Blame It on Fidel (2006)

ή ''για όλα φταίει ο Τσίπρας'' ...

Directed by	Julie Gavras
Produced by	Sylvie Pialat Mathieu Bompoint
Music by	Armand Amar
Cinematography	Nathalie Durand
Editing by	Pauline Dairou
Distributed by	Koch-Lorber Films
Release date(s)	10 September 2006 (France) 3 August 2007 (USA)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	France / Italy
Language	French

Blame it on Fidel (French: La Faute à Fidel) is a 2006 French drama film directed by Julie Gavras.

Plot summary

A 9-year-old girl, Anna de la Mesa (played by Nina Kervel), weathers big changes in her household as her parents become radical political activists in 1970-71 Paris. Her Spanish-born lawyer father Fernando (played by Stefano Accorsi) is inspired by his sister's opposition to Franco and by Salvador Allende's victory in Chile; he quits his job and becomes a liaison for Chilean activists in France. Her mother (played by Julie Depardieu) a Marie Claire journalist-turned-writer documenting the stories of women's abortion ordeals, supports her husband and climbs aboard the ideological bandwagon. As a result, Anna's French bourgeois life is over. She must adjust to refugee nannies, international cuisine and a cramped apartment full of noisy revolutionaries.

The film covers an array of philosophy and ideology - everything from Communism to Catholicism to Greek and Asian mythology - which Anna must reconstruct from confusion into her own set of beliefs. As she negotiates her way through this ideological maze and ultimately internalises her parents' objectives, she must deal with stereotyping, misinformation, the potential hypocrisy of ideology and the potentially false hope of idealism.

Awards

Blame it on Fidel won the MPA's Michel D'Ornano Prize for a promising first French film.

Simply right . . .

''. . . Ο Ερωτας είναι μια ομίχλη που εξατμίζεται με το πρώτο φως της πραγματικότητας'' Charles Bukowski

 

L'amour dure trois ans (2012)

. . who knows !

Réalisation	Frédéric Beigbeder
Acteurs principaux	Gaspard Proust Louise Bourgoin Joey Starr
Pays d’origine	France
Sortie	18 janvier 2012

L’amour dure trois ans est un film réalisé par Frédéric Beigbeder sorti le 18 janvier 2012 au cinéma. Le film est une adaptation du roman éponyme de Beigbeder.

Γαλλική ταινία, σκηνοθεσία Φρεντερίκ Μπεϊγκμπεντέρ με τους: Λουίζ Μπουργκουάν, Γκασπάρ Προυστ, Φρεντερίκ Μπελ, Τζοΐ Σταρ

Ένας κριτικός λογοτεχνίας χωρίζει από τη γυναίκα του και, πεπεισμένος πως ο έρωτας δεν κρατάει πάνω από τρία χρόνια, αρχίζει να γράφει ένα βιβλίο με ανάλογο θέμα που γίνεται μπεστ σέλερ. Η καινούρια σχέση του με την Αλίς, με την οποία είναι τρελά ερωτευμένος, του αλλάζει ιδέες, αλλά η τελευταία αρνείται να τον εμπιστευτεί.

Résumé

Marc Marronnier et Anne s'aiment, se marient, mais trois ans plus tard, après l'ennui et la jalousie, Anne demande le divorce. Marc est anéanti et s'enfonce dans les facilités offertes par son travail, critique littéraire le jour et chroniqueur mondain la nuit, avec son ami Jean-Georges, homme à femmes du milieu de la nuit, et Pierre et Kathy, ses amis libertins. Au réveil d'une tentative de suicide par pendaison après une prise d'alcool et de médicaments, Marc commence l'écriture de son roman autobiographique, L'amour dure trois ans, où il exprime toute sa rancœur envers ce grand sentiment, l'Amour.

Cependant, son point de vue est ébranlé après sa rencontre avec Alice, la femme de son cousin Antoine. Marc et Alice se croisent lors de l'enterrement de la grand-mère de Marc et Antoine, et aussitôt, ils tombent sous le charme l'un de l'autre. Avec le temps et les rendez-vous, Marc et Alice finissent par devenir amants, puis Alice quitte son mari. C'est à ce moment que le roman de Marc finit par être publié par Francesca Vernesi, des éditions Grasset. Marc insiste toutefois pour que l'ouvrage soit publié sous un pseudonyme, Féodor Belvédère, autant pour éviter le jugement de ses confrères critiques et de révéler la vérité à Alice. Le livre est un succès bien qu'il divise la critique et les lecteurs, comme Alice qui n'a pas aimé, trouvant le propos misogyne. Marc parvient à garder le secret sur le livre jusqu'au jour où le livre reçoit le prix de Flore et où Francesca profite de la cérémonie pour révéler l'identité de Féodor Belvédère. Alice rompt aussitôt, se sentant trahie, et retourne auprès de son mari.

Marc, à nouveau célibataire, va chercher le soutien de Pierre, qui va se marier, et Jean-Georges, sans pour autant parvenir à oublier Alice. Le père de Marc lui conseille de tourner la page et de profiter de la vie comme il le fait depuis son divorce, tandis que sa mère, auteur féministe, l'incite à la reconquérir. Marc commence donc à écrire des lettres passionnées à Alice, avant de faire une déclaration passionnée à la télévision sur le plateau du Grand Journal, mais sans résultat. Marc s'enfonce alors dans l'alcool, et règle ses comptes la nuit du mariage de Pierre et Kathy en faisant un discours insultant sur les mariés et les invités avant de partir chez son cousin pour les insulter à leur tour.

Pour tourner la page, Marc se lance donc dans un nouveau projet, un documentaire sur l'amour. Son éditrice accepte de lui financer un séjour de deux ans pour l'Australie afin qu'il réalise son documentaire et qu'il écrive un deuxième roman. Jean-Georges organise alors une dernière rencontre, lors de son mariage avec son professeur de surf, en invitant Alice et lui expliquant la situation. Alice hésite mais part, quittant à nouveau Antoine pour rejoindre Marc.

Fiche technique

• Titre : L’amour dure trois ans
• Réalisation : Frédéric Beigbeder
• Scénario : Frédéric Beigbeder d'après son roman L'amour dure trois ans
• Distribution :  France
• Musique :
• Pays d'origine :  France
• Genre : Romance, comédie
• Durée : 1h38 minutes
• Date de sortie :
  • France : 18 janvier 2012

Distribution

• Gaspard Proust : Marc Marronnier
• Louise Bourgoin : Alice
• Joey Starr : Jean-Georges
• Jonathan Lambert : Pierre
• Frédérique Bel : Kathy
• Nicolas Bedos : Antoine
• Elisa Sednaoui : Anne
• Bernard Menez : Le père de Marc
• Anny Duperey : La mère de Marc
• Thomas Jouannet : Le prof de surf
• Christophe Bourseiller : Le curé
• Valérie Lemercier : Francesca Vernesi
• Pom Klementieff : la fiancée du père
• Jules-Edouard Moustic : le gourou
• Victoria Olloqui : Ines
• Chloé Beigbeder : la jeune surfeuse
• Frédéric Beigbeder : le soldat russe (non crédité)
• Valérie Kirkorian : la divorcée

Et dans leurs propres rôles : Michel Legrand, Marc Lévy, Michel Denisot, Ali Baddou, Ariane Massenet, Pascal Bruckner, Alain Finkielkraut, Thierry Ardisson, Paul Nizon, Jean-Didier Vincent, Nicolas Rey, Emma Luchini, Alain Riou, Philippe Vandel.

The Secret Life of Words (2005)

Listen to the sound of silence . .

 

 

Directed by	Isabel Coixet
Produced by	Pedro Almodóvar Esther García
Written by	Isabel Coixet
Starring	Sarah Polley Tim Robbins Julie Christie
Music by	Hal Hartley
Cinematography	Jean-Claude Larrieu
Editing by	Irene Blecua
Distributed by	Monopole-Pathé
Release date(s)	2005-10-21
Running time	115 min.
Country	Spain, Ireland
Box office	$6,410,058 (INT)

The Secret Life of Words is a 2005 Spanish film, directed by Isabel Coixet and starring Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins. The film was released on December 15, 2006 and grossed a worldwide total of $6,410,058.

Plot

Taciturn, partially deaf Hanna (Polley) is a Yugoslavian native working in a factory in Northern Ireland. She is forced to take a vacation by her boss, who tells her that her co-workers have been offended by her lack of socializing. After overhearing a conversation about a need for a nurse, she takes on a job as private nurse for burn victim Josef (Robbins). He is bedridden on an offshore oil rig after a fire on the rig, and has severe burns and is temporarily blinded. The rig is not operational awaiting an investigation, and few people remain on board.

Hanna talks very little, and especially does not want to talk about herself. Despite his pain, Josef is constantly making jokes, some of them humorous sexual advances. Hanna's care for him includes holding the urinal and washing his entire body. As they get closer, they start sharing their experiences. Unbeknownst to him, she listens over and over again to a message on his cell phone from a mysterious woman who was in love with him.

Hanna learns from a colleague that Josef was injured while trying to save a man who committed suicide by intentionally throwing himself into the oil-rig fire. Some other tragic connection between the two men is implied. He tells about a near-drowning experience because he cannot swim. Eventually Josef confides to Hanna his greatest secret guilt, and she tells him about her previous life in the former Yugoslavia. She describes in detail the horrors she endured during the Balkan Wars (Yugoslav Wars), including being kidnapped and repeatedly raped. She tells of her own repeated torture and lets him feel the scars on her body from the wounds inflicted on her.

Josef is not getting better, and at Hanna's initiative he is air-lifted off the oil rig to be taken to a hospital. When the helicopter lands, Josef wants Hanna to accompany him, but she walks away without a word. However, she leaves behind a backpack (apparently intentionally), and it contains enough information to give Josef a chance to find her. After he recovers, Josef travels to Denmark to visit a counselor that Hanna had seen after fleeing the war, seeking to learn more about her. He then tracks her down at the factory in Northern Ireland where she works. They talk, and at first she keeps her distance, saying she couldn't be with him because she thinks one day she could drown them both in her sorrow. When he tells her that he will "learn to swim," she reciprocates the love.

The title of the film is about how words can transmit much more than they say. The secret world of each character is hidden but carried to each other by words.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for five Goya Awards and won four of them, including best film of the year:

• Won: Best Director (Isabel Coixet)
• Won: Best Film
• Won: Best Original Screenplay (Isabel Coixet)
• Won: Best Production Supervision (Esther García)
• Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Javier Cámara)

Polley was nominated as Best European Actress by the European Film Academy for her performance in this film.

Cast

Actor	Role
Sarah Polley	Hanna
Tim Robbins	Josef
Javier Cámara	Simon
Sverre Anker Ousdal	Dimitri
Steven Mackintosh	Doctor Sulitzer
Eddie Marsan	Victor
Julie Christie	Inge
Daniel Mays	Martin
Dean Lennox Kelly	Liam
Danny Cunningham	Scott
Emmanuel Idowu	Abdul
Reg Wilson	Manager

 

Ondine (2009)

Μεταξύ ονείρου και πραγματικότητας . .

Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	Neil Jordan
Produced by	Ben Browning James Flynn Neil Jordan
Written by	Neil Jordan
Starring	Colin Farrell Alicja Bachleda
Music by	Kjartan Sveinsson
Cinematography	Christopher Doyle
Editing by	Tony Lawson
Studio	Wayfare Entertainment Little Wave Octagon Films
Distributed by	Magnolia Pictures Paramount Vantage
Release date(s)	September 14, 2009 (Toronto International Film Festival) March 5, 2010 (Ireland)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Ireland
Language	English French Romanian

Ondine is a 2009 Irish romantic drama film directed and written by Neil Jordan and starring Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda.

Plot

Syracuse (Colin Farrell), called "Circus", is an Irish fisherman and former drunk, with a daughter named Annie, who is suffering kidney failure and uses a motorised wheelchair, and an ex-wife named Maura. One day, he finds a young woman (Alicja Bachleda-Curus) called Ondine in his net, whom he resuscitates. The woman is disoriented, but refuses hospitalisation and doesn't want to be seen by people, so Syracuse takes her to his deceased mother’s house. Later, at dialysis, he tells Annie a story about a fisherman who pulled in his nets and discovered a woman. Annie believes the woman in the net is a selkie. A man is seen lurking around the docks seemingly looking for someone or something. It is later revealed that Ondine is actually a Romanian drug mule and the man lurking around the docks is the man Ondine works for (her "pește"). The man finds Ondine and wants the backpack (full of drugs) she lost at sea while trying to evade the Coast Guard (which is why Syracuse found Ondine in the sea) The backpack is in the ocean inside a lobster trap; as the Romanians are trying to get the trap, Ondine makes the Peste fall overboard by pulling on the rope he is standing on. Syracuse grabs the other one and dives into the water. The Peste drowns while trying to open the lobster trap, while the other one is brought back to the boat by Syracuse and is arrested ashore. In the end Syracuse marries Ondine so she can stay in Ireland, but mostly because he and Annie love her.

Cast

• Colin Farrell as Syracuse
• Alicja Bachleda as Ondine
• Stephen Rea as Priest
• Dervla Kirwan as Maura
• Don Wycherley as Kettle
• Carrie Crowley
• Alison Barry as Annie
• Emil Hostina as Vladic

Production

Filming began on July 18, 2008 on location in Castletownbere in Ireland, and was scheduled to finish on August 6, 2008.
Ondine had its European premiere as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival on February 18, 2010 in Dublin, Ireland. The film was released in the United States on June 4, 2010 by Magnolia Pictures with a MPAA Rating of PG-13 for some violence, sensuality and brief strong language.

Reception

The film currently holds a 70% Fresh rating on Review Aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on 94 reviews. Critics have praised the film for its atmospheric almost dreamlike quality while some have criticized the ending. Critics have also praised the performances of Colin Farrell and Alison Barry as Annie, with Mary Pols stating: "Barry is such a relaxed and strong performer that she manages to shrug off the burden of Annie's precociousness."

Awards and nominations

The Irish Film and Television Awards for Ondine (Octagon Films), February 20, 2010:

• Actor in a Lead Role: Film: Colin Farrell
• Supporting Actress in a Film: Dervla Kirwan
• Production Design: Anna Rackard
• Sound: Brendan Deasy, Tom Johnson & Sarah Gaines

Music

Music from Icelandic group Sigur Ros and Irish singer/songwriter Lisa Hannigan feature strongly in the film.