The Hindu : New Delhi News : A festival of French thrillers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 08, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

A festival of French thrillers

Lakshmi B. Ghosh

NEW DELHI: They discovered the art of appreciating "different" cinema much before the rest of the world. The land of the motion picture, this is where cinema as an art form was born. And beginning this week, the Capital will get a weekly dose of French cinema's best thrillers.

Aptly described as a rendezvous with French Cinema, "A festival of thriller films'' took off here on Friday at Alliance Francaise de Delhi.

Opening the festival was Claude Berri's 1983 release "Tchao Pantin'' starring Coluche, Richard Anconina and Philleppe Leotard. The festival will showcase five more films over the coming weeks, covering five decades of French cinema.

The winner of Cannes Grand Prize and BAFTA Best Film Award will be screened on October 14: Henri-Georges Clouzot's acclaimed black-and-white film ``Wages of Fear''.

Another 1955 black-and-white film to be shown at the festival will be the critically acclaimed "Les Diaboliques''. Another of Clouzot's works, this thriller won the best film award from the New York Film Critics Association and the Prix Louis Delluac Award for the tale of two women who are brought together by the brutality of a man they both love, but can't put up with any more. Drugging and drowning him in a swimming poll, the two think they have won their battle, till a cleaning of the pool reveals no body. Starring Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot and Charles Vanel, this mystery thriller has won many fans over the years.

Next in line is Jean-claude Brisseau's "De Bruit et de Fureur'', winner of the Cannes Special Award and the Cesar nomination for best actor. Starring Vincent Gasperitsch and Bruno Cremer, this story of a 13-year-old boy Bruno who is caught in a world of violence thanks to his friendship with a tough and authoritarian neighbourhood boy is an interesting watch.

November will bring to town Jacques Adiard's "Sur mes Levres'', a 2001 release that has two unlikely people -- one a hardworking woman in need of clever manoeuvre and a bad character in need of good manners -- together for property development skills of a different kind. December brings to town the 2002 release "Man on the train'', a film that collected a number of awards including the best film and actor award at the Venice Film Festival, the best film award at the Seattle Film Critics Award and the Florida Film Critics Association Award for best film.

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