Trade Unions, Teenagers and Intrigue in a French way

This year, the festival will show five paintings of different genresAmong them are a thriller about infidelity, a comedy about teenagers and dramas about the consequences of capitalism, the conversation about which will not lose its relevance.

“Our Battles”

Belgium, dir. Guillaume Senes, 2018

Olivier is in good standing at the factory and in the union, he has a wife and two children. We do not know if the man is happy, but it seems that everything is more or less well with him – until his colleague at the plant commits suicide: the man was fired, and he could not bear it. Then, without saying a word, Olivier’s wife leaves the house, and he has to take the economy and raising children into his own hands.

Difficult relations between ordinary employees and employers, trade union strikes, and non-renewed contracts are often at the center of the plots of the new French cinema. Director Guillaume Senes in his film Happy Season 3 shows that people with problems at work have other aspects of life: children with notes from the director, wives who do not talk about going to the doctor, actress sisters, lost sweaters with koalas, breakfast cereals, lunch and dinnerThe work of the worker becomes not the main conflict of the film, but the background of the life that the hero leads and from which he has nowhere to goAfter all, in order to pick up your kids from school on the unfortunate day you were abandoned, you must first find a replacement before the end of your shift.

“The Best is yet to Come”

France, Belgium, dir. Alexandre de La Pateliere, Mathieu Delaporte, 2019

The directors Alexandre de La Pateliere and Mathieu Delaporte, who shot this film, are masters of hard-hitting genre cinema (scriptwriters of the films “22 Bullets: Immortal” and “Robbery in Belgian” and directors of the film “Name” )Their new work with Fabrice Luchini and Patrick Bruel in the lead roles may hardly surprise with something, but it will appeal to everyone who loves sentimental comedies.

“The Best Is Ahead” tells the story of two friends: Arthur with the famous surname Dreyfus and CesarBoth are over 50, but they have known each other and have been friends since childhoodWhen, by a series of ridiculous accidents, everyone suspects the other of a fatal illness, they decide to do and try everything that they have long wanted, but put on the back burner for reasons and without.

The French often make films about the friendship of opposites and sitcoms. Both genres are merged here, and although Lucini and Bruel are not as different as the characters of hits “1 + 1” and “Northern Rescue Season 2, they still contrast, which makes their friendships and adventures only brighter.

“The semblance of well-Being”

France, dir. Mark Fitoussi, 2020

The plot of the film by Mark Fitoussi focuses on the bohemian married couple Eva and Anri, who live and work in Vienna. He is a renowned conductor and she runs a French media library. Every now and then they arrange dinners and attend parties, everything is comme il faut: her hair and heels, his answers to any remarks. But suddenly Eva finds out that her husband had an affair with her son’s teacher – the mistress writes vulgar messages to Henri’s mail, the man himself hides expensive gifts in the bureau drawer. The woman does not want to lose either her husband or the status of the favorite of fate and weaves a network of intrigues against her rival. But by chance she herself gets into trouble – a strange young man with an electronic bracelet on his leg begins to pursue her.

Cheating, spying, reading other people’s letters, exposing photos, suspicious calls – the film twists intrigues in parallel with the main characterSometimes it becomes difficult for the viewer to figure out who is following whom at a particular momentIn a world where everyone is gossiping, everyone is lying.

“Those Who Work”

Switzerland, dir. Antoine Russbach, 2018

Just as the Belgian Our Battles are associated with the work of the Dardenne brothers, the picture of the Swiss director Antoine Russbach is hard not to compare with the legacy of the most exported Belgian directors. And here from the Dardennes not only realism and attention to the consequences of capitalism, but also the actor Olivier Gourmet.

The protagonist of the film, Frank, is about 50For the past 15 years, he has been hard at work building a career in a water freight companyOver the years, he has almost merged with the company – not only in the perception of colleagues and competitors, but also ideologicallyWhen he makes decisions, he is guided by the interests of the company and only by them.

One day a man answers the call of the captain of the liner, which is moving from Africa to Marseille: an illegal immigrant was found on boardFirst, Frank, considering the losses, orders the ship to be turned around, and then – nevertheless, return to the course, and throw the illegal overboardThe fatal decision does not go unnoticed – Frank is firedFor a long time he does not understand why – after all, he saved hundreds of thousands of euros in profitBut when after a while the man rethinks his act and realizes that he was, to put it mildly, wrong, it turns out that the story with the illegal was only an excuse – the company would have fired him anyway.

The Asterisk War Season 3  French-language debut received many prizes at festivals, and it’s clear whyThe character of Gourmet in the very first minutes of the film does the irreparable, but the director’s, and then the audience’s gaze does not become one-sidedThe solution is unthinkable, but is Frank so simple? A hard poverty-stricken childhood on a farm, five of our own spoiled children, and most importantly, a capitalist world in which dozens of people have to do hard work in order for fish sticks for one and a half euros to hit the counterLabor for the sake of labor, capitalism for the sake of capitalism.

“Young Juliet”

Canada, dir. Anne Emon, 2019

Body-positive dramedy about 14-year-old Juliet, who finds the strength and common sense in herself to respond to bullying at schoolAlthough, of course, this does not happen immediately.

Director Anne Emon emphasizes that although her film is about teenagers, it will be interesting to viewers of any ageAfter all, everyone remembers their adolescence very well: those who were in the place of the offenders, and those who suffered from bullying, and those who, fortunately, passed awaySo you can become interested in her striking film, even if you don’t recognize yourself in the characters.

“Hunter X Hunter Season 7” is to some extent an autobiographical film: Emon decided to turn to not the best period of her life after three quite successful dramas. The director admits: “In high school, I weighed 75 kilograms – more than now. I always told myself that one day I would make a film about this time. It’s okay to be an outsider teenager. It could have turned out to be a drama, but over the years I decided – no, it should be just a comedy, because everything turned out well. Some stories have a happy ending: just because you’re very vulnerable at school, and if you’re a failure, that doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way for life. Quite the opposite“