Cinema, streaming, VOD, TV… Find advice from the editorial staff every Friday.
The film in theaters: I’m still here
We had not heard from Walter Salles for 13 years already and his adaptation of On the road by Kerouac. And the director of Central Brazil don’t miss his big return to the big screen. Inspired by real events, he returns here to the dark years of Brazil, those of the military dictatorship which reigned over the country from 1964 to 1985, through the kidnapping of a left-wing deputy by armed men and the vain fight of his wife and children to try to know the truth about his disappearance in the face of the Kafkaesque horror of the system then in place. A great film coupled with an equally fascinating family portrait, avoiding all the pitfalls of the late Dossiers de l’screen thesis film and rewarded – rightly – at the Venice Film Festival for its screenplay and at the Golden Globes by the female actress award for Fernanda Torres.
The File Maldoror, Babygirl, Wolf Man: new releases at the cinema this week
The series: Severance saison 2
Three years of waiting between two seasons is far too long, but we obviously won’t hold that against Severance : the best Apple TV+ series returns with a new batch of ten episodes that takes the level up another notch. Let’s recall the concept. In this semi-dystopian world, it is possible to have a chip implanted in the brain which prevents you from accessing the memory of your time spent at work, and vice versa. We were a little afraid that the crazy twist of season 1 would be the Everest of the series, but this season 2 avoids all the traps placed in its path by expanding the mythology while constantly keeping in sight the humanity of its characters. Throw yourself at it, it’s caviar.
On Apple TV+, one episode per week.
The movie and streaming: Decision to Leave
-Park Chan-Wook did not steal his directing prize at Cannes, in 2022, for this police drama where two people struggle to communicate. He is Korean and an investigator, she is Chinese and the main suspect in his current case. When he spies on her, he projects himself at her side, but when she is truly in front of him, they cannot fully understand each other, and therefore love each other, always kept at a distance despite themselves. Tang Wei, the actress of Lust, Caution by Ang Lee, is as fascinating as the filmmaker’s ideas for editing or transitions, all executed to perfection. Like the time of this famous scene from “impossible mirror”where the two protagonists are finally brought together on the same level, but artificially.
The film can be (re)watched in replay on Arte.TV
The film on TV: We, the Leroys on Canal +
Just a year ago, Florent Bernard (The Flame, the Floodcast) charmed First at the Alpe d’Huez comedy festival thanks to this first film dealing with family life with a lot of heart and originality, led by a cast in great form. Between two (good) jokes, Charlotte Gainsbourg is particularly touching as the mother of teenagers who realizes that she is no longer in love with her husband, whom she still agrees to follow on a final road trip before leaving. decide to leave him – or not? – for good. José Garcia is also perfect as a father “too much”more dark and melancholy than usual.
The classic: A women’s affair (France 5)
On this day of the fiftieth anniversary of the Veil law authorizing abortion, France 5 has the rich idea of programming this film by Claude Chabrol, adapted from the book written by lawyer Francis Szpiner, released in 1988 and which won a prize at the Venice Film Festival and nominations for the César and Golden Globes for its main performer, Isabelle Huppert. She masterfully embodies Marie-Louise Giraud, a “angel maker”whose abortions which she performed illegally caused her to be guillotined in 1943. A powerful testimony to the daily life of Vichy France and one of the best films, all in striking sobriety, of the career of its director.
A women’s affair: the true story that inspired Claude Chabrol’s film
