It was with anticipation that I awaited the 29th Annual French Film Festival in Brisbane by Alliance Française, and it was bigger and better than ever! There were 50 French films featuring the usual iconic French stars such as Gerard Depardieu and Juliet Binoche, mixed with many lesser known, up and coming stars such as Omar Sy and François Cluzet.
All were showing at the Palace Centro and Palace Barracks cinemas enabling you to relax in the cinema French-style with a glass of wine and some nibbles from the bar. With a multitude of films to select from you could be immersed the World of Gauguin, Gauguin, or witness the comical results of a woman scorned in Jealous, or be uplifted by The School of Life. Each film has it's own French recipe: spectacular cinematography blended with a soupçon of uniquely French humour and a sprinkle of je ne sais quoi.
I was fortunate to see two films over the month: Dr Knock and The School of Life. Dr Knock is based on the satirical 1923 play by Jules Romains, Knock ou le Triomphe de la medicine. Lorraine Levy is the Director, and twists the film from the original to star a young black male, rather than the elderly, white male. Omar Sy, who played Dr Knock, has starred recently in Monsieur Chocolat, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Transformers: The Last Knight. He was a tall, dark and handsome charismatic Quack who amassed a fortune of Francs from creating pseudo-illnesses in the residents of the sleepy village of St-Maurice. Fortunately, as well as becoming rich, he also enriched the lives of the villagers and they grow to love him and his costly medical advice. The film was poignant and comical with a picturesque mountainous overlay which was reminiscent of my own travels through France.
The School of Life (L'école buissonnière) was equally picturesque utilising the unique French style of cinematography to paint a masterpiece through the lens with each spectacular shot. The film is set in the beautiful forests of rural France, where a young orphaned boy named Paul, played by the handsome Jean Scandel is fostered by Celestine (Valerie Karsenti), the maid of Count de la Fresnaye. Nicholas Vanier, the director of Belle and Sebastian (2013), again uses his own childhood experiences to paint a grim existence for the poor orphaned Paul, whilst he is treated like an animal caged with other boys in a Parisian orphanage. When he is fostered to Celestine, he is liberated into the wilderness and befriends a hermit-like poacher, Totoche (François Cluzet, The Intouchables, 2011.) He teaches Paul about animals, the circle of life, and the beauty of nature. The School of Life is a beautiful film that evokes overwhelming urges to live amongst the deer in the forests of France and leaves you feeling intoxicated.
All films are clearly subtitled for the non-French speaker and after 2 minutes you forget you are listening to a foreign language. Although, the Festival is over you should grab any opportunity to remind yourself how fabulous and unique French cinematography is and immerse yourself in an exploration of French Film before the 30th Alliance Française French Film Festival next year.
Dr Gemma Regan