Venice Diary #9 - "Blonde"

by Elisa Giudici

Today was Blonde day, at least until one of the most iconic royal figure from the last century died, stealing attention and coverage away from Venice movies and all other events. Considering the reviews for the biopic (and the spike in views The Crown will get), Netflix should probably be relieved. So for today's diary, a controversial take on the life and death of Marilyn Monroe and two movies that reiterate how healthy French cinema is.

BLONDE by Andrew Dominik
Overlong, indulgent and hyper-focused on the most tragic aspects of the life of Marilyn Monroe, Blonde as a biopic is a thanks but no thanks...

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Cannes Jury 2022: Vincent Lindon will preside.

by Nathaniel R

Vincent Lindon in Titane (2021)

Hot off his incredible work in Titane (2021), for which he received numerous accolades including a European Film Award nomination, Vincent Lindon will preside over this year's jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Lindon previously won Best Actor at Cannes for his role in The Measure of a Man (2015). The other members of the jury are...

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"An Officer and a Spy" and "Les Miserables" battle it out for the César

by Nathaniel R

France's Oscar parallel competition, the Césars, have finally announced their nominations for the film year. Roman Polanski's adaptation of Robert Harris's novel An Officer and a Spy leads the nominations. It's based on the Dreyfus affair and Emile Zola's "J'Accuse!" letter, both of which are also the topic of one of Oscar's earliest Best Picture winners The Life of Emile Zola (1937).  The drama leads the Césars with 12 nominations while the Oscar-nominated Les Miserables and the riveting queer romantic drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire were right behind with 10 nominations each. After the jump all the nominations and a few notes...

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Interview: Ladj Ly on 'Les Miserables'

by Murtada Elfadl

Winning a major prize at last May’s Cannes and the French finalist for Best International Film this year, Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables is a searing story of an escalating volatile situation taking place in Montfermeil, a Parisian project. A new policeman Stéphane (Damien Bonnard) joins the anti-crime squad and is paired up with Chris (Alexis Manenti) and Gwada (Djebril Zonga), whose methods are sometimes brutal and against the people they are supposed to be protecting. The trio get into a whole heap of trouble when they use excessive force on a gang of young boys misbehaving. The film builds sustainable tension across its running time until it boils over, with assured intense filmmaking.

We recently met with Ly in New York to discuss his film, opening today in limited release. [This interview was conducted in French and English with the help of an interpreter and has been edited and condensed for clarity.] 

Murtada Elfadl: The film has a lot of perspectives. The police, young Issa and his friends, the many factions living in the area. Can you talk about balancing the different perspectives and different characters?

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Best International Feature: France, Denmark & Russia's contenders

by Cláudio Alves

In less than two weeks, December 16th to be exact, we'll know the Best International Feature shortlist. In previous years, there were only nine finalists but, due to recent rule changes, the list has been expanded to ten titles. As usual, expect to see a lot of European productions since this category loves to reward the cinema of the Old Continent. Thinking of those preferences, I've decided to purview the submissions of three European champions of the past. 

Specifically, they are France, with nine competitive wins and three honorary awards uner their belt; Denmark, with three victories; and Russia, which won once or four times if you count USSR's wins. We'll start with the most-nominated country in the category's History…

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