The French connection

This year's French Film Festival brings a wide selection of contemporary French films to Prague, featuring everything from festival circuit favorites that will be entirely new to audiences in this country to mainstream fare scheduled to enter wider distribution after the festival concludes.     

"It is unique as a film festival due to the fact that it is held simultaneously in eight Czech cities," notes Deborah Benattar, the audiovisual attaché for the French Embassy.

Most of the films are in French with Czech subtitles, but there are a number that were either made in English or will screen with English subtitles. Recommended selections from that group are noted below.

Last year, the French Film Festival attracted more than 17,000 viewers. Suffice it to say, the only way to be sure of a seat on any given evening will be to purchase your ticket in advance.

Queen to Play (Joueuse)-France, 2008. Caroline Bottaro, director. Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline, Francis Renaud, Valerie Lagrange and Jennifer Beals star. An obsessively curious French maid (Bonnaire) discovers an abiding love for the game of chess while on the job. With the help of an expat American retiree (Kline), she develops her skills as a player and discovers the possibility of a new kind of life. Lucerna, Nov. 20 at 6:30; Světozor, Nov. 21 at 4:15

Simon Konianski-France, Belgum, Canada, 2008. Micha Wald, director. Jonathan Zaccai, Popeck, Abraham Leber, Nassim Ben Abdeloumen and Irene Herz star. This comedy follows the travails of the title character (Zaccai), a slacker with a 6-year-old son (Abdeloumen) who is forced to move in with his concentration-camp-survivor father (Popeck) when his girlfriend dumps him. Family complications ensue, topped by a madcap trip to the Ukraine. Lucerna, Nov. 21 at 4:30; Světozor, Nov. 22 at 6:30

In the Beginning (A l'origine)-France, 2008. Xavier Giannoli, director. Francois Cluzet, Emmanuelle Devos, Gérard Depardieu, Vincent Rottiers and Soko star. The 10th film by the talented, eclectic auteur behind the 2006 musical When I Was A Singer, In the Beginning depicts the stranger-than-fiction true story of a small-time swindler (Cluzet) who became the driving force behind the construction of an entire highway. With English titles. Světozor, Nov. 21 at 9; Lucerna, Nov. 22 at 6:30

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (Le Premier jour du reste de ta vie)-France, 2008. Rémi Bezancon, director. Jacques Gamblin, Zabou Breitman, Déborah Francois and Marc-André Grondin star. The life of a so-called "average Parisian family" is examined in Proustian detail by writer/director Bezancon. Following on the critical success of his first effort, 2005's Love Is in the Air, this peculiar film has been both a critical and a box office hit in France. Lucerna, Nov. 19 at 9; French Institute, Nov. 21 at 6:30

Antichrist-Denmark, France, 2008. Lars von Trier, director. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg star. Love him or hate him, von Trier's work is always hotly anticipated. Antichrist is no exception. Described by the director as "a glimpse behind the curtain, a glimpse into the dark world of my imagination," the film is an abstract recounting of a grieving couple's retreat to an isolated cabin where events proceed from bad to worse. Lucerna, Nov. 22 at 9:30; Slovanský dům, Nov. 23 at 9

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com