The “Crème de la crème” Week of French Film begins on March 6th with the comic drama Tour de Force.

10-03-2014

The “Crème de la crème” Week of French Film begins on March 6th with the comic drama Tour de Force.

Bratislava (4 March) – This Thursday marks the beginning of the first annual overview of French film entitled “Crème de la crème” Week of French Film, which offers seven days (6-12 March) of films presented by Film Europe. This year will bring to the city 28 French titles, including six distribution premieres. In addition to the best of French production, film-lovers can look forward to the authentic film-goer’s atmosphere offered by the historical Pisztory Palace.

In addition to film delicacies, viewers will be able to relax in the Chill-Out Zone where good books, quality French films and a snack bar with French refreshments, including macarons – the symbol of this year’s event – await them. Pisztory Palace will simply become a perfect cinematographic experience for film connoisseurs.

The Chill-Out Zone will be flavored by a constant broadcast of the Film Europe Channel, which will offer a special program devoted to French cinematography during the Week of French film. Currently, the Film Europe Channel is presenting programming in honor of the important, recently deceased French director Alain Resnais. On March 6th at 18:30 we will show the comedy I Want to Go Home (Quiero ir a casa) with Gérard Depardieu, and on March 8th at 18:00 one of the director’s best-known works – the existentialist, romantic and mysterious film Last Year at Marienbad.

The Film Europe Channel is featuring the work of this significant figure of French and world cinematography all month long. On Saturday, March 22nd at 22:00 you can enjoy the romantic comedy-drama My American Uncle (Mon Oncle d’Amerique) with Gérard Depardieu in one of the main roles, and on Sunday, March 30th at 22:00 you’ll see Stavisky… with Jean-Paul Belmondo in the main role.

Special Guest – French director, screenwriter and actor Laurent Tuel

The event’s organizers have announced an exclusive special guest – French director, screenwriter and actor Laurent Tuel, who will introduce his comedy-drama Tour de Force (La Grande Boucle)during the official opening event on March 6th. The film will also be the first on the “Crème de la crème” program. In 2007, Laurent Tuel was nominated for a César award for the film Jean-Phillipe, which deals with the comeback of a French rock star. His directorial debut, the short film Céleste came out in 1991 and in 2009 he made Ultimate Heist (Le premier cercle) with the famous Jean Reno in the main role. Visitors of the film week can also see Laurent Tuel during a lecture and discussion by film publicist and critic Matthieu Darras. They will discuss the direction of contemporary French cinematography with president of the Film Europe Media Company Ivan Hronec and director and actor Václav Marhoul. Find out more on http://on.fb.me/1mP9uw2

The historical jewel of the Old Town – Pisztory Palace as a new “Kultiplex”

Pisztory Palace at 25 Štefánikova Street still lives and breathes history. Visitors will be enchanted by its architecture and beautiful interior with ornate railings, a balustrade, gold-leafed frescoes on the ceiling, crystal chandeliers, mosaic floor and Gastache allegorical painting from the year 1895. The building’s 120-year history carries many stories, whether it’s the family life of pharmacist Felix Pisztory, who had the palace built in the 1890s, the commands and negotiations of the German Embassy during World War II, or the promises in the 1950s and 1960s of the pioneers, who regularly visited the building in its former guise as the Lenin Museum.

Today the palace is the property of the Old Town and is run by the Via Kultúra Foundation. In addition to the Film Europe Cinema, you will also find here a theatre, various theme-oriented exhibitions, literary events, and lectures. It is for this reason that the president of Film Europe Media Company Ivan Hronec calls Pisztory Palace a newly emerging “Kultiplex”.

In his words, the “Crème de la crème” Week of French Film is the first event launching the idea of the “Pisztory Kultiplex”. “In addition to the Film Europe Cinema, we will have two more spaces – one more cinema (the Tuli Room) and one alternative space – the Chill-Out Zone, where more films will be shown”, noted Ivan Hronec.

“The main engine for launching the Kultiplex was my frustration with the multiplex cinemas where the content of the programming, the behavior of audiences and the theaters’ interior design are often degrading to good film. In multiplexes they don’t risk and don’t program Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza). So we decided to fight back and we began to slowly steal audiences from the multiplexes,” said Ivan Hronec. He also added: “An educated viewer doesn’t belong at a multiplex because multiplexes don’t deserve him or her. Today, it doesn’t seem that way yet, but in a few years, perhaps even months, it won’t be so ‘cool’ to see a good film in a normal multiplex.”

Humor, love, rebellion, true stores and experiments

The film week program is comprised of 22 French titles that, until now, have only been accessible at festivals or in limited distribution. Slovak audiences can look forward to six distribution premieres. During the “Crème de la crème” Week of French Film viewers will see distribution premieres of Cycling with Molière (Alceste à bicyclette), Homeland (Né quelque part), Operation Libertad (Opération Libertad), Stargazer (L’œil de l’astronome), 17 Girls (17 filles) and Tour de Force (La Grande Boucle).

Films are divided into five sections: The Gravity of Humor, Time for Love, Rebellion, True Story and Experiment.

“The name of the section The Gravity of Humor points to the fact that the films we are offering are not absolute comedies. They are rather humorous, often tragic-comic films, which have a specific way of telling the story. Each on of these humorous films has a certain sad bittersweet quality,” commented Film Europe Media Company’s Programming Director and Director of Distribution Eva Ujlakyová. We can recognize, by her words, the bizarre comedy Fairy (La fée), the tragic-comic Robert Mitchum is Dead (Robert Mitchum est mort) and the comic family drama Tour de Force (La Grand Boucle).

In the Time for Love section, you’ll find holder of the Golden Palm Life of Adele, a.k.a Blue is the Warmest Color (La Vie d’Adèle), and the story of a young nun, who swings between love for a man and love of God during the Second World War Here Below (Ici-Bas), or the lovely romantic comedy with Juliette Binoche in the main role Another Woman’s Life (La Vie d’une autre).

In the words of Eva Ujlakyová, Rebellion is a very common theme in French film, and therefore it is the name of one of the sections. “In this section, I would call attention to the film 17 dievcatabout a mass pregnancy epidemic in a secondary school. The film was shot based on a true story,” said Ujlakyová, and added: “What these films have in common is rebellion and opposition to the system, to the majority or minority of the society in which we live.”

The section entitled True Story includes films, which depict the lives of the famous painter Auguste Renoire, Mozart’s oppressed sister Nannerl, astronomer Johannes Kepler, or well-known French sculptor Camille Claudel, as well as films inspired by recent actual events, such as Attack (L’Attentat) and the action thriller The Assault (L‘Assaut), which deal with terrorist attacks in France.

In the Experiment section we find avant-garde inspired, metaphysical thriller Mortem (Mortem) and the film Hitler in Hollywood (Hitler à Hollywood), which reveals the secret pledge of Hollywood against the European film industry. “In the film, many directors and stars appear, which makes it a first-class treat for film-lovers,” said Eva Ujlakyová about this nontraditional film. She added that among the interesting films offered, there is also a documentary about the digital restoration and creative process of Georges Méliès’ film Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune – Le voyage extraordinaire), which was first shown in the year 1902 and is considered the world’s first short science fiction film.