The Wages of Fear is a French film directed by Julien Leclercq starring Franck Gastambide and Ana Girardot.
“The Wages of Fear” is a film based on Georges Arnaud’s novel, which, as you may already know, had a previous adaptation in 1953, directed by H.G. Clouzot. This has become a classic of French cinema and one of the best thrillers in film history.
In these current times, Julien Leclercq dares to create a new version of this story, modernizing it entirely and trying to maintain the character tension in this updated plot, although we’re not fully sure if it’s for the better.
It’s always a risk to compare yourself to a classic, but Julien Leclercq has the courage to try it.
Plot
To save a village during an oil extraction, four people must escort a convoy loaded with nitroglycerin in a desolate place, surrounded by armed gangs.
“The Wages of Fear” is a film based on Georges Arnaud’s novel, which, as you may already know, had a previous adaptation in 1953, directed by H.G. Clouzot. This has become a classic of French cinema and one of the best thrillers in film history.
In these current times, Julien Leclercq dares to create a new version of this story, modernizing it entirely and trying to maintain the character tension in this updated plot, although we’re not fully sure if it’s for the better.
It’s always a risk to compare yourself to a classic, but Julien Leclercq has the courage to try it.
Plot
To save a village during an oil extraction, four people must escort a convoy loaded with nitroglycerin in a desolate place, surrounded by armed gangs.
- 3/29/2024
- by Martin Cid
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
En garde, worldwide enemies of France, along with all freedom-loving people! Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath Aka super-agent Oss 117 is on the case! Actually, he’s on two cases as a pair of his deadliest missions is now available in a nifty ultra-cool double BluRay gift set. Yes, I know Santa “made the scene” over a week ago, but if you’re wondering what to do with your gift cards or return credits, well…
First, let’s crack open the dossier file on this operative. The character springs from a series of novels begun by writer Jean Bruce, beating Ian Fleming’s 007 by six years. Of course, the movie studios beckoned, and a movie franchise premiered in 1957 and concluded in 1970. Ah, but you can’t keep a good spy down. Five years before they teamed on the Oscar-winning The Artist, director/co-writer Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Dujardin re-imagined...
First, let’s crack open the dossier file on this operative. The character springs from a series of novels begun by writer Jean Bruce, beating Ian Fleming’s 007 by six years. Of course, the movie studios beckoned, and a movie franchise premiered in 1957 and concluded in 1970. Ah, but you can’t keep a good spy down. Five years before they teamed on the Oscar-winning The Artist, director/co-writer Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Dujardin re-imagined...
- 1/8/2024
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
With over 20 million people learning French on language-learning platform Duolingo and millions more learning in classrooms and other platforms around the United States, there has never been a better time to get connected to Gallic culture. And sure, a vacation to France sounds wonderful, but maybe it’s not in the budget at the moment. But even if your passport is gathering dust in the drawer, Prime Video Channels has opened up its borders to a whole new Francophone world.
This week, the Amazon streamer partnered with the on-demand platform the France Channel to bring the largest offering of French titles, news, and culture to American audiences. If you’re ready to ramp up your French immersion from the comfort of your own home, Prime Video offers a seven-day free trial ahead of the France Channel’s normal subscription cost of $7.99 per month, or $79.99 per year.
7-Day Free Trial $7.99 / month...
This week, the Amazon streamer partnered with the on-demand platform the France Channel to bring the largest offering of French titles, news, and culture to American audiences. If you’re ready to ramp up your French immersion from the comfort of your own home, Prime Video offers a seven-day free trial ahead of the France Channel’s normal subscription cost of $7.99 per month, or $79.99 per year.
7-Day Free Trial $7.99 / month...
- 7/13/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
European cinema focused film will return to French Alps from December 11 to 18 after Covid-19 hiatus.
French director Michel Hazanavicius, whose credits include the Oscar-winning The Artist, will head the jury of the European feature film competition at the Les Arcs Film Festival in the French Alps (December 11-18).
Unfolding in and around the ski resort of Les Arcs, the festival has carved out a role as a convivial and useful end-of-year meeting for the European film industry, thanks to its respected Work in Progress and Coproduction Village events.
It was forced to cancel its physical December 2020 edition due to the...
French director Michel Hazanavicius, whose credits include the Oscar-winning The Artist, will head the jury of the European feature film competition at the Les Arcs Film Festival in the French Alps (December 11-18).
Unfolding in and around the ski resort of Les Arcs, the festival has carved out a role as a convivial and useful end-of-year meeting for the European film industry, thanks to its respected Work in Progress and Coproduction Village events.
It was forced to cancel its physical December 2020 edition due to the...
- 10/7/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Jean Dujardin stars in the third instalment of the franchise.
Nicolas Bedos’ French spy spoof Oss 117: From Africa With Love, starring Jean Dujardin, is to close the 2021 Cannes Film Festival on July 17.
The third instalment in the Oss 117 franchise will receive its world premiere at Cannes, under the banner ‘final screening’ rather than ‘closing film’.
French writer/director Bedos is the Cesar award-winning filmmaker whose time-travelling romantic comedy La Belle Époque played at Cannes, out of competition, in 2019.
Oss 117: From Africa With Love was originally set for a theatrical release in France in February but was delayed as...
Nicolas Bedos’ French spy spoof Oss 117: From Africa With Love, starring Jean Dujardin, is to close the 2021 Cannes Film Festival on July 17.
The third instalment in the Oss 117 franchise will receive its world premiere at Cannes, under the banner ‘final screening’ rather than ‘closing film’.
French writer/director Bedos is the Cesar award-winning filmmaker whose time-travelling romantic comedy La Belle Époque played at Cannes, out of competition, in 2019.
Oss 117: From Africa With Love was originally set for a theatrical release in France in February but was delayed as...
- 6/25/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
French Argentine actor Bérénice Bejo discussed her early career, breaking into French cinema and starring in a silent film, as part of the 2020 Sarajevo Film Festival masterclass series, hosted by Variety Streaming Room.
The conversation and subsequent audience Q&a, moderated by film critic Peter Debruge, covered the actor’s performance in “After Love” and “The Artist,” as well as advice for aspiring filmmakers.
Bejo made her screen debut through a newspaper advertisement in 1998. She called director Abdelkrim Bahlo’s number in her local paper and auditioned over the phone for her role in “Les Soeurs Hamlet.” Since her early 20s, Bejo has starred in over 50 films and two theatrical productions.
“For me, it was always onscreen. Every Saturday, [my dad] would show us like critics and decide what we will see, so while my friends were watching TV or things like that, I was not allowed to watch. I was watching John Wayne,...
The conversation and subsequent audience Q&a, moderated by film critic Peter Debruge, covered the actor’s performance in “After Love” and “The Artist,” as well as advice for aspiring filmmakers.
Bejo made her screen debut through a newspaper advertisement in 1998. She called director Abdelkrim Bahlo’s number in her local paper and auditioned over the phone for her role in “Les Soeurs Hamlet.” Since her early 20s, Bejo has starred in over 50 films and two theatrical productions.
“For me, it was always onscreen. Every Saturday, [my dad] would show us like critics and decide what we will see, so while my friends were watching TV or things like that, I was not allowed to watch. I was watching John Wayne,...
- 8/19/2020
- by Janet W. Lee
- Variety Film + TV
Director Michel Hazanavicius and actress Bérénice Bejo, Oscar winner and Oscar nominee respectively for “The Artist,” will present individual Masterclasses at the 26th Sarajevo Film Festival this year. Also delivering Masterclasses are directors Michel Franco and Rithy Panh.
The Masterclasses, which like the rest of the festival are running online via ondemand.sff.ban, are organized in cooperation with Variety, and will be available worldwide via the Variety Streaming Room.
Hazanavicius shot his first feature-length film, “Mes Amis,” in 1999. In 2006, he directed his second feature, “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies,” and then, three years later, “Oss 17: Lost in Rio.”
In 2011, he made “The Artist,” the silent, black-and-white film starring Bejo and Jean Dujardin, which won five Academy Awards in 2012, including best film, director and actor for Dujardin, while Bejo was an Oscar nominee for supporting actress.
The film premiered at Cannes, as did Hazanavicius’ “The Players” and “Redoubtable.
The Masterclasses, which like the rest of the festival are running online via ondemand.sff.ban, are organized in cooperation with Variety, and will be available worldwide via the Variety Streaming Room.
Hazanavicius shot his first feature-length film, “Mes Amis,” in 1999. In 2006, he directed his second feature, “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies,” and then, three years later, “Oss 17: Lost in Rio.”
In 2011, he made “The Artist,” the silent, black-and-white film starring Bejo and Jean Dujardin, which won five Academy Awards in 2012, including best film, director and actor for Dujardin, while Bejo was an Oscar nominee for supporting actress.
The film premiered at Cannes, as did Hazanavicius’ “The Players” and “Redoubtable.
- 8/6/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Read More: Academy Award-Winner Michel Hazanavicius's 5 Tips for Filmmakers Academy Award-winning French director Michel Hazanavicius was chosen by the Colcoa French Film Festival in Los Angeles for its Focus on a Filmmaker program this year. Besides revisiting the film that launch his international career, "OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies," the festival hosted the L.A. premiere of the filmmaker's latest work "The Search," which premiered in competition at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Based on Fred Zinnemann's classic film of the same name, Hazanavicius's update is set during he second Chechen war of 1999 and stars Berenice Bejo and Annette Bening. The film is an epic drama that offers a look into the devastation of war through the eyes of an orphan child. A big departure from Hazanavicius most famous film, Best Picture Oscar-winner "The Artist," the humanistic drama showcases a more political and serious tone than his previous.
- 4/29/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
PARIS -- Adapted from Frederic Beigbeder's novel of the same title -- one of the biggest French best-sellers of recent years -- and starring the very bankable Jean Dujardin (Brice de Nice, 0SS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies), Jan Kounen's 99 Francs represents a scathing -- for France -- satire on the advertising industry, one that is likely to do excellent business in its home territory.
Dujardin plays Octave Parango, whizz-kid creative director of the advertising agency Ross and Witchcraft whom we first meet standing on the roof of a skyscraper in driving rain apparently bent on committing suicide. In voice-over -- there is a great deal of VO and direct address to camera -- Octave explains that he is the master of the world, the man who decides today what Joe Public will want to buy tomorrow. And that he is a very bad lot indeed.
He then leads us through the stages of his career, presenting his colleagues -- fellow creator Charlie (Jocelyn Quivrin), finance director Jeff (Patrick Mille), girlfriend Sophie (Vahina Giocante) -- and CEO Alfred Duler (Nicolas Marie), of his leading client, a major dairy products manufacturer.
Quite how bad a lot he is becomes rapidly apparent as the film watches him snort large quantities of cocaine and vent his cynical wit on all around him. When Sophie informs him that she is pregnant with his child, he proves incapable of producing an authentic human response. But he is lucid enough and decides finally to rebel, notably by sabotaging the launch of a new brand of yogurt.
Comparable with last year's Thank you for Smoking, Jason Reitman's acerbic take on lobbyists for Big Tobacco, 99 Francs is strong stuff for France where advertisers traditionally wield considerable influence among television broadcasters who in turn have a major say as regards which movies get made.
Kounen, working from a script by Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Laveine with some impromptu input by Dujardin, pulls few punches in his portrayal of advertising agencies as dens of narcissistic, coke-fueled opportunists on the make. Having made 30 or so ads himself, mostly in England, he presumably knows something of what he is talking about. His approach is not always subtle, and cliche is always lurking, but the movie is constantly inventive and the jokes score more hits than misses.
Some of the humor will fall flat with non-French audiences, but the movie is also dotted with references to well-known movie directors such as Sergio Leone, Stanley Kubrick, Wong Kar-Wai and Federico Fellini. Kounen is more interested in effects than in narrative clarity. The reality status of a number of scenes appears problematic -- real, pastiche, publicity or drug-induced fantasy? -- though in this the movie reflects the novel.
The pace is fast and furious. Since Kounen deploys the techniques of advertising the better to debunk them, he risks burdening the spectator with sensory overload. But it's all good fun with real bite, and France's best-known yogurt manufacturer will not be best pleased to see its brand name lightly disguised as Madone.
99 FRANCS
Film 99 Francs, Pathe, Arte France Cinema
Credits:
Director: Jan Kounen
Writers: Nicolas Charlet, Bruno Laveine, Jan Kounen
Producer: Ilan Goldman
Director of photography: David Ungaro
Production designer: Michel Barthelemy
Music: Jean-Jacques Hertz, Francois Roy
Costume designer: Sylvie Ong, Claire Lacaze
Editor: Anny Danche
Cast:
Octave Parango: Jean Dujardin
Charlie: Jocelyn Quivrin
Jeff: Patrick Mille
Sophie: Vahina Giocante
Tamara: Elisa Tovati
Duler: Nicolas Marie
Jean-Christian Gagnant: Dominique Bettenfeld
Running time -- 100 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Dujardin plays Octave Parango, whizz-kid creative director of the advertising agency Ross and Witchcraft whom we first meet standing on the roof of a skyscraper in driving rain apparently bent on committing suicide. In voice-over -- there is a great deal of VO and direct address to camera -- Octave explains that he is the master of the world, the man who decides today what Joe Public will want to buy tomorrow. And that he is a very bad lot indeed.
He then leads us through the stages of his career, presenting his colleagues -- fellow creator Charlie (Jocelyn Quivrin), finance director Jeff (Patrick Mille), girlfriend Sophie (Vahina Giocante) -- and CEO Alfred Duler (Nicolas Marie), of his leading client, a major dairy products manufacturer.
Quite how bad a lot he is becomes rapidly apparent as the film watches him snort large quantities of cocaine and vent his cynical wit on all around him. When Sophie informs him that she is pregnant with his child, he proves incapable of producing an authentic human response. But he is lucid enough and decides finally to rebel, notably by sabotaging the launch of a new brand of yogurt.
Comparable with last year's Thank you for Smoking, Jason Reitman's acerbic take on lobbyists for Big Tobacco, 99 Francs is strong stuff for France where advertisers traditionally wield considerable influence among television broadcasters who in turn have a major say as regards which movies get made.
Kounen, working from a script by Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Laveine with some impromptu input by Dujardin, pulls few punches in his portrayal of advertising agencies as dens of narcissistic, coke-fueled opportunists on the make. Having made 30 or so ads himself, mostly in England, he presumably knows something of what he is talking about. His approach is not always subtle, and cliche is always lurking, but the movie is constantly inventive and the jokes score more hits than misses.
Some of the humor will fall flat with non-French audiences, but the movie is also dotted with references to well-known movie directors such as Sergio Leone, Stanley Kubrick, Wong Kar-Wai and Federico Fellini. Kounen is more interested in effects than in narrative clarity. The reality status of a number of scenes appears problematic -- real, pastiche, publicity or drug-induced fantasy? -- though in this the movie reflects the novel.
The pace is fast and furious. Since Kounen deploys the techniques of advertising the better to debunk them, he risks burdening the spectator with sensory overload. But it's all good fun with real bite, and France's best-known yogurt manufacturer will not be best pleased to see its brand name lightly disguised as Madone.
99 FRANCS
Film 99 Francs, Pathe, Arte France Cinema
Credits:
Director: Jan Kounen
Writers: Nicolas Charlet, Bruno Laveine, Jan Kounen
Producer: Ilan Goldman
Director of photography: David Ungaro
Production designer: Michel Barthelemy
Music: Jean-Jacques Hertz, Francois Roy
Costume designer: Sylvie Ong, Claire Lacaze
Editor: Anny Danche
Cast:
Octave Parango: Jean Dujardin
Charlie: Jocelyn Quivrin
Jeff: Patrick Mille
Sophie: Vahina Giocante
Tamara: Elisa Tovati
Duler: Nicolas Marie
Jean-Christian Gagnant: Dominique Bettenfeld
Running time -- 100 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 11/2/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARIS -- The divorce papers were finalized Sunday as the end officially arrived for the three-year joint distribution venture Gaumont Columbia TriStar France.
As the U.S. studio and French major go their separate ways, the Columbia TriStar label is taking on its mother studio's name, Sony Pictures France. Sony's 32-strong team will continue to be run by Eric Brune, with Alexandre Bihn heading up the marketing division and Etienne Reynard head of sales.
From now through the end of the year, Sony will release six films in French theaters including Hostel: Part II on July 11, Daddy Day Camp on Aug. 15 and Surf's Up on Oct. 24, for a total of 15 films in 2007. The studio plans to increase its theatrical output in the territory to 18-22 films next year.
After a successful 2006 boxoffice that featured You Are So Handsome, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and The Valet, Gaumont is hoping for a strong second half of 2007 with seven titles including Michel Boujenah's 3 Friends on Aug. 22; Christine Carriere's Darling on Nov. 7, starring Cesar-winner Guillaume Canet; and Djamel Bensalah's Big City, starring only children, Dec. 12.
"We'll miss our colleagues at Columbia, that's for sure."...
As the U.S. studio and French major go their separate ways, the Columbia TriStar label is taking on its mother studio's name, Sony Pictures France. Sony's 32-strong team will continue to be run by Eric Brune, with Alexandre Bihn heading up the marketing division and Etienne Reynard head of sales.
From now through the end of the year, Sony will release six films in French theaters including Hostel: Part II on July 11, Daddy Day Camp on Aug. 15 and Surf's Up on Oct. 24, for a total of 15 films in 2007. The studio plans to increase its theatrical output in the territory to 18-22 films next year.
After a successful 2006 boxoffice that featured You Are So Handsome, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and The Valet, Gaumont is hoping for a strong second half of 2007 with seven titles including Michel Boujenah's 3 Friends on Aug. 22; Christine Carriere's Darling on Nov. 7, starring Cesar-winner Guillaume Canet; and Djamel Bensalah's Big City, starring only children, Dec. 12.
"We'll miss our colleagues at Columbia, that's for sure."...
PARIS -- Rachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory, Pascale Ferran's Lady Chatterley and Guillaume Canet's Tell No One dominate the nominations for this year's Cesar Awards, France's top film honors, with each film vying for nine awards, organizers said Friday.
Alain Resnais' Coeurs and Xavier Giannoli's When I Was a Singer trail with eight and seven nominations, respectively.
Days of Glory, a harrowing portrayal of North Africans who fought to liberate France during World War II, followed up its foreign-language Oscar nomination with nine Cesar noms including best film, director and original script.
Tell No One, Guillaume Canet's adaptation of Harlan Coben's thriller, also bagged nine nominations, including best film, director and actor (Francois Cluzet).
Lady Chatterley, a critics' favorite that picked up the Louis Delluc prize in December, rounded out the trio with nominations in the best film, director and actress (Marina Hands) categories.
Philippe Lioret's adolescent drama Don't Worry, I'm Fine, also will compete in the best film category, nabbing a total of five nominations including best director and female newcomer (Melanie Laurent).
Cecile de France, who took last year's supporting actress Cesar, will compete against herself in the best actress category for her roles in When I Was a Singer and Avenue Montaigne. Catherine Frot (The Page Turner), Charlotte Gainsbourg (I Do) and Marina Hands (Lady Chatterley) also will vie for the prize.
Nominees in the best actor category include Michel Blanc, who plays a farmer in French boxoffice hit You're So Beautiful; Alain Chabat, for his hilarious portrayal of a reluctant lover in I Do; Gerard Depardieu, for his role as a worn-out ballroom singer in When I Was a Singer; Jean Dujardin, who plays the French reincarnation of James Bond in OSS 117; and Francois Cluzet, a man searching for his missing wife in Tell No One.
Singer, Glory and Beautiful will vie for best original screenplay alongside Avenue Montaigne and Jean-Philippe while No One, Chatterley, OSS 117 and Don't Worry will compete with Alain Resnais' ensemble hit Private Fears in Public Places in the best adaptation category.
Christine Citti (Singer), Mylene Demongeot (French California) and Bernadette Lafont (I Do) will compete for the best supporting actress prize with French singer Dani (Avenue Montaigne) and this year's Cesars ceremony host, Valerie Lemercier (Montaigne).
The nominees for best supporting actor are Danny Boon (The Valet), Francois Cluzet (Four Stars), Andre Dussollier (No One), Guy Marchand (Inside Paris) and Kad Merad (Don't Worry).
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' Little Miss Sunshine, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, Stephen Frears' The Queen and Pedro Almodovar's Volver will compete for best foreign-language film.
Alain Resnais' Coeurs and Xavier Giannoli's When I Was a Singer trail with eight and seven nominations, respectively.
Days of Glory, a harrowing portrayal of North Africans who fought to liberate France during World War II, followed up its foreign-language Oscar nomination with nine Cesar noms including best film, director and original script.
Tell No One, Guillaume Canet's adaptation of Harlan Coben's thriller, also bagged nine nominations, including best film, director and actor (Francois Cluzet).
Lady Chatterley, a critics' favorite that picked up the Louis Delluc prize in December, rounded out the trio with nominations in the best film, director and actress (Marina Hands) categories.
Philippe Lioret's adolescent drama Don't Worry, I'm Fine, also will compete in the best film category, nabbing a total of five nominations including best director and female newcomer (Melanie Laurent).
Cecile de France, who took last year's supporting actress Cesar, will compete against herself in the best actress category for her roles in When I Was a Singer and Avenue Montaigne. Catherine Frot (The Page Turner), Charlotte Gainsbourg (I Do) and Marina Hands (Lady Chatterley) also will vie for the prize.
Nominees in the best actor category include Michel Blanc, who plays a farmer in French boxoffice hit You're So Beautiful; Alain Chabat, for his hilarious portrayal of a reluctant lover in I Do; Gerard Depardieu, for his role as a worn-out ballroom singer in When I Was a Singer; Jean Dujardin, who plays the French reincarnation of James Bond in OSS 117; and Francois Cluzet, a man searching for his missing wife in Tell No One.
Singer, Glory and Beautiful will vie for best original screenplay alongside Avenue Montaigne and Jean-Philippe while No One, Chatterley, OSS 117 and Don't Worry will compete with Alain Resnais' ensemble hit Private Fears in Public Places in the best adaptation category.
Christine Citti (Singer), Mylene Demongeot (French California) and Bernadette Lafont (I Do) will compete for the best supporting actress prize with French singer Dani (Avenue Montaigne) and this year's Cesars ceremony host, Valerie Lemercier (Montaigne).
The nominees for best supporting actor are Danny Boon (The Valet), Francois Cluzet (Four Stars), Andre Dussollier (No One), Guy Marchand (Inside Paris) and Kad Merad (Don't Worry).
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' Little Miss Sunshine, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, Stephen Frears' The Queen and Pedro Almodovar's Volver will compete for best foreign-language film.
- 1/26/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TOKYO -- French comedy OSS117: Cairo Nest of Spies won the Sakura Grand Prix at the 19th Tokyo International Film Festival as director Michel Hazanavicius' satire beat out 14 other titles for the award and accompanying $100,000 first prize.
Set against the Suez crisis of the mid-1950s, the film pokes fun at both the West and Muslim extremism and stars Jean Dujardin and Aure Atika, who was present Sunday to accept the award with her director.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, helmer of 2001 hit Amelie and co-director of Delicatessen in 1991, headed the international competition jury, alongside actress Youki Kudoh, producer Bill Mechanic, Indonesian director Garin Nugroho, Japanese helmer Mitsuo Yanagimachi and Marco Muller, director of the Venice International Film Festival.
Another comedy, Fox Searchlight's road movie Little Miss Sunshine, also proved popular at the festival, winning the best director award for the directing duo of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris as well as the award for best performance by a leading actress for Abigail Breslin and a special audience award.
Thirteen Princess Trees won the special jury prize -- and $20,000 -- for Chinese director Lu Yue, while Roy Dupuis took the award for best performance by a leading actor in director Charles Binama's The Rocket, the tale of Canadian ice hockey player Maurice Richard.
Set against the Suez crisis of the mid-1950s, the film pokes fun at both the West and Muslim extremism and stars Jean Dujardin and Aure Atika, who was present Sunday to accept the award with her director.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, helmer of 2001 hit Amelie and co-director of Delicatessen in 1991, headed the international competition jury, alongside actress Youki Kudoh, producer Bill Mechanic, Indonesian director Garin Nugroho, Japanese helmer Mitsuo Yanagimachi and Marco Muller, director of the Venice International Film Festival.
Another comedy, Fox Searchlight's road movie Little Miss Sunshine, also proved popular at the festival, winning the best director award for the directing duo of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris as well as the award for best performance by a leading actress for Abigail Breslin and a special audience award.
Thirteen Princess Trees won the special jury prize -- and $20,000 -- for Chinese director Lu Yue, while Roy Dupuis took the award for best performance by a leading actor in director Charles Binama's The Rocket, the tale of Canadian ice hockey player Maurice Richard.
- 10/31/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Michael Hazanavius' OSS 117: Nest of Spies, a French spy spoof, earned the Golden Space Needle Audience Award as best film at the 32nd annual Seattle International Film Festival, which concluded its 25-day run Sunday. Runners-up were Goran Dukic's Wrist Cutters: A Love Story, Marcos Carnevale's Elsa & Fred, Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer's Quinceanera and Charles Sturridge's Lassie. Dukic also took the prize for best director. The Trials of Darryl Hunt, an account of a man wrongly imprisoned in a rape/murder case, won the best documentary award for its directors Rickie Stern and Annie Sundberg.
- 6/19/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- Special agent OSS117 is back for another mission. Jean Dujardin, star of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, paid a visit to Cannes to sign off on a sequel to the hit spy spoof. The project will reunite the same core talent, including director Michel Hazanavicius and writer Jean-Francois Halin. It will be produced by Eric and Nicolas Altmayer's Mandarin Films, with Gaumont handling French distribution and international sales, as on the first picture. Delivery is scheduled for December 2008. Based on a series of pulp secret-agent novels by Jean Bruce, the OSS117 franchise already had been adapted eight times in largely forgotten series in the 1960s before film rights to the central character were bought by Mandarin. Nest of Spies, which co-stars Berenice Bejo and Aure Atika, uses a strong retro feel to pastiche the crass colonialism, sexism and homophobia of an unreconstructed tough guy of 1950s France. The movie so far has sold nearly 1.8 million tickets in France.
- 5/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- Special agent OSS117 is back for another mission. Jean Dujardin, star of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, paid a visit to Cannes to sign off on a sequel to the hit spy spoof. The project will reunite the same core talent, including director Michel Hazanavicius and writer Jean-Francois Halin. It will be produced by Eric and Nicolas Altmayer's Mandarin Films, with Gaumont handling French distribution and international sales, as on the first picture. Delivery is scheduled for December 2008. Based on a series of pulp secret-agent novels by Jean Bruce, the OSS117 franchise already had been adapted eight times in largely forgotten series in the 1960s before film rights to the central character were bought by Mandarin. Nest of Spies, which co-stars Berenice Bejo and Aure Atika, uses a strong retro feel to pastiche the crass colonialism, sexism and homophobia of an unreconstructed tough guy of 1950s France. The movie so far has sold nearly 1.8 million tickets in France.
- 5/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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