04/11/2009

This Wednesday, European films dominate the line-up with eight productions and co-productions among the ten new releases hitting screens.

Leading the contingent is 87-year-old director Alain Resnais. Launched by StudioCanal on almost 200 screens, the veteran filmmaker’s Wild Grass [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], winner of a Special Award at Cannes 2009 (see review), proves that ingenuity has no age limit.

Visually stunning (thanks in particular to the work of talented DoP Eric Gautier), the film is a veritable feast of funny, brilliant and subtle variations on the theme of a thwarted romantic encounter. André Dussollier and Sabine Azéma happily throw themselves into their roles, alongside Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Emmanuelle Devos and Edouard Baer (in voice-off).

Today’s other major release is Radu Mihaileanu’s The Concert [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Mihaileanu
film profile], launched by EuropaCorp Distribution on around 330 screens. This French/Romanian/Belgian/Italian co-production, co-starring Mélanie Laurent (Shooting Star 2007), should propel the director to a new level of fame after Live and Become [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Denis Carot
interview: Didar Domehri
interview: Radu Mihaileanu
film profile], which enjoyed a successful theatrical run and won the Best Original Screenplay Cesar 2006.

Two 100% French debut features also hit screens today: Emmanuel Salinger’s The High Life [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news - distributed by Le Pacte on 81 screens); and Christophe Campos’ La Loi de Murphy (“Murphy’s Law”, formerly known as Diamants Sur Ordonnance - see news), released by Gaumont on 170 screens.

The line-up also includes two French co-productions unveiled on the Croisette in May. Rezo Films is launching a 15-print run of Tsai Ming-liang’s Face [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see review from Cannes competition), while UFO Distribution is releasing on nine screens Chilean director Sebastian Campos’ Navidad [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], presented in the Directors’ Fortnight.

Further releases include Gilles Perret’s documentary Walter, Retour en Résistance (“Walter, Return to Resistance”, Parasite Distribution on 14 screens); and US/UK co-production Away We Go [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by UK director Sam Mendes (Mars Distribution on 80 screens).

Meanwhile, at the box office, Laurent Tirard’s Little Nicholas [+see also:
trailer
film profile] has become the best-performing French title of 2009 with 4.1m admissions in almost five weeks (Wild Bunch Distribution on 630 screens), while James Huth’s Lucky Luke [+see also:
trailer
film profile] made the most of the school holidays to attract 1.3m viewers in 11 days (UGC Distribution on 687 screens).

Finally, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs [+see also:
trailer
film profile] has garnered almost 500,000 admissions after five days on release (Warner on 618 screens), while Michael Haneke’s Cannes Palme d’Or-winner The White Ribbon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile] is enjoying excellent results, despite its lengthy runtime (144 minutes), drawing 260,000 viewers in 11 days (Les Films du Losange on 189 screens).

(Translated from French)