Misstropolis

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The Best Films this Summer are at the MFA

by Robin Hauck

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If you were - up until now - unaware of the Film Program at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, you are in for a summer of cinematic joy. The film program (where I used to work, ecstatically, because what’s better than writing about the best films in the world?) showcases contemporary international films, restored classics, American independent films, retrospectives and works by local filmmakers all year round; but summer is the program’s peacock moment, the season in which it gets to strut its stuff and put its colors on full display. The summer is the season of the uber popular French Film Festival as well as the Concerts on the Courtyard series which the department also oversees. (More on summer concerts in an upcoming issue).

Bo Smith is the Katharine Stone White Head of Film/Video and Head of Concerts at the MFA. He has nurtured and developed the Film Program since 1987. “Over these 20+ years, the MFA Film Program has become an international leader by establishing these innovative programs: annual festivals - French (July), Gay/Lesbian (May), Jewish (Nov), Iranian (Nov), Turkish (March/Apr), African (Feb), Human Rights Watch (Jan); as well as a focus on films on art; and a showcase for the work of New England film and video artists,“ he explains. “The Program has continued - as it did before I arrived in 1987 - to present retrospectives of the world’s major film artists and series focusing on national cinemas from around the world.“

The 13th Annual Boston French Film Festival which will run from July 10 - 27 continues that tradition, with an impressive schedule of some of the world’s best contemporary French cinema, including a powerful lineup of films by and about women.

In 2006, Justine Elias wrote in the Boston Globe, “French cinema has always celebrated actresses, and unlike the United States, France supports a film industry in which the ingenues of years past have become writers, producers, and directors - and on-screen heroines, of course - of fascinating tales about women of a certain age.“

This summer’s festival premieres eight films by women directors. “These women take on stories of the ever evolving balance of professional and personal life, tumultuous relationships, and family complications with remarkable insight, humor, and artistry.“ Please, save yourself the agony of seeing The Love Guru when these world-class films are in Boston at one of the most beautiful theaters in New England.

The Opening Night Film Shall We Kiss, a romantic comedy starring Virginie Ledoyen will be followed by a reception at the museum. Ledoyen, who was first introduced to American audiences in Danny Boyle’s The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio, was also widely acclaimed in 8 Women directed by François Ozon.

Other 2008 French Festival highlights of films by or about women include 57,000 KM Between Us (57000 KM entre nous) starring Florence Thomassain, Pascal Bongard, Mathieu Amalric and Marie Adrienis, 57,000 KM Between Us is visual artist and photographer Delphine Kreuter’s feature debut.

All is Forgiven (Tout est pardonné) is the feature directorial debut of actress Mia Hansen-Løve. “Unlike almost every other first-time director in current cinema, Hansen-Løve (known to American audiences for her appearances in Olivier Assayas’ Les Destinées and Late August, Early September) trusts in her story, her settings, and her actors.“ (Film Society of Lincoln Center).

Her Name is Sabine (Elle s’appelle Sabine) is a startling documentary by actress Sandrine Bonnaire. “[Sabine] is the most beautiful film that Cannes has given us this year… It’s cinema at its purest,“ (Variety). Compiling footage filmed over a period of 25 years, Bonnaire tells the tragic though ultimately uplifting story of her improperly diagnosed sister and with intimate family photos, travel footage and her own film, reveals how her sister’s life was crushed by improper diagnosis and an inadequate care structure. “This very intimate film also sends an urgent message to a society that still does not know how to properly take care of its citizens with physical and psychological disabilities.“

Misstropolites are very excited to see 48 Hours a Day (48 heures par jour) by Catherine Castel Marianne, a film which portrays how life-balance issues are at the heart of modern life for women in France as well as here in the U.S. “Parity rather than disparity, 48 Hours a Day is a comedy on the fate of women today who continually juggle with their jobs, husbands, children and domestic lives.“

In Actresses by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, art imitates life as an actress insecure about her age takes her role way too seriously.

Veteran character actress Anne Le Ny makes an extraordinarily impressive, utterly haunting debut as a writer-director with Those Who Remain (Ceux qui restent).

Eric Rohmer is most definitely not a woman, but he is one of the French cinema’s most celebrated and prolific auteurs and he almost always explores romantic desire, befuddlement and intrigue between men and women in his films. His latest, Romance of Astrea and Celadon is an ancient tale embodying his very contemporary themes. From My Night at Maud’s to Claire’s Knee, from Chloe in the Afternoon to A Tale of Springtime, Eric Rohmer has made a career out of treating modern romance like the greatest classical love stories. Romance of Astrea and Celadon “... is the great director’s farewell to a lifetime of star-crossed, verbose and ever-so-lovely lovers.“

The Last Mistress (Une vieille maîtresse) by Catherine Breillat. Catherine Breillat’s glorious new film based on the controversial novel by 19th century author and dandy Jules-Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly. “Known for her fearlessly candid explorations of female sexuality in such films as Fat Girl and Brief Crossing, Breillat’s triumphant foray into period drama proves a rigorously unsentimental, frankly erotic and very funny work… Arguably Breillat’s most accessible film, this sophisticated chamber piece is as ravishingly entertaining as it is supremely intelligent.” (San Francisco International Film Festival).

For complete schedule and to purchase tickets, visit the MFA website here.