25/06/2014 - European productions are burning bright on French screens, with such titles as Under the Skin, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem and On a failli être amies

Can any country elsewhere in Europe boast such a spectacular variety of films as those hitting screens this Wednesday in French cinemas? The answer has to be a resounding “no”. Thanks to the get-up-and-go attitude of its distributors and the enthusiasm of its exhibitors, and despite the fact that titles are sometimes only shown on a limited number of its screens, France is still an oasis for film-lovers in a global landscape that is all too often smothered by the duopoly of American blockbusters and national comedies.

Today, among other films, the astonishing Under the Skin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonathan Glazer
film profile] by English director Jonathan Glazer will be landing in theatres, after having received very enthusiastic backing from the critics and having been revealed in competition at Venice, and starring Scarlett Johansson in the lead (read the review - Diaphana Distribution in 53 cinemas). Also being released is the Franco-German-Israeli co-production Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, which was very popular at the recent Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (review - Les Films du Losange across 80 screens).

In terms of French productions, two comedies are getting a release today, among others: On a failli être amies [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Anne Le Ny (read the article), a bittersweet title carried by the excellent Emmanuelle Devos, Karin Viard and Roschdy Zem (Mars Distribution in 282 theatres) and, on the more romantic side, L'ex de ma vie [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Dorothée Sebbagh (read the article), starring Géraldine Nakache and Italy’s Kim Rossi Stuart (UGC Distribution in over 200 cinemas).

Also of note are the American-British-Romanian co-production The Zero Theorem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terry Gilliam
film profile] by Terry Gilliam, also revealed in competition at Venice (review - Le Pacte/Wild Side across 100 screens), the controversial Nothing Bad Can Happen [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by German director Katrin Gebbe, screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2013 under the title Résurrection (read the review in French - UFO Distribution in ten cinemas), and the Franco-Turkish-German-Greek co-production I Am Not Him [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Tayfun Pirselimoglu (review), winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the Rome Film Festival (Arizona Films Distribution in four theatres).

Three films by Italian directors are also being released: the American-Italian-Belgian co-production Stop the Pounding Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Roberto Minervini, which was premiered at a Special Screening of the Official Selection last year at Cannes (Aramis Films in seven cinemas, including four in Paris), Sangue [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Pippo Delbono (review - presented in competition at Locarno - Les Films du Paradoxe across four screens) and the documentary The Triplet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vincenzo Marra
film profile] by Vincenzo Marra (review - Bellissima Films in one theatre). Lastly of note are the two French films La dernière nuit by Frank Llopis (Les Films à Fleur de Peau in three cinemas) and Eté 85 by Nicolas Plouhinec (Le Sans Sou Cie on one screen). 

At the box office, which experienced a very clear slowdown last week, French Women [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Audrey Dana has proved to be a very decent performer, racking up 745,000 admissions in 19 days (Wild Bunch Distribution), whereas the Chinese film Black Coal, Thin Ice, which was triumphant at Berlin, boasted the best average per copy for its first week of screening (Memento Films Distribution) – further proof of French film-loving audiences’ healthy appetite for diversity.

(Translated from French)