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Seattle Sightings: The Seattle International Film Festival

2013; American Association of Teachers of French; Volume: 86; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/tfr.2013.0354

2329-7131

Joan M. West,

French Historical and Cultural Studies

Seattle Sightings: The Seattle International Film Festival, 2012. The thirty-eighth edition of SIFF, comme d’habitude, offered a solid, varied selection of French-language films. Nonetheless, there were fewer features from the métropole than in recent years, perhaps because of the new spring Rendezvous with French Film sponsored by SIFF’s parent organizer in cooperation with the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. Three Francophone directors received special attention. Each year SIFF identifies two “Emerging Masters,” filmmakers with innovative perspectives. Alain Gomis was so honored and presented both his compelling debut feature L’Afrance (2001) and his latest, Aujourd’hui, freshly acclaimed at the Berlin Festival. Daniel Cohen brought his The Chef (Comme un chef) to its North American premiere as Seattle’s Centerpiece Gala, the third year running that a French film has enjoyed that distinction. The New Directors Competition Grand Jury Prize went to Belgian director Nicolas Provost’s debut work, The Invader, an immigrant story deemed very edgy by Seattle viewers. Two films deserving notice screened just before their United States theatrical releases. The box-office juggernaut Intouchables, with its socially serious heart but not-so-politically correct humor, was well received. As was director-actor-writer Maïwenn’s 2011 Cannes Grand Jury prize winner Polisse, which features an absorbing portrayal of the Paris Child Protection Brigade and its officers. The director spent considerable time with this unit, thus her script depicts authentic cases, which range from sad to harrowing. SIFF groups its offerings in thematic “pathways;” I will follow suit, inventing my own. First, “Three New Looks at Known Territories.” Christophe Barratier draws on Louis Pergaud’s 1912 novel for The New War of the Buttons. He maintains the anti-war message and children’s viewpoint of the novel (and of Yves Robert’s beloved, classic 1962 film), but sets the action during the waning days of World War II and has all the villagers—adults and youngsters—unite to save a hidden Jewish child. Director Dominik Moll and star Vincent Cassel have teamed up in an absolutely sulfurous rendition of Matthew Gregory Lewis’s The Monk. The result is visually rich and contains every classic Gothic motif possible. Cassel gives a remarkably restrained performance which only emphasizes his character’s roiling inner emotions. Quite Rohmeresque in tone, Emmanuel Mouret’s pleasant fable, The Art of Love, features a bevy of stars, including Julie Depardieu, Judith Godrèche, Ariane Ascaride, Gaspard Ulliel, and François Cluzet. Love differs for everyone— it may arrive unexpectedly, but always with a distinctive melody. My second pathway: “Drama, Morality, Justice.” The Outreau Affair began in 2001 in Northern France. Accusations of pedophilia flew. Arrests were made. An initial 2004 trial sent a number of individuals to prison. A subsequent appeal revealed a grave miscarriage of the French justice system. Guilty (Présumé coupable; dir. Vincent Garenq) traces this infamous case as experienced by Alain Marécaux, one of those falsely accused and incarcerated. Philippe Torreton’s performance burns with its intensity. Director-actor Mathieu Kassovitz begins Rebellion (L’ordre et la morale) with a blurry, backwards slow-motion traveling shot over the dead and dying following a military action and then asks “How did we come to this?” The film is based on an account by Philippe Legorjus, commander of the Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale, dispatched from France to help resolve a hostage situation on Ouvéa, New Caledonia in spring 1988. The politics of an imminent presidential election intervene, severely limiting the time Legorjus has 814 FRENCH REVIEW 86.4 to negotiate a solution; and a bloodbath ensues. Kassovitz’s re-examination of this infamous incident is earnest and insightful. Robert Guédiguian returns to familiar ground with The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Set in working-class Marseille, shot with his faithful troupe of actors—Ariane Ascaride (his spouse), Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan—and inspired by Victor Hugo’s “Les pauvres gens,” this picture raises a number of social and moral questions. What does one do if young hoodlums rob you of wallet, credit and ATM cards, and the air tickets and cash given by friends and colleagues as a...