Glenn here. Given my penchant for poster goodness I figured I'd pick up Nathaniel's regular "posterized" feature. A fun series that can time to time shine a curious light on the way films are marketed and how certain actors or directors can find themselves in a so-called "marketing rut" where it's the same thing over and over. Think of a Will Smith movie and don't you just picture his smug mug staring out at you in mid-range closeup? Even that one about selling his organs to Rosario Dawson (or whatever Seven Pounds was about - I've sure as hell forgotten!)
This week I've chosen François Ozon - and he's having a helluva week. Not only is his latest (un/lucky number thirteen) film, In the House [Dans le maison], getting a release in America, but his next picture, Jeune et Jolie, was just chosen to compete for the Palme d'Or in Cannes. Well done, Mr. Ozon! Still, don't the words "A film by François Ozon" feel like they should carry more weight than they do. Perhaps, but his career is too all over the place to give him the title of auteur and his films frequently go theatrically unreleased in western countries without a major star (Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling for instance) at the center.
Combien avez-vous vu?
Sitcom (1998) | Criminal Lovers (1999) | Water Drops of Burning Rocks (2000)
Okay, I have no idea what it's about but that poster for Ozon's debut, Sitcom, is fabulous.
Under the Sand (2000) | Swimming Pool (2003) | 8 Women (2002)
I have not seen Ozon's latest film yet, but don't you think these three - purely by accident that they all sit side by side right here - make up a sort of holy three. If you're going to tell anybody who is new to Ozon's films which ones to start off with, I'd be hard-pressed to think of three more appropriate ones than these. The destroying drama of Under the Sand [Sous le sable], the melodrama thrills of Swimming Pool, and the campy quirk (and musical fun to boot) of 8 Women [8 femmes] is pretty hard to beat. His most prolific period stateside reaped brief flirtation with awards for Rampling and Ozon himself in the foreign language categories of various awards bodies, made a star out of Ludivine Sagnier, and achieved big arthouse box office. The English and French-language Swimming Pool remains his highest grosser at over $10mil. Compare that to Ricky (below) which made... $3,457. Only Potiche has since come close to these figures from the early '00s.
5x2 (2004) | Time to Leave (2005) | Angel (2007)
His movies were a fan of the colour white, it would seem. A curious period where Ozon was trying to stretch both structurally (5x2) and formally (Angel - a period costume drama adapted from the book by ELIZABETH TAYLOR!... no, not that one) but which didn't seem to stick with critics or audiences. The fact that the latter vanished off of the face of the Earth probably says all you need to know.
Ricky (2009) | Le Refuge (2009) | Potiche (2010)
Were you even aware Ozon had made a movie called Le Refuge (also known as Hideaway)? I wasn't. Curiously he made two films about babies in a row (at least it looks that way from the posters). In the same year, even. Was he feeling the biological clock ticking? No worries though because he soon moved on to Potiche and wasn't that fun? You could certainly do worse than remember the performances of Catherine Deneuve and Jeremie Renier, no?
In the House (2012)
Word on his latest has been mixed. Some call it incredible, others I have heard from personally are less enthused. But, "playful and sophisticated" sounds nice, right?
How many have you seen... (yes, that was me being French up the top. did I get it right?) Will you be seeing In The House this weekend (or have you seen it already? global releases of international titles are so muddled you can never tell who's seen what!)