05/03/2003

It was love at first sight between French film critics and Il viaggio di Morven Callar [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the second feature by England’s Lynne Ramsay.
Selected for Critics’ Week at the last Cannes Film Festival and the winner of numerous international awards and nominations (San Sebastian, Stockholm, European Film Awards, British Independent Film Awards) the film is about to be released onto 25 French screens. However, the reaction of French media has been so strong, and so much praise has been lavished on Samantha Morton’s (Minority Report) performance, that the film is certain to be a big hit.
According to “Le Monde”, Morton is “a beautiful and charming actress”; “Les Inrockuptilbles” found her to be “exceptional” while “Libération” foresees her career as an “irresistible climb”.
Produced by Company Pictures UK and released onto 19 UK screens on 3 November 2002, the French release of Morvern Callar is being handled by Diaphana Distribution, with Finland scheduled for 28 March followed by the Netherlands on 24 April.
There is a downside to this story: despite its imminent release onto 350 French screens, Cédric Klapisch’s latest film, Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire), distributed in France by Bac Distribution, was lambasted by the local press. His relationship with French critics has never been easy although French audiences certainly did not agree, and indeed voted with their feet when over 3 million of them flocked to see L'auberge espagnole.

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(Translated from French)