The Alliance Francaise French Film Festival is one of my favourite annual film events. 2020 marks the 31st year of the festival and the largest French film festival in the world. As usual this post outlines some of the must-see movies, along with a review of the media movie, this year it was Edmond.
The biopic Edmond tells the story behind playwright Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play, Cyrano de Bergerac.
Edmond.
Writer Edmond Rostand (Thomas Solivérès) is at his wits end hoping for his big break, when stage legend Constant Coquelin (Olivier Gourmet) demands to star in Edmond’s next play. The only problem is the play has to be written in three weeks or the theatre will be closed down. Edmond struggles to find inspiration until he gets caught up in a love triangle with actor Léo (Tom Leeb) and costume designer, Jeanne d’Alcie (Lucie Boujenah). We all know the result – Cyrano de Bergerac.
Edmond the movie was an unexpected treat about desire and deadlines. I haven’t heard a room of reviewers laugh so much for ages. 9 stars.
While I haven’t these yet, I will be looking into:
The Extraordinary
To be honest my initial reason for picking this film was actor Vincent Cassel, he hasn’t let me down yet. Another reason is it’s made by the team behind The Intouchables. The Extraordinary is based on the real-life figure of Stéphane Benhamou who runs an informal shelter in Paris for autistic youth who’ve fallen through the cracks. The uncertified shelter is under threat when authorities start investigating it. The movie was honoured as the Closing Night feature at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
Roxanne
Poultry farmer Raymond (Guillaume de Tonquédec) lives happily with his wife (Léa Drucker) and their three children, but dreams of being on the stage. He acts out this dream to an audience of chickens. When the farms hits hard times Raymond starts broadcasting his theatrics to audiences via YouTube, co-starring his favourite hen, Roxane. Well why wouldn’t you?
Love at Second Sight – the Ladies comedy night
The ladies comedy night is always good fun and this year the movie is Love at Second Sight. If you liked Channing Tatum in The Vow you’ll like this one. It’s the tale of a man who wakes up in a parallel universe where his wife of ten years can’t remember him and he attempts to win her over again.
Bare Necessity – Closing night movie
The Perdrix family are held together by their matriarch, Thérèse (Fanny Ardant) who runs a radio show where she offers to solve her listeners’ personal problems. She’s unaware her callers are her supportive sons calling incognito. The family is forced to re-assess all they’ve taken for granted when a woman called Juliette (Maud Wyler) arrives. From earthworm experts to nudist revolutionaries to World War II re-enactments celebrating the region’s heritage, The Bare Necessity is said to be as eccentric as it is charming.
Others that look interesting are:
- La Belle Epoque
- My Dog Stupid
- 10 Days Without Mum
- House of Cardin
- The Mystery of Henri Pick
For more information go to Alliance Francaise and Luna Cinema or Palace Cinema Paradiso
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Edmond
