Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.02.2012, Side 24

24
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2012
Films | Of the french kind
Problems In The Eurozone
One of the challenges of covering
a film festival is finding a unifying
theme. Sure, most of the films here
are recent and French, but even this
does not hold true for all of them.
Some are from 2009, and there is
one from Chad and another from
Canada. So far, I have found that
many films star either Diane Kruger
or a small dog. Other than that, of
roughly half of the festival films I’ve
seen, most seem to focus on upper
middle class people fallen on hard
times. Perhaps this is no coinci-
dence, since this is probably the
first French film festival to include
films entirely conceived after the
economic crash of 2008.

The opening film is the much-hyped si-
lent film ‘The Artist,’ probably the first
such big budget film to be made since
Mel Brooks’ ‘Silent Movie’ in 1976,
which was the first one to be made
since the late ‘20s. ‘The Artist’ is set in
Hollywood during the end of an era and
is, in fact, as much fun as they say it
is. The story is reminiscent of ‘Singing
In The Rain,’ about an actor who has
problems adjusting to talkies. On top
of this, he also loses his life savings in
the stock market crash of 1929, and the
story does a good job of actually mak-
ing you care about people who make
bad investments. There is also a lot of
Hollywood trivia, and the sets provide a
stunning period piece.
WAR AT HOME AND AbROAD
The other much anticipated film of
the festival is ‘La Guerre Est Déclarée’
(“Declaration Of War”), which is not a
war movie, but instead about a young
couple from a wealthy family that loses
everything when their newborn child
has to undergo prolonged radiation
therapy. The film starts where most love
stories end, the young couple (called
Romeo and Juliet, of course) are quick-
ly whisked through their dating period
before the troubles begin. The story is
based on real life experiences and the
couple in question write, direct and star
themselves. It’s hard not to empathise,
but the story of Romeo, Juliet and their
terminally ill baby might not be every-
one’s idea of a great date flick.
Unlike the aforementioned film,
‘Forces Spéciales’ is in fact a war mov-
ie, set in modern day Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Diane Kruger is a journalist,
reminiscent of Norwegian war corre-
spondent Åsne Seierstad, who is cap-
tured by the Taliban and has to be res-
cued by the Special Forces of the title.
If you don’t mind cartoonish villains and
the gung-ho machismo of the French
elite soldiers, the film works well for
what it is.
DIANE KRUGER IN THE DARK AGES
Diane Kruger shows up again in ‘The
Dark Ages’ (also known as ‘Age of Igno-
rance And Days Of Darkness’), which is
Denys Arcand’s follow-up to the won-
derful ‘Barbarian Invasions’ from 2003
and ‘The Decline of the American Em-
pire’ from 1986. Sadly, this is the only
Québécoise contribution to the festival
this year and it was realeased in 2007
and has been available on rentals for
years. That said, the film is a mildly
amusing story of a man who learns to
outgrow his fictional girlfriends, but it is
lightweight compared to its illustrious
predecessors. If Arcand continues his
naming scheme, his next film should be
called ‘The Renaissance.’ Can’t wait.
‘Le Refuge’ is again about a couple of
rich parentage who lose everything,
this time because of drug addiction. He
dies of an overdose, she survives, finds
herself pregnant and leaves Paris to re-
cover. Slow moving, but the scenery is
lovely.
THE GIRL WHO LOVED jESUS TOO
MUCH
Slow moving too is ‘Hadewijch,’ about a
nun who is too devout for the convent
and is sent back into the world. There
she hooks up with a group of Islamic
radicals. The film explores a range of
themes, including the sexuality of a
young girl in love with Christ as well as
the connection between all religious
fundamentalists, but doesn’t really do
any of them justice. Nor does it answer
why her parents (again, on the wealthy
side) don’t seem to worry very much
when she goes with her new friends
to a conflict zone. In fact, the idea of
liberal parents and religious teenagers
is better dealt with in the Stieg Larson
thriller ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tat-
too.’
As always, the French Film Festival
features considerable variety, and it is
gratifying to see the festival blossom. It
has become a staple on the Reykjavík
cinema scene, providing some much
needed relief from standard Hollywood
fare while we wait for the next RIFF fes-
tival.
All films are shown with English
subtitles, apart from ‘Forces Spéciales,’
‘La Guerre Est Declare’ and ‘The Artist,’
but in the last case, this probably won’t
matter much.
Words
Valur Gunnarsson
Photo
Stills from The Artist
The film is a
mildly amusing
story of a man who
learns to outgrow
his fictional
girlfriends
The film festival runs until February 9. See
schedule at www.af.is
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A look at this year’s French film festival