain of unexpected adventures. He meets a diverse group of people from a celebrity to mobster-like big guys to a swindling cab…
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Models are cool people. Beautiful glamazons. You don’t think of them as freaks unless you’re Jean Paul Gaultier. The French designer dedicated an entire show to just this. Freak & Chic is a feature documentary that shows us this crazy world, as well as the hard work and creativity that went into shaping this wild…
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It is not uncommon to see reviewers describe a film as “Like a love letter” to something. In the case of French documentary, Wine Calling this is also true, but given the subject matter a toast seems more appropriate. This film is a deep dive into the worlds inhabited by a group of passionate and…
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There are two pleasures in life that without them, we living things would never exist: gastronomy and sexuality. And there are many talented people out there that try their best to portray their interest for it on many artistic endeavours, especially in cinema. Such talented auteurs out there are Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, The Third…
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Four Days in France really is about four days outside of Paris. Since Pierre (Pascal Cervo) has floored it out of the city into a freeway odyssey, with no change of clothes and no clear destination, he is relying on other gay men for somewhere to sleep and just pass the time. He finds young,…
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Laurent Cantet’s The Workshop is the product of creative introspection, a film that reflects on the subtexts of creating a contentious political thriller, while forwarding a narrative that takes its own advice. It’s a tense and insightful film from the Palme d’Or winner that snowballs radical tensions, while offering audiences a window to Cantet’s writing…
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Auguste Rodin was a renowned French sculptor who produced works like “The Thinker” and “The Kiss”. Some people even declare this artist a genius. But the same cannot be said about his eponymous bio-pic. This French film manages to make this famous man’s life seem so hollow and pedestrian that there is more life emanating…
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Rock’ n Roll is a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The same can also be said about the film’s star, writer and director, Guillaume Canet. The result is an uneven French comedy and a satire that examines the worst of Hollywood and show business ego, and while it deserves points for originality, the…
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A dark, moving yet warming adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s classic novel Une vie is eloquently created in to a period arthouse picture by director Stéphane Brizé (The Measure of a Man), as a young woman comes to grasp the turmoil that unfolds around her in 19th-century France. The aesthetic of the film is created perfectly by…
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Breathtaking and magical, Monsieur Chocolat (directed by Roschdy Zem) is one to watch if you want to experience a Parisian night. Immerse yourself in the world of 19th-century French circus and follow the biopic story of Chocolat (Omar Sy). He journeys from a performer acting as the “cannibal” to a more respected position as a…
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Best known for his contribution to Japanese horror, director Kiyoshi Kurosawa brings an interesting take on a ghost story. Daguerrotype (Le Secret de la Chambre Noire) follows a Parisian named Jean (Tahar Rahim) who is hired to be an assistant to the elusive photographer Stéphane (Olivier Gourmet). With Jean’s help, they create heart-stopping daguerreotypes, an old form of permanent…
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As the 28th annual Alliance Francaise French Film Festival makes its way across the major Australian states through March and April, the toast of French cinema will be at the ready for audiences seeking a sense of European style. One film sure to hold interest throughout the festival is Planetarium, a lush pre-war drama starring…
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The 2017 Alliance Française French Film Festival is enjoying its 28th anniversary this year, and to celebrate we have TEN double, single session passes (valid nationally) on offer. Featuring a fabulous line-up of 45 films, the Festival showcases the very best of contemporary French Cinema and will screen at Palace Cinemas around Australian from March…
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Coming back for its 28th season, Alliance Française French Film Festival will be returning to Palace Cinemas in 2017 throughout the Autumn months of March and April. The festival will offer a broad range of films and documentaries among the French Film industry as a way to celebrate the talent for those on-and-off camera. Alliance Française French…
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Sex, Love & Therapy (Tu veux… ou tu veux pas?) contains about as much insight and laughs regarding love as a garden hose and a bread basket. This French rom-com is a superficial tale about a sex-obsessed man and woman who have to work together. It’s a complicated romantic situation but the script is simple…
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Late in the film, iconic fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is rumoured to have died. A few opportunistic journalists decide to get a headstart on the obituary. They discuss their angle: take it easy on the drugs, alcohol. They agree he was a visionary, that he transformed fashion. They say they ‘liked’ him. Maybe they mean ‘admired’, since…
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Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) and Laura’s (Isild Le Besco) friendship is not that unique. Having met when they were young, they had grown up together, and forged a relationship that would see them through school, first love, first heartbreak, marriage and children. Their friendship is like any between two women who grew up together as little girls. When Laura dies…
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