what films to see at the cinema this January 8?

Lion of gold at the last Venice Film Festival, Pedro Almodovar signs his first film in English, The room next door, with two great actresses, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. Isabelle Carré, François Damiens and Claire Duburcq are united in the romantic drama by Agnès de Sacy, The Daughter of a Great Love, while Roschdy Zem and Bella Kim are starring in Winter in Sokcho, intimate drama set in South Korea. Finally, from Sokcho, we go to China with Wild Firesa film by Jia Zhangke, the greatest active Chinese director, who stars with Zhao Tao, his wife and favorite performer.

The Room Next Door ✭✭✭✭✭

Almodovar at the top of his game

Inspired by a key passage from Sigrid Nunez’s beautiful novel So what is your torment? (Stock, 2023), Pedro Almodóvar imagined the story of Martha (terrific Tilda Swinton), a photojournalist who suffers from incurable cancer, and Ingrid (Julianne Moore), her childhood friend who has been somewhat lost sight of. The first asks the second to accompany her in the last moments of a planned death. One advances towards death in full awareness, the other is petrified at the idea of ​​being around her, and each, over the time spent together awaiting the fateful day, is transformed profoundly.

This is the first feature film in English (after The Voice human et Strange Way of Lifetwo medium-length films) from the most Spanish of filmmakers, the opportunity for him to direct two exceptional actresses. Pedro Almodovar continues the reflection on the meaning of life begun in Pain and glory (2019), a very personal film haunted by illness and mourning (that of his mother). Here, he reaches the depth of Ingmar Bergman and, like the Swedish master, shows himself to be a great director of actresses: Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore are both moving.

The film could be gloomy, it is quite the opposite: luminous, profound, inhabited by the only question that really matters, that of what makes life worth its price. The jury of the last Venice Film Festival rewarded this unforgettable meditation at the height of its beauty by awarding it the Golden Lion.

The Daughter of a Great Love ✭✭✭✭

A poignant story

Apprentice director, Cécile must shoot a short documentary as part of her film studies. She chooses to film her parents to tell their love story. By questioning them, each separately, about the memories of their first meeting, thirty years earlier, she discovers to what extent memory is subjective.

Now divorced, Ana and Yves live a thousand kilometers from each other: she, in a house at the foot of the Pyrenees; him, in his small Parisian apartment. The screening of their daughter’s film gives them the opportunity to meet again. Can the passion that linked them in the 1970s rise from its ashes? Aren’t old resentments likely to poison their relationship again?

Beyond the scent of romance that permeates her first film as a director, Agnès de Sacy addresses here with great tact the theme of family secrets: this poison which infuses slowly and can intoxicate several generations within the same clan. . The quality of writing of her screenplay – a talent that Agnès de Sacy had until then put to the service of other filmmakers, Valeria Bruni-Tesdeschi and Pascal Bonitzer in particular – undoubtedly owes a lot to the autobiographical material of the script. A poignant story served by careful cinematography (by Denis Lenoir) and an impeccable cast: Isabelle Carré, François Damiens and Claire Duburcq in the first three roles.

Wild Fires ✭✭✭✭

An epic journey

Those familiar with the cinema of Jia Zhangke, the greatest active Chinese director, know well Zhao Tao, his wife and favorite performer, seen in his greatest films, such as The World (2004) or A Touch of Sin (2013). Here, she plays the enigmatic Qiaoqiao who earns her living by singing in nightclubs or posing for photos. We are at the beginning of the 2000s and China is on the cusp of immense transformations of which the film offers a broad and fascinating story.

Like so many of his compatriots, Qiaoqiao’s boyfriend, Bin (Li Zhubin), decides to leave their quiet little life in Datong to seek fortune in a big city. Without news of him, Qiaoqiao sets off on a long journey across the country towards the south, in the hope of finding him.

This is the opportunity for Jia Zhangke to record, with his inimitable style so close to documentary and yet very staged, the reality of his country in all its complexities. The epilogue, between pandemic and robots, propels us into a frightening present. A thrilling epic.

Winter in Sokcho ✭✭✭

Beautiful and sad at the same time

Japanese filmmaker Koya Amura remains faithful to Elisa Shua’s novel, all atmosphere, sensations, unsaid and restraint. He produced an intimate, modest film, which boils down to the story of a missed meeting between a French designer and a young South Korean woman who works in the pension where he will stay for a few days in the heart of winter. from Sokcho. He only thinks about the drawings, while she is attracted by this mysterious, unlikable man, for whom she redoubles her attention and who undoubtedly reminds her of this French father who abandoned his mother.

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Kangaroo of the day

Answer

However, between them, the current does not flow so much as an invisible barrier separates them. She would like him to taste her cooking and more, if she likes it, but he doesn’t even seem to think about it. He even becomes odious, which doesn’t make the character played by Roschy Zem easy compared to Elisa played by the sweet Bella Kim. Drama about loneliness, incomprehension and frustration, Winter in Sokcho is a beautiful, sad film cradled by a very slow pace. And which gradually plunges us into a kind of numbness, of resignation in tune with the intrigue and the silence of the snowy landscapes.

The stars of the Point: ✩✩✩✩✩: null; ✭: bad; ✭✭: medium; ✭✭✭: good; ✭✭✭✭: excellent; ✭✭✭✭✭: exceptional.