Film Review: Love Comes With A Price

Bonjour mes amis. Je suis heureux d’être l’examen de films de la 2014 Cine Franco Film Festival.
I hope you enjoyed my attempt at French. I took it all throughout high school, so I do remember bits and pieces of the language. I thought this would be a nice introduction, as I share my review of Fanny, directed by Daniel Auteuil.

The characters may be different, but the situation seems always the same. Girl (Fanny, played by Victoire Belezy) meets boy. Boy (Marius, played by Raphaël Personnaz) seduces girl, girl falls head over heels and cannot bear to be without her true love.

Realizing that love comes with a price, boy needs to ”be free” leaves a cryptic note, and sets sail for the high seas, and the seemingly poor girl is left broken-hearted. Faced with a dilemma that threatens the very core of what is perceived as honourable and moral value, the secret is out that Fanny is not suffering a terrible illness at all, she is carrying Marius’ child and soon enough, everyone has an opinion about it!

The greatest character is Cesar, Marius’ father, played by Daniel Auteuil, who is highly eccentric and exaggerates every possible reason for his son not saying goodbye, in order to compensate for the real devastation he feels inside. His temper seems to flare at any moment and all his friends try to reassure him that Marius has not forgotten him.

Finally, a letter comes from Marius, and after a dramatic time of not caring at all, it almost feels like a new character emerges, as Cesar is overjoyed finally hearing from his son. However, complications start to arise, as Marius’ letters begin to leave out one important person; Fanny.

As the weeping continues of why Marius has left her, decisions have to be made and quickly. A wealthy merchant named Mister Panisse, played by Jean-Pierre Darroussin, who is old enough to be Fanny’s father and smitten with her for years, finds out the news about Marius departure. As he weasels his way in, the moment comes when he boldly asks Fanny for her hand in marriage, knowing soon enough that she is having a baby.

Never being able to father a child of his own and frightened that he may never get the chance again, Mister Panisse is thrilled with the news and promises a life that would be tough for any man without great wealth to provide. Even though the marriage is out of necessity more than love, on Fanny’s side, it is clear that she must do what is best for her child and leave the fantasy of Marius returning alone.

To everyone’s surprise, Marius suddenly returns, hoping to rekindle their love again, but left to suffer with the worst heartache of all.

The story itself is not complicated, but there are so many layers to this movie that make it absolutely delightful to watch from the beginning to the very end. The dialogue is witty and meaningful, with humour and emotional depth.

Even though Mister Panisse is viewed as a creepy old man who is enamoured with a young girl, as his character develops, his heart is in the right place, and that uneasy feeling turns into the thought of maybe this arrangement is alright after all.

It is also interesting to note that many of the taboos that we shy away from because of society’s perceptions and expectations, are clearly brought to the forefront in this film, and depicted in a way that has cultural relevance for its time.

Some of us may mock the values of the past, but they did teach us some valuable lessons of how to change for the future.

Film Review: Les Beaux Jours

Many people criticize the French for being pretentious, arrogant and even downright rude, but there is no question that when it comes to the topic of l’amour, passion flows freely through their veins.

If you have ever watched Showcase’s “Friday's Without Borders” in which almost every tale has an element of eroticism and sensuality that pushes the limits, Les Beaux Jours, directed by Marion Vernoux, takes you on a journey that goes one step further, examining the complexities of life.

Caroline, played by Fanny Ardant, is a 60 year old retired dentist, who can’t seem to find a place for herself. The devastation of losing her best friend seems to preoccupy her thoughts and retirement seems more like a death sentence than freedom. With much concern, her daughters decide to giver her a birthday gift for a membership to the “Beaux Jours” Senior Club.

Feeling completely out of her element, but willing to give it a shot, Caroline decides to try her hand, (and soon enough other body parts) at some interesting activities, one specifically involving a young and sexy philanderer computer instructor named Julian, played by Laurent Lafitte. Stuck in what seems to be a stagnant marriage with Philippe, played by Patrick Chesnais, Caroline embraces the affair with gusto, sneaking away for late night rendezvous, and liberating herself in the arms of Julian. As their intimacy intensifies and she plans a spontaneous getaway together, Caroline begins to question whether her known infidelity may cost her much more than she imagined.

The love affair between Caroline and Julian is hot and steamy, there’s no two ways about it. Although there is no explicit nudity in the film, there is enough sensual scenes to make your heart beat a little faster, okay a lot faster. The cinematography is quite beautiful too, especially the glimpses of Caroline walking along the beach from afar. She reminds me of a young Marilyn Monroe.

Excellent acting all around and dialogue is equally as engaging as between the sheets, as it is out of the bedroom. The movie is introspective on many levels and conveys a powerful message. It shows us that exploration is sought during all stages of life and our curiosity never ends. Instead of feeling lost, there is a whole world out there and in our greying years, we just have to push a little harder to feel young at heart again.

Movie Review: Comme Un Chef

Have you ever been fired from 4 jobs in 4 weeks? Well, in the movie Le Chef, directed by Daniel Cohen, you’ll meet Jacky Bonnot (Michaël Youn) who cannot seem to hold down a job if his life was dependent on it.

He’s not incompetent or lazy, but his passion burns for being in the kitchen, creating masterful dishes that tantalize every taste bud, not doing menial tasks to just pay the bills. None of his employers can appreciate his enthusiasm for food. They don’t want to be dazzled with paprika, and I think it’s safe to say that nobody wants to be hit for putting mustard on sole.

Even his girlfriend, who is eating for two, is getting sick and tired of Jacky’s inability to keep employment. In order to prove to Rachel that he has changed, and to give her a well-deserved break from work, Jacky goes out and as luck would have it, gets hired as a handyman in a senior’s home.

Nothing can stop Jacky’s curiosity though when he sees people cooking. So peering into the window of where the other cooks are, Jacky is mortified that they are doing everything wrong. He could do better and transform these dishes. So taking matters into his own hands, he takes over in the kitchen and, not heeding anyone’s warning about how angry Chef Alexandre Lagarde (Jean Reno) will be, begins to work his magic one spice at a time, knowing that his changes will be a hit.

Sadly, chef Alexandre has problems of his own that he is trying to deal with regarding the slimy Stanislas Matter, who is the new CEO of the group that owns his restaurant, Cargo Lagarde. He is plotting to have Lagarde lose one star in the next edition of The Guide, and replace him with a young chef who advocates a modern style called molecular gastronomy cuisine, which is more profitable for the food industry.

As Lagarde’s team players are suddenly leaving, Lagarde is faced with yet another issue; his genius culinary ideas have come to a halt and he cannot think of future creations for his new menu, which The Guide’s critics will soon be coming to taste and judge.

Fuming at the fact that someone has entered his kitchen and changed his recipes, Lagarde samples one of the dishes secretly prepared by Jacky and is blown away. He finds out that Jacky is the culinary messiah that he has been looking for, and offers him an unpaid internship position as the second-in-command.

Hoping to impress the judges and keep his stars, it seems like a win-win situation for everyone. However, the angel and devil both appear figuratively on Jacky’s shoulders because he knows that this unpaid position will infuriate Rachel and cause even more stress, but how could he turn down a life-long dream to work with his idol Alexandre Lagarde?

Jacky cannot envision anything better and is optimistic that something wonderful will come out of this. He accepts while trying to cover his tracks to save his relationship, but fails, and Rachel finally decides that she has had enough of his immaturity and leaves. Distraught and ready to throw away his apron, Jacky cannot bare to lose Rachel, even though it is clear that his talents are far superior than even Lagarde could imagine. As personalities start clashing, the impeding doom of losing everything starts becoming a reality for both Jacky and Lagarde in every aspect of their lives.

Michaël Youn is a quirky actor and when you combine him with Jean Reno, they are both delightful to watch on-screen together. I liked the bantering, back-and-forth dialogue and the scenes when Jacky just gets into his element, acting like Gordon Ramsey, albeit a tamer version. His character really evolves in the movie, in a subtle way that audiences can appreciate.

Oh and those cheeky French film directors threw me for a bit of a loop with some laughs when they had a scene where Michaël was in full drag, playing a very convincing Asian geisha, complete in appearance and mannerisms.

Overall, the story was simple and predictable, but the passion revolving around food and how it greatly impacted both Jacky and Alexandre’s relationships was quite meaningful. In the end, we all have tough choices to make, whether they are right or wrong, usually we don’t know until we see the outcome. Our ability to withstand criticism and flourish in difficult circumstances is never an easy task, and our priorities when we’re younger may change as we gracefully age into what I like to call the ‘wisdom-stages’ of adulthood and beyond.

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, but if you intend to risk it all for whatever your passion is in life, then at some point, you want to prepare yourself to get a little burned.

Movie Review: Would I Lie To You?

Movie Review:

Grab some fresh popcorn and your favourite treats because the 16th Annual Cinéfranco Film Festival takes place in Toronto, Ontario from April 5-14th, 2013. I had the opportunity this weekend to check out Would I Lie To You 3, directed by Thomas Gilou. I know you may be wondering why I wouldn't be watching the first one, but I was only given access to this one; c’est la vie!

When I pushed play (adjusted to have subtitles in English, of course) and was greeted with some overly-enthusiastic choreographed dancing panda bears, along with a James Bond/Oceans 11 casino motif in the background, I thought to myself, this may be 119 minutes of my life that I won’t be able to get back.

To start off with, we get introduced to Dov, suave ladies man (Vincent Elbaz), Serge, the compulsive liar (Jose Garcia), Eddie, the business mastermind (Richard Anconina) , Yvan the foolish salesman (Bruno Solo) and Patrick the conniving millionaire (Gilbert Melki). Each character is faced with a problem that incorporates itself into the movie. A few sticky situations involve such things as using a Moroccan amulet to cure impotency, pretending to be the brother of your father-in-law (who has amnesia) to get money, and falling head over heels in love with your tax auditor.

So after a mysterious case of watches arrives at Eddie’s business, no one has any clue what is going on. Then bam, French customs officials barge in and try to shut him down. Confused and caught off guard, something is not adding up. They've been framed and fingers are pointing to head honcho Xiong, who is a competitor in the fashion imitation business.

Making amends after some random kung-fu sequences take place, Eddie learns that Xiong did not set them up. There’s another troublesome miser in the mix, named Simon. With bail money posted, Eddie and the rest of the group journey off to China, hoping to make a real business deal before its too late (buying 800,000 pairs of shoes, branded with as Whitcomb Judson —where do I sign?).

It wouldn't be a comedy if everything went to plan, right? So you got it, everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. Scheming seems to have no boundaries and the shenanigans these guys get into are definitely hilarious! No matter what they do though, it seems like they are up a certain creek without a paddle, until a back-up plan is arranged, which will ultimately determine whether they will all sink or swim.

The film explodes with cultural diversity, and even though some may not appreciate the blatant stereotyping, it’s a comedy, so keep that in mind when you observe the loud, penny-pinching, kvetching Jewish mothers and the kung-fu Chinese businessmen who enjoy singing karaoke. I really give props to the makers for pulling it off. Not everyone can make a film that is French, with English subtitles, revolving around 5 Sephardic garment-maker Jews, who work in the Sentier district, and are fighting to save their bacon (and by bacon, I mean business!).

I wouldn't say the acting was outstanding, nor the plot itself, but it was generally well-written with amusing characters and, most of all, it had heart. Up until a certain point in the movie, I was pretty sure that I knew what was going to happen. It would be a predictable move that took no creative thought at all. Ah-ha, but wait!

I was pleasantly surprised to see a twist that really surprised me and made me feel quite differently. It was refreshing and quite clever, and I’m sure at this point you’re wondering what I’m rambling on about, so check out the film for yourself… would I lie to you?