Aubrey MaloneA feast of films for Francophiles at the IFI
This year’s Carte Noire French Film Festival at the Irish Film Institute has some tantalising offerings, as well as appearances by many of the directors behind the movies for lectures and Q&A sessions.
On November 21 there is Two in the Wave, a documentary about the fraught relationship between two directors at the vanguard of the New Wave, Jean- Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut.
Godard’s Love is the Perfect Crime is showing the following day. This tells the story of a literature professor (Mathieu Amalric) with a reputation for philandering who comes under scrutiny after the disappearance of one of his students.
The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq (November 26) is a comedy about a writer (Houellebecq playing himself) abducted by three kidnappers who behave more like casual friends to him than anything else.
Elle l’Adore (also November 26) has a very unusual storyline. It deals with a pop singer (Laurent Lafite) who accidentally kills his girlfriend and then asks one of his most devoted fans (Sandrine Kiberlain) to dispose of the corpse.
Eric Rohmer’s Love in the Afternoon is the featured film of November 29. Not to be confused with Billy Wilder’s Gary Cooper movie of the same name from 1957, it’s the last of Rohmer’s ‘moral fables’. It tells the story of a teacher who’s tempted to cheat on his wife after she becomes pregnant. Some people find Rohmer’s movies too ‘talky’ but there’s a hypnotic draw in their naturalism that’s enticing. He can make the ordinary seem extraordinary by his deft hand and fascination with the detailed parables of relationships.
Also showing on November 29 is The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodilesstarring Emmanuel Beart, one of the most familiar French actresses in these islands. She plays a character who pretends she’s writing a book.
When her lie is exposed, she persuades her sister to write one instead. (By now you’ll have noticed that deception is one of the main themes running through the festival.)
It closes on the November 30 with two more interesting films. Minuscule – The Family of Lost Antsis an animated 3D film for younger viewers that focuses on rival ant colonies vying for a precious sugar cube in the aftermath of a picnic in a forest. 40 Love, meanwhile, tells the story of a talented 11-year-old tennis player who tries to persuade her widowed father to date again.
Full details of the festival as regards ordering tickets etc. are available by consulting the website ifi.ie.frenchfest or by ringing 01-6793477.