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| RAd and Nils Tavernier |
With the weather fully cooperating, the 24th French Film Festival rolled out the red carpet for French director Nils Tavernier at the opening night highlighted by the screening of his film L’Incroyable histoire du facteur cheval/The Ideal Palace.
The cocktail reception held at The Gallery, Greenbelt 5 quickly overflowed with people that had French Ambassador Nicolas Galey extremely busy with welcoming and greeting guests left and right. Spotted are the usual personalities from the diplomatic corps, and Philippine cinema. Also in attendance that night was losing senatorial bet Samira Gutoc.
Luckily, I was able to spot director Nils Tavernier during the cocktails enabling my friends and I to have some photos with him before most of the guests figured out who he was among the crowd.
The people enjoyed the cocktails by Bizu very much that it took some time to convince everybody to head over to the Greenbelt 3 Cinema to watch the opening film.
L’Incroyable histoire du facteur cheval/The Ideal Palace
Director Nils Tavernier was on hand to present his film L’Incroyable histoire du facteur cheval/The Ideal Palace that officially opened the 24th French Film Festival. The movie tells the true to life story of Ferdinand Cheval (Jacques Gamblin), a rural postman who for 33 years built a castle for his daughter Alice despite having no knowledge of architecture.
It was refreshing to see such an understated way of storytelling like how the relationship between Cheval and his eventual wife Philomène (Laetitia Casta) blossomed after an offer of a drink of water. The showing of grief was equally understated even as Cheval kept on losing members of his family so that the impact was palpable when he did finally allow himself to break down. This is a stark contrast to the drawn out, melodramatic cry fest that plagues local productions.
The picturesque scenes coupled with the subtlety of how Tavernier portrayed relationships and expressions of love made this film a must see.
It was refreshing to see such an understated way of storytelling like how the relationship between Cheval and his eventual wife Philomène (Laetitia Casta) blossomed after an offer of a drink of water. The showing of grief was equally understated even as Cheval kept on losing members of his family so that the impact was palpable when he did finally allow himself to break down. This is a stark contrast to the drawn out, melodramatic cry fest that plagues local productions.
The picturesque scenes coupled with the subtlety of how Tavernier portrayed relationships and expressions of love made this film a must see.
Le Grand bain/Sink or Swim
The press preview from weeks ago showed Gilles Lellouche's comedy La Grand bain/Sink of Swim which is about a group of middle aged men each with their respective crises who eventually overcome the odds through synchronized swimming.
The film's main protagonist Bertrand (Mathieu Amalric) is unemployed and clinically depressed. He finds a sort of solace by taking a dip in his local pool. Out of curiosity or probably desperation, he then joins the pool's men's synchronized swimming team much to the surprise of his family. But he soon discovers that the other guys there are just like him, all struggling with different issues in their respective lives.
Soon, this ragtag band of unlikely swimmers find themselves training for the world championships under the guidance of former world class synchronized swimmers (who also have issues of their own). As expected and against all odds, they triumph in the end, not just at the championships but in life as well.
The film's tackling of issues regarding mental health and relationships is commendable but things sank quickly once the focus went on to the team's training for the worlds. I will not go into detail how improbable the team's road to becoming competitive athletes was that I had to pull my suspension of disbelief card.
I know that this was a feel good film with some tears along the way. But it was hard to convince myself that the team's triumph in the end seemingly solved all of their personal issues as well. Had the film remained a bit more grounded and not crossed over into almost a fantasy, I would enjoyed it and laughed out more instead of having to raise my eyebrows in skepticism.
The Manila leg of the 24th French Film Festival runs up to June 18, 2019 at the Bonifacio High Street and Greenbelt 3 Cinemas.
The film's main protagonist Bertrand (Mathieu Amalric) is unemployed and clinically depressed. He finds a sort of solace by taking a dip in his local pool. Out of curiosity or probably desperation, he then joins the pool's men's synchronized swimming team much to the surprise of his family. But he soon discovers that the other guys there are just like him, all struggling with different issues in their respective lives.
Soon, this ragtag band of unlikely swimmers find themselves training for the world championships under the guidance of former world class synchronized swimmers (who also have issues of their own). As expected and against all odds, they triumph in the end, not just at the championships but in life as well.
The film's tackling of issues regarding mental health and relationships is commendable but things sank quickly once the focus went on to the team's training for the worlds. I will not go into detail how improbable the team's road to becoming competitive athletes was that I had to pull my suspension of disbelief card.
I know that this was a feel good film with some tears along the way. But it was hard to convince myself that the team's triumph in the end seemingly solved all of their personal issues as well. Had the film remained a bit more grounded and not crossed over into almost a fantasy, I would enjoyed it and laughed out more instead of having to raise my eyebrows in skepticism.
The Manila leg of the 24th French Film Festival runs up to June 18, 2019 at the Bonifacio High Street and Greenbelt 3 Cinemas.
