14/01/2009

With excellent timing, Cinéart are today releasing on 18 screens across Belgium Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danny Boyle
film profile], which has just triumphed at the Golden Globes.

Produced by the UK’s Celador Films and Film Four, with backing from US distributor Warner, the film is adapted from Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup’s Q and A. This novel – which has been translated into 36 languages – is a literary sensation recommended among friends.

The title is likely to swamp bookshelves adorned with a new cover, especially if the film receives an equally enthusiastic reception at the Oscars. Film Four made a clever move when they bought the rights to the book in 2004, even before it was published.

Slumdog Millionaire is the ninth feature by UK director Boyle. Having first come to attention with the biting and macabre comedy Shallow Grave (1995) – which he considers to be his best film – Boyle has since tried his hand at various genres, from fantasy thriller (28 Days, 2001) to children’s film (Millions [+see also:
trailer
film profile], 2004). With Slumdog Millionaire, he becomes the first European director to fully embrace the Bollywood wave, by adapting the style in his own way.

Alongside this potential box office champion, and a rather modest US presence, four French films and one Italian title will compete for audiences.

Italian film Il Divo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicola Giuliano
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
interview: Philippe Desandre
film profile] – which won the Jury Prize at Cannes – is being launched on nine screens in Flanders and Wallonia. Italy’s Indigo Films – who have loyally supported Paolo Sorrentino in his exploration of a baroque and sarcastic world since his 2001 debut film – co-produced the title with France’s Barbe Films.

French releases include Patrice Leconte’s La Guerre des Miss [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The War of the Misses”); UK director Sean Ellis’ fantasy film The Broken (produced by Gaumont); and Gilles Bourdos’ Afterwards, which is adapted from Guillaume Musso’s best-selling book. Another noteworthy Gallic title is Sylvie Verheyde’s Stella [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a subtle and sensitive film that gives viewers the chance to see the equally sensitive Guillaume Depardieu, in one of his final roles.

(Translated from French)