29/03/2006

A fine duel is developing in the French theatres this week with the release of Francis Veber’s The Valet (La doublure), launched on approximately 700 screens by Gaumont Columbia TriStar and the US/UK co-production by Michael Caton-Jones, Basic instinct 2, which is being distributed on 634 screens by Océan Films. However, European films are also in the mix, with three other French features, a Hungarian animated feature, a German film and an Argentinean/Spanish/French co-production, while there are only two 100% US productions hitting the theatres alongside a sole Turkish film.

An expert at box office success (9m admissions in France for The Dinner Game in 1998, 8m for The Closet in 2001 and 3.2m abroad), Veber this time can count on a right royal cast with Daniel Auteuil, Gad Elmaleh, Kristin Scott Thomas, Alice Taglioni and Richard Berry.

Using François Pignon’s famous character, already explored in La chèvre, Les compères and Les fugitifs, The Valet [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news) tells the story of a billionaire who is caught in flagrante with a top model by a paparazzi and who uses a parking valet, accidentally included in the photo, to avoid a costly divorce.

Also gracing French screens is the highly original Hungarian animated film The District by Aron Gauder (see article), released today on 7 screens (distributed by CTV International), while Metropolitan Filmexport has launched 43 prints of El aura [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Fabian Bielinsky (a co-production between Spain’s de Tornasol Films and France’s Davis Films, which screened in competition at San Sebastian, see review).

A trio of French films accompany it: Camping sauvage [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (lit. “Savage Camping”) by Christophe Ali and Nicolas Bonilauri (Shellac, 25 screens, news), Serko [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by producer/director Joël Farges (Gebeka Films, 47 screens) and debut film Bénarès by Mauritius writer Barlen Pyamootoo (Pyramide, 4 screens).

Lastly, Diaphana is circulating a set of prints for the German film in six episodes Heimat 3, Chronicle of an Era by Edgar Reitz.

(Translated from French)