Catherine Breillat

Started by ono, September 17, 2004, 11:55:19 PM

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ono

I've seen one film of Breillat's, and I like her already.  She seems to be the only female director around who can make a decent flick (well, save Sofia Coppola, of course, and I'm fully aware of this thread).  Here, I'm referring to À ma soeur! (Fat Girl).  This film wasn't anything astounding, but it was definitely unconventional, and addressed its subject in such a way as to paint it in a whole new light.  The ending, while definitely controversial, is in retrospect the best ending possible.  Though it may be sensational, it makes its point -- a point that I wonder if she would have been able to arrive at in any other way.  That is definitely up for debate.

She's got a new film in production.  I don't know anything about it other than Laetitia Casta is in it.  I definitely want to check out her other stuff whenever I get a chance.

Ghostboy

Fat Girl is the only film of hers I've seen, also, and I really didn't care much for it. I thought it was sort of cheap female empowerment crossed with shock value, although there were many strong elements to it. I sort of want to see it again, because it definitely made an impression on me and I may change my opinion of it. And I'll probably see anything Breillat does in the future. I know she's got two that are finished since Fat Girl, but they haven't been released in the states yet. I think Godardian's seen either one or both of them...

Alethia

so i hit Breillat pretty hard this week, watching first Fat Girl (which i hated), a real young girl (fascinating, and often quite astonishing, highly recommended), romance (not great, not bad - recommended i guess) and 36 filette which i thought was pretty great.  she's worth checking out, but if you had to ask me, avoid fat girl at all costs.  one of the most boring and pathetic films i think i have ever seen.  other than that though, she's pretty good.

cine

Quote from: ewardso i hit Breillat pretty hard this week
who hasn't, eh buddy?

Alethia

oh cinephile, you silly little thang.

cine

That's what she said to me. Then I called her a fat girl. Then she called my joke lame. Then I hit her again.


good times, cathy.. good times..

Rudie Obias

i can't believe you film snobs (don't hate, i'm one too) didn't like A MA SOEUR (FAT GIRL).  this is a brilliant film with an misleading english title.  A MA SOEUR translates into "to my sister" or "with my sister".  this title makes more sense than "FAT GIRL".  in this way, you really don't have any preconceived notions on what this film is or isn't.  instead of focusing on Anaïs (on which the english title suggest), focus on Anaïs, Elena and Fernando as a whole.  i loved this film!  it stayed with me for days after watching it which made me wanna watch it again and again.  on multiple viewings, i understood the film more and more and just fell in love with it.
\"a pair of eyes staring at you, projected on a large screen is what cinema is truly about.\" -volker schlöndorff

wilder

Breillat signs for Japan-set Bridge of Floating Dreams
via Screen Daily

French director Catherine Breillat has signed to direct her first English-language film, Bridge of Floating Dreams set against the backdrop of Japan some twenty years after Hiroshima. 

Set against the backdrop of 1960s Japan, it revolves around the relationship between Sean, a young Australian backpacker on his first foreign adventure, and Miyoshi, a nightclub hostess.

In the backdrop, Sean is also befriended by an Austrian forger and a street-wise Japanese wannabe Yakuza hit man. 

"In the relationship between Miyoshi and Sean there is something of "romance", but more flamboyant and carnal; more romantic and Romanesque," says Breillat.

It is based on a screenplay by award-winning Australian screenwriter Brian Jones

It is the first time Breillat, whose last film Abuse of Weakness premiered at Toronto last year, has directed in English and someone else's project

The production was initiated by respected late Australian producer David Hannay. Producer Richard Barnes, a life-long friend of Hannay, has taken over the production alongside François Cohen-Séat of Candide Production France.

wilder

Catherine Breillat Sets Next Film with Inavouable, a Remake of Queen of Hearts
April 7, 2021
The Film Stage

After a relatively prolific output in the 90s and 00s––including her widely acclaimed 2001 drama Fat Girl––Catherine Breillat hasn't made a film since 2013's Abuse of Weakness starring Isabelle Huppert. The French filmmaker is now finally set to return with a new project.

Breillat will direct a remake of May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts, which was selected as Denmark's Oscar entry in 2019, Les Inrockuptibles reports. The erotic drama followed a lawyer and mother named who gets romantically involved with her teenage stepson, causing strife in her family. Titled Inavouable (which roughly translates to unspeakable or unmentionable), Breillat's remake will star Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Olivier Rabourdin and production is aiming to kick off this summer, so expect a 2022 festival debut.

Zhuo-Ning Su said in our review of the original film, "In Danish writer/director May el-Toukhy's gripping, thought-provoking erotic drama Queen of Hearts, problematic sex happens at an unlikely place. Middle-aged Anne (the ever-remarkable Nordic screen goddess Trine Dyrholm) is an intelligent, compassionate, happily married attorney who specializes in sexual abuse cases. She stands up for young, traumatized girls and defies professional rules of conduct to confront their predators in private. Not only revered by her peers, she's actually loved by her clients. Besides a prosperous legal career, her success extends to the personal front as well with loving husband Peter (Magnus Krepper) and their twin daughters. By all appearances, this is an exceptionally accomplished woman who's found fulfillment in life. But then Peter's teenage son from a previous marriage, Gustav (a breakthrough star turn from Swedish actor Gustav Lindh), enters the picture."

Watch the trailer for the original film below.


wilder



QuoteDisappointed to see Catherine Breillat leave empty-handed at the Cannes Film Festival, but we are happy to soon release all of this director's films on BLURAY. Like Zulawski's cinema (and even LUNE FROIDE which is coming soon), Breillat's films are corrosive cinema, cinema that scratches, transgressive cinema as we have loved and defended it for a long time. Adulated abroad, much less loved in France but certainly works to rediscover.

Edit - more info, cribbed from a post on blu-ray.com:

QuoteIt translates roughly to:

"Sad to see Catherine Breillat leave empty-handed at the Cannes Film Festival, but we are happy to soon release 13 blu ray films from this director. Corrosive cinema, films that bite, just like we've always loved and defended. To be followed..."

Not sure if it'll be a box set or invididual releases, but a lot of her movies have been impossible (or too expensive) to get on bluray for a while so this seems like great news. A follow-up tweet talks about new 4K masters too.

In a response tweet, they said they will NOT be English-friendly, because they will be released in the US by a different label. I wonder who?...