A son confronted with his mother’s new husband just released from prison, a tribute to those forgotten in history, the creative process of the little schoolboy… Films to see or avoid this week.
The Innocent – To have
Comedy by Louis Garrel, 1h40
Abel expects anything with such a mother. He is not at the end of his troubles. Sylvie has found nothing better than to remarry an ex-con. Five years in prison, anyway. The repentant mobster promised to pull over cars. The son-in-law doesn’t hear it that way. He follows the newcomer on the track, watching for the slightest misstep. He will not be disappointed.
The spouses open a flower shop decorated as at Jacques Demy. It will soon be a question of a hold-up: rob a cargo of caviar on a parking lot and then afterwards, swear, it’s over. In The Innocent, Louis Garrel mixes genres, dabbles in comedy, engages in crime fiction, all with the ease of an old veteran (compliment). He himself plays this distraught young son, moved and annoyed by this mother who does as she pleases, who sincerely believes that she is starting from scratch – Anouk Grinberg, whose great return to 2022 is perfect. IN.
Read alsoOur review of The Innocent: Love Braque
The Harkis – To have
Drama by Philippe Faucon, 1h22
The film begins in September 1959, when General de Gaulle evokes for the first time the principle of self-determination. It ends in 1962, with the signing of the ceasefire. The film opens with a basket placed in front of the door of a house. It contains the decapitated head of a harki. A mother cries for her son. The National Liberation Front (FLN) assassinates traitors and their relatives. The French army also uses violence. The fellagha Krimou is tortured before speaking and rallying the commando. After a rudimentary training in the handling of weapons, he becomes one of the most zealous members of the unit placed under the command of Lieutenant Pascal. The Harkis is a rough, anti-spectacular patrol film (fixed shots, absence of music). However thrifty it may be, the line is sharp. With pedagogy and rigor, Philippe Faucon pays homage to those forgotten by History. A film far from spectacular, which depicts the complexity of situations and destinies. E.S.
Read alsoOur review of the film Les Harkis: the Algerian war without great speech
Little Nicolas, What are we waiting for to be happy? – To have
Animation by Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre, 1h22
Jazzy music in the watercolor Paris of Sempé serves as a setting for a little boy who comes to life cheerfully, just out of the typewriter of the future father of Asterix. On the eternal ritornello of Trenet, the first images of the animated film by Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre, Le Petit Nicolas, what are we waiting for to be happy?, plunge with delight into the world of Sempe and Goscinny. Leaning over a large blank sheet of paper, René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé passionately discuss the creation of a character who could live hectic adventures, and thus bear witness to the childhood of its two creators… This laughing and mischievous boy is is of course Little Nicolas. Between camaraderie, arguments, fights, games, nonsense, and punishments galore, Nicolas lives a childhood full of joys and learning. But this seemingly joyful film does not just tell the carefree life of a young French schoolboy. It also shows under the grain of the paper and the transparency of the watercolor the resilient destiny of brilliant creators. True to the spirit of Sempé and Goscinny, this award-winning film Annecy Festival tells the process of creating the hero who still seduces. Bright and light, it looks like it was designed by an inspired creative team. OD
Simone, the trip of the century– You can see
Biopic by Olivier Dahan, 2h20
Simone, the trip of the century, by Olivier Dahan, recounts the rich and tormented life of this committed politician, from childhood to the end. Between family life in La Ciotat, deportation to Auschwitz, his fight for the dignity of Algerian prisoners at the end of the 1950s, the epic of the law on abortion in 1974, the political commitment in favor of Europe and against the FN, the trajectory of Simone Veil goes beyond fiction. Some spectators will denounce a simplification in the story, even a hagiographic tone. But Dahan lays claim to a scenario likely to interest young people, in resonance with “his current struggles” . Formally, his film is didactic, with a construction made of comings and goings between the past and the present. Olivier Dahan took an interest in the politician who had become an icon. Rebecca Marder and Elsa Zylberstein embody it with great accuracy. CB
Read alsoOur review of Simone, the voyage of the century: a life that goes beyond fiction
butterfly vision – You can see
Drama by Maksym Nakonechnyi, 1:47
Lilia, a Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance specialist (she flies a drone), is released after months of captivity in the Donbass. She returns to her family, traumatized and pregnant, following a rape by one of her jailers. Her refusal to abort plunges her husband into despair. Maksym Nakonechnyi’s first feature film, presented in Un Certain Regard at the last Cannes Film Festival, somewhat misleads the viewer but sheds sadly topical light on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. E.S.
Halloween ends – You can see
Horror by David Gordon Green, 1:51
Despite his white hair, Jamie Lee Curtis still has a score to settle with Michael Myers. Since John Carpenter’s original slasher (1978), the recipe hasn’t changed much, and stabbing murders still sow terror in Haddonfield, Illinois. A babysitter seems to be taking over, but Myers remains the charcuterie boss. Really the end? E.S.
Jack Mimoun and the secrets of Val Verde– To avoid
Adventures of Malik Benthala and Ludovic Colbeau-Justin, 1 h 42
Malik Benthala portrays an overweight cardboard adventurer in this sluggish parody ofIndiana Jones.Surrounded by Jérôme Commandeur and Benoît Magimel, the actor-co-director (with Ludovic Colbeau-Justin) drags himself on a treasure hunt with few gags. Even François Damiens, rather amusing at first in a low-fronted spear, ends up getting lost in this jungle. We are far from the elegance of Hazanavicius and Dujardin to hijack secret agent films in OSS 117. Pastiche does not rhyme with fastoche. E.S.
SEE ALSO – Cinema: should we go see the new Petit Nicolas?
The Innocent, Les Harkis, Le petit Nicolas… Films to see or avoid this week