I’m not a particularly romantic person by nature. I’m not sure why. It’s not worth discussing unless it’s with a therapist but having said that, I have been with my partner Lynda for nearly fifteen years now.
It says more about Lynda’s capacity to overcome adversity as opposed to anything I’ve ever done, so when I bought a couple of tickets to the new French film Out of Season, she was a tad confused but pleased I’d made the effort.
Laurent, played by Guillaume Canet, is a legendary French actor faced with an existential crisis in his forties. He decides to head to a very expensive health spa in a small town adjacent to a bleak but beautiful coastline.
The scenes early in the film as Laurent adjusts to the spa are very funny and you get a clear idea as to why his life has gone awry when he has had everything gifted to him for so many years.
A couple of days into his stay, he is contacted by a past lover who he had a relationship with fifteen years ago and now lives in the town with her husband, a doctor and their teenage daughter.
Laurent catches up for coffee with Alice, played by Alba Rohrwacher and the connection they have is palpable.
Rohrwacher is simply luminous on screen. She looks a little like Meryl Streep and combines both vulnerability and strength to the point where I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
If you’re expecting some unrequited love story with a Pretty Woman ending, you’d be forgetting this is a French film!
The relationship between the two parties is complex and as they come to reunite after such a long time, the scenes are incredibly real and drawn out sufficiently where required for the viewer to absorb the challenges they face.
Laurent is grand as the actor facing a dilemma in his career but it’s Rohrwacher who steals every scene. She is so believable as the authentic piano teacher and aged care worker who was left behind in Paris by Laurent fifteen years ago.
There are so many touching scenes throughout the film and because we were the only punters in the cinema we found ourselves commentating, hollering and pleading for the film to not stop!
If you’re looking to immerse yourself in pure French cinema that will have you doing a post mortem for hours afterwards, this is it. 9/10
We witnessed something today that hasn’t been seen in decades. A full house in a cinema.
Our beautiful Regent Theatre Cinema 7 was chockers with the final night showing of the British Film Festival and its ‘closer’ Conclave.
Ralph Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence who is tasked with the supervision of a conclave or vote in the Catholic Church when the Pope dies.
He gathers Cardinals from around the globe to The Vatican and facilitates a voting process that makes the Brownlow coverage look like a weekly lotto numbers announcement.
Over a few days we see inside the decision makers of the richest organisation in the world. Fundamentally it was like watching our House of Reps dressed in robes and silly hats.
The secrets, lies, self-interest and backstabbing are no different to politicians everywhere.
Fiennes is excellent as the dour manager and he’s ably supported by Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rosellini. The sets are glorious and other than being a bit slow at times, this is an interesting insight into what happens behind the scenes at The Vatican. 7/10
