04/07/2012 - The film missing from the Cannes 2012 winner list has been released in France by Les Films du Losange. Also good reviews for Summer of Giacomo

Backed by mostly rave reviews, Leos Carax’s flamboyant Holy Motors (read the interview) has today been released in France on 99 copies by Les Films du Losange. French cinema’s enfant terrible sparked great debate at the last Cannes Film Festival where, despite many influential critics supporting his film, the jury nevertheless omitted him from the winner list in the competition. Nanni Moretti alluded to this controversial “omission” when he said: "I noted in general that several directors seemed more in love with their own style than with their characters.”

Yet, whether you admire Holy Motors’s visual and visionary brilliance or are repelled by its delirious game of symbolic mirrors, Leos Carax’s film still remains a must-see, for its excesses, its astounding cinematic audacity, and the outstanding talent (even in its excesses) that it displays on a scene of quite often formatted productions. As such, we must also take our hats off to the film’s producer, Martine Marignac (Pierre Grise Productions), who successfully completed the project, thanks to her iron will when faced with the hostility of certain funding bodies put off by Carax’s reputation (because The Lovers on the Bridge was a flop over 20 years ago). In short, Holy Motors really is an affair of renaissance and reincarnation on all fronts.

This Wednesday, the critics were also positive about Franco-Belgian co-production Summer of Giacomo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alessandro Comodin, a film that won the Golden Leopard in the Filmmakers of the Present section at Locarno and the Grand Prize at the Belfort Film Festival (read more - distributed by NiZ ! on 7 copies).

But Mars Distribution is responsible for today’s most impressive release, with 410 copies of Woody Allen's American-Italian-Spanish co-production To Rome with Love now out in French cinemas.

Spanish-Colombian co-production Inside [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (La cara oculta) by Andrés Baiz (read more - Haut et Court Distribution on 50 copies), Israeli-German-French co-production Playoff [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Eran Riklis (Wild Bunch Distribution in 14 cinémas), and Paradis Perdu by Eve Deboise (read more - Epicentre Films on 30 copies) are also out.

At the French box office, American animation blockbuster Ice Age 4 is leading strong with 1.46 million admissions in five days, while French comedy Un bonheur n'arrive jamais seul [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by James Huth has reaped in 425,000 admissions in five days. Ken Loach’s The Angels’ Share attracted 132,000 viewers during the same period, while Bruno Podalydès’s Granny’s Funeral has reached 367,000 admissions in 12 days.

(Translated from French)