Kino Lorber’s Slate at Boston French Film Festival 2023

SCARLET

DIRECTED BY PIETRO MARCELLO
Pietro Marcello, one of contemporary cinema’s most versatile talents, follows up his dramatic breakthrough Martin Eden with this enchanting period fable. Shortly after World War I, veteran Raphaël (Raphaël Thiery) returns home from the frontlines to learn that he is a widower and father to an infant daughter. Raised in rural Normandy, the child Juliette (Juliette Jouan) grows into a headstrong young woman who dreams of greater possibilities. She seeks refuge in the nearby woods, where she meets a witch who promises scarlet sails will one day take her away from her village. Reckoning with her future and swept away by a rakish young pilot (Louis Garrel) who literally falls from the sky, Juliette never stops believing in the witch’s prophecy. Tracing Juliette’s journey throughout the 20 years of great invention between the world wars, Scarlet delicately weaves together music and fantasy, history and folklore, realist drama and ethereal romance, to craft a timeless story of a young woman’s emancipation.
Screening Date:
France/Italy/Germany | 2022 | 103 min | Color | In French with English subtitles

FINAL CUT

DIRECTED BY MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS
The Opening Night selection of last year’s Cannes Film Festival was this wacky horror comedy, a remake of Shin’ichirô Ueda’s cult hit One Cut of the Dead. It follows a director (Romain Duris, L’Auberge Espagnole) making a live, single-take, low-budget zombie flick in which the cast and crew, one by one, actually turn into zombies. Oscar® winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) milks the film’s hilarious and meta-to-the-max premise for all it’s worth, while also crafting a sly love letter to the art of filmmaking. What’s on screen unfolds in typical cheesy B-movie fashion, while the off-screen hijinks offer a celebration of the unpredictable and collaborative nature of film sets. Featuring a hysterically unhinged turn by Oscar® nominee Berenice Bejo (The Artist) and serving up blood-soaked high farce par excellence, Final Cut revels in its affectionate embrace of goofy genre fun.
France | 110 min | In French with English subtitles

LA SYNDICALISTE

DIRECTED BYJEAN-PAUL SALOMÉ
© Guy Ferrandis - Le Bureau
An investigative thriller set in the world of nuclear power and corrupt politics, La Syndicaliste follows the true story of Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert), the influential head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. A deft navigator of elite political and financial circles, Maureen becomes a whistleblower when she discovers international backroom dealings, exposing secrets that shook the French nuclear sector. Fighting against government ministers and industry leaders, Maureen worked tirelessly to bring the scandal to light and defend thousands of jobs until she was violently sexually assaulted in her own home, seemingly targeted for her attempts to reveal the truth. As her attack is investigated, new elements create doubt in the minds of detectives and lawyers, and they begin to see Maureen not as a victim, but as a suspect. Surrounded by powerful enemies and unable to trust anyone, Maureen must fight to clear her name.
Screening Date
France/Germany| 122 min | In French, English, and Hungarian with English subtitles

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: