Les vacances du petit Nicolas

This 2014 French comedy tells the story about Nicolas, a small boy (aged 7 - 10, I'd guess), going on a beach holiday with his parents. The main characters clearly come from the famous series of children's books by Goscinny (of Asterix fame) and Sempé (illustrations) describing childhood in the 1950's in France. The story mirrors the first part of the 1962 book with the same title (the omitted part is also hilarious, describing the adventures of Nicolas in a summer camp). While the plot is rather predictable, the beautiful rendering of the 1960's holiday spirit is very charming and provokes a pleasant nostalgia.

Highly recommended light entertainment.

English holiday makers getting a tan

Nicolas's dad admiring a German holiday maker

☆☆☆☆

Hector and the Search for Happiness

A well made British (2014)  feelgood movie. The main character is an English psychiatrist who leads an extremely well-organized and perhaps boring life.

A mid-life crisis makes him question his usefulness to society and he decides to search for the definition of happiness, which, when acquired, will presumably allow him to be of more use to his patients.

So off he goes, leaving his sympathetic girl friend behind, on a quest which brings him in three continents where each time he will find adventure and learn nuggets of wisdom from some unlikely sources.

In the happy ending, he realizes that he truly loves his girlfriend and swiftly returns home.

The story is fast-paced and never boring or cheesy while making some mildly interesting points on what might make humans happy. Thus, very entertaining and well worth watching.

☆☆☆☆

Tamara Drewe

This is a light British 2010 comedy about an attractive female writer/journalist, Tamara Drewe, who returns to her native village to oversee the sale of her recently deceased mother's house.

Tamara is played by Gemma Aterton, who also appeared in Gemma Bovery.

Gemma Aterton

Predictably, romantic complications ensue, some of them involving a serial philanderer neighbor and best seller author, whose long suffering wife is played by Tamsin Greig of Black Books, Green Wing, Love Soup and Episodes fame. The wife runs a writer's retreat, which makes for some more interesting characters and developments.

Tamsel Greig

The machinations of two bored teenage girls who have a crush on Tamara's first newly acquired boyfriend, a famous rock star, help to move the plot along.

The story is very amusing and there is a happy ending for almost all of the parties concerned, i.e. most characters find their true love interest.

All in all a better than average romantic comedy which was a joy to watch.

☆☆☆☆

Beyond the blackboard

Another feel-good film about education, after 'Être et avoir' and 'Binta and the great idea'. The story, which actually happened in 1987, is set in the US where, apparently, children of homeless people did not get automatically accepted into public schools. A newly qualified teacher is put in charge of a single decrepit classroom attached to a homeless shelter to educate the children of the shelter's clients. There follows a struggle to connect with the children and their parents, to obtain more/any resources from the educational establishment etc. Happily, the struggle yields results, starting with small improvements and gradually an environment  is created where the children can get a proper education. Thanks to Chus for pointing me to this delightful film.

☆☆☆☆

Journal de France

This documentary shows, on the one hand, Raymond Depardon travelling through the French country side to make beautiful pictures using an old-fashioned camera. On the other hand, it also shows extracts from old (since the 1960's) films in which has was involved.

It is all very beautiful and may cause some nostalgia. Recommended.

☆☆☆☆

Odette Toulemonde

If you liked 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain', you don't mind sentimentality and kitsch, then you will certainly love 'Odette Toulemonde'. It's a great fairy tale-like story set mostly in Charleroi, a small city in the Wallonian rust belt. Catherine Froth is perfectly cast as the main character Odette. The story is by Éric -Emmanuel Schmitt, who -- just like the writer in the story -- although successful, is not taken too seriously by the Parisian literary establishment. Thanks to Chus, I found and immensely enjoyed this beautiful film.

☆☆☆☆

Binta & the Great Idea

This delightful short (33 minutes) Spanish film is available on YouTube, with English subtitles. It is set in Africa (Senegal), with the dialogues in a mix of French and a local language. While the film clearly attempts to promote some worthy causes such as the importance of the education of girls, it does so in an amusing way. Somehow, it reminded me of 'Être et avoir' but 'Binta & the Great Idea'  is much more upbeat and funny. Thanks to Chus for recommending it to me.

☆☆☆☆

Tu seras mon fils

An excellent film set in the bucolic Bordeaux wine country. Unusually, the film is about a father who wants to get rid of his devoted son and adopt an alternative using the interesting device of (French) Simple Adoption.  Niels Arestrup puts in an excellent performance as the evil father. One cannot but feel sympathy for the rejected son, who reminded me of a disowned puppy. Luckily, there is a surprising happy end.

☆☆☆☆

Crustacés & coquillages

A delightful 2005 French comedy.

It is set in Ensuès-la-Redonne on the Côte d'Azur, during the holiday period, so nice views are thrown in.

The film can be regarded as a contemporary instance of boulevard theatre where, in this case, the question is not only who's doing it with whom but also who is gay or not.

One quote from the teenage son to his broad minded mother, played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who is trying to tell him that it's perfectly OK to be gay: Elle a quoi, ma sexualité?.

A happy ending and a happy viewing.

☆☆☆☆

Ten Canoes

Although Australian, this excellent film needs English subtitles because all characters in the main story speak Aboriginal languages. This main story is told, in English, by an elder Aboriginal to a youngster of the group while they build canoes and use them to go hunting in a swamp. This part is shown in black and white. The actual story that is being told is also shown, but in color, doing justice to the beautiful nature in the Northern Territory.

The result is very poetic and has a dream-like quality, in keeping with the Aboriginal culture it illustrates. This is all the more remarkable because there is no music in the soundtrack.

☆☆☆☆

Where the Green Ants Dream

This film by Herzog looks like a stylized documentary. It shows the attempts by the Aboriginal people of Australia to stop a proposed mining development on their land. Some of the sequences have a dreamlike quality, due to the excellent sound track and the impressive landscape of the outback.

Of course, and not for the first time, the Aborigines loose. In fact, Australia has behaved in a disgusting manner towards its original inhabitants. Worse, as described in this article, this almost genocidal treatment is still going on, under all recent (including the current) governments.

So, in a sense, the film paints too rosy a picture of the 1984 (when it was made) situation, or things have gotten worse since then. As John Pilger writes: 'Apartheid' is alive and well in Australia, one of the richest countries in the world.

☆☆☆☆

This is England

This 2006 British film is set in the England of the early 1980's. It shows the skinhead subculture through a group of bored youths in a nondescript English town. One of the members is of Caribbean descent and they all seem to get along fine, with the characteristic dress code, pins etc. Apart from their looks, what distinguishes them from the rest of society may be the language where 'f***' and 'f***ing' appear obligatory in every sentence. At least once, but possibly more often.

Problems appear when the group is invited to join some far-right National Front sympathizers, thus illustrating how part of the skinhead movement got contaminated by the extreme right. Some of the original group decide to go with the psychopath that takes them to a pathetic National Front meeting. After that, things become more violent and the film does not have a happy ending.

The sound track is very good.

Overall, the film provides a fascinating glimpse of the skinhead subculture.

☆☆☆☆

Le Fils

A gripping Dardenne film about Olivier, a father who, by chance, meets the teenager Francis, who, 5 years ago, killed his son in a bungled theft. The two meet because Francis wants to learn carpentry which is taught by the father. The film's pace is slow and pleasant: as a viewer you only learn about the murder background after 30 minutes or so. Although nothing much happens, I was glued to the screen, fascinated by the evolution of the relationship between Francis and Olivier.

☆☆☆☆

Parenti Serpenti

Also known as Dearest Relations, this is an excellent comedy. The scene is a small Italian town where an old couple receives their grown-up children and grandchildren for the end of year festivities. The film starts as a nice portrait of the local traditions surrounding Christmas etc. The relationships between the siblings, and their partners, are not perfect but that only adds to the charm. As does the fact that the old father is clearly loosing his marbles, which greatly annoys his wife.

Things get nasty when the old mother declares that she and her husband want to live with one of their offspring. This leads to a lively discussion among the children, none of them being keen on welcoming their old parents into their home. All will be resolved in the end, in a most hilarious (and cynical) manner.

☆☆☆☆

Les Femmes du 6ème étage

A film with two of my favorite French actors, Fabrice Luchini and Sandrine Kimberlain cannot be all bad. In fact, this is an excellent 'feel good' movie. The title "The women on the sixth floor" refers to the floor containing the "chambres de bonnes" in a building otherwise filled with large apartments for the bourgeois that employ the people living on the 6th floor.
The story is set in the early 1960's. Jean-Louis Joubert (Luchini), a financial advisor, becomes infatuated with the new Spanish maid, Maria, who has her own worries, including a child left behind in Spain. His wife (Kimberlain) suspects that he is having an affair with a society figure and kicks him out. He moves to a tiny room on the 6th floor in the same building. This is the first time in his life that he has his own room, and he enjoys it tremendously. He ingratiates himself with the other servants living there.
Unfortunately, Maria leaves for Spain to reunite with her son, without telling him. Still, all ends well (of course) after a while. A pleasure to watch.
☆☆☆☆

La Grande Bellezza

The english title is The Great Beauty. The beauty here refers to the city of Rome, and probably more specifically its night life. The main character, Jep Gambardella, is a writer who wrote only one book, which was a huge success. After that, he got distracted by the temptations of Rome and became a journalist and society figure who 'knows everyone'. The film consists of several loosely connected little stories, often moving and/or funny involving e.g. a 'saint' nun, modeled on 'mother Teresa', a gastronome cardinal, a midget editor etc. Many scenes play on the terrace of Jep's apartment, overlooking the Colosseum, a fantastic view at night.

One quote that I liked:

.. a friend, every now and again, needs to make their friend feel as a child.

The strong point of the film is the atmosphere it creates. It has been compared with other great movies about Rome, see the wikipedia article. Although, it is not as good as the 'originals', it is well worth watching.

☆☆☆☆

Gianni e le donne

This delightful comedy seems to be a prequel to Pranzo di ferragosto . The main character, Gianni, is the same. Only he's still married and his mother lives in her own home, which she manages to squander without her son getting any say.
The film is mainly about the attempts of the middle-aged Gianni to seduce a young woman, any good looking one. He's been put up to this project by his lawyer friend who seems as desperate as he is. Moreover, he discovers that a far older and fatter acquaintance of his manages to get it off with a voluptuous blonde running a neighborhood shop.
Needless to say, all his attempts come to nothing. The women he tries to woo usually make use of his services (cooking, walking the dog, finding bottles hidden by their daughters, ..) but fail to succumb to his charms.
I found Pranzo di ferragosto slightly more hilarious, but also this movie is well worth watching. ☆☆☆☆

Pieds nus sur les limaces

In this beautiful movie, Ludivine Sagnier plays Lily, a young woman with the mind of an unruly child who cannot be trusted to take care of herself.

Ludivine Sagnier as Lily

Lily lives happily with her mother in the countryside and enjoys nature in many, not always conventional, ways. E.g. she doesn't mind having slugs (the "limaces" from the title) crawl over her and she has an office where she skins small animals to make slippers. When her mother dies unexpectedly, her conventional sister Clara, a lawyer, attempts to enlist the help of a neighbor to keep an eye on Lily. When that does not work, she feels obliged to move in with Lily and only see her husband at weekends.

Gradually, Clara starts to loosen up and becomes more like Lily. In the end, the exasperated husband seems to have disappeared and both sisters try to make a living selling furry slippers and home-made marmalade from their roadside stand.

A well-made "feel good" movie with excellent acting and lots of bucolic views of the sunny French countryside: ☆☆☆☆