It happened twice now at Lincoln Center's annual Rendez-Vous showcase: I see a movie so lovely, so understated and funny and sad, so close to perfect, that the experience makes me happy. Perhaps coincidentally, French actor Vincent Lindon (Vendredi Soir, La Moustache) starred in both: Phillippe Le Guay's The Cost of Living (2003), an ensemble drama set in a restaurant in Lyon, and this year's marvelous Those Whose Remain (2008), the debut film of actress-turned-director Anne Le Ny.
Le Guay's terrific film, which also features Isild Le Besco as an heiress/waitress, never screened in the U.S. outside of Rendez-Vous, nor was it ever released on DVD. Le Ny's Those Whose Remain currently does not have a distributor, so this might be your only chance to see it. The film screens only three times: on March 6, 8 & 9.
Rendez-Vous with French Film opens today and runs until March 9. Fifteen films will make their U.S. premiere. If you can make it there, you should -- to see Those Whose Remain and to take your chances with the other films by France's most celebrated filmmakers, including Oscar winner Claude Lelouch's opening film Roman de gare, starring the legendary Fanny Ardant, and Cédric Klapisch's Paris with Roman Duris and Juliette Binoche.
New films written and directed by French actresses Sophie Marceau (Trivial) and Sandrine Bonnaire (Her Name Is Sabine) also premiere, along with Ain’t Scared, the searing debut by Audrey Estrougo, which recently screened at the Berlin Film Festival. The delicious cast of Christophe Honoré's Love Songs (pictured above) includes Ludivine Sagnier, Louis Garrel, Chiara Mastroianni, and Clotilde Hesme. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly's Mathieu Amalric stars in two films: Claude Miller’s A Secret and Nicolas Klotz’s Heartbeat Detector.
For more, see GreenCine Daily's preview or check the official site for the complete lineup. [posted by Marcy]
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