Palme d’Or-winner Uncle Boonmee launched on 84 screens

by Fabien Lemercier

01/09/2010 - Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s French/German/Spanish co-production Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives [trailer], which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2010, is creating a splash among this Wednesday’s 12 new releases.

Championed by most critics, who have been won over by its hypnotic charm, virtuosity and subtle exploration of the close links between the supernatural and the everyday in the Buddhist conception of reincarnation, the film is being launched by Pyramide Distribution on a cautious 84-print run.

European cinema is also represented by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg’s poignant and ultra-realistic Submarino [trailer, film focus], which recounts the tough life of two brothers from a disadvantaged social background. Presented in competition at the latest Berlinale and released by MK2 Diffusion on 31 screens, the new feature by the helmer of The Celebration is beautifully directed and features actors who manage to generate a certain empathy for the characters plunged in an atmosphere of Dostoevsky-like misfortune tinged with social determinism.

Also hitting theatres today is Fabrice Genestal’s French/Canadian/Belgian co-production Trader Games [trailer] (see news – UGC Distribution), starring Gilles Lellouche, Vahina Giocante and Michael Madsen; Belgian director Vincent Lannoo’s Vampires [trailer] (Eurozoom – seven screens); and Sophie Bruneau and Marc-Antoine Roudil’s documentary Terre d'Usage (“Land of Use”, ADR Distribution).

At the box office dominated by US productions (particularly Inception, starring Marion Cotillard), Bertrand Blier’s The Clink of Ice [trailer] has garnered almost 230,000 admissions in five days (Wild Bunch Distribution on 302 screens); Belgian director Ben Staessen’s animated film Sammy’s Adventures: The Secret Passage [trailer] has attracted 886,000 viewers in 19 days (distributed by StudioCanal on 627 screens); and Love Crime [trailer] by the late, lamented Alain Corneau clocks in at 260,000 admissions in 11 days (UGC Distribution on 260 screens).

Among this summer’s impressive scores are UK director Stephen Frears’s Tamara Drewe [trailer] with 488,000 admissions in six weeks (Diaphana Distribution); and Mathieu Amalric’s On Tour [trailer, film focus] with 479,000 viewers in eight weeks (distribution: Le Pacte).

(Translated from French)