Lumière, l'aventure continue

Thierry Frémaux: Lumière, l'aventure continue ! (FR 2024). Photomontage from Vue N° 1170: Les Jardins du Champ-de-Mars (FR 1900).

Les Jardins du Champ-de-Mars. Vue N° 1170. Circulation des visiteurs dans les jardins du Champ-de-Mars. Opérateur: inconnu. Date: 15 avril 1900 - 8 juillet 1900. Lieu: France, Paris, Exposition universelle 1900, Champ de Mars. Projections: Programmée le 8 juillet 1900 à Lyon (France) sous le titre Les jardins du Champ-de-Mars (Le Progrès, 9 juillet 1900). Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: parc, ville. Événement: exposition. Genre: villes et paysages. Séries: Exposition universelle de Paris 1900. Data: Catalogue Lumière online. Please click on the photo to expand it.

Lumière, l'aventure continue

un film de Thierry Frémaux

    FR © 2024 Institut Lumière. Sorties d’Usine Productions. Institut Lumière, en association avec Le Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée. Avec la participation de l’Association frères Lumière et la Direction du patrimoine cinématographique du CNC. Avec la participation de la Ville de Lyon.

Productrice  Maëlle Arnaud

Producteur associé  Nathanaël Karmitz / MK2

Écrit et commenté par Thierry Frémaux, d’après une série de vues cinématographiques tournées par Louis Lumière et ses opérateurs à partir de 1895.

Un film de montage – noir et blanc – sauf un film en couloir de pochoir – format: 1,85 (intégrent le 1,33, format respecté des films Lumière) – the 120 Lumière films are largely not credited by title.

Montage  Jonathan Cayssials, Simon Gemelli avec Thierry Frémaux

Musique  Gabriel Fauré [many compositions identified in the end credits]

Post-production  Jonathan Cayssials, Simon Gemelli

Director of Sortie d'usine (2019): Francis Ford Coppola

Dedicated to Bernard Chardère and Bertrand Tavernier.

    106 min

    Distribution France  Ad Vitam

    Ventes internationales  Goodfellas

    Festival premiere: 20 Sep 2024 San Sebastián

    Spanish premiere: 14 March 2025

    French premiere: 19 March 2025

    Vu mercredi, 26 mars 2025, UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles, Salle 35, Pl. de la Rotonde Forum des Halles, accès Porte du Jour, M° Les Halles, Ligne 4, Paris 1er  

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: " Il y a 130 ans, les frères Lumière inventaient le cinéma. Tout était déjà là, les plans, les travellings, le drame, la comédie, le jeu des acteurs… Grace à la restauration de plus de 120 vues Lumière inédites, le film nous offre le spectacle intact du monde au début du siècle et un voyage stimulant aux origines d’un cinéma qui ne connait pas de fin. "

NOTE D'INTENTION: " Après Lumière ! L’aventure commence, sorti le 25 janvier 2017 dans 45 salles en France, qui totalisera plus de 135 000 entrées et plus encore dans le monde entier (il a été vendu dans plus de  33 pays), Sorties d’usine Productions et l’Institut Lumière proposent un nouveau « film Lumière », réalisé par Thierry Frémaux et produit par Maelle Arnaud : Lumière, l’aventure continue. "

" À l’instar du premier opus, Lumière, l’aventure continue est un essai dont l’image est exclusivement composée de films Lumière, afin que ces « vues cinématographiques » prennent toute leur importance sur le grand écran. "

" Le cinéma de Lumière, ce sont près de 1500 films de cinquante secondes. C’est de fait la première production cinématographique de l’Histoire, qui débute avec la Sortie des usines en 1895 et s’arrêtera en 1905, lorsque Louis Lumière se consacrera à l’invention de la photographie en couleur. "

" Au sein de cette production pléthorique, 120 films inédits et nouvellement restaurés ont été choisis. Les faire découvrir dans les salles, sur le grand écran, dont les Lumière ont imaginé le principe le 28 décembre 1895, et les replacer, les repenser au cœur du cinéma comme art, voilà ce qui fait l’existence de Lumière, l’aventure continue. "

" Pour autant, quand le premier long métrage mettait à l’honneur les films les plus identifiés et les plus mondialement célèbres, ce deuxième opus nourrit une ambition nouvelle. Il permet d’approfondir la connaissance de l’œuvre Lumière, en dévoilant des films stupéfiants de beauté. Ici, nombreux sont les nouveaux films qui font la preuve de l’imagination et de l’audace remarquables de Lumière et de ses opérateurs. "

" Les sujets sont insolites, les cadrages ouvrent sur une forme qui est déjà celle dont le cinéma ne cessera jamais de visiter l’accomplissement. Issues d’un matériel de première qualité pieusement conservé par Louis Lumière lui-même, puis rassemblé par la Direction du patrimoine du CNC, la Cinémathèque française et l’Institut Lumière depuis le centenaire du cinéma de 1995, les copies qui composent Lumière, l’aventure continue sont splendides et disent l’exigence technique et la qualité esthétique dont Louis et Auguste se faisaient les défenseurs. "

" Enfin, ce film porte aussi le texte de Thierry Frémaux qui inscrit ce cinéma méconnu dans une perspective historique détaillée et une vision philosophique à laquelle les Lumière sont généralement trop peu associés – même s’ils le furent par Henri Langlois dans les années soixante. "

" Le film insiste sur le lien immanent entre l’aventure Lumière et ce que deviendra le cinéma. Il nourrit la réflexion que pareille œuvre mérite, par son ampleur, son projet artistique et sa portée universelle, d’être redécouverte. Il dit que si Lumière est le dernier des inventeurs, il est le premier cinéaste." 

NOTE DE LA PRODUCTRICE MAËLLE ARNAUD: " Découvrir Lumière, l’aventure continue, c’est découvrir la splendeur de l’œuvre Lumière, associée à une réflexion inspirante sur le cinéma. C’est s’éblouir de la beauté des premières images filmées et Continuer à se réjouir de la vitalité du cinéma, 130 ans après son invention. C’est allier plaisir visuel, voyage à travers les continents, et profondeur d’une réflexion sur le cinéma. C’est bénéficier d’un niveau de restauration exceptionnel pour des œuvres du passé, et réaliser combien elles sont modernes, et s’inscrivent tout naturellement dans le cinéma contemporain. C’est une véritable leçon sur l’importance de cet art, le plus jeune d’entre tous, et sur sa puissance évocatrice. "

" La beauté des films, le commentaire qui l’accompagne : Lumière, l’aventure continue est un plaisir qui va sans nul doute émouvoir les spectateurs. Et ce travail exceptionnel est un cadeau pour tous ceux qui ont plaisir à aimer le cinéma. "

" Lumière, l’aventure continue c’est :

– Les films Lumière, 120 films qui seront une découverte totale, 120 films qui n’avaient plus jamais été projetés sur grand écran depuis 130 ans.

– Le commentaire de Thierry Frémaux, érudit, didactique, et ses perspectives historiques,  philosophiques et esthétiques qui recèlent de nombreuses et inattendues considérations qui nous emmènent jusqu’au cinéma d’aujourd’hui. 

– La musique issue de l’œuvre de Gabriel Fauré, élément essentiel de mise en scène et en valeur des films. Gabriel Fauré a été choisi, comme Camille Saint-Saëns précédemment pour Lumière, l’aventure commence, parce qu’il était un contemporain de Louis et Auguste Lumière. "

" Le film est découpé en onze chapitres, précédés d’un prologue et suivi d’un épilogue (et d’une surprise de Francis Ford Coppola, glissée dans le générique, il faut rester jusqu’à la fin!). Ce découpage raconte l’aventure Lumière, et plus largement l’aventure du cinéma. "

" C’est Sorties d’usine Productions, filiale commerciale de l’Institut Lumière (cinémathèque de Lyon, installée rue du Premier-Film, là où les Lumière tournèrent Sortie d’usine en 1895), qui a produit le film, et Thierry Frémaux a pu choisir parmi les 300 films Lumière nouvellement restaurés au laboratoire L’Immagine ritrovata grâce au CNC pour en faire découvrir plus de 120, parfaitement méconnus, et pourtant splendides. "

LE CORPUS LUMIÈRE: Les Lumière ont produit plus de 1400 films (et environ 1000 supplémentaires, dits « hors catalogue »), entre 1895 et 1905.

Sur les 1428 référencés dans leurs différents catalogues, 1422 ont été retrouvés et conservés, ce qui est exceptionnel quand on sait que 80 % de la production de film de l’ère du muet a disparu.

Les négatifs de ces films sont principalement détenus par l’Institut Lumière, la Cinémathèque française et la Direction du patrimoine cinématographique du CNC, et sont conservés par cette dernière, après le recensement et le rassemblement de l’œuvre Lumière initiés à l’occasion du centenaire du cinéma en 1995.

Il est important de noter que le matériel conservé par les Archives du CNC est en excellent état, ce qui est une chance inespérée pour la première production cinématographique mondiale.

LES RESTAURATION INITIÉES PAR L'INSTITUT LUMIÈRE: En 2015, l’Institut Lumière a lancé la restauration d’environ 130 films Lumière (les plus célèbres) avec l’Immagine Ritrovata pour les scans et Éclair pour la restauration, financée majoritairement par le CNC dans le cadre de son plan d’aide à la restauration et par un partenaire privé : la Fondation pour le patrimoine. C’est à partir de ces restaurations que Thierry Frémaux avait réalisé son documentaire Lumière! L’aventure commence, valorisant ce travail.

Actuellement, ce sont 300 nouvelles restaurations 4K qui sont en cours, supervisées par Maelle Arnaud et Thierry Frémaux, et effectuées au laboratoire l’Immagine Ritrovata (Bologne, Italie). Cette vaste et ambitieuse opération est financée majoritairement par le Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée dans le cadre de l’aide sélective à la numérisation des œuvres cinématographiques du patrimoine, ainsi que grâce au soutien de la Golden Globe Foundation et la Fondation pour le patrimoine.

Ainsi, pour son 2e film consacré aux films Lumière, Thierry Frémaux a utilisé une sélection de ces nouvelles restaurations inédites et ayant bénéficié des meilleures technologies en matière de scan (un défi, compte-tenu des perforations rondes de la pellicule Lumière) et de restauration. Le résultat est, aux dires des spécialistes et sans nul doute bientôt aux yeux des spectateurs, éblouissant. "

AA: This year we celebrate the 130th anniversary of the cinema.

In 1891, Edison launched film as a medium for the single viewer of the Kinetoscope. In 1895, Lumière launched film as a cinema medium for an audience with the Cinématographe.

For the celebration, Thierry Frémaux and the Institut Lumière have released a new fabulous compilation of films produced by the fathers of the cinema. Lumière, l'aventure continue is a brilliant sequel to Lumière ! L'Aventure commence (FR 2016). Both montage films are independently capable of conveying the miracles and wonders of the brothers from Lyon. They are ideal introductions to early cinema both for specialists and the general audience, including children.

The visual quality of the digital restorations is luminous and extraordinary. It is particularly important, because the Lumière brothers, in another distinction to Edison, were visual artists. There has been no greater celebration to this than Lumière ! L'Aventure continue.

I have been watching Lumière films since the 1960s, usually in dismal prints. The revelation for me was when I was able to see the " Cent films Lumière " compilation of La Cinémathèque française, a hundred 35 mm prints made from the unique single-perforated original Lumière negatives, printed in the laboratory of Jean-Paul Boyer, commissioned by Henri Langlois in the 1960s. I first saw this compilation in 1988 in one of the FIAF Touring Shows in Berlin and Helsinki, and again in 1991 in Helsinki when we screened the fabulous "Cent années Lumière" retrospective circulated by Institut Français on 35 mm.

I was disappointed with early digital transfers of Lumière. The films died in early digital. Now they live again.

Last year was the 150th anniversary of impressionism, and Lumière, l'aventure continue is a powerful reminder of the impact of impressionism in the birth of the cinema. Impressionism revealed that art does not need big subjects, nor important protagonists. Impressionism was the art of the instant. In the instant the artist saw eternity. What mattered was the grandeur of spirit, regardless of the topic.

Lumière films are also essential viewing from the viewpoint of la Belle Époque. Thus was life before the Great War, the last period in history when beauty was a main criterion in great art.

I loved the Camille Saint-Saëns compilation soundtrack in Lumière ! L'aventure commence. In the new film, the wonderful soundtrack is based on Gabriel Fauré, another contemporary. Fauré is not considered an impressionist but an influence to impressionists. Currently, "Pavane" happens to belong to the greatest hits of classical music in the radio channels I habitually listen such as Yle Radio 1 and France Musique. It does not sound too obvious here as it invites us to its warm embrace as the opening theme of the Lumière film.

With justification, Thierry Frémaux emphasizes plein air vues, where it all started. He dutifully screens samples of Lumière's staged comedy acts and trick films, only to state that others were better in them.

Lumière's cinematographers excelled in composition, mise-en-scène, movement, multiple movement, children's games, intimate family scenes, intimate travelogue scenes, public events, vehicles of transportation (trains and boats), mountains, oceans, sports, the military, world fairs, big cities, the grace of the wind moving in the foliage, the miracles of light reflected in water and the sublime of the nature in general (the Alps, the Mediterranean). The Lumière team had instant talent in filming action, finding the "decisive moment" for 50 second films. They were already masters in the art of the plan-séquence.

There are no title cards or captions for the 120 films, nor are they identified in the end credits, unlike the Gabriel Fauré compositions. Even in the press dossier, the frame enlargements are not identified. I look forward to revisiting Lumière, l'aventure continue armed with the titles of the films to be able to pay tribute to them specifically.

MORE DATA FROM THE PRESS DOSSIER:

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé / A Man Escaped (Gaumont DCP 2018)

 

Robert Bresson: Un condamné à mort s'est échappé / A Man Escaped (FR 1956). Everything is made possible by a safety pin.

Robert Bresson: Un condamné à mort s'est échappé / A Man Escaped (FR 1956). Prison de Montluc, Lyon, "Cette histoire est véritable, je la donne comme elle est, sans ornements." Robert Bresson. From the opening credits. My screenshot.

Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut

Kuolemaantuomittu on karannut / En dödsdömd har rymt / Ein zum Tode Verurteilter ist entflohen.

    FR 1956. PC: Société Nouvelle des Établissements Gaumont – Nouvelle Édition de Films. P: Alain Poiré, Jean Thuillier. 

D+SC: Robert Bresson – adaptation du récit autobiographique d'André Devigny. DP: Léonce-Henry Burel - 35 mm - 1,37:1 - b&w. PD: Pierre Charbonnier. S: Pierre-André Bertrand. ED: Raymond Lamy. Advisor: André Devigny. [Assistant: Louis Malle (n.c.).]

    Soundtrack: W. A. Mozart: Grosse Messe in c-Moll, First Part "Kyrie" (KV 427, unfinished 1782). 

    C: François Leterrier (le lieutenant Fontaine), Charles LeClainche (François Jost), Maurice Beerblock (Blanchet), Roland Monod (le pasteur Deleyris), Jacques Ertaud (Orsini), Jean-Paul Delhumeau (Hebrard), Roger Treherne (Terry).

    Loc: Prison Montluc (le réfectoire, les douches, la cellule 107, les cours de promenade). - Le 3e arrondissement de Lyon. - Le Rhône. 

    Studio: Studios de Saint-Maurice (Val-de-Marne). 

    Language: French - with some German.

    101 min

    French premiere: 11 Nov 1956.

    German premiere: 1957 VEB Progress Film Vertrieb. 1961 West Germany.

    Helsinki premiere: 1 April 1960 Adlon, Broadway, distributor: Eurooppalainen Filmi Oy (Aito Mäkinen).

    Gaumont dvd: 2010.

    Gaumont restoration: 2018.

    Symposiumi Elokuva ja psyyke 15: toivottomuus ja toivo / [Film and Psyche Symposium 15: Hope and Hopelessness], screening followed by a lecture by Antti Alanen.

    Viewed at Kino Regina, Central Library Oodi, Helsinki, 22 March 2025

[Jésus répondit:] "Si un homme ne naît de nouveau, il ne peut entrer dans le royaume de Dieu. [...] Le vent souffle où il veut, et tu en entends le bruit; mais tu ne sais d'où il vient, ni où il va. Il en est ainsi de tout homme qui est né de l'Esprit." Jean 3:5, Louis Segond Bible

    "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes" (Jesus and Nicodemus) John 3:5

    "Der Wind weht, wo er will, und du hörst sein Sausen wohl; aber du weißt nicht, woher er kommt und wohin er fährt". Johannes 3:8

    "Tuuli puhaltaa, missä tahtoo, ja sinä kuulet sen huminan, mutta et tiedä, mistä se tulee ja minne se menee." Johannes 3:8

AA: TALKING POINTS AFTER THE SCREENING. 

Robert Bresson's Un condamné à mort s'est échappé is a true story based on the memoirs of André Devigny, a hero of the French Resistance. 

From Devigny's memoirs, Bresson crafted a lean and vigorous screenplay. Distributed by Gaumont, the result became Bresson's most popular film, and it has maintained its universal appeal. Although there is a single protagonist, he is a disciplined member of a movement. In his pursuit, he is supported by a community of fellow prisoners in many ways and at every stage.

Also unusually for Bresson, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé is a genre movie that satisfies the genre expectations of the general audience, a movie that obeys the conventions of classical narrative and a film with a happy end. It is a suspense thriller in which reversals of fortune and last minute turning points are original and effective. 

But Bresson's suspense is of a special kind. The outcome is already declared in the title. What electrifies us is something beyond, the battle of the spirit against crushing circumstances.

In Journal d'un curé de campagne and Un condamné à mort s'est échappé Bresson established his unique style. His three films of the 1950s (also including Pickpocket) were based on the idea of the diary. The voice of the narrator conveys the inner world of the protagonist. There are no actors. Instead there are non-professional performers called "models". The films chart their spiritual journey towards grace. The camera registers physical reality with devotion. Everyday objects gain weight. 

The approach is elliptic. Bresson shows what others leave out and disregards what others would highlight. He is a master of action cinema (the prison escape, the world of pickpockets), but action is not an end in itself. Bresson is an exceptional director of the look, unique in the art of the point-of-view.

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé was Bresson's first film without a score. The only soundtrack selection is "Kyrie", the first part of the Great Mass in C Minor by W. A. Mozart. It is heard in the beginning and the end, and in repeated scenes where prisoners empty latrine buckets. The lowest business is conducted to the highest music.

Bresson did not consider himself a film director in the ordinary sense of the word. He was interested in le cinématographe. The cinematograph is related to music and painting, not theatre. It is a new way of écriture, writing in moving images. Its material is reality in the raw. In this, Bresson's aesthetics is close to Bazin and Kracauer. It is an art of mechanical reproduction but most crucially, something far beyond. The art of the cinematograph is pre-written, photographically crafted and carefully edited.

Four films - Journal d'un curé de campagne, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé, Pickpocket, Jeanne d'Arc - are about grace. The rest of Bresson's films are about a world without grace.

Starting with Journal d'un curé de campagne, Bresson no longer cast actors. Instead, he cast what he called models - non-professional performers. The models were required to avoid psychology, emotional engagement and identification. They were asked to perform without emphasis and recite dialogue as in a line reading.

Bresson loved actors in the theatre, but he did not want to cast them in films. The models were carefully selected. Dominique Sanda* testifies that they were precious treasures for Bresson. He approached them as if taming them and merging with them in an instinctive intercourse that had nothing to do with directing an actor. "I wanted to bring out the soul and the presence of something noble that is omnipresent everywhere and that is God". He quoted Robert Bernanos: "There is no kingdom of the living, no kingdom of the dead, there is only the kingdom of God and we are all inside". (From Dominique Sanda's foreword to Lauri Timonen's Robert Bresson, luultavasti [Robert Bresson, Probably], 900 p., 2023).

We have devoted one of our Film and Psyche symposia to the Diderotian Paradox of the Actor. According to Diderot, the performer who experiences a genuine emotion is not as effective as the professional who performs the emotion by purely technical means. The Bressonian model is something else again, but perhaps there is an affinity with the Kuleshov experiment. To enable that, the model must have a special inner quality. What is needed is not impersonation but presence.

It is fascinating to register that Bresson filmed Dostoevsky three times - and was the opposite of psychological storytelling. In Bresson's films, there is no unconscious from a psychoanalytical point of view. Death drive (including justified suicide) is a leading theme, but Bresson has no interest in das Es.

The performances of Bresson's models are deeply sensitive, touching and memorable. I argue that even for Bresson, it is about the unconscious - but in a sense contrary to psychoanalysis.

What is art? We are a secret to ourselves and to each other. Our life is a detective novel, and we are looking for solutions to the mysteries of "who am I?" and "what is life?" Even when we think we know the answer, there is always something more, something bigger, something deeper.

Bresson is interested in the secret in us that is related to our spiritual essence.

A performer who attempts to engage in a character with psychological means, muddles the water and prevents from seeing clearly. In the process, she also muddles the act of the co-performers.

A performer whose presence is bare from affectation, conveys something that is true, something of which even she is not conscious. Nor is Bresson.

There is an affinity with the documentary school of Robert Flaherty who was intested in a human being so fully immersed on what she is doing that she forgets to pretend. When we renounce self-consciousness, we reveal something that fascinates Bresson. It is not necessarily something private, but rather something universal.

Susan Sontag found in Bresson's cinema a "spiritual style" and Paul Schrader a "transcendental style". In Bresson's account of a material world, Sontag found a spiritual dimension. In Bresson's focus on immanence, Schrader discovered transcendence. 

In the beginning, the models look ordinary, and the way they are lit has nothing to do with glamour photography. But during their ordeal, the characters start to emanate an inner light. There is an affinity with transfiguration. A subtle shine emerges on their faces and in their eyes. Even if they are burned at the stake, their spirit is eternal.

(Robert Bresson made two films about military heroes. André Devigny became a brigadier general, grande officier de la Légion d'honneur and a Compagnon de la Libération. Jeanne d'Arc lifted the spirit of the French army to a momentous victory at Orléans and became the patron saint of France. In death she became immortal.)

The working title of Un condamné à mort s'est échappé was "Who helps himself" as in "God helps him who helps himself". Bresson was devoted to the theme of grace - grace and predestination - and the paradox of the free will. I am out of my depth in matters of theology. These questions were highly present on the French intellectual scene at the time, for instance in the writings of Simone Weil. Among major film critics, André Bazin, Henri Agel and Amédée Ayfre discussed them. Bresson's cinema is all about them, and his engrossing film leads us to reflect on these great mysteries.

...

No film-maker is more eloquent with hands. Bresson films them like thinking organs. (Incidentally, in Finnish, "käsi/hand" is the root for "käsittää/conceive", "käsite/concept", "käsitys/conception" and "käsitteellinen/conceptual".) Focusing on hands, Bresson makes thought visible.

...

André Devigny (1916-1999), a hero of the French Résistance, retired as a général de brigade of the French Army. 

During the occupation Devigny was a commander of a resistance network in the Lyon region. He was arrested and sent to the high security Montluc prison. There he was tortured by Klaus Barbie and his men. 

He made a series of attempts to escape until he succeeded together with a fellow prisoner and fled to Switzerland. 

...

Klaus Barbie, "the butcher of Lyon", is the subject of Marcel Ophuls's Hôtel Terminus : la vie et les temps de Klaus Barbie (US 1988). After the war, the US Army Counterintelligence Corps smuggled Barbie to Bolivia, where he advised military dictatorships (he was crucial in eliminating Che Guevara), also working for the West German foreign intelligence agency Bundesnachrichtendienst. When military dictatorship was abolished in Bolivia in 1983, Barbie was delivered to France to stand trial. By then, death penalty had been abolished. 

...

* Dominique Sanda was not an actor when Bresson cast her, but she became one after Une femme douce. She was the sole model of Bresson's who was an actual model: a mannequin and a beauty queen.

...

Robert Bresson is the only major film director of his caliber of which no biography has been published.

...

The cinematographer is the maestro Léonce-Henri Burel (1892-1977) whose filmography consists of 145 titles made between 1914 and 1971, among them many of the greatest classics of French cinema. He was the regular cinematographer of Abel Gance, shooting for example the three hugitives J'accuse, La Roue and Napoléon. From Journal d'un cure de campagne (1951) till Jeanne d'Arc (1962) Burel shot all Bresson's films. He brought to them something of the great secret of the silent cinema: the stark power of framing, the art of the close-up, the human presence, the mise-en-scène, the dynamic camera angle. There is an assured touch, a sense of urgency, an impact like these views have been branded on film.

...

This was my first experience of Un condamné à mort s'est échappé on digital in a cinema. The visual quality of the Gaumont DCP looked fine to me. The Finnish subtitles were not of the highest order. I saw and reviewed the Gaumont dvd release in 2010. A digital restoration was released in 2018.

Black Bag

 

Steven Soderbergh: Black Bag (US 2025). Cate Blanchett (Kathryn St. Jean) & Michael Fassbender (George Woodhouse). Pierce Brosnan (Arthur Stieglitz), Naomie Harris (Dr. Zoe Vaughan), Tom Burke (Freddie Smalls), Regé-Jean Page (Col. James Stokes), Marisa Abela (Clarissa Dubose).

Black Bag (titre original) / The Insider (titre français) / Le Sac noir (titre québécois).

    US © 2025 Focus Features. Société de production : Casey Silver Productions. Production : Casey Silver et Gregory Jacobs

    Réalisation : Steven Soderbergh

Scénario : David Koepp

Photographie : Steven Soderbergh (crédité sous le nom de Peter Andrews) – couleur

Décors : Philip Messina

Costumes : Ellen Mirojnick

Musique : David Holmes

Montage : Steven Soderbergh (crédité Mary Ann Bernard)

    Distribution

Cate Blanchett (VF : Isabelle Gardien) : Kathryn St. Jean

Michael Fassbender (VF : Jean-Pierre Michaël) : George Woodhouse

Regé-Jean Page (VF : Eilias Changuel) : le colonel James Stokes

Marisa Abela (VF : Victoria Grosbois) : Clarissa Dubose

Naomie Harris (VF : Annie Milon) : Dr Zoe Vaughan

Pierce Brosnan (VF : Emmanuel Jacomy) : Arthur Stieglitz

Tom Burke (VF : Gilduin Tissier) : Freddie Smalls

Gustaf Skarsgård : Philip Meacham

Orli Shuka : Andrei Kulikov

Kae Alexander : Anna Ko

Ambika Mod : Angela Childs

Alex Magliaro : M. Green

    Loc: – London, England – Zürich, Switzerland. Le tournage débute le 6 mai 2024 à Londres.

    Durée : 94 minutes

    Langue originale : anglais

    Genre : espionnage, thriller

    Sociétés de distribution : Focus Features (États-Unis) ; Universal Pictures (International)

    Dates de sortie :

France : 12 mars 2025 - sous-titres francais : Geraima Le Felletin

États-Unis, Québec : 14 mars 2025

Finlande : 17 avril 2025

    Vu samedi, le 15 mars 2025, MK2 Bastille (Côté Beaumarchais), Salle 1, 4 boulevard Beaumarchais Paris 75011, 11e, M° Bastille, Lignes 1, 5, 8

Tagline: "It takes a spy to hunt a spy".

IMDb: "When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband - also a legendary agent - faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country."

Wikipédia: " George Woodhouse et sa femme Kathryn sont des légendes de l'espionnage. Lorsque Kathryn est soupçonnée de trahison, George est confronté à un dilemme ultime : son mariage ou la loyauté envers son pays. "

AA: Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag is his third collaboration within four years with the scenarist mastermind David Koepp. As is Soderbergh's occasional habit, he is also the cinematographer (credited as his father) and the editor (credited as his mother).

Black Bag is plot-driven. The plot is devilishly ingenious. The film is brilliant, perfect and breathtaking, and the cast is outstanding.

But life is missing.

"Black Bag" is a spy code expression. "It's in the black bag" means that spies keep secrets even from each other. Kathryn and George love each other even though they cannot trust each other.

This reminds me of Federico Fellini's comment on Marcello Mastroianni: "We have a beautiful lifelong friendship that is based on healthy mutual distrust".

Kathryn & George have been compared with the detective duo Nick & Cora Charles (William Powell, Myrna Loy) in the Thin Man series. Notorious (Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman) and North by Northwest (Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint) have been mentioned. But these references help highlight the absence of warmth and tenderness in the Black Bag. Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbinder are icy creatures in public and private, so distanced that they have been reduced to shadows of themselves.

Soderbergh makes the amazingly complex plot run smoothly. I would need to see the film again to understand all the complications and implications. The plot is largely built around two dinner sequences. They are among the most curious in the history of the cinema. They may also be a satire on fine dining today: it is no longer expected that the food is good and the circumstances appealing.

The most impressive sequence for me is the control room with its deadly accurate satellite surveillance powers, leading to a prompt to destroy by drone the car of two Russians on their way in Poland to the Eastern border. Now that the US President is a Russian asset, and the CIA about to become subordinate to Vladimir Putin's FSB, I wonder what will be left of European security. And American.

I have been a Steven Soderbergh fan since Sex, Lies and Videotape (US 1989). Only later did I catch his feature film debut, the longform music video Yes: 9012 Live (US 1985), the first showcase of his experimental drive. I liked the Elmore Leonard adaptation Out of Sight (US 1998) with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, still my favourite of the Soderbergh "entertainments" I have seen. Then came the magnificent thrillers with epic resonance, Erin Brockovich (US 2000) and Traffic (US 2000). I would need to visit a Soderbergh retrospective to check out at least Che 1-2, The Informant!, Contagion, The Laundromat and Kimi.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: PLOT FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The Last Showgirl

Gia Coppola: The Last Showgirl (US 2024). Pamela Anderson as Shelly Gardner in Las Vegas.

La dernière danseuse de cabaret (titre québécois).

    US © 2024 Body of Work. Sociétés de production : Utopia, High Frequency Entertainment, Pinky Promise, Digital Ignition Entertainment et Spark Features. Production : Robert Schwartzman, Natalie Farrey et Gia Coppola. Producteurs exécutifs : Jessamine Burgum, Michael Clofine, Nick Darmstaedter, Kara Durrett, Brandon Thomas Lee, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Josh Peters, Robina Riccitiello, George Rush, Jack Selby, Kevin Wheeler et Cole Harper. Coproducteur exécutif : Matthew Shire. Coproducteurs : Jennifer Goodridge et Dani Koenigsberg

    Réalisation : Gia Coppola

Scénario : Kate Gersten - based on her stage play Body of Work

Coconcepteur : Rainy Jacobs

Photographie : Autumn Durald Arkapaw – couleur – 2.39:1 – 16 mm

Décors : Natalie Ziering

Costumes : Jacqueline Getty

Musique : Andrew Wyatt

"Shadows of the Night" (D. L. Byron) perf. Pat Benatar. – "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Jim Steinman) perf. Bonnie Tyler). – "Come and Get Your Love" (Lolly Vegas) perf. Redbone. – Theme song during the end credits, written for the movie: "Beautiful That Way" (Andrew Wyatt, Miley Cyrus, Lykke Li) perf. Miley Cyrus.  

Montage : Blair McClendon et Cam McLauchlin

    Distribution

Pamela Anderson : Shelly Gardner (vf : Malvina Germain), a successful seasoned showgirl

Dave Bautista : Eddie, producer of the revue, Hannah's father

Jamie Lee Curtis : Annette (vf : Véronique Augereau), Shelly's best friend, a cocktail waitress and former showgirl

Patrick Hilgart : Brad

Billie Lourd : Hannah Gardner, Shelly and Eddie's daughter

Jason Schwartzman : the casting director

Kiernan Shipka : Jodie, a showgirl

Brenda Song : Marianne / Mary-Anne, a showgirl

John Clofine : Poker Player

Patrick Hilgart : Brad

Jesse Phillips : Wardrobe Dresser

David Avne : Patron du restaurant (non crédité)

Sean Patrick Bryan : Patron du restaurant (non crédité)

    Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada.

    Durée : 85 min (L'Officiel des Spectacles), 89 min (Wikipédia, IMDb)

    Langue originale : anglais

    Genre : drame

    Sociétés de distribution : Roadside Attractions (États-Unis), Sony Picture (France), September Film (Belgique). 

    Dates de sortie :

Festival premiere : 6 septembre 2024 (Toronto)

Festival international du film de Saint-Sébastien : 26 septembre 2024 : prix spécial du jury

États-Unis : 13 décembre 2024 (sortie limitée), 10 janvier 2025 (sortie nationale)

Finlande : 28 février 2025

France : 12 mars 2025 - Sony - sous-titres francais: Pierre Arson

    Vu samedi, le 15 mars 2025, Majestic Bastille, 4 bd Richard-Lenoir, Paris 75011, 11e, M° Bastille, Lignes 1, 5, 8

IMDb: "A seasoned showgirl must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run."

Wikipédia: " Depuis près de trente ans, Shelley est une showgirl de Las Vegas. Elle est la « pièce maîtresse » d'un spectacle typique de la « ville du péché ». Ses collègues danseuses sont comme une sorte de famille. Mais un jour, Eddie, le régisseur, annonce que le spectacle s'arrêtera définitivement dans deux semaines. Shelley et ses collègues danseuses doivent prendre des décisions pour leur avenir. Âgée de 50 ans, Shelley ne sait rien faire d'autre que de la danse. Très marquée par cette nouvelle, elle va tenter de renouer avec sa fille Hannah qu'elle connaît à peine. Elle va cependant être soutenue par sa meilleure amie Annette, une serveuse exubérante. "

AA: Gia Coppola's The Last Showgirl is a subversively body-positive celebration of femininity caught between glorification and exploitation. 

It belongs to a contemporary trend of women film-makers "reclaiming the gaze" in the traditionally male-monopolized arena of presenting woman as spectacle.

Examples range from Bette Gordon's Variety (US 1983) to Lorene Scafaria's Hustlers (US 2019) and Lucie Borleteau's À mon seul désir (FR 2023). From the male side, sympathetic accounts include Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls (US 1995, first derided, then rehabilitated), Mathieu Amalric's Tournée (FR 2010) and Sean Baker's Anora (US 2024).

In parallel to Westerns featuring ageing gunfighters such as Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country / Guns in the Afternoon (US 1962), The Last Showgirl tells about "Showgirls in the Afternoon". It also resembles dramas about boxers past their prime such as John Huston's Fat City (US 1972) or the final entries of the Rocky franchise (US 1990, US 2006).

Shelly Gardner (Pamela Anderson) and her best friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis) are super troupers who face facts stoically. It is humiliating to be auditioning again after 30 years in a successful show, but this is not a story of disillusion and disappointment. Shelly is proud of her performances, and she is in good condition, happy about the style and glamour of the show. 

But there is a "best before" date in show business, particularly cruelly for women who are more dependent on their looks. Pamela Anderson's performance is equally daring as Demi Moore's in The Substance (FR 2024). Demi Moore played her part in a mode of utter horror, as a woman destructively lost in illusions of surface youth.

In contrast, Pamela Anderson gives a warm and tender performance. In the heartbreaking world of sex as commodity she has not lost her humanity. She meets her estranged daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd) whom she abandoned as a child. Now Hannah is her mirror, the one who sees her and through her. The show manager Eddie (Dave Bautista) is Hannah's absentee father. Shelly does her best to make up what was broken. What remains is the most important of all: dignity, again in contrast to the horror show of The Substance.

...

I missed the beginning of the movie because of erroneous information in L'Officiel des Spectacles about the duration of the previous film, Armand.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: DATA FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Armand

Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel: Armand (NO 2024). Center: Renate Reinsve (Elizabeth). Background left: Ellen Dorrit Petersen (Sarah), Endre Hellestveit (Anders). Right: Thea Lambrechts Vaulen (Sunna), Øystein Røger (Jarle).

La Convocation.

    NO/SE/DE/NL © 2024 Eye Eye Pictures / Keplerfilm / Prolaps / One Two Films / Zefyr / Film i Väst. P: Andrea Berentsen Ottmar.

    Réalisation : Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

Scénario : Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

Photographie : Pål Ulvik Rokseth (FNF) – couleur — 16 mm

Décors : Mirjam Veske

Costumes : Alva Brosten

Musique : Ella van der Woude

Soundtrack: "Le Cygne", treizième mouvement du Carnaval des animaux (1886) de Camille Saint-Saëns.

Son : Mats Lid Støten — 5.1

Montage : Robert Krantz

    Distribution

Renate Reinsve : Elizabeth

Ellen Dorrit Petersen : Sarah

Thea Lambrechts Vaulen : Sunna

Endre Hellestveit : Anders

Øystein Røger : Jarle

Vera Veljovic : Ajsa

Assad Siddique : Faizal

Patrice Demonière : Emmanuel

    Langue originale : norvégien

    Durée : 118 min

    Genre : Drame

    Société de distribution : Tandem

    Dates de sortie :

Festival premiere: 18 mai 2024 Festival de Cannes : section Un certain regard – 1er Film – Caméra d'Or 2024.

Premiere in Norway: 27 Sep 2024

Premiere in France : 12 mars 2025 (sortie nationale)

Official submission of Norway for Best International Feature Film of the 97th Academy Awards in 2025.

    Vu samedi, le 15 mars 2025, UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles, Salle 40, Pl. de la Rotonde Forum des Halles, accès Porte du Jour, M° Les Halles, Ligne 4, Paris 1er

NB. According to L'Officiel des Spectacles, the duration is 100 min. The actual duration is 118 min.

Wikipédia: " Un après-midi, Elizabeth est appelée à l'école primaire de son fils Armand. Il y a eu un incident entre le garçon de 6 ans et son camarade de classe Jon, du même âge. Lorsqu'elle arrive, Elizabeth découvre que la conversation est menée par l'enseignante inexpérimentée Sunna et que les parents de Jon sont également présents. Le camarade de jeu d'Armand a été retrouvé blessé au visage. Jon en a blâmé Armand et l'a accusé de viles menaces. "

" Mais personne ne sait avec certitude ce qui s'est passé entre les deux garçons. Bientôt, d’autres enseignants participent à la conversation. Armand est accusé d'être un « déviant sexuel » et d'avoir dépassé certaines limites. À mesure que l'après-midi avance, les mères d'Armand et Jon deviennent de plus en plus désespérées et des secrets et mensonges longtemps cachés sont révélés. Il devient de plus en plus difficile de découvrir la vérité. Bientôt, la conversation porte davantage sur les adultes que sur les enfants concernés. "

Cannes 2024: " During one fatal afternoon in an empty elementary school the two mothers of Armand (6) and Jon (6) get into a desperate fight to be believed when one son is accused of crossing boundaries

against the other. All means are used, and soon a blend of madness, desire and obsession arises. Where the truth lies is impossible to know, and soon everything evolves less and less around the children, who we never meet, and more about the adults. "

AA: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel's feature film debut Armand is an achievement of high intensity. The story of a crisis meeting at a primary school obeys the classical unities of time, place and action.

It belongs to the films about protagonistas ausentes, to quote the title of an inspired retrospective mounted once upon a time at the Cinemateca Portuguesa, composed of films such as Rebecca, which is all about her, although we never see her. At Armand's primary school, children are absent, present only via drawings.

Armand has affinities with Carnage, based on the play by Yasmina Reza, and it belongs to a current trend of school dramas such as The Teachers' Lounge, but draws directly on Ullmann Tøndel's own experience: "I have also worked in a primary school for many years and experienced how we mirror children with their parents, for better or worse. And how all behaviour (from kids or parents) that’s even slightly outside of the norm is almost frowned and paid very close attention to."

Armand is story-driven and performance-driven. It is the story of a crisis meeting, based on an alarming account of something that happened between the 6-year old boys Armand and Jon. Jon is bruised, and Armand is suspected of sexual transgression.

Armand's mother Elizabeth is flabbergasted: why had nobody told before? The details of the account are so far out that she breaks out in Homeric laughter in one of the most unforgettable laughter scenes in the cinema. Her reaction only worsens the situation, and there is talk of involving welfare officers and the police.

Elizabeth as played by the extraordinary Renate Reinsve is a drama queen. At the crisis meeting her presence is at once prominent and vulnerable. To transcend the madness, Ullmann Tøndel breaks from realism in a musical production number for Elizabeth, joining the peculiar "back to the musical" trend in contemporary cinema (see Emilia Pérez). 

During the breaks, the parents of the children and the trio of school representatives have time to reflect upon the absurdity of the charges. The notion of a sexual transgression between 6-year-olds turns out to be a misunderstanding and a case of "a broken telephone". Jon's bruises remain a mystery, but they had appeared before the fatal situation, and Jon's mother Sarah (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) seems to have something to hide. Finally, in pouring rain at the schoolyard, people come to their senses and reconciliation takes place. 

The revelation of the movie is that although Elisabeth is the obvious drama queen, there is an even more formidable drama queen: Sarah. She has the talent and genius of pursuing suspicion and spinning webs of deceit, perhaps even without being fully aware of what she is doing nor of her hidden talent of creating an alternative reality with fake news.

Ullmann Tøndel has a firm vision in the mise-en-scène. Pål Ulvik Rokseth is in charge of the powerful cinematography. Armand is in the end a benign psychological drama, but there are accents of the thriller and even horror in the visual approach. Low angles make the school loom like a Gothic castle, and empty corridors have been lensed like the Overlook Hotel. The opening scenes of Elizabeth racing against the clock on narrow mountain roads instil a sense of urgency, powered by an intense score by Ella van der Woude.

Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel. I look forward for more.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK : CANNES 2024 INTERVIEW WITH HALFDAN ULLMANN TØNDEL:

L’Attachement / The Ties That Bind Us

Carine Tardieu: L'Attachement / The Ties That Bind Us (FR/BE 2024). César Botti (Elliott) and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (Sandra Ferney). 

The Ties That Bind Us.

    FR/BE © 2024 Karé Productions / France 2 Cinéma / uMedia. – En association avec 6 SOFICA. Production : Antoine Rein, Antoine Gandaubert, Fabrice Goldstein

    Réalisation : Carine Tardieu

Scénario : Carine Tardieu, Agnès Feuvre, Raphaële Moussafir, d'après le roman L'Intimité d'Alice Ferney paru en 2020.

Photographie : Elin Kirschfink, Yann Maritaud – couleurs – 1,85:1

Décors : Pascale Consigny

Effets visuels : Vincent Vacarisas

Musique : Éric Slabiak

Soundtrack selections include: – "Don't Get Me Wrong" (Chrissie Hynde) perf. The Pretenders, 1986. – "Você Abusou" (Antonio Carlos & Jocafi), 1971. – "Ochi tchornye" (Yevhen Hrebinka 1843, Florent Hermann 1884).

Son : Thomas Desjonquères – Dolby Surround 5.1

Montage : Christel Dewynter

    Distribution

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi : Sandra Ferney

Pio Marmaï : Alexandre « Alex » Perthuis

Vimala Pons : Emillia Demetriu, la pédiatre

Raphaël Quenard : David, le père biologique d'Elliott

César Botti : Elliott

Catherine Mouchet : Fanny, la mère de Cécile

Marie-Christine Barrault : la mère de Sandra et Marianne

Florence Muller : Marianne, la sœur de Sandra

Mélissa Barbaud : Cécile, la mère d'Elliott et Lucille

Éric Verdin : l'amant du jeudi de Sandra

Sylviane Duparc : la patiente roumaine

Izia Le Goff : Lucille, à 1 an

Olympe Herviaux Drider : Lucille, à 2 ans

Éric Slabiak : l'un des musiciens

    Loc: Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne). – Librairie La Nuit des Temps, 10 Quai Émile Zola – 71 avenue Aristide Briand – École élémentaire Contour Saint-Aubin, 10 rue Contour Saint-Aubin – Hôpital Sud, 16 boulevard de Bulgarie.

    Durée : 106 minutes

    Langue originale : français (et secondairement roumain)

    Genre : drame

    Budget : 5,5 millions d'euros

    Dates de sortie :

Festival premiere : 3 septembre 2024 Venice Film Festival en compétition dans la catégorie "Orizzonti"

France : 19 février 2025 – société de distribution : Diaphana Distribution (France)

    Vu samedi, le 15 mars 2025, UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles, Salle 13, Pl. de la Rotonde Forum des Halles, accès Porte du Jour, M° Les Halles, Ligne 4, Paris 1er 

Wikipédia: "Il s’agit d’une adaptation du roman L'Intimité d'Alice Ferney paru en 2020. Alors que Carine Tardieu avait déjà lu ce roman qui se trouvait chez elle, c'est Fanny Ardant qui lui a conseillé de le relire dans le but de l'adapter au cinéma."

Synopsis: "Sandra, cinquantenaire célibataire, tient une librairie féministe. Lorsque le couple de l'appartement voisin, Alex et Cécile, doit se rendre à l'hôpital pour l'accouchement de cette dernière, Sandra accepte de s'occuper de leur fils Elliott, âgé de six ans, bien que cette femme ne soit pas très intéressée par les enfants. Des complications surviennent lors de l'accouchement et la mère décède en donnant naissance à une fille prénommée Lucille. Par la suite, Sandra devient de plus en plus une référence féminine importante, non seulement pour le garçon, mais aussi pour le père veuf et pour la petite Lucille."

"Le film est réalisé par Carine Tardieu, qui a également écrit le scénario avec Agnès Feuvre et Raphaële Moussafir. Tardieu a voulu raconter l'histoire d'une femme qui affirme son indépendance affective et dont les certitudes sont ébranlés par une rencontre."

"Le tournage a lieu à Rennes entre fin juin 2023 et début janvier 2024. Tardieu avait déjà collaboré avec la chef opératrice Elin Kirschfink pour Les Jeunes Amants."

"La musique du film est composée par Eric Slabiak, qui a récemment travaillé sur une série de téléfilms. Tardieu avait déjà collaboré avec lui pour Ôtez-moi d'un doute et également pour Les Jeunes Amants."

AA: Carine Tardieu's L'Attachement / The Ties That Bind Us, is true to the title of the Alice Ferney novel on which it is based: L'Intimité.

It is a contemporary family story. The family in question is not traditional or conventional - but then most families in the Western world are no longer traditional. The blended family and the nontraditional family are more common. The main unit in L'Attachement is a blended family (une famille recomposée). The theme has been discussed in recent movies such as Rebecca Zlotowski's Les Enfants des autres (FR 2021), but L'Attachement owes nothing to them.

The film starts with birth. The baby Lucille is born, and her growing up gives the movie a structure, timeline and metronome, expressed in intertitles like "Lucille 1. semaine", "Lucille 16 mois" and "Lucille 2 ans".

It starts with a simultaneous death. The mother Cécile (Mélissa Barbaud) dies at the childbirth. The father Alex (Pio Marmaï) is devastated, but fortunately the neighbour Sandra (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) helps with the now motherless son Elliott (César Botti). Among the nontraditional features is that the biological father is not Alex but a friend called David (Raphaël Quenard). Cécile's mother (Catherine Mouchet) is probably the most devastated of all, but despite syndromes of memory disorder, she becomes a center of gravity.

All in all, the film is a celebration of "life goes on". A working title was "To Life" as in the toast "L'Chaim!"

L'Attachement is also a celebration of the idea "it takes a village to raise a child". No mother is replaceable, but when a mother dies, acceptable substitutes can be found. And when a wife dies, the husband may want to find an acceptable substitute.

Sandra, a single woman, a proudly independent chain-smoker, a writer and a proprietor of the feminist bookstore La Nuit des Temps on Quai Émile Zola, becomes the unlikely temporary foster mother of Elliott. To her own surprise, this comes naturally, and a mutual liking begins instantly.

Sandra invites the gravely disturbed Alex to her home, too, but refuses further attentions from the shattered man. It takes time to recover, and Sandra does not want to be a temporary substitute partner. Soon Alex enters a new marriage, with Emilia (Vimala Pons), but it proves premature, and Sandra is needed once again.

The excellent cast is deeply committed. It is a pleasure to discover in the cast Marie-Christine Barrault as Sandra's mother.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi gives a performance of high emotional intelligence.

In Liebe, Eure Hilde / From Hilde, with Love

Andreas Dresen: In Liebe, Eure Hilde / From Hilde, with Love (DE 2024). Johannes Hegemann (Hans Coppi) and Liv Lisa Fries (Hilde Coppi). – Their last summer is a summer of love in the beautiful countryside of Brandenburg.

Berlin, été 42 / From Hilde, with Love.

    DE © 2024 Pandora Film Produktion. PC: Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg / Arte Straßburg. P: Claudia Steffen, Christoph Friedel, Prof. Regina Ziegler. Commissioning Editors: Cooky Ziesche, Barbara Häbe, Manuel Tanner. EX: Fee Buck, Peter Hartwig, Markus Olpp. Co-P: Andreas Dresen, Andreas Leusink.

    Director: Andreas Dresen

Screenplay: Laila Stieler

Cinematography: Judith Kaufmann – Arri Alexa Mini and Leitz Summilux-C – 2K – colour – 1.66:1

Production Design: Susanne Hopf

Costumes: Birgitt Kilian

Make-Up: Grit Kosse, Uta Spikermann, Monika Münnich

Soundtrack: "La Cucaracha" (trad. originally from Spain, then Mexico, earliest documented mention 1819, possibly Andalusian origin, earliest lyrics mention Moors and Jews during the reconquista)

Sound: Oswald Schwander, Andreas Walther, Ralf Krause – Dolby Surround 5.1

Editing: Jörg Hauschild

Casting Karen Wendland

    With

Liv Lisa Fries (Hilde Coppi)

Johannes Hegemann (Hans Coppi)

Lisa Wagner (Anneliese Kühn)

Alexander Scheer (Priest Harald Poelchau)

Emma Bading (Ina Ender-Lautenschläger)

Sina Martens (Libertas Schulze-Boysen)

Lisa Hrdina (Grete Jäger)

Lena Urzendowsky (Liane Berkowitz)

Hans-Christian Hegewald (Albert Hößler)

Nico Ehrenteit (Harro Schulze-Boysen)

Jacob Keller (Heinrich Scheel)

    Loc: – Berlin – Gross Köris, Krahnepul, Potsdam, Schmergow (Brandenburg). 

    124 min

    Language: German

    Release:

Uraufführung: 17 Feb 2024 Berlin Film Festival

German premiere: 17 Oct 2024

French premiere: 12 March 2025 – sous-titres francais: Thomas Schröter

    Vu samedi, le 15 mars 2025, UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles, Salle 14, Pl. de la Rotonde Forum des Halles, accès Porte du Jour, M° Les Halles, Ligne 4, Paris 1er 

Berlin Film Festival 2024: "Berlin, 1942. The inconspicuous Hilde gradually finds her place in the resistance group which will come to be known as the “Red Orchestra”. Hilde falls in love with Hans, flourishes and, in spite of the constant danger to her life, is happy for a summer. When the Gestapo arrest members of the group in the autumn, the pregnant Hilde is among their number. In prison, she develops unexpected strength, giving birth to her son and keeping the memory of her beloved husband alive."

AA: From Hilde, with Love, released in France as Berlin, été 1942 ("Berlin, Summer 1942"), is the eighth collaboration of the director Andreas Dresen and the screenwriter Laila Stieler who are not afraid to tackle difficult subjects.

The true story of the resistance fighter couple Hans and Hilde Coppi is dramatic in the extreme. They and their entire Rote Kapelle resistance cell were caught by Gestapo and executed at the guillotine at Strafgefängnis Plötzensee. 

Rote Kapelle / The Red Orchestra was a name given by Nazis to the resistance movement that started in 1933 to help Jews. It was not a communist organization, nor led from the USSR, contrary to Nazi claims. It did alert about the forthcoming Operation Barbarossa, and it was an early source of photographic evidence about the Final Solution, as seen in the movie.

Dresen and Stielen tell their story as a flashback puzzle. Before their arrest, Hans and Hilde and their friends experience a summer of love which powers them during their path to death. Hilde gets pregnant, and their son Hans Jr. is born in November 1942 in the Frauengefängnis Barnimstrasse. 

The imagery (the cinematographer: Judith Kaufmann) is based on the extreme contrast of summer camp sunshine and Gestapo prison darkness.

The story of Nazi Europe has been told many times during the last 80 years, and it is no less relevant today. Dresen and Stielen belong to the film-makers who want to bring something new to the way these stories are told. Both were raised in the former GDR where Hans and Hilde Coppi were honoured as heroes, also in a movie by Horst E. Brandt, KLK an PTX – Die Rote Kapelle (DD 1971). 

Dresen and Stielen distance themselves from ideology and drama emphasis. From Hilde, with Love is an ordinary account of an extraordinary destiny. The focus is on psychology, and Liv Lisa Fries in the title role is excellent. 

A week ago I saw Nils Tavernier's La Vie devant moi / The Future Awaits (FR 2025), also a true story about Nazi Europe. Both films share a sans élan approach. They refuse to electrify a tale that is formidable as it is.

In the bande annonce for La Vie devant moi, the protagonist Tauba Birenbaum appears as herself in archival footage shot for Steven Spielberg's Shoah memory project. Her son Guy Birenbaum is a co-screenwriter.

In From Hilde, with Love, the last word is given to Hans Coppi, Jr., Hilde's son who was born in the Gestapo prison, now an esteemed historian.

How to express the inexpressible? Andreas Dresen chooses a sober approach but does not take a step further into a radical style such as Robert Bresson who rejected psychology in his true story of French Resistance, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé.

MORE DATA BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK:

Alfred Dreyfus. Truth and Justice (exhibition at Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme)

Alfred Dreyfus. Vérité et justice. Catalogue d'exposition sous la direction d'Isabelle Cahn et de Philippe Oriol. mahJ - Gallimard, 2025. Hard cover. 195 x 255 mm. 288 pages. Nombre d'illustrations : 250. " L’affaire Dreyfus, qui éclate en 1894 avec l’arrestation d’un officier juif accusé à tort de trahison, demeure l’un des épisodes les plus marquants de l’histoire française. Le présent catalogue explore en profondeur les multiples facettes de cette tragédie judiciaire et humaine. " - " En s’appuyant sur des documents d’archives, des objets personnels et des témoignages, l’ouvrage retrace le parcours d’Alfred Dreyfus, depuis son enfance dans une famille juive alsacienne jusqu’à sa réhabilitation en 1906. Il examine le contexte social et politique de la Belle Époque, marqué par une montée de l’antisémitisme, et révèle les implications de l’Affaire pour la société française. " - " Sont mises en lumière la lutte pour la vérité, menée par des intellectuels et des proches, et les répercussions durables de ce scandale, entre bouleversements politiques, débats sur la justice, et éveil d’une conscience collective face à l’intolérance. Ce récit, profondément ancré dans son époque, dialogue également avec les défis contemporains. "

Exhibition: Alfred Dreyfus. Truth and Justice

March 13 to August 31, 2025

Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahJ)

Hôtel de Saint-Aignan

71, rue du Temple

75003 Paris

Vernissage visited on 12 March, 2025

Official introduction: Autour de l'exposition « Alfred Dreyfus. Vérité et justice »

"Nearly twenty years after its first exhibition devoted to Alfred Dreyfus, the mahJ is returning to the "Affaire" to recall the major stages of this crucial moment in French history, one of the many consequences of which was the law separating Church and State. The exhibition reveals Dreyfus's relentless fight to bring the truth to light, correcting the image of a man who was a bystander to the conspiracy that led him to spend four years in prison and another seven fighting for his rehabilitation. "

"By showcasing close to 250 archive documents, photographs, film extracts and some sixty works of art - by Jacques-Émile Blanche, Gustave Caillebotte, Eugène Carrière, Émile Gallé, Maximilien Luce, Camille Pissarro, Félix Vallotton and Édouard Vuillard - the exhibition tells the story of the Affair "with" Dreyfus, putting him back at the centre of the story. This new approach corrects the image of a self-effacing Dreyfus. It reveals a tireless fighter for the truth, the author of numerous writings, many of them unpublished and recently brought out of oblivion."

"Alfred Dreyfus was born in 1859 into an Alsatian family marked by the defeat of 1871 and the annexation of Alsace-Moselle. A fervent patriot and graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, he had a brilliant military career, which was cut short in 1894 when he was unjustly accused of high treason on behalf of Germany, sentenced by a military court, degraded and deported to French Guiana."

"The exhibition unravels the plot hatched by the General Staff and illustrates the virulent anti-Semitism on display at the end of the 19th century. Thanks to the many works on display, it places the affair in the context of the ‘Belle Époque’, and sheds light on some lesser-known aspects of the period: the diversity of Jewish reactions, the ‘birth’ of intellectuals and the ‘rise’ of the Jewish community, and the ‘rise’ of the Jewish movement, the ‘birth’ of intellectuals and the response to anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was pardoned in 1899 and rehabilitated in 1906, but his career was never reconstructed."

"The exhibition provides an insight into the current state of affairs in the Affaire, against a backdrop of renewed anti-Semitism, while Alfred Dreyfus's innocence is still the subject of conspiracy theories."

"This exhibition, which has received exceptional support from the Musée d'Orsay, is based on the rich Dreyfus collection at the mahJ, on loans from institutions - the National Archives, the French National Library, the Army Museum, the Paris Bar Association Museum, the Carnavalet Museum, the Ecole de Nancy Museum, the Maison Zola-Musée Dreyfus in Medan - and from private collections."

AA: In an age of newly rising anti-Semitism, the magnificent exhibition "Alfred Dreyfus. Truth and Justice" at the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahJ) is topical both in understanding history and the world today.

The Dreyfus tragedy is a case study of corruption on the highest levels of society, a devious conspiracy that shook the world, hate speech poisoning public opinion, and courage in defending justice. Alfred Dreyfus suffered a prison sentence on Devil's Island in torture-like conditions but never lost his faith in having his reputation cleared. 

Émile Zola became the most prominent public defender of Alfred Dreyfus in his open letter to the President of the Republic Félix Faure titled " J'Accuse... ! ". "The truth is on the march, and nothing shall stop it". The birth of the intellectual had taken place during the Enlightenment. Voltaire, Rousseau, D'Alembert and Diderot risked life and reputation to speak truth to power. "To think is to think otherwise" was the credo. In the Dreyfus Affair the role of the intellectual powered into mass media. Zola's intention was to be prosecuted for libel, which would give him the platform to provide evidence of the innocence of Dreyfus. 

When Zola was convicted, he went to exile in England from which he returned in 1899. He died in 1902 of carbon monoxide poisoning. Serious testimonies give reason to believe it was murder. Dreyfus was completely exonerated by the Supreme Court in 1906. He was never fully compensated, his health had taken a toll on Devil's Island, and his career never resumed, but he returned to service throughout World War I, as well as his son Pierre who received the Croix de guerre.

The exhibition provides rich material about the Dreyfus family history, his birthplace Mulhouse in Alsace, the French society in the 19th century, and the general atmosphere of anti-Semitism. It is a powerful visual experience ranging from high art (Camille Pissarro) to virulent anti-Semitic propaganda.

I had examined the excellent exhibition catalogue in advance and been surprised to register the absence of cinema. In the exhibition itself, cinema is present. Cinephiles have always been proud of the fact that the first conscious artist of the cinema, Georges Méliès, was a Dreyfusard. Episodes of his series L'Affaire Dreyfus 1-11 (FR 1899) are on display, as well as excerpts from Pathé's Dreyfus series which originally totalled four hours. In the final exhibition space, there is a loop excerpt of Richard Oswald's Dreyfus (DE 1930) with Heinrich George as Émile Zola speaking out at the court. Roman Polanski's masterpiece J'accuse (FR 2019) based on Robert Harris's novel An Officer and a Spy (2013) will be screened during the exposition at the museum.

At the exhibition I learned for the first time about the Dreyfus ban in the cinema. Dreyfus movies were prohibited by law in France in 1915-1950.

Bird (Andrea Arnold 2024)

Andrea Arnold: Bird (GB/FR/DE/US 2024). Franz Rogowski (Bird), Nykiya Adams (Bailey), Barry Keoghan (Bug).

GB/FR/DE/US 2024. Production companies: BBC Film, BFI, Pinky Promise, FirstGen Content, Access Entertainment, House Productions, Ad Vitam, Arte France Cinéma, Ciné+, Canal+. Produced by Andrea Arnold, Lee Groombridge, Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross.

    Directed by Andrea Arnold

Written by Andrea Arnold

Cinematography Robbie Ryan

The soundtrack was scored by British electronic artist Burial. It also features tracks by Fontaines D.C., Sleaford Mods and Coldplay.

Edited by Joe Bini

    Cast

Nykiya Adams as Bailey

Barry Keoghan as Bug, Bailey's father

Franz Rogowski as Bird

Jason Buda as Hunter, Bailey's half-brother

Jasmine Jobson as Peyton, Bailey's mother

Frankie Box as Kayleigh, Bug's fiancée

James Nelson-Joyce as Skate, Peyton's boyfriend

Joanne Matthews as Debs

Sarah Beth Harber as Dionne's Mum

Jason Williamson as Fred

    Principal photography took place in the south of England with filming locations including Gravesend, Dartford, Ashford and Bean, Kent in June 2023. In July 2023 filming took place on the Isle of Sheppey.

    119 min

    Language: English

    Distributed by Ad Vitam Distribution (France), Mubi (United States and United Kingdom)

    Release dates

Festival premiere: 16 May 2024 Cannes

US festival premiere: 30 Aug 2024 Telluride

US+GB premiere: 8 Nov 2024

French premiere: 1 Jan 2025 - distributor: Ad Vitam - sous-titres Emmanuel Denizot

Finnish premiere: 28 March 2025 - distributor: Cinemanse

    Vu dimanche, le 9 mars 2025, Cinéma Saint André des Arts : 12, rue Gît-le-Coeur, 75006 Paris, 6e, M° St-Michel, ligne 4

Telluride Film Festival: Made possible by a donation from Elizabeth Redleaf. Larry Gross: "Bailey (Nykiya Adams), a 12-year-old girl, struggles with the pain of managing a dad (Barry Keoghan) fixated on feckless money-making schemes. Bailey’s mom (Jasmine Jobson) has an abusive boyfriend, and her older sibling (Jason Buda) is drifting toward violent crime. She unexpectedly finds relief in Bird, a sexually fluid stranger (Franz Rogowski) with family problems of his own. Writer-director Andrea Arnold, unparalleled in providing us with clear-eyed, compassionate portraits of troubled and restless youth (FISH TANK, AMERICAN HONEY), works again with cinematographer Robbie Ryan to craft a moody, haunting landscape of housing projects and rocky beaches. But she spikes her social realism with transporting moments of magic and comedy. Keoghan is at his high-spirited best, Rogowski plays Bird with an alluring mystery, and Jobson provides BIRD’s emotional center—in much the same way that Bailey somehow keeps her unbalanced family from spinning out." –LG (U.K., 2024, 119m) In person: Andrea Arnold. G/Sat 4PM Q&AQ & A - C/Sun 9PM - H/Mon 3:30PM"

Wikipedia: "Bailey is a twelve year old girl who lives in a run down building with her father, Bug, and half brother, Hunter. One day, Bug announces his engagement to Kayleigh, a woman he has known for three months with their wedding on the following Saturday. Bailey, in shock and frustration, claims she will not attend and storms off."

"Later that day, Hunter tells Bailey he is in a vigilante group with his friends. Intrigued, Bailey follows them and witnesses the group of boys storm into a house and threaten a man with a box cutter. Police are quickly called and Bailey escapes into an empty field where she falls asleep for the night."

"The next morning, she is greeted by a mysterious man who calls himself Bird. She follows him to an apartment complex where he searches for a woman who lived there sometime ago, but has little luck finding her. Bailey leaves after this, but notices Bird on the roof of the building before Bug arrives to take her home and grounds her for being out all night."

"Bailey learns that Bird was looking for his mother who lived in the apartment complex, and that long ago she disappeared when he was a child. Warming to Bird, Bailey suggests her mother, Peyton, could help Bird as she lived in the complex years ago."

"At Peyton’s house, Bailey and Bird inquire about the residents, but are interrupted by the attitude of her live-in boyfriend, Skate. An argument ensues between Bailey and Skate, leading Bailey to film him, with Skate threatening to kill Peyton if Bailey shows the footage to the authorities. Despite this, Peyton is able to remember Bird's father's name. Bailey sends the video to Hunter, promising Bailey he and his group will attack Skate in order to rescue her mother along with her half-siblings."

"Later, Hunter requests Bailey’s assistance in delivering a note to his girlfriend Moon asking that the two run away to Scotland, due to her family’s disapproval of her recently discovered pregnancy. On the way, a crow follows Bailey and helps her slip the note past Moon’s family."

"The next day as Hunter and his friends plan their attack, Bailey takes her half-siblings out for the day to avoid the incident. Bird reappears to help Bailey and the kids to the beach where he attempts to track down his father. When they find his apartment, the man living there denies ever having a son to Bird and Bailey. Later, the man recants his denial and admits to Bird that he was with Bird's mom and they did have a boy, but left shortly after, unable to deal with her poor mental state. Bailey consoles a tearful Bird as the group heads back home."

"Soon after their return, Skate attempts to barge into their house. Peyton is unsuccessful in stopping him, leading to him assaulting her. Bailey attempts to stop him, but Skate knocks her unconscious. Bird re-enters the apartment and also attempts to defend Peyton, but Skate bashes his head in. While recovering, Bailey witnesses Bird transform into a creature with feathers, large wings, and bird-like eyes. He fights Skate again, this time taking him outside, where Bird knocks him unconscious, grabs him with talons and flies off with his body."

"The next morning Bailey discovers that Hunter has left home. She informs Bug and the two run to the train station and discover him alone, devastated that Moon did not follow through with his plans. Bug comforts Hunter, telling him he is too young for parenthood. The three of them ride back home and attend the wedding of Bug and Kayleigh, with Bailey in better spirits about the ceremony. During the reception, Bird shows up unannounced and hugs Bailey goodbye. As he leaves, Bailey's eyes are revealed to be bird-like in the same manner that Bird's eyes were."

AA: Andrea Arnold's Bird is a powerful and original coming-of-age story of a 12-year girl. It reminds me of Beasts of the Southern Wild, Systemsprenger and Scrapper, but it owes nothing to other film-makers, instead springing from Arnold's own passionate interest in the agony of adolescence in Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights and American Honey.

Bird is a drama of a child having to grow up prematurely in circumstances of failed, dysfunctional and violent parents. Nykiya Adams excels as Bailey who finds an unexpected companion in a stranger called Bird (Franz Rogowski), abandoned by his parents, forever seeking a hold in life. In this encounter, Arnold moves into magical realism. The realm of the birds introduces transcendence, a higher perspective, and superpowers of imagination. The boundary of reality and fantasy is blurred.

Vaterland (in the presence of Barbara Hutt)

Barbara Hutt: Vaterland (FR 2024). Jean-Damien Barbin.

Vaterland : Triptyque d'après Thomas Bernhard

FR 2024. Production : Hamlet Fabrix en collaboration avec Ad Libitum.

Réalisation : Barbara Hutt

Image : Yann Seweryn

Musique, son : Pierre Ragu

Costumes : Bibi Delécraz

Distribution technique : Pierre Ragu (musique), Yann Seweryn (direction artistique)

Principaux artistes : Jean-Damien Barbin, Clémence Lévy, Matthieu Justine, Mathurin Voltz, Zoé Guillemaud, Nicolas Fantoli, Simon Larvaron, Dorian Campagne, Clara Benoît-Casanova, Sébastien Apert, Xavier Blandin, Patrick Georges, Alain Laproye, Pierre Ragu, Barbara Hutt

Durée : 1h36

Langue de tournage : Français

Genre : Drame

    Les Découvertes du St André - Une sélection authentique:

    Date de première mise en salle : 26 février 2025 - distributeur : Cinéma Saint-André des arts

    Vu dimanche, le 9 mars 2025, Cinéma Saint André des Arts : 12, rue Gît-le-Coeur, 75006 Paris, 6e, M° St-Michel, ligne 4

Cinéma Saint André des Arts: " Une plongée dans l’univers subversif de l’auteur autrichien Thomas Bernhard, aux prises avec quelques-uns de ses sujets de prédilection: l’Etat, l’exercice impossible de l’Art … C’est aussi le portrait de « quelqu’un qui écrit », teinté d’une ironie mélancolique. Sous la forme d’un triptyque, Vaterland, rend tangible Thomas Bernhard et son monde. Jean-Damien Barbin, dans un jeu qui rappelle Beckett et Bernhard excelle, avec une kyrielle d’autres acteurs « Bernhardiens  » . "

AA: Barbara Hutt's Vaterland is an experimental trilogy exploring the world of the great Austrian author Thomas Bernhard (1931-1989). It is composed of three independent short films:

I  D'après trois jours

II  Les Célébres

III  Hamlet FabriK

It studies a writer's inner world in a journey in a winter landscape. It offers a satirical vision of a contemporary set of "Les précieuses ridicules" of cultural snobs. Hamlet FabriK is a cross-artistic performance journey in the world of Thomas Bernhard.

I would need to revisit this movie with subtitles to do justice to it.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Michael Morris: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (GB/FR/US 2025) with Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones), Chiwetel Ejiofor (M. Wallaker), Leo Woodall (Roxster).

Bridget Jones : Folle de lui

    GB/FR/US 2025 - sociétés de production : Working Title Films, Studiocanal et Miramax - production : Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner et Jo Wallett - productrices déléguées : Helen Fielding, Amelia Granger et Sarah Jane Wright.

Réalisation : Michael Morris

Scénario : Dan Mazer, Abi Morgan et Helen Fielding, d'après le roman Bridget Jones : Folle de lui de Helen Fielding

Photographie : Suzie Lavelle - format : couleur - 2.35:1

Décors : Kave Quinn

Costumes : Molly Emma Rowe

Musique : Dustin O'Halloran

Soundtrack selections include : "The Sweetest Gift" by Sade ; "Modern Love" by David Bowie ; "What a Wonderful Thing Love Is" by Al Green ; "Mad About the Boy" written by Noël Coward, perf. Dinah Washington ; "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash.

Son : Glenn Freemantle

Montage : Mark Day

    Distribution

Renée Zellweger (VF : Odile Cohen) : Bridget Jones

Hugh Grant (VF : Thibault de Montalembert) : Daniel Cleaver

Emma Thompson (VF : Frédérique Tirmont) : Dr Rawlings

Chiwetel Ejiofor (VF : Frantz Confiac) : M. Wallaker

Leo Woodall (VF : Gauthier Battoue) : Roxster

Colin Firth (VF : Christian Gonon) : Mark Darcy

Jim Broadbent : Colin Jones

Gemma Jones : Pamela Jones

Isla Fisher : Rebecca

Josette Simon (VF : Nicole Dogué) : Talitha

Nico Parker (VF : Olenka Ilunga) : Chloe

Leila Farzad (en) : Nicolette

Sarah Solemani (VF : Stéphanie Hédin) : Miranda

Sally Phillips : Sharon « Shazzer »

Shirley Henderson : Jude

James Callis : Tom

Celia Imrie (VF : Frédérique Cantrel) : Una Alconbury

Ian Midlane (en) : Paul

    Durée 124 minutes

Langue originale : anglais

Genre : comédie romantique

Série Bridget Jones - Bridget Jones Baby (2016) - Bridget Jones : L'Âge de raison (2004) - Le Journal de Bridget Jones (2001)

    Dates de sortie : 

France : 12 février 2025 - Universal

Royaume-Uni, Canada, États-Unis, Finlande : 14 février 2025

    Vu samedi, le 8 mars 2025, UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles, Pl. de la Rotonde Forum des Halles, accès Porte du Jour, M° Les Halles, Ligne 4, Paris 1er

Wikipédia : " Bridget Jones : Folle de lui (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy) est un film multinational réalisé par Michael Morris et sorti en 2025. Il s'agit d'une adaptation du roman du même nom de Helen Fielding publié en 2013. C'est le 4e film mettant en scène le personnage de Bridget Jones incarné par Renée Zellweger. "

" Bridget Jones, maintenant mère de Billy et Mabel, se prépare à sortir pour la première fois depuis des lustres. En attendant l’arrivée de Daniel Cleaver, qui fait du baby-sitting, Bridget décide presque de rester à la maison. Cependant, elle assiste à la célébration de la vie de son défunt mari, Mark Darcy, qui a été tué quatre ans plus tôt lors d’une mission humanitaire au Soudan. Elle passe la soirée tortueuse à accepter ses condoléances et à subir des pressions pour recommencer à sortir avec quelqu’un. "

AA: A joyous atmosphere fills the sold-out cinema already before the beginning of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, starring Renée Zellweger again as the humoristic heroine of the best-selling novel series by Helen Fielding. The feeling of fun only grows during the screening. Comedy is the most difficult genre, the most merciless. The film-makers know what they are doing, and they are not merely repeating a tried (or tired) recipe.

"Annie Had a Baby" was a 1958 hit song by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, a sequel to "Work With Me Annie". "Annie had a baby, can't work no more / Every time she start to working / She had to stop to walk the baby 'cross the floor". "Now I know I know Annie understood / That's what's happens when the game gets good".

Not this time. Bridget Jones is a single mother in a chaotic household of two children, Billy and Mabel, but after three years of widowhood, it's time to reassert womanhood. "There's a limit to every widow", declares Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald) in Ernst Lubitsch's adaptation of The Merry Widow.

The film celebrates the fact that a woman's sexuality only grows after days of youth. Motherhood brings a new perspective and depth to everything, not least in love life. 

Renée Zellweger is a great comedienne. She has soul, poetry and magic. I think about Marilyn Monroe and Charles Chaplin. Bridget Jones always lands in the most stupid and embarrassing situations, but she never loses her inner dignity. A lesson first displayed in the cinema by Max Linder.