by MATTHEW HAYS

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Cinemania has become the odd little film festival that’s managed to work, beautifully. In what is essentially a bilingual city, the 10-day event has managed to eke out a crucial spot for itself, not merely catering to anglos hankering for English-subtitled French films, but managing also to please francophiles by showcasing new French-language works.

Continuing her ongoing love affair with French films, fest founder and ringmaster Maidy Teitelbaum has managed, again, to pull together a pleasing selection of French-language films in their English-subtitled versions, while also offering a series of premiere screenings.

“A third of the films we show have not been screened before with subtitles,” Teitelbaum explains. “We want to make the films accessible to those whose French isn’t perfect. We can understand French, but with films sometimes the dialogue is so fast that you miss something. Subtitles make it a lot easier.”

Teitelbaum says the formula for Cinemania from the beginning has been to bridge the gap between English and French. “Every year, we survey our attendees, asking them if they were very satisfied, satisfied or not satisfied. Eighty-five per cent of respondents say very satisfied, every year. That’s been great for us.”

As well, in ’98 the festival established its own prize, the Mel Hoppenheim Prix du Public, a $5,000 award for that film voted the favourite by fest attendees. The fest has also worked to bring directors and actors in to discuss their work; past guests have included Isabelle Huppert, Ticky Holgado and Jean-Jacques Beineix.

Also great, says Teitelbaum, is the weather, which seems to be cooperating with her fall event perfectly. “I suspect this snow will make the idea of watching an excellent film in a warm cinema all the more appealing.”

Amour, angst and angels

Part of this year’s festival is a best-of anthology, including films like Cet amour-là (starring Jeanne Moreau as Marguerite Duras), L’Emploi du temps, Bertrand Tarvernier’s Laissez-passer, Monsieur Batignole, Ma Femme est une actrice and local hit Québec-Montréal. But Teitelbaum stresses that another third of the films screening have never been seen before in Montreal, and may not be seen again for some time. “A number of these films don’t have distributors. Each film has two screenings, and those may be your only two chances to see the films.”

In terms of premieres, what follows are some of the highlights.

Existential angst figures prominently in the elegantly shot Le Doux amour des hommes. Writer-director Jean Paul Civeyrac has his protagonist, Raoul, cavort and debauch his way through Paris while stopping for the occasional shag (captured graphically in true French style) while knocking off poems. It’s a strangely erotic, often funny but ultimately tragic movie, one that lingers long after the final credit role. Renaud Bécard delivers a particularly strong performance in the lead.

Surreal comedy is the style Nicolas Cuche establishes for his odd little feature Jojo la frite. In Grinch-like form, two petty thieves have a change of heart after snatching a purse. One of the thieves, as it turns out, falls desperately for the woman they had preyed upon. After performing a good deed, he’s also stuck with a halo above his head. True to their nature, the two crooks are soon charging admission for people to gaze at the magical halo that hovers over him. That is, until his passion for the purse-less woman means that halo disappears. This is an unapologetically silly movie. I laughed quite hard, but your enjoyment of the film will depend pretty much entirely on your mood and whether or not you can sit through something so incredibly goofy.

Shop now, think later

Capitalism takes its hits in Petites misères, a comedy about one couple’s troubled relationship to stuff and the business of acquiring it. Jean, the breadwinner of the household, is having second thoughts about his line of work (as a bailiff, he has to repossess things poor people are unable to pay for). His wife Nicole is a dire shopaholic, needing desperately to burn a hole in her credit card. She’s soon started an affair with Georges, another Shopping Network freak. Co-directors Philippe Boon and Laurent Brandenbourger manage to create laughs while gently prodding our desire to consume in this fresh, droll film.

Stunning to look at, Sueurs (Sweat) is perhaps best appreciated while clutching a bottle of water. The film features one giant desert chase sequence, following four rogues as they zip through the Moroccan desert. These rather nasty truckers are attempting to get a massive delivery of stolen gold to their benefactors. And as might be expected, there are numerous betrayals as the men jockey for best position to cash in their booty. Writer-director Louis-Pascal Couvelaire’s feature debut will open the festival and he will be present for the opening night screening. :

Cinemania begins today, Nov. 7 and runs until
Sunday, Nov. 17. All screenings take place at the Montreal Museum of
Fine Arts. Info: www.cinemaniafilmfestival.com or 878-0082

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