11/07/2012 - This week's event is a film about the crazy misadventures of three young men from a Parisian council estate. Good reviews also for Kill List and Mains armées.

Frank Gastambide's Porn in the Hood [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Les Kaïra), adapted from the successful mini-series of the same name broadcast on Canal+, was today released in 270 French cinemas by Gaumont. Produced by Mandarin Cinéma and Save Ferris, this off-the-wall, mordant comedy is about three childhood friends from a council estate on the outskirts of Paris who are poor, unemployed, and single. They are played by the director, Medi Sadoun, and Jib Pocthier. When one day they discover an ad for a porn film casting, they throw themselves straight into a series of hilarious misadventures in the world of X-rated films. Despite its humour sometimes being in bad taste and often a little heavy-handed, the film has been rather unexpectedly well-reviewed by the critics who were amused by the film's transgressive tone, the (very self-depreciating) authenticity of its popular roots, and the "charm" of several of its cameo appearances (Eric Cantona, François Damiens, Elie Semoun, Ramzy…).

"Our idea was always to make a caricature out of our own council estate influences: to dare to laugh at ourselves, our style, our complexes, our interactions with girls," explains Frank Gastambide. "Guys from the council estates are often struck by real emotional misery. There is such a gulf separating them from girls. Between your friends' sisters who are untouchable, those who want to get married with whom it's a real obstacle course, and the lighter girls who everybody dates, you only have your friends left! [Laughs] Or you can take your car and drive to Paris. Except that with your style, you're always going to be a loser!"

There have also been great reviews for British director Ben Wheatley 's Kill List [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ben Wheatley
film profile] (watch the interview), a film that was nominated for six British Independent Film Awards. It has been released in 21 French cinemas by Le Pacte and Wild Side Films. The filmmaker's next film, Sightseers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Wheatley
film profile], went down very well at the last Cannes Directors' Fortnight.

Another film discovered at the famous Cannes sidebar section has also been unanimously celebrated by the critics: The Night in Front by the departed Raoul Ruiz (Bodega Films in 22 cinemas). And cinema-goers will also be able to watch a great thriller starring Roschdy Zem and Leïla Bekhti: Mains armées [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Pierre Jolivet (read more - Mars Distribution on 287 copies).

Also out are Ben Asher's The Slut [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (selected for the Cannes Critics' Week in 2011 - read the review - Zootrope Films in 12 cinemas), Cécilia Rouaud's romantic Je me suis fait tout petit [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (featuring a great Denis Ménochet - Rezo Films on 118 copies), Ma bonne étoile [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Anne Fassio (StudioCanal in 277 cinems) and The Island [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Bulgarian director Kamen Kalev (critique - Le Pacte in one cinema).

(Translated from French)