The Kid With A Bike Review and Trailer

Fantastic.

This film presents itself in as unassuming a way as its title – subdued in tone and seemingly so as well in scope. But underneath its exterior lies a very intense, human story of a child at risk of becoming lost.

The story is rather simple: a child is abandoned by his last family members, goes into a foster home, is more or less adopted by a hairdresser, and becomes involved with the darker sides of society which are so alluring and welcoming to the down-and-out. But the way the film is portrayed is what allows it to shine – that is, the directors feel no need to hurry and drill into our skulls that this film is a story. There is no senseless verbal exposition. Rather, the characters are allowed to breathe.

Le Havre Review and Trailer

“I heard about your husband. My condolences.”
“What for? He was a fatalist.”

This is what cinema is about.

Aki Kaurismäki is a singularly unique filmmaker. He is a master of tone, and the tone in “Le Havre” is so complicated and beautiful, and adds further to the excellence of the film. It is full of counterpoint, that old concept adapted to film by Eisenstein and perfected by Kurosawa – but the counterpoint in this film goes further than just sound to image. It also is stylized so heavily, with such bright, vibrant colours, which contrasts with the often dark themes. This darkness itself contrasts with the charming and wittiness which the film is full of.

Our Guide To The 2011 French Cinema Now Film Festival

Wow!  Want to see a great French film, or just a great film in general?  From what we’ve seen so far, this year’s French Cinema Now program is one of the strongest festivals San Francisco has to offer.  No matter which day or film you decide to see, chances are you won’t be disappointed.  Okay, so maybe it just so happens that the 5 films we saw from the festival are the only good ones, but I doubt it.  I’m sure there could be one or two stinkers in there, but we haven’t seen them yet.

Hopefully, our mini guide will help you decide which films to see at this year’s festival.  Click on the film’s title to see the full review, and for a complete schedule you can click on the French Cinema Now icon on the sidebar under “Current Festivals”.

The Kid With A Bike – a brilliant, subdued, and humanist piece about a young boy at risk of becoming sucked into the darker sides of society, and those around him. By the Brothers Dardenne.

Le Havre – Aki Kaurismäki’s stylized and eccentric tale of a northern Maritime city in France, xenophobia, cancer, and alcoholism… with a colourful and musical face. An extremely unique adventure, and a must see.

Bachelor Days Are Over – Katia Lewkowicz’s character driven film about a man about to be married and his reluctance to do so. Very believable interactions from very complicated, well-made characters.

The Long Falling – A dark Belgian film about numerous people dealing with abuse and murder.

The Minister – This talky yet well-paced drama isn’t made for everyone, which is exactly why it’s one of the better films of 2011.

French Cinema Now Film Festival 2011 – The Minister Review & Trailer

From The Minister’s intro, reminiscent of Kubrick‘s Eyes Wide Shut, where we witness a dream of a naked woman crawling into the gaping mouth of an alligator, to its final frames, Pierre Schoeller‘s film portrays the carnivorous world of public office.  This talky yet well-paced drama isn’t made for everyone, which is exactly why it’s one of the better films of 2011.

French Cinema Now Film Festival 2011 – The Long Falling Review and Trailer

The Long Falling is an interesting and dark Belgian film. Centering around a woman who is kept largely in fear by her husband, an abusive fellow who, purposely or not, killed a young girl on a road. The wife follows suit and ends her husband in the same place and by the same manner.

The film then takes us to Brussels, where the woman tries to reconnect with her son. This is the meat of the film, as the police slowly close in and the personalities and histories of the characters show through their behavior and conversations. They are shown as complicated beings, and their motives are never completely transparent – our idea as to why the woman killed her husband, for instance, changes multiple times, as does our idea as to why the son was so upset about this man’s death.

French Cinema Now Film Festival 2011 – Kid With A Bike and Le Havre Capsule Reviews and Trailers

The Kid With A Bike

This film presents itself in as unassuming a way as its title – subdued in tone and seemingly so as well in scope. But underneath its exterior lies a very intense, human story of a child at risk of becoming lost. There is no senseless verbal exposition. Rather, the characters are allowed to breathe.

Follow the jump for trailers, showtimes and a review of Le Havre

French Cinema Now Film Festival 2011 – Bachelor Days Are Over Review and Trailer

Bachelor Days Are Over (or Pourquoi tu pleures… An odd translation) was overall a very good character piece.

The film covers the few days before a man’s wedding, as he wanders around and interacts with his friends and family, his fiancée and her family, and his new lover, before marrying. It is almost entirely told through his interactions with these many characters. As such, it treads on potentially dangerous waters, in which the film is very beholden to the talents of the acting and the depth of the characters. Fortunately, it succeeds very well by and large at this.

Announcing the 2011 French Cinema Now Festival

San Francisco fans of film, especially those who are fans of French film, your time to rejoice is here.  From October 27th through November 2nd, a barrage of the very best that French cinema has to offer will be engulfing the San Francisco Film Society’s New People Cinema. San Francisco les fans du film, notamment ceux qui sont fans du cinéma français, votre temps de se réjouir est ici. De Octobre 27 au Novembre 2ème, a barrage de la meilleure que le cinéma français a à offrir seront engloutissant la San Francisco Film Society duNouveau Cinéma People.

There are many potentially excellent films on this year’s lineup, including this year’s Grand Prize winner from Cannes, The Kid with a Bike.  As always, we at Filmbalaya will start to post our spoiler-free reviews leading up to Opening Night, so stay tuned. Il ya beaucoup de films potentiellement excellente programmation de cette année, dont le gagnant de cette année du Grand Prix de Cannes, Le Kid avec un vélo. Comme toujours, nous au Filmbalaya va commencer à afficher notre spoiler sans critiques menant à la soirée d’ouverture, alors restez branchés.

Follow the jump for ticket information, and a full schedule of showtimes. Suivez le saut pour renseignements sur les billets, et un calendrier complet des horaires de séances.

French Cinema Now Arriving at Embarcadero 10/28 – 11/03

French Cinema Now is a weeklong festival showcasing some of the best contemporary films that France has to offer.

According to the San Francisco Film Society, this year’s festival is going to “build a comprehensive picture of the current moment in Gallic film“.  Which, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term “gallic film”, expect a heck of a lot of French people on screen being French.  Magnifique!

Follow the jump for showtimes and full schedule