#George Lechaptois

[genevieveetguy]

Dear Prudence (Belle Épine), Rebecca Zlotowski (2010)

[fivesensesstimuli]

[scenesandscreens]

Polina (2016) Polina, danser sa vie (original title) Directed by Valérie Müller & Angelin Preljocaj, Cinematography by Georges Lechaptois "I'm sick of mindlessly executing other peoples choreography. I need to learn to look at the world."

[loveautomatics]

‘An Easy Girl’ Review: There’s More Than Skin and Sun to This Sexy French Netflix Offering

An intellectually stimulating art-house treasure all too easily overlooked amid the near-constant flood of Netflix content, “An Easy Girl” depicts a transformative summer in the life of a 16-year-old girl, but not the one described in the film’s title. That label — which writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski employs ironically, calling into question the patriarchal idea that a woman’s worth is tied up in how “hard to get” she plays it — refers to the protagonist’s 22-year-old cousin, no girl at all, but a comely temptress who breezes into the coastal French city of Cannes like a seductive tropical storm, turning heads and jostling perceptions wherever she goes.

Shifting gears from her widely panned “Planetarium” (also on Netflix, largely ignored despite Natalie Portman’s involvement), Zlotowski delivers a relatively modest but far more thought-provoking project — a Rohmerian moral tale, à “La Collectionneuse,” with a shrewd feminist twist. It’s at once a striking auteur statement (launched during Director’s Fortnight at Cannes last year) and a tawdry tease for those subscribers looking for some virtual excitement to get them through their long nights of isolation.

Yes, this sun-kissed portrait boasts ample skin and explicit sex, but unlike such tacky streaming hits as “365 Days” and “Milf,” which proved that people will endure subtitles when the reward is steamy enough, this is quite an intelligent and insightful film. With any luck, unsuspecting audiences might come away with their prejudices slyly challenged, starting with their notions of what constitutes a suitable leading lady.

For the role of Sofia, Zlotowski approached D-list celebrity Zahia Dehar, a former escort who was thrust into the public eye amid a tabloid scandal whereby several members of the French soccer team were caught up in a messy prostitution bust. Dehar, who was underage at the time, managed to turn the infamy to her advantage, using the attention to launch a modeling and lingerie career. Whereas that casting decision might seem like a bad-taste stunt to some — the way John Waters takes delight in tapping nonactors like Traci Lords and Patty Hearst — it turns out to be an inspired notion, here played for pathos rather than camp.

With her exaggerated plastic surgery — which bypasses “bee-stung” and goes straight for a swollen, “attacked by murder hornets” look — and ambivalent attitude about on-screen nudity, the French Algerian personality comes across both alluring and aloof, seemingly indifferent to our scrutiny. That’s precisely the point. Popular culture can be vicious toward women like Sofia, who flaunt their re-sculpted assets in thongs and see-through skirts, while missing what her cousin Naïma (Mina Farid) sees: an empowered, self-confident woman who’s proud of her sex appeal and fully in control of her influence over men.

The idealized memories that comprise “An Easy Girl” are presented from Naïma’s perspective, which explains her still-childish naiveté and the unconditional admiration she feels for Sofia. Whereas the local guys lob insults when Sofia doesn’t give in to their weak pickup tactics, the movie withholds judgment. Naïma can’t help feeling impressed. She views her older cousin as a role model, rethinking her own plans — an aspiring chef, Naïma skips out on an important apprenticeship — to tag along for an enchanted fortnight of yacht rides and expensive dates. One such dinner affords Naïma the chance to eat at the upscale hotel where her mother works as a maid, stirring up conflicted feelings of pride and shame, which Zlotowski evokes with minimal narration.

Compared with the somber, heavy TV series, “Savages,” the director shot just after this film, “An Easy Girl” feels buoyant and carefree, as DP Georges Lechaptois’ bright, flattering cinematography is whisked along by jazz (John Coltrane) and classical (Franz Schubert) pieces on a soundtrack that invites us to participate in the film’s “Pretty Woman” fantasy. But Sofia is no working girl. She’s merely living up to the “Carpe Diem” tattoo on her lower back, rejecting love (“What did your last relationship bring you?”) in favor of sensation and adventure.

She catches the eye of a handsome, wealthy stranger (Nuno Lopez) and invites herself aboard his boat, bringing Naïma and her gay best friend Dodo (“Riley” Lakdhar Dridi) along for the experience. Dodo disapproves, but Naïma doesn’t let that rupture her fascination with Sofia’s behavior. At night, she spies on her cousin, witnessing porny sexual acts that might have been shocking had director Abdellatif Kechiche not gone much further in “Blue Is the Warmest Color” the same year Zlotowksi’s “Grand Central” (the superior Léa Seydoux movie) premiered at Cannes. With its emphasis on the dynamics of flirtation and coupling among voluptuous French Algerian youth, “An Easy Girl” has more in common with Kechiche’s controversial “Mektoub, My Love” movies. But Zlotowski doesn’t objectify her characters nearly to that degree — this despite numerous scenes in which Dehar knowingly bares her body.

The movie presents Sofia as more sophisticated than she lets on. She knows better than to shatter others’ idea of her by opening her mouth. That would break the spell. However, when invited to a private luncheon across the border in Italy with the elegant Calypso (played by actor and princess Clotilde Courau), the geisha-like young lady coyly holds her own against the impertinent host in a scene that suggests what Zlotowski intuited about Dehar: that she could be deeper than people give her credit for. It’s not easy being easy, the movie concludes, before tying things up a bit too conservatively. Ultimately, “An Easy Girl” challenges what society thinks of those who leverage their desirability as Sofia does, leaving intriguing questions about one’s values — and value — in her wake.

[hadarlaskey]

Proxima

When Sally Ride was going to become the first American woman to go to space in 1983, NASA engineers hit a wall with a question that baffled them as much as any equation. How many tampons should they send with her for a one-week mission? They number they landed on was 100.

Alice Winocour’s third feature, Proxima, continues a conversation about the very real legacy of astrophysicists and engineers and their struggle to accommodate female astronauts. Eva Green plays Sarah, an ambitious single mother to Stella (Zelie Boulant-Lemesle).

At the beginning of Wincour’s film, Sarah’s life-long dream of going to space is finally going to happen and she’s chosen to join the Proxima Mission to the International Space Station. It means months of gruelling training at the European Space Agency in Russia before lift-off and then separation from her daughter by the long dark reaches of space. But there’s no hesitation: this is what Sarah has been working towards her whole life so Stella goes to live with her astrophysicist dad (Lars Eidinger).

Proxima draws an easy comparison to James Grey’s Ad Astra – both films about the loss of a parent to the darkness of space – but think less glossy science fiction and more grounded realism for Winocour’s film. Shot by French cinematographer Georges Lechaptois at a real training facility, Sarah’s world at the ESA is all metallic monochromatic blues and greys. There’s an emphasis on the tactile day-to-day life of a training astronaut, with close-up shots of helmet buckles, clips and switches.

While Sarah gets to grips with the mechanics of getting to space, she also has to deal with her teammates: the supportive Russian, Anton Ochievski (Aleksey Fateev) and the chauvinistic American, Mike Shannon (Matt Dillon), who is less enthusiastic she’s joined them. At their first meeting, Mike jokes to the room that Sarah will make a fine addition to the team because he’s heard that French women are great cooks.

At training, he advises Sarah take on less preparation before suggesting she’s a space tourist, dead weight on his mission. While she’s batting away sexist macro and microaggressions in her male-dominated workplace, Sarah’s relationship with Stella is threatening to spin out of control as parental promises keep being broken. Green is at a career-best as the stoic Sarah, simultaneously determined and on the edge of breaking. So often hamming it up in Tim Burton roles, you forget just how exceptionally subtle she can be.

It would sell Proxima short to suggest the film is simply a dilemma of career versus motherhood. Rather the film is about two things from two perspectives. For Sarah it’s about saying goodbye and for Stella it’s about losing her mother. It’s a melancholic film that takes its time to get to its farewell, less showy than bigger budget parent-in-space flicks like First Man and Gravity, but no less moving. And unlike these films, Winocour makes the decision to never bring us to space. We’re left on the ground with Stella as her mother flies into the unknown and the loss is devastating.

The post Proxima appeared first on Little White Lies.

source https://lwlies.com/reviews/proxima/

[thecinephale]

Best Movies of 2017

I’m so excited that many of the great films this year did so well at the box office and are such a big part of the awards conversation. I’m grateful that every year brings great works of cinema, but it’s even better when a bunch of people actually get to see them.

This is the first year I’m not counting miniseries. The lines are becoming too blurred between TV and film and also nobody needs me to say again how much I love Jane Campion and Top of the Lake: China Girl.

Still need to see: All the Money in the World, Berlin Syndrome, Graduation, Happy End, In the Fade, Loveless, Lovesong, Prevenge, Princess Cyd, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, A Quiet Passion, Slack Bay, Staying Vertical, Thelma, Woodshock

If your favorite movie isn’t on this list maybe I didn’t see it because a sexual predator was involved or maybe it was just a really crowded year with a lot of really good movies!

Honorable Mentions: -Battle of the Sexes (dir. Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton) -The Beguiled (dir. Sofia Coppola) -Call Me By Your Name (dir. Luca Guadagnino) -Colossal (dir. Nacho Vigalondo) -Columbus (dir. Kogonada) -A Fantastic Woman (dir. Sebastian Lelio) -Good Time (dir. Josh and Benny Safdie) -Landline (dir. Gillian Robespierre) -Lemon (dir. Janicza Bravo) -Logan Lucky (dir. Steven Soderbergh) -Parisienne (dir. Danielle Arbid) -Phantom Thread (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) -Wonder Woman (dir. Patty Jenkins)

15. Planetarium (dir. Rebecca Zlotowski)

The first two movies on this list got fairly bad reviews so take my opinions as you will. And I get why many struggled with this film. Not only is it dealing with a wide swath of issues, but it’s also doing so with a variety of different tools. It dabbles in the occult, but it’s not a horror movie. It’s a period piece, but feels of the present. It suggests romance, suggests betrayal, suggests familial tension, yet… But here’s what’s great. It’s gorgeous. With some of the best cinematography of the year (Georges Lechaptois), some of the best production design of the year (Katia Wyszkop), and easily the best costumes of the year (Anaïs Romand) it’s compulsively watchable. Combine that with Natalie Portman’s incredibly grounding performance and I was more than willing to go along with Zlotowski as she explored the history of images, the power of images, and the danger of images without committing to a conventional structure.

14. It’s Only the End of the World (dir. Xavier Dolan)

I don’t know how anyone could love Dolan’s other films and dislike this one. It’s such a perfect embodiment of Dolan’s career thus far. Dolan’s films are operatic because he understands that for individuals their problems are operatic. Pretty much every family has conflict, disagreements, scars, but that can’t be dismissed so easily when they are OUR conflicts, OUR disagreements, OUR scars. I love how much respect Dolan always has for that truth. The cast is filled with French cinema royalty and they fully live up to the material’s grounded melodrama.

13. The Lure (dir. Agnieszka Smoczynska)

There’s one key reason this vampiric Polish horror-musical retelling of The Little Mermaid works in a way that other adaptations fall short. Sure, the sheer audacity of that genre mashup makes for a fascinating and unique viewing experience. But what ultimately makes it work emotionally and thematically is that it’s about two mermaids. This was always intended as the initial concept was a horror-less, mermaid-less musical about the Wrońska Sisters (who wrote all the songs in this). But still Smoczynska and her screenwriter Robert Bolesto really manage to keep all that’s wonderful about the source material while contextualizing its complexity. I’ve softened on the Disney version over the years, but it still can be painful watching Ariel change herself for a man (especially when one of those changes is not speaking). Here the presence of her sister, sometimes judging, always worried, creates a circumstance that allows this film’s “little mermaid” to make the realistic mistakes of a teen girl in love with a boy and in hate with herself, without the filming giving its seal of approval. There’s no judgment one way or the other. It’s just real. All that aside this is a vampiric Polish horror-musical retelling of The Little Mermaid. Like, come on. Go buy the Criterion edition!!

12. The Rehearsal (dir. Alison Maclean)

This is the only film on this list that isn’t available to watch. I was lucky enough to see it at the New York Film Festival two years ago, then it had a one week run at Metrograph, then nothing. The real shame is that this isn’t some avant-garde headscratcher to be watched in university classrooms and backroom Brooklyn bars. This is a deeply humanistic, very accessible movie that almost demands wide conversation. And given its setting at an acting conservatory I especially wish all the actors in my life could watch it. Well, hopefully it pops up on some streaming site someday. But until then check out this early Alison Maclean short film that’s equally wonderful albeit wildly different in tone (this one is more like feminist Eraserhead): Kitchen Sink (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt58gDgxy9Q&t=1s).

11. Novitiate (dir. Margaret Betts)

The history of cinema is a history of queer subtext. But it’s 2017 and while it may be fun to speculate whether Poe Dameron is gay and I’d be the first to say “Let It Go” is a perfect coming out anthem, it’s no coincidence that the best queer allegories of the year ALSO had explicitly queer characters. This film in particular is so special because it’s both the story of a young woman’s repressed sexuality and a story about how faith of all things is comparable to said sexuality. Sister Cathleen’s mother does not understand her affinity for Jesus the way many parents do not understand their children’s sexuality or gender. While coming out stories are a staple of very special sitcom episodes, I’ve never seen one that captures the pained misunderstanding the way this film does. Part of this is due to wonderful performances by Julianne Nicholson and Margaret Qualley and part of it is that religion is oddly the perfect stand-in for queerness… even as it represses queerness within this world. The movie begins with a series of flashbacks that feel stilted and conventional in a way that’s totally incongruous with the rest of the movie. It’s unfortunate because otherwise this would’ve been even higher on my list. But this is Betts’ first film and the majority of it is really special. And while I do think she’ll make even better films in what will hopefully be a long career, this one is still really worth checking out. I mean, I haven’t even brought up Melissa Leo’s frightening and absurd (yet somehow grounded?) performance that makes Meryl Streep in Doubt look like Amy Adams in Doubt.

10. The Florida Project (dir. Sean Baker)

As marketing extraordinaire A24 has managed to spread this film to a wider audience, they’ve made a lot of fuss about this film’s political depiction of Florida’s “hidden homeless,” Baker’s approach of mixing professional and non-professional actors (shout-out to Bria Vinaite who deserves as much awards attention as Willem Dafoe), and how the film “feels like a documentary.” And while I’m glad this strategy has worked, I tend to balk at the tendency of marketers and critics alike to call any movie with characters who aren’t all rich and/or white “like a documentary.” But regardless of its realism which I feel in no position to comment on, it’s certainly a great film about childhood and fantasy and how sometimes it’s easier to be a parent to everyone except your own kids. And not to build it up too much if you haven’t already seen it, but the ending is truly one of the best endings in recent years, not only in and of itself, but how it contextualizes and deepens everything that came before.

9. Whose Streets? (dir. Sabaah Folayan)

This is an exceptionally well-constructed film. I feel like most documentaries in this style have great moments but show a lack of restraint in the editing room and/or struggle to find a clear narrative. But this film moves along at an exceptional pace while still feeling comprehensive. Every sequence feels essential even when the scope expands beyond the two central individuals. This can be credited in part to the editing, but the succinctness wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the footage captured. The intimate moments we’re able to watch are stunning and enhance the already high stakes of the surrounding film, the ongoing narrative of the country. This is an essential reminder of the humanity behind activism, the sacrifice behind news stories, and that for many people political engagement is not something to do with an open Sunday afternoon but a necessary part of survival.

8. Their Finest (dir. Lone Scherfig)

Easily the best Dunkirk-related film of the year, this is the rare movie about movies that doesn’t feel self-satisfied, but instead truly captures the joy of cinema and storytelling. It’s odd to me that romantic melodrama, a genre so celebrated when it comes to classic film, is often written off as fluff in contemporary cinema. Yes, this movie is romantic. Yes, this movie is wildly entertaining. But it’s also painful, it’s also telling a story of women screenwriters we haven’t heard before, it’s also showing how powerful art can be as an escape and a mirror in difficult times. If you’re interested in filmmaking and/or British people, check this out on Hulu. Gemma Arterton is really wonderful and Sam Claflin is good eye candy if you’re into that sort of thing.

7. Starless Dreams (dir. Mehrdad Oskouei)

This documentary about a group of teenage girls living in an Iranian “Correctional and Rehabilitation Center” is proof that sometimes the best approach to the medium is simplicity. Oskouei pretty much just lets the girls talk. But it’s truly a testament to his abilities as a filmmaker (and person) and the girls’ vulnerability and storytelling prowess that the movie remains compelling throughout. As the girls tell their stories it becomes clear that the center isn’t simply a prison, but also almost a utopic escape from the daily horrors they faced outside. Both options are so completely insufficient when compared to the lives these young women deserve this realization is enraging. And while the film takes place in Iran it doesn’t require a lot of effort to realize young women have similar stories and circumstances all over the world. This movie is on iTunes and I really, really recommend checking it out. The subject matter is heavy, but because the girls are allowed to determine the narrative it never feels maudlin or unbearable and at times is even quite funny and joyous.

6. Raw (dir. Julia Ducournau)

I really appreciated how Marielle Heller’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl captured the all-consuming lust of teenagehood. So, um, think that movie, except cannibalism. A lot of cannibalism. I feel torn between being honest about how truly gross this movie can be and pretending otherwise because I really don’t want to scare anyone away. I’ll put it this way. It’s really, really worth it to watch this through your fingers if you even maybe think you could handle it. Because it’s just a really great movie about being a teenage girl, discovering sexuality, being away from home for the first time, having a sister, having a first crush, a first sexual experience, feeling completely out of control of your desires and needs. Hey, even Ducournau insists this isn’t a horror movie. So don’t eat anything beforehand, but definitely check this out.

5. Get Out (dir. Jordan Peele)

I hardly need to add any analysis to what has easily been the most talked about and written about movie of the year. But I just need to say that it makes me so happy that a socially aware horror movie (the best subset of my favorite genre) not only made a huge amount of money but is also considered an awards frontrunner. That is so wonderfully baffling to me and a testament to the greatness of this movie. Many great horror movies capitalize on people’s fear of otherness, but those who are othered in our society are much more likely to be victims than villains. That Peele managed to show this without ever feeling like he was exploiting real pain is truly an accomplishment. The tonal balance this film achieves is certainly something I’ll study when I make a horror movie writing back to Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, Sleepaway Camp, etc.

4. Faces Places (dir. Agnès Varda, JR)

Agnès Varda has spent her entire career blending fact and fiction, opening up her own life for her art. But there’s something different about this film which is likely to be her last. While so much of her work places her vivacious spirit front and center this film feels almost like a cry of humanity. Oddly enough I’d compare it to Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky in that it seems to say, “Don’t fetishize my happiness, don’t mock my joy, don’t infantilize me, just because you can’t enjoy life like I can.” I look to Varda as the kind of artist (and person) I want to be in how open she always seems to be. But what this film made me realize is that part of that openness is how sad she can be, how angry she can be. Varda is often called “the grandmother of the French New Wave.” I guess this is the only way the film community knows how to contextualize a woman being the one to start arguably the most influential film movement. Varda is the same age as all those guys! She’s not the grandmother! She just happened to make a bold, experimental film about five years ahead of the rest of them. By ending with Godard, and pairing up with JR who is basically an incarnation of Godard and friends as young men, Varda is really exploring her place in film history and the world, and how difficult it is to be to be a pioneer. No country has more contemporary films directed by women than France and this is in a large part due to Varda. But being the one to create that path is exhausting. I realize I’m making what’s easily the most life-affirming, humanist film of the year sound like an angry, self-eulogy, but I think this aspect of the film and Varda’s career should not be ignored. If you’ve never seen anything by Varda, this film will read very differently, but still be wonderful (and honestly more joyous). I recommend seeing it, watching 20 of her other films, and then seeing it again.

3. The Shape of Water (dir. Guillermo del Toro)

The trailer for this film shows the main character, Elisa played by the always wonderful Sally Hawkins, doing her daily routine. Alarm, shining shoes, being late to work, etc. But even the redband trailer leaves out one of her daily activities: masturbating. Maybe it’s odd to associate masturbation with ambition, but the choice to show that early on and then repeatedly seems like a perfect microcosm of why this film is so great. It’s not afraid. Guillermo del Toro has made a wonderful career out of celebrating “the other” through monster movie pastiches, but this to me is his very best film because of how willing it is to be both clear and complicated. This movie is many things, but one of those things is a queer love story. And even though human woman/amphibian man sex is maybe even more taboo to show on screen than say eating a semen filled peach, this movie just goes for it. I’m not sure if this movie succeeds in everything it tries to do but I so deeply admire how much it tries. Not only is one of Elisa’s best friends gay, but we spend a significant amount of time getting to know that character and see that maybe his obsolete career hurts him even more. Not only is Elisa’s other best friend black, but we see how being a black woman affects her specifically in what is expected of her versus her husband. Fantasy and sci-fi often use real people’s struggles as source material for privileged protagonists, and while this film certainly does that, it works because the real people are still shown on screen. Also del Toro is a master of cinematic craft so this is really a pleasure to watch.

2. Lady Bird (dir. Greta Gerwig)

Before diving into this specific film it’s worth noting that this is one of six debut features on this list. It’s so exciting that we’re hopefully going to get full and illustrious careers from all of these people. But when it comes to Gerwig it feels like we already have. She has been proof that if the film community is going to insist on holding onto the auteur theory, they at least need to acknowledge that actors and writers can be auteurs. Gerwig is known for being quirky, but this really sells her talent short. She is clearly someone who has a deep understanding of cinema and, more importantly, a deep understanding of people. Part of being a great director is casting great actors and then trusting them and it’s so clear that’s what happened on this film (let me just list off some names: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Tracy Letts, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Lois Smith, I mean come on). They really make her wonderful script come alive. This is a great movie about female friendship and a great movie about mother-daughter relationships, but more than anything it’s a great movie about loving and hating a hometown. Even though I’ve only seen the film twice I think back on moments in the film like I do my own adolescent memories. They feel familiar even when I don’t directly relate to them. This movie feels big in a way only a small movie can.

1. Mudbound (dir. Dee Rees)

This is when my penchant for hyperbole really comes back to bite me in the ass. I use the word masterpiece way too much. But when I say Mudbound is a masterpiece I don’t just mean it’s a great movie I really loved that I recommend everyone see. I mean, it’s The Godfather. It’s Citizen Kane. It’s the rare movie that has a perfect script, perfect cinematography, perfect performances, is completely of its time, and will stand the test of time. If we ever get to a place where art by black women is justly celebrated it will be in the 2070 AFI top 10. It’s that good. Part of what sets the movie apart is its almost absurd ambition. It breaks so many movie rules (not only does it have heavy narration, but it has heavy narration from multiple characters), and yet it always works. I love small movies, I love weird and flawed movies, but there is something so spectacular about watching something like Dee Rees’ third feature. I’m so excited to watch this movie again, to study it, to spend a lifetime with it. I feel like it really got lost in the shuffle by being released on Netflix, but that also means right now it’s on Netflix and you, yes YOU, almost certainly have or have access to Netflix. So you could watch it. Right now. Watch it. Stop reading. Turn the lights off. Find the biggest TV or computer screen you have so you can really appreciate Rachel Morrison’s cinematography and watch it. It is perfection wrapped in a bow of perfection and I really must insist you watch it.

Television!

Still Need to Catch Up On: The Girlfriend Experience (S2), Queen Sugar (S2)

Honorable Mentions: -Big Little Lies -Broad City (S3) -Girls (S6) -Insecure (S2) -Master of None (S2) -One Mississippi (S2) -Orange is the New Black (S5) -Search Party (S2) -Shots Fired

10. Twin Peaks: The Return 9. Jane the Virgin (S3/4) 8. Transparent (S4) 7. Better Things (S2) 6. I Love Dick 5. The Good Place (S1/2) 4. Sense8 (S2) 3. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (S2/3) 2. Top of the Lake: China Girl 1. The Leftovers (S3)

[lesdesordres]

Grand Central de Rebecca Zlotowski (2010) Directeur de la photographie (cinematographer) : Georges Lechaptois

[thisdarkmaterial]

Planetarium Gets Lost In Its Own Star-Gazing

My local high school had a planetarium, and every year from kindergarten through fourth grade our class would go for a visit. The lights would dim, the seats would recline, and two dozen kids would stare in wonder as stars and planets whizzed by. No matter how fantastic these visits were there was always a lesson behind them, some sort of direction guiding all of those projections on the domed ceiling. It’s that sense of purpose that is lacking in Rebecca Zlotowski’s Planetarium, a film that juggles several promising concepts yet fails to fully capitalize on any of them.

Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp play Laura and Kate Barlow, American sisters touring Europe as spiritual mediums. It is a few years before the outbreak of World War II and times are difficult for the young women and their audience members alike. Bookings for private séances are thin, with possible benefactors darting out of the theater as soon as the show has ended. However, deliverance might be found in André Korben (Emmanuel Salinger), the owner of a French film studio who has a moving experience during a private session at his home. Korben wants to film their routine with the hope of recording a genuine supernatural phenomenon; in doing so, he also wants to bring French film techniques into the modern age. An initial screen test fails to produce the desired results but marks Laura as a cinematic ingénue. Subsequently the pair move into his home and, as Korben employs increasingly sophisticated means of detecting the spirits they claim to contact, his relationship with the girls turns more complex.

Zlotowski, who co-wrote the script with Robin Campillo, toys with an abundance of themes over the course of two hours. By turns, Planetarium oscillates between the feel of a supernatural thriller, a romantic melodrama, a nostalgic look at classic cinema, and, by the end, throws in some timely overtones of anti-Semitism as well. Selecting just one or two could have produced an excellent period film, yet the desire to do so much comes at the expense of fundamentals like plot or pacing. Instead Zlotowski’s ambition results in an exceptionally muddled film lacking in the gravity it strives for.

As elder sister Laura, Ms. Portman uses her not-inconsiderable talent to salvage an average performance out of the confusion. As the producer Korben, Mr. Salinger turns in the most inconsistent performance of the three. At times earnest, at others overdone, he at least puts in the effort. The same cannot be said of Ms. Depp, who appears resigned to drifting aimlessly through her scenes.

Planetarium is sumptuously shot by Georges Lechaptois and Robin Coudert’s score sets an appropriate mood. There are enough glimpses of what could have been an effecting film to suggest a promising future for Ms. Zlotowski. An abundance of ideas can sometimes be as much of a hindrance as a dearth of them, and the former affected Planetarium for the worse. With a more discerning eye in the editing and revision stages, however, Zlotowski’s next film might find much greater success.

RATING: ★ 1/2

[ruthmedia2]

PROXIMA (12A)

PROXIMA (12A)

Run time: 107 minutes

Director: Alice Winocour

Cast: Eva Green, Matt Dillon, Zélie Boulant-Lemesle, Aleksey Fateev, Lars Eidinger, Sandra Hüller

Synopsis: Sarah is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne. She is the only woman in the arduous program. She lives alone with Stella, her seven-year-old daughter. Sarah feels guilty that she cannot…

[cynsabat]

  Cine Cosmos UBA – Av. Corrientes 2046 – CABA – 011 4953-5405 Semana del Jueves 9 de noviembre al Miércoles 15 de noviembre de 2017 (lunes y martes cerrado) Entrada general: $ 40      Jubilados, estudiantes y Cine Club Núcleo: $ 20

El Cine Cosmos UBA anuncia sus destacados de programación para el fin de semana del Jueves 9 al Miércoles 15 de noviembre. La entrada general está a un valor reducido de $40, mientras que para los jubilados, estudiantes y miembros del Cineclub Núcleo la entrada es de $20. Los lunes y martes el cine permanece cerrado. Solicitamos a la prensa difundir las actividades del cine para fomentar la asistencia a la sala, que ofrece una rica y cuidada programación. Gracias por compartir estas propuestas en sus redes sociales. DESTACADOS DEL FIN DE SEMANA

-Todos los días a las 19:00hs- LOS PERROS, de Marcela Said (Chile/Argentina/Francia/Portugal/Alemania, 2016) Duración 96 minutos – SAM16

Competencia Horizontes Latinos – Festival de San Sebastián (España , 2017) Estreno internacional en el Festival de Cannes – Semana de la Crítica (Francia, 2017) Premio –  ARTE International Prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market Premio Desarrollo guión –  Cinefondation Cannes (2014) Premio Desarrollo guión –  Sundance Writers Lab (2014)

La directora Marcela Said aborda el tema de la memoria desde la perspectiva de una joven mujer de clase alta chilena que descubre tardíamente la responsabilidad de su entorno en las atrocidades de la dictadura.

Sinopsis: Mariana (42) pertenece a la burguesía chilena cómplice de la dictadura. Menospreciada por su padre y descuidada por un marido que trabaja demasiado, Mariana siente una extraña atracción por Juan (62), su profesor de equitación y ex coronel de ejército con un pasado oscuro. Los perros es una película que habla del desamor, de la soledad de una mujer, de la violencia contenida y explícita de la sociedad chilena y de los civiles que apoyaron y financiaron el régimen militar y que hoy se desentienden de sus responsabilidades frente a los crímenes cometidos.

FICHA TÉCNICA Dirección: Marcela Said / Guión: Marcela Said / Fotografía: Georges Lechaptois / Montaje: Jean de Certeau / Sonido: Leandro de Loredo / Elenco: Antonia Zeger, Alfredo Castro, Rafael Spregelburd, Alfredo Sieveking, Juana Viale, Elvis Fuentes.

-Todos los días a las 17:00 y a las 19:30hs- VOLVER A EMPEZAR de Bavo Defurne (Souvenir, Bélgica / Luxemburgo/ Francia, 2017) Duración: 90 minutos – SAM13

La gran actriz francesa Isabelle Huppert brilla en esta comedia romántico-musica sobre las segundas oportunidades en la vida, y sobre la recuperación de los sueños como motor de la vida. El encuentro de una cantante convertida en operaria y un joven aspirante a boxeador, y un romance plagado de bellas canciones pop.

Sinopsis: Una excantante de Eurovisión caída en el olvido que trabaja en una fábrica de patés se enamorará de un joven aspirante a boxeador. Juntos intentarán organizar el regreso de ella a escena.

FICHA TÉCNICA Dirección: Bavo Defurne / Guión: Jacques Boon, Bavo Defurne e Yves Verbraeken / Fotografía: Philippe Guilbert y Virginie Saint-Martin / Montaje: Sophie Vercruysse / Elenco: Isabelle Huppert, Kévin Azaïs, Johan Leysen, Muriel Bersy.

Nota:  No se proyectan las funciones del Sábado 11 a las 17:00hs ni del Miércoles 15  las 19:30hs

– Todos los días a las 16:40 y a las 21:00hs- UN MINUTO DE GLORIA (Slava, Bulgaria / Grecia, 2016) Duración 101 minutos – SAM13

Presentada por Bulgaria para los Premios Oscar Ganadora de 32 premios internacionales

Los directores búlgaros Kristina Grozeva y Petar Valchanov presentan una reflexión sobre la manipulación mediática y la corrupción en un film provocador, que lleva a la reflexión. Tan local como universal, este film está basado en una historia real que los directores logran plasmar con notable pulso cinematográfico.

Sinopsis: Cuando Tsanko Petrov (Stefan Denolyubov), un trabajador del ferrocarril, se encuentra fortuitamente mucho dinero en las vías del tren, decide devolver la totalidad del importe a la policía. El Estado le recompensa por ello con un nuevo reloj de pulsera… que pronto deja de funcionar. Mientras tanto, Julia Staikova (Margita Gosheva), jefa de relaciones públicas en el Ministerio de Transporte, pierde su viejo reloj. Así comienza la lucha desesperada de Petrov para que le devuelvan no sólo su viejo reloj, sino también su dignidad.

FICHA TÉCNICA Dirección: Kristina Grozeva y Petar Valchanov / Guión:  Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov y Decho Taralezhkov / Fotografía: Krum Rodriguez / Montaje: Petar Valchanov / Elenco: Margita Gosheva, Ana Bratoeva, Stefan Denolyubov.

Ciclo Bergman – Sábado 11 de noviembre a las 16:30hs – La PASION DE ANnA, de Ingmar Bergman (En passion, Suecia, 1969) Duración: 99 minutos

La obra fundamental de célebre director sueco es revisada en este ciclo programado por el Cine Cosmos UBA, para acercar al público los films en el marco de una presentación y un debate.

Sinopsis: Andreas, un hombre aislado del mundo y recientemente divorciado, llega a una pequeña isla del Báltico. Conoce allí a Anna, una joven viuda devastada por su tragedia, y a dos artistas cuya pareja está en plena desintegración. Unidos por la pérdida y la desconexión emocional, Andreas y Anna inician una relación. Mientras tanto, alguien realiza en la isla inexplicables actos de crueldad animal.

FICHA TÉCNICA Dirección: Ingmar Bergman / Guión: Ingmar Bergman / Fotografía: Sven Nykvist / Montaje: Siv Lundgren / Elenco: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Bibi Anderson, Erland Josephson

NOTA: Función especial con presentación y debate a cargo de Gabriel Guralnik

– Todos los días a las 21:25hs (menos el Miércoles 15) – ALANIS, de Anahí Berneri (Argentina, 2017) Duración: 82 minutos – SAM16

Anahí Berneri – Ganadora de la Concha de Plata a la Mejor Director en el Festival de San Sebastián 2017 Sofía Gala Castiglione – Ganadora de la Concha de Plata a la Mejor Actriz en el Festival de San Sebastián 2017 Anahí Berneri y Sofía Gala Castiglione revolucionaron la 65° edición del Festival de San Sebastián cuando presentaron Alanis en la competencia oficial. Contra todos los prejuicios, llevaron al cine una historia impactante, dura y conmovedora, desde una mirada femenina potente y crítica, y con un contundente estilo cinematográfico que las llevó a hacer historia en el palmarés de ese prestigioso festival.

Sinopsis: Alanis es una joven madre, trabajadora sexual, que busca un lugar en la sociedad, y lucha por sortear las mismas leyes que se supone existen para protegerla como persona. FICHA TÉCNICA Dirección: Anahí Berneri / Guión: Anahí Berneri, Javier Van De Couter / Fotografía: Luis Sens / Elenco: Sofía Gala Castiglione, Dante Della Paolera, Santiago Pedrero, Dana Basso, Silvina Sabater.

– DOS FUNCIONES ESPECIALES – Miércoles 15 a las 19:30 y a las 21:25hs LA NOVIA DEL DESIERTO, de Cecilia Atan y Valeria Pivato (Argentina/Chile, 2017) Duración: 78 minutos – SAM13

Estrenada en la prestigiosa sección Un certain Regard del Festival de Cannes 2017, esta tragicomedia reúne a grandes actores de un lado y del otro de la cordillera: a Claudio Rissi, por Argentina, y a Paulina García, por Chile. La novia del desierto es una opera prima sobre segundas oportunidades sólida y encantadora.

Sinopsis: La Novia del Desierto es la historia de Teresa, una mujer de 54 años que trabaja como empleada doméstica en una casa de familia en Buenos Aires. Durante décadas se ha refugiado en la rutina de sus tareas pero ahora, tras la decisión familiar de vender la casa y luego de años de servicio, queda a la deriva. Sin alternativas, acepta un nuevo trabajo en la provincia de San Juan. Poco amiga de los viajes deja atrás la ciudad y su pequeño mundo seguro, para entregarse sin sospecharlo, a la voluntad de lo imprevisible. En su primera parada, el Santuario de la Difunta Correa, Teresa pierde el bolso en el que carga sus únicas pertenencias. El inesperado accidente la llevará a atravesar el desierto cuyano junto a un desconocido, el Gringo, su nuevo compañero de ruta. Este vendedor ambulante se recortará sobre el árido paisaje como una opción amenazante y, a la vez, atractiva. A medida que avance el viaje y juntos se adentren en los diferentes universos, esta mujer silenciosa y opaca irá lentamente tiñéndose de color y vida.

FICHA TECNICA Guión y Dirección: Cecilia Atan y Valeria Pivato / Director de Fotografía: Sergio Armstrong / Directora de Arte: Mariela Ripodas / Diseño de Vestuario: Beatriz Di Benedetto / Montaje: Andrea Chignoli / Música Original: Leo Sujatovich / Elenco: Paulina García Claudio Rissi

REDES SOCIALES CINE COSMOS UBA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cinecosmos.uba/ Twitter https://twitter.com/CosmosUBA

TRAILERS DE LOS FILMS Los perros https://vimeo.com/235443619 Volver a empezar https://youtu.be/CAO85v5NvMk Un minuto de gloria https://youtu.be/AYqxkSCqmxg La pasión de Anna https://youtu.be/lgqotljklM4 Alanis https://youtu.be/8gGkHQSHudg La novia del desierto: https://youtu.be/05tyjEwdTkg Sres Periodistas, por material adicional contáctenos. Si quiere acreditarse para una función, solicítelo vía email o wasap.  Gracias por darle difusión a esta información.

 CS/ Comunicación Efectiva – Cynthia Sabat – Cel. 154 050 5788 – sabatcynthia@gmail.com

CineCosmosUBA: Agenda destacada del 9 al 15 de noviembre Cine Cosmos UBA - Av. Corrientes 2046 - CABA - 011 4953-5405 Semana del Jueves 9 de noviembre al Miércoles 15 de noviembre de 2017…

[genevieveetguy]

Les âmes soeurs, André Téchiné (2023)

[dangervainindieblog-blog]

'Polina' elevates dance films to an art “Polina” is spare in dialogue; more is conveyed through painterly wide-screen cinematography by Georges Lechaptois: pink satin pointe shoes against the Bolshoi's splintering wood floors, the swirl of a tutu seen from the rafters, a jagged metal ... http://www.facebook.com/danger.vain

[genevieveetguy]

Other People's Children (Les enfants des autres), Rebecca Zlotowski (2022)

[genevieveetguy]

Twentynine Palms, Bruno Dumont (2003)

[genevieveetguy]

Red Soil (Rouge), Farid Bentoumi (2020)

[genevieveetguy]

Proxima, Alice Winocour (2019)