Exclusive: Sky Italia and CBC are among the international buyers swooping for Gallic content following last week’s inaugural French TV Screenings.
Local distributors are calling the event a success and are hopeful it will become a fixture in the international calendar.
Nine French sales houses held screenings events over two days as part of Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris at the Club de l’Etoile. With 106 buyers in town, deals were always likely. Deadline has learned Newen Connect and France TV Distribution were among those to strike international sales.
France TV Distribution sold library title Agatha Christie’s Criminal Games to Sky Italia Seasons 1 and 2. First airing in France in 2009, the light crime drama is a French adaptation of novelist Agatha Christie’s murder mystery stories.
“The Rendez-Vous Unifrance in Paris has been a great occasion for our full sales team to start the year with pitching our new drama series,...
Local distributors are calling the event a success and are hopeful it will become a fixture in the international calendar.
Nine French sales houses held screenings events over two days as part of Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris at the Club de l’Etoile. With 106 buyers in town, deals were always likely. Deadline has learned Newen Connect and France TV Distribution were among those to strike international sales.
France TV Distribution sold library title Agatha Christie’s Criminal Games to Sky Italia Seasons 1 and 2. First airing in France in 2009, the light crime drama is a French adaptation of novelist Agatha Christie’s murder mystery stories.
“The Rendez-Vous Unifrance in Paris has been a great occasion for our full sales team to start the year with pitching our new drama series,...
- 1/19/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix and Arte’s musical show “Le Monde de Demain” (“The World of Tomorrow”) took the top prize in the International Competition of television festival Series Mania at the event’s awards ceremony Friday.
The series, created by Katell Quillévéré, Hélier Cisterne – both also directing – Vincent Poymiro and David Elkaïm, takes a look at the birth of the French hip-hop movement in the 1980s. Made with the collaboration of Laurent Rigoulet and the participation of Kool Shen, JoeyStarr and DJ Détonateur S, it was described by the organizers as “a personal chronicle about a Parisian suburban youth reaching adulthood, claiming its own space in a new France, a country to reinvent.”
In the acting categories, Michelle De Swarte was noticed for her role in the U.K.’s “The Baby,” produced by Sky, HBO and Ocs, while Israeli actor Yehuda Levi impressed the jurors with his performance in “Fire Dance,...
The series, created by Katell Quillévéré, Hélier Cisterne – both also directing – Vincent Poymiro and David Elkaïm, takes a look at the birth of the French hip-hop movement in the 1980s. Made with the collaboration of Laurent Rigoulet and the participation of Kool Shen, JoeyStarr and DJ Détonateur S, it was described by the organizers as “a personal chronicle about a Parisian suburban youth reaching adulthood, claiming its own space in a new France, a country to reinvent.”
In the acting categories, Michelle De Swarte was noticed for her role in the U.K.’s “The Baby,” produced by Sky, HBO and Ocs, while Israeli actor Yehuda Levi impressed the jurors with his performance in “Fire Dance,...
- 3/25/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The director is shooting a Nord-Ouest Films production sold by WTFilms on the early days of French hip hop band Ntm, starring Théo Christine and Sandor Funtek in the roles of JoeyStarr and Kool Shen. On 5 August, filming commenced on Suprêmes, Audrey Estrougo’s 6th full-length movie after Ain’t Scared (uncovered in the 2008 Berlinale Forum), Leila (2011), Une histoire banale (2014), Jailbirds (which earned itself a 2017 Magritte nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category) and A la folie (whose release date is yet to be confirmed). Standing tall in the cast are Théo Christine (who made his mark in the series Skam France and whom we’ll be seeing in French cinemas on 28 October by way of My Best Part), Sandor Funtek,...
Heal The Living (Reparer les vivants) will screen at Plaza Frontenac Cinema (Lindbergh Blvd. and Clayton Rd, Frontenac, Mo 63131) as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Showings are Thursday, Nov. 9 at 6:40pm (purchase tickets Here) and Friday, Nov. 10 at 9:30pm (purchase tickets Here).
Three narrative threads built around the issue of organ transplantation – parents facing with the accidental death of their teen-aged son, the medical staff of a transplant team, and a middle-aged female musician dying of heart failure – are woven together in French director Katell Quillevere’s medical drama Heal The Living (Reparer les vivants). This is the third and most polished of her films, her previous works being Suzanne and Love Like Poison.
In part, Heal The Living is a medical procedural, like countless television or movie dramas, but what sets it apart is its fuller emotional portrait of the patients and...
Three narrative threads built around the issue of organ transplantation – parents facing with the accidental death of their teen-aged son, the medical staff of a transplant team, and a middle-aged female musician dying of heart failure – are woven together in French director Katell Quillevere’s medical drama Heal The Living (Reparer les vivants). This is the third and most polished of her films, her previous works being Suzanne and Love Like Poison.
In part, Heal The Living is a medical procedural, like countless television or movie dramas, but what sets it apart is its fuller emotional portrait of the patients and...
- 11/9/2017
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Quad Cinema Director of Programming and Nathan Silver's Thirst Street co-writer C Mason Wells Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Since its reopening by Charles S Cohen in April, the Quad Cinema has had four noteworthy theatrical premieres right from the start: Terence Davies' soulful A Quiet Passion (with Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine); Katell Quillévéré's thoughtful Heal The Living (Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen, Tahar Rahim, Finnegan Oldfield); Bruno Dumont's wild Slack Bay (Fabrice Luchini, Juliette Binoche, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), and Maura Axelrod's impish Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back.
Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion still going strong at the Quad Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Following First Encounters for Greta Gerwig with David Lynch's Blue Velvet, Kenneth Lonergan with Edward Yang's Yi Yi, John Turturro and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, and Noah Baumbach catching up on Bruce Robinson's Withnail And I at the Quad,...
Since its reopening by Charles S Cohen in April, the Quad Cinema has had four noteworthy theatrical premieres right from the start: Terence Davies' soulful A Quiet Passion (with Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine); Katell Quillévéré's thoughtful Heal The Living (Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen, Tahar Rahim, Finnegan Oldfield); Bruno Dumont's wild Slack Bay (Fabrice Luchini, Juliette Binoche, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), and Maura Axelrod's impish Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back.
Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion still going strong at the Quad Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Following First Encounters for Greta Gerwig with David Lynch's Blue Velvet, Kenneth Lonergan with Edward Yang's Yi Yi, John Turturro and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, and Noah Baumbach catching up on Bruce Robinson's Withnail And I at the Quad,...
- 5/21/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"We can try to figure out what Simon would have wanted." Cohen Media Group has debuted an official Us trailer for the French indie drama Heal the Living, based on the book of the same name (Réparer les vivants) by Maylis De Kerangal. The film stars Tahar Rahim (from A Prophet and The Past) as Thomas Rémige, a doctor who is tasked with caring for a young teenage surfer boy who is in a coma after a car crash. The story follows the lives of three different people, and how they connect after a horrific accident. The cast includes Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners, Kool Shen, Monia Chokri, and Alice Taglioni. The film already played at film festivals last fall, and opens this month. This has some stunning cinematography, and it looks like a tender, emotional film about grief. This trailer totally got my attention. Here's the official Us...
- 4/11/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After a festival run that included Venice, Toronto, London and more, the U.S. trailer has arrived for Heal the Living, Katell Quillévéré‘s latest drama, which follows the lives of three people, and how they connect through a horrific accident, which leads to a coma. Set for a theatrical release this week, Heal the Living looks to be a tender and emotionally complex look at coping with grief and moving forward in life.
Set with a lush color palette and some striking lens work from Tom Harari and music from Alexandre Desplat, see the trailer below, along with a poster and synopsis for the film starring Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners and Kool Shen.
An interweaving of three stories connected to each other via an accident.
Heal the Living opens on April 14.
Set with a lush color palette and some striking lens work from Tom Harari and music from Alexandre Desplat, see the trailer below, along with a poster and synopsis for the film starring Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners and Kool Shen.
An interweaving of three stories connected to each other via an accident.
Heal the Living opens on April 14.
- 4/11/2017
- by Mike Mazzanti
- The Film Stage
After screening at the Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, Kattell Quillévéré’s lauded “Heal the Living” is headed for its theatrical release.
Read More: Venice Film Festival 2016 Winners: Emma Stone And Tom Ford Earn Major Prizes
Based on the novel “Heart,” “Heal the Living” takes place in the aftermath of a tragic car accident leaving a young man, Simon (Gabin Verdet), braindead and forcing his family to decide his fate. Intertwining with a other narrative plots, the decisions one family makes regarding the donation of their son’s organs changes the lives of both the ones he leaves behind and the ones with the possibility of a greater future.
The film has an incredible cast, starring Tahar Rahim (“A Prophet,” “The Past”), Emmanuelle Seigner (“Venus in Fur,” “In The House,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Anne Dorval (“Mommy,” “I Killed My Mother”), Kool Shen,...
Read More: Venice Film Festival 2016 Winners: Emma Stone And Tom Ford Earn Major Prizes
Based on the novel “Heart,” “Heal the Living” takes place in the aftermath of a tragic car accident leaving a young man, Simon (Gabin Verdet), braindead and forcing his family to decide his fate. Intertwining with a other narrative plots, the decisions one family makes regarding the donation of their son’s organs changes the lives of both the ones he leaves behind and the ones with the possibility of a greater future.
The film has an incredible cast, starring Tahar Rahim (“A Prophet,” “The Past”), Emmanuelle Seigner (“Venus in Fur,” “In The House,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Anne Dorval (“Mommy,” “I Killed My Mother”), Kool Shen,...
- 4/6/2017
- by Kerry Levielle
- Indiewire
Heal The Living (Réparer les vivantes) Director: Katell Quillévéré Written by: Katell Quillévéré, Gilles Taurand from the novel “The Heart” by Maylis de Kerangal Cast: Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners, Kool Shen, Monia Chokri, Alive Taglioni Opens: April 14, 2017 “We’re all connected” sounds like a tagline for a phone company and […]
The post Heal The Living Review: We are all connected. appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Heal The Living Review: We are all connected. appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 3/30/2017
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Katell Quillévéré on Steven Spielberg's E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial: "For me it was something from my childhood ..." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The danger of living is lurking at every corner at the start of Katell Quillévéré's medical thriller Heal The Living (Réparer Les Vivants), co-written with Gilles Taurand, based on a novel by Maylis De Kerangal, starring Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen (Catherine Breillat's Abus De Faiblesse with Isabelle Huppert), Tahar Rahim, Gabin Verdet, Théo Choldbi, and Finnegan Oldfield (Thomas Bidegain's Les Cowboys).
I first met Katell Quillévéré when she was presenting her film Suzanne, which stars Sara Forestier, Adèle Haenel, François Damiens, and Paul Hamy. Katell also participated, along with Julie Gayet, Axelle Ropert, Isabelle Giordano, Rebecca Zlotowski, Stacie Passon, Ry Russo-Young, Deborah Kampmeier, and Justine Triet, in activities at the French Institute Alliance Française on International Women’s Day during the 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
The danger of living is lurking at every corner at the start of Katell Quillévéré's medical thriller Heal The Living (Réparer Les Vivants), co-written with Gilles Taurand, based on a novel by Maylis De Kerangal, starring Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen (Catherine Breillat's Abus De Faiblesse with Isabelle Huppert), Tahar Rahim, Gabin Verdet, Théo Choldbi, and Finnegan Oldfield (Thomas Bidegain's Les Cowboys).
I first met Katell Quillévéré when she was presenting her film Suzanne, which stars Sara Forestier, Adèle Haenel, François Damiens, and Paul Hamy. Katell also participated, along with Julie Gayet, Axelle Ropert, Isabelle Giordano, Rebecca Zlotowski, Stacie Passon, Ry Russo-Young, Deborah Kampmeier, and Justine Triet, in activities at the French Institute Alliance Française on International Women’s Day during the 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
- 3/7/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Toronto International Film Festival continues to add to its already eclectic slate by announcing their Platform line-up today. Beginning last year as a special program to highlight auteur-driven features from around the world, this year’s line-up looks remarkably strong, opening with Bertrand Bonello‘s Paris-set terrorism drama Nocturama.
Also featuring new films from Fien Troch, Zacharias Kunuk, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Ivan Sen, Katell Quillévéré, Khyentse Norbu, Pablo Larraín, William Oldroyd, Mijke de Jong, Barry Jenkins, Mathieu Denis, and Simon Lavoie, check out the line-up below.
Daguerrotype (Le Secret de la chambre noire) Kiyoshi Kurosawa, France/Japan/Belgium
World Premiere
Kiyoshi Kurosawa makes his first film outside Japan with this French-language ghost romance fantasy, about an aging photographer whose obsession with an archaic technique draws his young assistant and beautiful daughter into a dark and mysterious world. Starring Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, Olivier Gourmet, and Mathieu Amalric. ***
Goldstone Ivan Sen, Australia...
Also featuring new films from Fien Troch, Zacharias Kunuk, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Ivan Sen, Katell Quillévéré, Khyentse Norbu, Pablo Larraín, William Oldroyd, Mijke de Jong, Barry Jenkins, Mathieu Denis, and Simon Lavoie, check out the line-up below.
Daguerrotype (Le Secret de la chambre noire) Kiyoshi Kurosawa, France/Japan/Belgium
World Premiere
Kiyoshi Kurosawa makes his first film outside Japan with this French-language ghost romance fantasy, about an aging photographer whose obsession with an archaic technique draws his young assistant and beautiful daughter into a dark and mysterious world. Starring Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, Olivier Gourmet, and Mathieu Amalric. ***
Goldstone Ivan Sen, Australia...
- 8/11/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
On Mubi / Off is a bi-weekly column exploring two films: one currently available on Mubi in the United States, and the other screening offsite (in theaters, on VOD, Blu-ray/DVD, etc).On Mubi Abuse of Weakness (Catherine Breillat, 2013)Two films, this week, about trauma to body and soul. One is clear-eyed and cutting, the other ostentatiously grim, lugubrious. Catherine Breillat's Abuse of Weakness (Abus de faiblesse, 2013) is the work of clarity—analytic autobiography of the best sort in which the French writer-director dissects her own swindling at the wily hands of career con artist Christophe Rocancourt, who took her for a high-six-figures sum after she suffered a debilitating stroke. The names have been changed, but innocence has not been protected. Breillat's onscreen surrogate, Maud Shainberg (Isabelle Huppert, at the height of her icy powers), is an especially harsh self-portrait—a victim, yes, but one whose so-called weakness (the title...
- 12/13/2015
- by Keith Uhlich
- MUBI
On Mubi / Off is a bi-weekly column exploring two films: one currently available on Mubi in the United States, and the other screening offsite (in theaters, on VOD, Blu-ray/DVD, etc).On Mubi Abuse of Weakness (Catherine Breillat, 2013)Two films, this week, about trauma to body and soul. One is clear-eyed and cutting, the other ostentatiously grim, lugubrious. Catherine Breillat's Abuse of Weakness (Abus de faiblesse, 2013) is the work of clarity—analytic autobiography of the best sort in which the French writer-director dissects her own swindling at the wily hands of career con artist Christophe Rocancourt, who took her for a high-six-figures sum after she suffered a debilitating stroke. The names have been changed, but innocence has not been protected. Breillat's onscreen surrogate, Maud Shainberg (Isabelle Huppert, at the height of her icy powers), is an especially harsh self-portrait—a victim, yes, but one whose so-called weakness (the title...
- 12/9/2015
- by Keith Uhlich
- MUBI
My Afternoon With Maud’s Money: Breillat’s Most Personal Film Showcases Huppert
Catherine Breillat leaves behind the series of Grimm’s fairy tales she was adapting and returns to autobiographical resources to tell one of her own with Abuse of Weakness, which recounts a scandal from the not too distant past in which a con-man Breillat had cast in her next film swindled her out of all her money. Rigid, frigid, and icy to the core, the re-enactment is less scandalous and perhaps more perversely self-castigating, but what supersedes all aspects of both the film’s origination and directorial intent is another fascinating performance from Isabelle Huppert, the stand-in for Breillat’s on-camera persona and perhaps the warmest rendition of an adult female to appear in her filmography yet.
Prolific film director and author Maud Schoenberg (Huppert) awakens suddenly to find half her body paralyzed after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
Catherine Breillat leaves behind the series of Grimm’s fairy tales she was adapting and returns to autobiographical resources to tell one of her own with Abuse of Weakness, which recounts a scandal from the not too distant past in which a con-man Breillat had cast in her next film swindled her out of all her money. Rigid, frigid, and icy to the core, the re-enactment is less scandalous and perhaps more perversely self-castigating, but what supersedes all aspects of both the film’s origination and directorial intent is another fascinating performance from Isabelle Huppert, the stand-in for Breillat’s on-camera persona and perhaps the warmest rendition of an adult female to appear in her filmography yet.
Prolific film director and author Maud Schoenberg (Huppert) awakens suddenly to find half her body paralyzed after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
- 8/13/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Virtuosic at embodying in vivid detail the physicality of her characters, Isabelle Huppert has built an impressive career around performances of corporeality. So it's unsurprising that Huppert would be chosen for Catherine Breillat's latest, Abuse Of Weakness, in which she bestows another indelible performance.
Huppert plays Maud, a filmmaker who has suffered a physically debilitating stroke. (Some of the tensest scenes consist of Maud simply trying to stand up, or perform a basic exercise.) Maud's incapacitation is highlighted when she befriends Vilko (Kool Shen), a former con artist whom Maud taps for a role in her new film.
The dynamic that develops between them shapes the narrative: A comfortable member of France's upper class, Maud is drawn to Vilko's macho...
Huppert plays Maud, a filmmaker who has suffered a physically debilitating stroke. (Some of the tensest scenes consist of Maud simply trying to stand up, or perform a basic exercise.) Maud's incapacitation is highlighted when she befriends Vilko (Kool Shen), a former con artist whom Maud taps for a role in her new film.
The dynamic that develops between them shapes the narrative: A comfortable member of France's upper class, Maud is drawn to Vilko's macho...
- 8/13/2014
- Village Voice
The title of the film may be “Abuse of Weakness,” but Isabelle Huppert’s performance as a filmmaker who suffers a stroke and then gets willingly conned by an ex-con is nothing but strong and steely-nerved. Which, of course, is to be expected from one of film’s best living actresses.Directed with suitable chilliness by Catherine Breillat, and based on an ordeal she herself went through, the film follows successful director Maud (Huppert), who awakens one day to a living nightmare: she can’t feel half of her body or, as she tells the emergency line operator, “half of my body is dead.” After going through lengthy and painful therapy to become basically functional again -- she can finally speak, and hobble around with the help of orthopedic boots -- she spots a man, Vilko (rapper Kool Shen) on television, a criminal recently released from a 12-year prison stint,...
- 4/29/2014
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Strand Releasing and Catherine Breillat have already coupled twice before to deliver Breillat's two features "Bluebeard" and "Sleeping Beauty" to the world. Her latest dramatic feature, "Abuse of Weakness," has also been acquired by Strand, with plans for a fall release. Following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the drama about a film director debilitated by a stroke saw success on the festival circuit, and will show at the San Francisco Film Festival and the City of Lights, City of Angels Festival this month. The drama is inspired by Breillat's personal experience and stars Isabelle Huppert as the vulnerable recovering stroke victim, and Kool Shen as the male hustler on a path of seduction. "We're thrilled to be working on another film from Catherine" said Marcus Hu, Co-President of Strand Releasing. "She's definitely one of the strongest female directorial voices in the world today."...
- 4/21/2014
- by Taylor Lindsay
- Indiewire
Renowned French auteur Catherine Breillat is celebrated for her distinctively intimate productions, drawing on her own life experiences to create a realistic, individualist brand of filmmaking. Her latest, Abuse of Weakness, is one of her most personal yet, as we follow the distressing ordeal of a vulnerable, middle-aged filmmaker who struggles to overcome a stroke – something that Breillat herself had to experience in 2004.
Isabelle Huppert plays Maud Schoenberg, a cultivated director who awakes one morning to learn that she is paralysed by a stroke. Spending a while to get back on her feet and rediscover her confidence, she starts planning for her next project – and when she sees an ex-convict Vilko (Kool Shen) on the television, she impulsively decides he’s the man to play the male lead in her forthcoming production. Forming a professional relationship with the man, the criminal manipulates her into giving him vast amounts of money,...
Isabelle Huppert plays Maud Schoenberg, a cultivated director who awakes one morning to learn that she is paralysed by a stroke. Spending a while to get back on her feet and rediscover her confidence, she starts planning for her next project – and when she sees an ex-convict Vilko (Kool Shen) on the television, she impulsively decides he’s the man to play the male lead in her forthcoming production. Forming a professional relationship with the man, the criminal manipulates her into giving him vast amounts of money,...
- 10/17/2013
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
★★☆☆☆ Isabelle Huppert surmounts the emotional and physical restraints of her character to breathe life into Catherine Breillat's Abuse of Weakness (2013), an autobiographical drama about deception and dependency from a director whose oeuvre often focuses on women in peril. Huppert plays Maud, a middle-aged filmmaker of some notoriety. We first meet her as she awakes from an uncomfortable slumber to find herself paralysed by a stroke. A dominant and controlling women by profession and nature, Maud is uncomfortably reliant on the assistance of others, yet finds her yearning for company too hard to ignore.
Whilst watching television one morning Maud finds her future muse in the brutish guise of a young man named Vilko (Kool Shen), an ex-con recent imprisoned for fraud who has become a minor celebrity in France after duping numerous rich families out of their life savings. Maud cherry-picks Vilko for the leading role in her upcoming...
Whilst watching television one morning Maud finds her future muse in the brutish guise of a young man named Vilko (Kool Shen), an ex-con recent imprisoned for fraud who has become a minor celebrity in France after duping numerous rich families out of their life savings. Maud cherry-picks Vilko for the leading role in her upcoming...
- 10/14/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Isabelle Huppert as Maud: 'the challenge was to convey the emotion as long and as strongly as possible…' At the Trump International Hotel and Tower, off New York's Columbus Circle, Catherine Breillat's Abuse Of Weakness (Abus De Faiblesse) star, Isabelle Huppert was preparing to fly back to Paris after the New York Film Festival Us premiere. We discussed going to the Met with her director whose style she shares, the link between Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis, the hidden metaphor of Michael Haneke, the choreography with her co-star Kool Shen, and how she works to bring her character together.
Maud, played by Isabelle Huppert, who is formidable in every scene and gesture, wakes up one morning under fresh white sheets and notices that there is something wrong with her left arm. She tries to get up and collapses. It takes all her strength to reach the phone. "Half my body is dead,...
Maud, played by Isabelle Huppert, who is formidable in every scene and gesture, wakes up one morning under fresh white sheets and notices that there is something wrong with her left arm. She tries to get up and collapses. It takes all her strength to reach the phone. "Half my body is dead,...
- 10/10/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Kool Shen as Vilko and Isabelle Huppert as Maud: 'He is a swindler but not violent.' When I met Catherine Breillat for breakfast the morning after her New York Film Festival Us premiere of Abuse Of Weakness (Abus De Faiblesse) at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Nougatine on Central Park West, it had been a dozen years since we last spoke. This time we discussed how to twist Isabelle Huppert's arms, Bad Love in a lighthouse with Naomi Campbell, colours, numbers, and clocks.
Maud (Isabelle Huppert) sees a man being interviewed in a talk show on TV and can't take her eyes off him. She wants to cast this man, Vilko Piran (Kool Shen), in her next film. With Abuse Of Weakness, Breillat follows up brilliantly on the fairy tale promises of her previous two films after her stroke, The Sleeping Beauty (La Belle Endormie, 2010) and Bluebeard (Barbe Bleue, 2009). A sleeping beauty,...
Maud (Isabelle Huppert) sees a man being interviewed in a talk show on TV and can't take her eyes off him. She wants to cast this man, Vilko Piran (Kool Shen), in her next film. With Abuse Of Weakness, Breillat follows up brilliantly on the fairy tale promises of her previous two films after her stroke, The Sleeping Beauty (La Belle Endormie, 2010) and Bluebeard (Barbe Bleue, 2009). A sleeping beauty,...
- 10/8/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In late-2004, Catherine Breillat suffered a debilitating stroke that paralyzed the left side of her body and precipitated a five-month hospital stay. After learning to walk again, she soon returned to work, finalizing pre-production on The Last Mistress (2007). Her next project was to have been an adaption of her novel, Bad Love, starring Naomi Campbell and Christophe Rocancourt, a notorious criminal who, by the time Breillat met him, had already served five years in an American prison for defrauding his victims out of millions of dollars.
In a 2008 interview, Breillat said of Rocancourt: "He is so intelligent, so sincere, so arrogant. You have to be arrogant to achieve anything in this life. When I first saw him, I knew he would be perfect for my film." Breillat was, in fact, under the spell of Rocancourt at the time of that interview. Borrowing small sums at first, he would eventually swindle her out of nearly 700,000 euros,...
In a 2008 interview, Breillat said of Rocancourt: "He is so intelligent, so sincere, so arrogant. You have to be arrogant to achieve anything in this life. When I first saw him, I knew he would be perfect for my film." Breillat was, in fact, under the spell of Rocancourt at the time of that interview. Borrowing small sums at first, he would eventually swindle her out of nearly 700,000 euros,...
- 9/25/2013
- by Darren Hughes
- MUBI
Above: At Berkeley.
Dear Fern,
I sympathize with your addled, festival-endorsed mindstate of fevered exhaustion and oneiric boundary blurring! I'm glad you brought this up and I'm so, so glad you caught—and really liked—the Jim Jarmusch, because that was the last film I saw in Cannes this year, and while I think I loved it, the film had to pass through an even more extreme state of fatigue. And as you perhaps could tell by my silence about the picture in May, there is little of it in my mind, let's say, left alive. But on the contrary, Toronto is always a relief for me, flying from New York: such a short flight and within the same time zone means that I am able to arrive at the festival in a state of relative lucidity, and dive right in. Which may be why the first films I saw were equally lucid.
Dear Fern,
I sympathize with your addled, festival-endorsed mindstate of fevered exhaustion and oneiric boundary blurring! I'm glad you brought this up and I'm so, so glad you caught—and really liked—the Jim Jarmusch, because that was the last film I saw in Cannes this year, and while I think I loved it, the film had to pass through an even more extreme state of fatigue. And as you perhaps could tell by my silence about the picture in May, there is little of it in my mind, let's say, left alive. But on the contrary, Toronto is always a relief for me, flying from New York: such a short flight and within the same time zone means that I am able to arrive at the festival in a state of relative lucidity, and dive right in. Which may be why the first films I saw were equally lucid.
- 9/17/2013
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
By all accounts Catherine Breillat's new, unflinchingly autobiographical film "Abuse of Weakness" (based on her novel of the same name), starring Isabelle Huppert as a thinly veined on-screen equivalent for the director, is brilliant but just as tough to watch as the director's other films. Based on the first clip released from the film (you can watch below), which just debuted online, you can see why: there's a palpable sense of discomfort, made all the more queasy by Breillat's photographic and editorial choices. In the film, Huppert's director character Maud hires a criminal named Vilko (Kool Shen, is this seriously his name?) to star in her new film and, of course, gets swindled in the process. In the sequence that just popped online, she is interviewing Vilko for the job, and he is very upfront about his lawless past. The scene is brief but illuminating, and not just in...
- 9/10/2013
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
I like to start my film festivals with an atypical choice just to get the globe-trotting adventures rolling. So my first screening at Tiff, which I drunkenly forgot the name of the night before -- "Undefebeatable?" "Indestructafeated" -- was a mixed martial arts 'ultimate fighting' movie. I don't only watch movies about actresses, people! Those are just the ones I like best is all. I chased the Mma fighters with some Romanian actressing and French perversity... although it was more like Romanian Actress Perversity (Lhuminita) And French Actress Perversity (Huppert - who else?)
So basically this was me settling in with each movie on Day One.
Movies make me feel goooooooood.
Unbeatable
In many ways Dante Lam's mixed martial arts fighting movie is just one giant wheel of cheese. It's a wheel of cheese so big I was reminded fo the cheez-it commercial as it rolls through Hunnan, Beijing,...
So basically this was me settling in with each movie on Day One.
Movies make me feel goooooooood.
Unbeatable
In many ways Dante Lam's mixed martial arts fighting movie is just one giant wheel of cheese. It's a wheel of cheese so big I was reminded fo the cheez-it commercial as it rolls through Hunnan, Beijing,...
- 9/7/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
#9. Catherine Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness
Gist: Abuse of Weakness will trace the autobiographical experience of Breillat with a notorious swindler. Isabelle Huppert stars as Maud, a film director recently paralyzed on one side, and she becomes entrenched in a destructive relationship with Vilko (rapper Kool Shen of Ntm, in his screen debut), a man she wishes to cast in her next film. (Photo credit: Photo ©: Fabrizio Maltese)
Prediction: Certainly this is one film that contains a heady mix of intriguing elements. The much publicized swindling of Breillat resulted in the fallout of the film she had been putting together. The project would have been a follow-up to her 2007 film The Last Mistress, which played in the Main Competition at Cannes. Since then, she has focused on adapting several fairy tales for the big screen. But this latest project, which unites the infamous provocateur with Huppert and Kool Shen,...
Gist: Abuse of Weakness will trace the autobiographical experience of Breillat with a notorious swindler. Isabelle Huppert stars as Maud, a film director recently paralyzed on one side, and she becomes entrenched in a destructive relationship with Vilko (rapper Kool Shen of Ntm, in his screen debut), a man she wishes to cast in her next film. (Photo credit: Photo ©: Fabrizio Maltese)
Prediction: Certainly this is one film that contains a heady mix of intriguing elements. The much publicized swindling of Breillat resulted in the fallout of the film she had been putting together. The project would have been a follow-up to her 2007 film The Last Mistress, which played in the Main Competition at Cannes. Since then, she has focused on adapting several fairy tales for the big screen. But this latest project, which unites the infamous provocateur with Huppert and Kool Shen,...
- 4/14/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Abus De Faiblesse
Director/Writer: Catherine Breillat
Producer(s): Flach Film’s Jean-Francois Le Petit & Iris Groups’ Nicolas Steil
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Isabelle Huppert and Cool Shen
Catherine Breillat’s 14th film project might be her most personal yet, simply because it is lifted from a true-life ordeal that she experienced first-hand with professional conman Christophe Rocancourt. Lucky for us, Breillat isn’t afraid of provocation or digging deep in her personal life for the sake of art – and along for the ride comes the bumpy combo of Isabelle Huppert and non-actor popular rapper Cool Shen. Check out Boyd van Hoeij’s just released set-visit article.
Gist: Huppert plays the Breillat-based character Maud, with rapper Kool Shen (formerly of Ntm) playing the Rocancourt-esque character Vilko.
Release Date: With production having begun in October,it appears that the Venice Film Festival is a more sound bet over Cannes.
Director/Writer: Catherine Breillat
Producer(s): Flach Film’s Jean-Francois Le Petit & Iris Groups’ Nicolas Steil
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Isabelle Huppert and Cool Shen
Catherine Breillat’s 14th film project might be her most personal yet, simply because it is lifted from a true-life ordeal that she experienced first-hand with professional conman Christophe Rocancourt. Lucky for us, Breillat isn’t afraid of provocation or digging deep in her personal life for the sake of art – and along for the ride comes the bumpy combo of Isabelle Huppert and non-actor popular rapper Cool Shen. Check out Boyd van Hoeij’s just released set-visit article.
Gist: Huppert plays the Breillat-based character Maud, with rapper Kool Shen (formerly of Ntm) playing the Rocancourt-esque character Vilko.
Release Date: With production having begun in October,it appears that the Venice Film Festival is a more sound bet over Cannes.
- 1/16/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Vigilandia
Ethan Hawke has joined the futuristic thriller "Vigilandia" at Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Platinum Dunes Productions and Why Not Productions.
James DeMonaco ("The Negotiator") penned and directs the story with details being kept under wraps. Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form will produce and shooting kicks off February 13th. [Source: Reuters]
Abus de faiblesse
French acting legend Isabelle Huppert has joined the cast of Catherine Breillat’s autobiographical feature "Abus de faiblesse" for Arte France Cinema.
The story is based on Breillat’s real-life experiences with celebrity hustler Christophe Rocancourt whom she befriended. He took advantage of her fragile state (she had a stroke in 2004) and embezzled her of €650,000.
Huppert plays self-destructive, hemiplegic film director Maud who enters into a dangerous friendship with flamboyant crook Vilko (Kool Shen). Shooting kicks off later this year. [Source: Screen Daily]
The Black Marks
Chris Diamantopoulos ("The Three Stooges," "The Kennedys") has joined the cast...
Ethan Hawke has joined the futuristic thriller "Vigilandia" at Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Platinum Dunes Productions and Why Not Productions.
James DeMonaco ("The Negotiator") penned and directs the story with details being kept under wraps. Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form will produce and shooting kicks off February 13th. [Source: Reuters]
Abus de faiblesse
French acting legend Isabelle Huppert has joined the cast of Catherine Breillat’s autobiographical feature "Abus de faiblesse" for Arte France Cinema.
The story is based on Breillat’s real-life experiences with celebrity hustler Christophe Rocancourt whom she befriended. He took advantage of her fragile state (she had a stroke in 2004) and embezzled her of €650,000.
Huppert plays self-destructive, hemiplegic film director Maud who enters into a dangerous friendship with flamboyant crook Vilko (Kool Shen). Shooting kicks off later this year. [Source: Screen Daily]
The Black Marks
Chris Diamantopoulos ("The Three Stooges," "The Kennedys") has joined the cast...
- 1/13/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Not a bad pairing, is it? ScreenDaily (via ThePlaylist) tells us that the controversial auteur and acclaimed actress will be joining forces on an adaptation of Breillat‘s own book, Abuse of Weakness — or Abus De Faiblesse — which centered on her experiences with a con man, Christophe Rocancourt. The two met in the middle of this past decade (she wanted to cast him in a film based on his own life, Bad Love), but their relationship ended when the filmmaker accused Rocancourt of stealing approximately €850,000 from her, following a stroke.
It’s clearly some deep, personal territory for Breillat — so, when you think about it, one could do a lot worse than cast Isabelle Huppert as themselves. This version of the story doesn’t veer too wildly from the past, as it concerns “self-destructive, hemiplegic film director Maud who enters into a dangerous friendship with flamboyant crook Vilko”; he’ll...
It’s clearly some deep, personal territory for Breillat — so, when you think about it, one could do a lot worse than cast Isabelle Huppert as themselves. This version of the story doesn’t veer too wildly from the past, as it concerns “self-destructive, hemiplegic film director Maud who enters into a dangerous friendship with flamboyant crook Vilko”; he’ll...
- 1/12/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
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