French Film Club: Amour and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Two films that deal with love, loss and the aftermath of a stroke.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007, Director: Julian Schnabel)

This is the incredible true story of journalist and former editor-in-chief of French Elle magazine, Jean-Dominique Bauby, who after a suffering a massive stroke is left with a condition called locked-in syndrome. The film is based on his French memoir Le scaphandre et le papillon and describes his life both before and after the stroke. Bauby is mentally sound but completely paralysed, bar his left eye, which he learns to communicate with by blinking. The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid as a patient transcriber recited a frequency-ordered alphabet. The transcriber would write down the correct letter once Bauby had blinked once, and so, after an incredibly long journey, a book was formed ten months later. It took about 200,000 blinks to write and an average word took approximately two minutes. An incredible feat. The film, starring Mathieu Amalric as Bauby, charts his life in hospital at Berck-sur-Mer, chronicling everyday events for a person with locked-in syndrome- you see his infected eye sewn up from his point of view as the screen gradually goes pitch black, you see him stuck in a heavy vintage diving suit flaying in the water, and you see happier times, his family playing on the nearby beach and the visitors he receives.

Amour (2012, Director: Michael Haneke)

This is a much more recent film, voted by the Guardian as top 10 best films of 2012. The film was screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the coveted Palme d'Or, a second win for director Michael Haneke. The film focuses on an octogenerian couple, Anne and Georges, who are retired music teachers and live in a relatively peaceful existence. That is until Anne sufferes a stroke which paralyses her on one side of her body. The story is based on an identical situation that happened in Haneke's family and the entire film is played out in one apartment based on his parent's home in Vienna.

French Film Club: Les Bien-Aimes

This 2011 film by Christophe Honoré starts in the mid-1960s with Madeleine, a young assistant in a shoe shop who ventures into amateur prostitution and meets a charming Czech man. The film follows the pair's story and the story of their daughter, up until 2007, through their respective up-and-down romances from Paris to Reims, Montral Prague and London. Like Honoré's 2007 film Les Chansons d'Amour, this is a musical, with catchy, romantic and humorous tunes.

Starring Catherine Deneuve, Milos Forman, Ludivine Sagnier, Louis Garrel, Paul Schneider, Michel Delpech and Chiara Mastroianni.

French Film Club: Rust and Bone with Marion Cotillard

Last night I watched the French film Rust and Bone, directed by Jacques Audiard and starring Marion Cotillard. It is a starkly honest performance from Cotillard, as a whale trainer who loses her legs in a freak accident. But in fact, the storyline focuses more on her love interest, the bare-knuckle fighter Alain, played by Mathias Schoenaerts. He is a troubled soul who moves from Belgium to Antibes with his young son. The film charts their turbulent relationship as Cotillard's character, Stephanie, comes to terms with her disability.

For me, as a film that was greatly advertised as Cotillard's 'next Oscar', it was let down by the lack of onscreen airtime with the actress. This is not to say it was not an intense, gritty drama, with a superb performance from Schoenaerts. Perhaps he is as worthy of the accolade as the big name Hollywood actress, indeed, I certainly prefer Cotillard in smaller, independent films than big blockbusters.

French Film Club: The Adopted by Mélanie Laurent

The other day I watched this charming French film directed by and starring Mélanie Laurent. It is a story of family and friendship, love and loss: perfect for a Sunday night in, but don't forget the tissues. Below is a trailer:

French Film Club: Goodbye First Love and Kastrup Sea Bath by White Architect

A beautiful semi-autobiographical French film directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, starring Lola Créton, Sebastian Urzendowsky and Magne-Håvard Brekke. It tells the bittersweet story of a young couple, Camille and Sullivan, two Parisian teenagers whose relationship blossoms between school afternoons and summer holidays in the hazy and romantic Loire Valley. But Sullivan soon travels to South America, leaving Camille behind at school, where she goes on to study architecture after picking up a Le Corbusier book on Le Modular. Ticking away throughout the film are some stunning and subtle architectural backdrops; from the famous Bauhaus building in Dessau to the Danish Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, as well as one of my favourite scenes which was beautifully shot on a folly off the coast of Copenhagen (the Kastrup Sea Baths by White Architect, images below).

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French Film Club: Les Chansons d'Amour

A lovely French film I saw last night, which I recommend...

French Film Club: Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris'

French Film Club: Gainsbourg

This weekend I watched 'Gainsbourg', a film charting the intriguing, eccentric and successful life of singer-songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg. I recently wrote another post about Gainsbourg, which you can see here: http://thestudio325.blogspot.com/2011/03/gainsbourg.html. The film portrays him as an imaginative and often troubled creative, from his childhood in wartime France, to his renowned music, and of course his cast of lovers, Greco, Bardot and Birkin. I think the film perfectly captures his extraordinary life; even if sometimes you don't understand his thoughts or behaviour, a larger than life alter-ego with a bulbous nose portrays and describes his innermost thoughts. This film casts to life a character who is often better known for his actions or words than for his personality and life.