♦ Sarah Bernhardt, la divine ***
by Guillaume Nicloux
French film, 1h38
Guillaume Nicloux chose to tell the story of Sarah Bernhardt over two eras: 1915, aged 70 and bedridden in hospital after the amputation of her leg, and 1896, twenty years earlier, where the actress was then at the height of her fame. is celebrated by her friends and admirers. The filmmaker largely purifies the broad outlines of his biography to retain only the vague portrait of an incredibly free, determined, daring, loving woman, who knew how to impose her power at a time when an actress was often reduced to her status as a “demmondaine”.
One of the great strengths of the film is to dust off the myth to offer us a living and vibrant Sarah Bernhardt, whose extreme modernity resonates with us. Sandrine Kiberlain, whose talent, despondency and fantasy draw us into the excess and unreason of her character, plays Sarah Bernhardt with the emphasis and theatricality befitting the character.
» READ THE INTERVIEW: Sandrine Kiberlain: “To play Sarah Bernhardt, I summoned all my fifties”
» READ THE REVIEW: “Sarah Bernhardt, the divine”, in the skin of a sacred monster
♦ Oh, Canada ***
de Paul Schrader
American film, 1h35
Paul Schrader adapts the penultimate novel by the American writer Russell Banks, who imagined an interview in the form of a confession given at the end of his life by a committed filmmaker, Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), to one of his former students and disciples. Exhausted by illness and treatments, he has only one requirement during recording: that his wife Emma (Uma Thurman) be present at all times. Leo intends to lay himself bare in front of the camera and confide the sum of the little cowardices and lies of which he is guilty.
The film then navigates between the present, with all the raw reality of his physical decline, and the 1960s in an America in full cultural turmoil. All perfectly mastered by Paul Schrader, 78 years old, who finds in Leonard Fife, as in his creator Russell Banks, a generational alter ego confronted with the moral and ethical choices of an entire country.
» READ THE REVIEW: “Oh, Canada”, Paul Schrader’s twilight fable
♦ The Beautiful Role ***
de Victor Rodenbach
French film, 1h24
For Nora and Henri, in their early thirties, the merger has been going on for years. Already at university, she directed and performed in an exhilarating complementarity. Pieces followed pieces, with success and recognition as a result. When his agent advises him to audition for an upcoming film, it is for Henri to take a step towards the void, without Nora. When he landed this golden role, she saw this step aside as a betrayal.
Companion of the director Pauline Bayle, Victor Rodenbach signs a very successful first feature film, partly informed by their experiences, which explores the backstage of theater and cinema and the twists and turns of life together. His romantic comedy, which joyfully defies the codes of the genre, turns out to be serious and sparkling, fair and hilarious.
» READ THE REVIEW: “The Beautiful Role”, loving each other and working together
♦ Everybody Loves Touda ***
by Nabil Ayouch
Moroccan film, 1h42
Everybody Loves Touda paints the portrait of a Cheikhate, one of these traditional Moroccan singers, whose song is a cry of resistance against the powerful and the established order. Touda is one of them, who tries to maintain this tradition, despite the little consideration these women receive today. Raising her son alone, singing in seedy bars to earn a living, she dreams of going to Casablanca.
All the energy of the film rests on its main performer, Nisrin Erradi, and on a grueling opening rape scene. The filmmaker pulls no punches in describing in a crude manner the fate of these women, most often compared to prostitutes and subject to the will of men.
» READ THE PORTRAIT: Zohra El-Fassia, the first one
» READ THE REVIEW: “Everybody Loves Touda”, a song like a cry of rage
♦ Mufasa *
by Barry Jenkins
American animated film, 1h59
Disney tells the story of the youth of Mufasa, Simba’s father, who died in tragic circumstances in The Lion Kingbetrayed by his enemy brother, Scar. Before being the proud sovereign of the savannah, Mufasa was also a lion cub living happy days. But a torrential rain carries the young feline away from his family. Adopted by a new tribe of lions, Mufasa forms a strong fraternal friendship with Taka, son of the chief. It’s the beginning of an epic, towards a promised land where animals live together in peace…
Despite its spectacular settings and disturbingly realistic images, the film unfolds a program with noble intentions but in an all-too-predictable manner. Few surprises await the viewer who beats boredom by counting the number of hairs on the mustaches of Mufasa and his friends…
» READ THE REVIEW: “Mufasa”, Cain and Abel in the savannah
No ! * Why not ** Good film *** Very good film **** Masterpiece
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