Prodigieuses, Le Choix, Diamant Brut… Films to watch this week

Prodigious – To have

Biopic, Drama by Frédéric and Valentin Potier – 1 h 41

They are twins and pushed by their father to become the best pianists in the world. Claire and Jeanne Vallois practice piano as a combat sport. In Karlsruhe, gifted little pianists who have become young women join a prestigious music university. A teacher, Klaus Lenhardt, acts as a musical tyrant. The intractable teacher auditions Claire and reprimands Jeanne. Obsessed with success, the father intensifies the pressure on his daughters to experience triumph by proxy. The spirit of competition soon ignites the twins who move away from each other, driven by divergent aspirations. But destiny will intervene to overthrow this well-ordered chessboard of power and ambition. While Claire goes through grueling training sessions, she feels pain in her wrist. The one who was to be the star soloist of the end-of-year concert must face the facts when faced with a doctor's sentence: she suffers from serious bone demineralization which prematurely wears out her joints. The film turns in a few moments into a virtuoso and resilient melodrama. Inspired by the true story of sisters Audrey and Diane Pleynet, Prodigious hits the mark by celebrating the saving virtues of music as a hymn to creativity and sorority. To see soon. O. D.

Also read
Our review of Prodigieuses, a virtuoso and resilient melodrama

The Choice – To have

Drama by Gilles Bourdos – 1 h 16

One phone call, and his life changed. In a second, this site manager abandons his post. He takes off his helmet and takes the wheel towards Paris. However, this is not the time. The next morning, at 5:25 a.m., the largest concrete pour of the decade will take place, tons and tons. Around a hundred trucks are expected. He didn't expect that. The phone doesn't stop ringing. His sons wanted to watch the football game with him. His wife doesn't understand. His assistant panics. We must check the pumps and ensure that the concrete delivered is C6. His superior storms. In Germany, management is panicking. There is a threat of dismissal. The driver is torn between his family, his job, his future. A choice is necessary. His destination is approaching. He is alone, lost. His life was so boring. There will be movement. A case of conscience falls on him. People often hang up on him. He calls back, talks with a police officer, a midwife, a town hall employee. The camera does not come out of the cabin.
This film by Gilles Bourdos achieves the feat of filming Vincent Lindon for an hour and a quarter at the wheel of his car without ever boring us. We would listen to him even if he were silent. There, he is filmed from the front and does not stop talking. This is pure magic. AND. N.

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Our Choice review: Vincent Lindon, driving hero

Rough Diamond – To have

Drama by Agathe Riedinger – 1 h 43

Liane Pougy, a hood from Fréjus who is not afraid, dreams of being a reality TV heroine. This 19-year-old teenager aims to escape her miserable little life by becoming a TV star. Her entire world fits on the glittery screen of her smartphone that she never lets go. Denim shorts with fringes close to the thighs, a tight pink t-shirt, buttocks and breasts done up, lips swollen under her troweled makeup, this teen with a strong character is not to be fooled. She shapes a combat physique according to the criteria of her generation and spends her time hypersexualizing her body. The show that Liane Pougy dreams of joining is called “Miracle Island”. She sent a video. One day the phone rings. Liane is ready for anything. She passes the casting in panties in front of a recruiter who caresses her and pushes her to show off on Instagram to increase the number of her followers. Liane waits to be called back. The wait turns into torture. His dreams of glory inflated with Botox are crumbling.
Agathe Riedinger hits hard. As for young Malou Khebizi, she is endearing. She embodies with realism and conviction this virtual girl 2.0 thirsty for recognition who only aspires to be “ one hour, just one hour, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful and stupid at the same time ». O. D.

Also read
Our review of Diamant brut, the endearing portrait of a young girl 2.0

The Most Valuable of Goods – To have

Animation by Michel Hazanavicius – 1 h 21

A poor lumberjack and a poor woodcutter live without children in the woods, tormented by hunger and cold. Around them, there is “world war”. Trains pass through the snowy forest. Freight trains carrying men, women and children. A father throws a baby through a skylight, wanting to save one of his twins. The woodcutter takes in this “heartless” against the advice of the woodcutter, a gruff bearded man soon softened by the little girl and just without knowing it. A neighbor, a broken-mouthed ex-Russian soldier, gives him milk in exchange for fagots. The other lumberjacks are more suspicious of this child who appeared suddenly, then frankly hostile. Hazanavicius suggests more than he shows the extermination camps head-on, but the signs are not misleading. The yellow star, the smoke from the chimneys of the crematoria, the emaciated bodies.
The More Valuable Goods begins well as a cruel and pretty tale, serious and poetic. But the tale does not stand up to reality. The story changes and the aesthetics at the same time. Hazanavicius makes the train a lugubrious leitmotif. That it is drawn and animated does not change anything in its disastrous transport. AND. S.

Also read
Our review of The Most Precious of Goods: A Tale of Extraordinary Madness