Far from the glitter and ostentatious ceremonies, far from the red carpet, the Soirée des Goélands at the Ciné-Café in Nice is an irreverent celebration of the 7th Art that (friendly) mocks institutions and their rituals. In fact, it gathers a handful of local cinephiles, invited to choose their favorite works from the past year’s productions…
1 – TONI ERDMANN by Maren Ade, with Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller
Driven by impressive actors, and in the unusual realm of a play within a play, the story of an emotional reconnection between an old muesli-loving eccentric and his globalized liberal-asocial daughter… Ferocious, exuberant, and poignant.
2 – CAROL by Todd Haynes with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara
The love affair of two women in the puritan America of the 1950s. A story of taming souls more than a physical encounter, narrated by a lover of sumptuous melodrama, an expert in settings and lighting fragmented into captivating mental spaces.
3 – PATERSON by Jim Jarmusch with Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani
On the theme of flow – the passage of days, the bus driven by the hero, the poetry that connects souls – urban filmmaker Jarmusch once again captures so much radiant beauty in everyday nooks; at his serene pace, yet with the firm mastery he is known for…
4 – AQUARIUS by Kleber Mendonça Filho with Sonia Braga
A vehement portrait of contemporary Brazil and a bitter chronicle of time wearing us down, a tale of tenacious resistance – against the backdrop of real estate programs – led by the majestic Sonia Braga and directed by one of the most talented heirs of Cinema Novo.
5 – LITTLE MEN by Ira Sachs with Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Ehle
What is the weight of a man’s promise against a legal contract? Under the eyes of a duo of adolescents, a remarkably relevant class conflict story, where the vanquished fade from the screen and the victors savor a success with hints of ashes.
Another humanistic embroidery by Ira Sachs.
6 – ELLE by Paul Verhoeven with Isabelle Huppert and Charles Berling
As in a compilation of her previous roles, Isabelle Huppert incorporates into her character of a strong-willed woman and traumatized daughter the mysteries and ambiguities of being, here on the border between innocence and madness. Based on a novel by Philippe Djian.
7 – VICTORIA by Justine Triet with Virginie Efira and Vincent Lacoste
A delightful comedy about a deeply depressed woman who loses – all at once – her health, her job, her honor, her status, her social ties… A radical and very warm mirror of an era addicted to the most intense thrills and self-dissolution.
Virginie Efira in decline: magnificent!
8 – THE RED TURTLE by Michael Dudok de Wit
Commissioned by the famous Ghibli studios, a fantastic tale about a castaway trapped on his island; where nature stutters intriguing calls. An animation film with a high poetic content, co-scripted by Pascale Ferran.
9 – THANK YOU BOSS by François Ruffin
Robin Hood, what an arrow!
In invisible camera modes and vicious stratagem, the revelation of a staggering truth: how our transnational masters fear, more than anything, feeling excluded from the field of social justification, while they themselves unflinchingly eject their employees.
10 – A JOURNEY THROUGH FRENCH CINEMA by Bertrand Tavernier
Subjectivity, how you grip us!
Tavernier collects the eternal images of our cinema, revives many buried memories, unveils funny or moving unpublished works, but, above all, infinitely liberates our joy in approving or contesting his choices. Bravo, artist!
