Drama by Frédéric Mermoud, 1h47
The math bump: that’s the saying. Sophie is gifted. Numbers are his playground. The future comes in quadratic equations. His farmer parents can’t get over having created such a prodigy. Bac and purse in hand, the big head leaves his village for a preparatory class in Lyon. One goal: Polytechnic. At the Lycée Descartes, this is not idle. Between the students, the competition is fierce. The future elite swallows tons of snakes. Below average ratings rain down every week. Moments of discouragement are not uncommon. The heroine wants to drop everything. His comrades are from another background. They make him feel it. It all rings true, rings true. Frédéric Mermoud follows Sophie’s journey, with all that that implies of sacrifices and renunciations, delves into the mysteries of these terribly French institutions. E. NOT.
Comédie de Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurosson, 1h37
The enemy is the sky. They are afraid on planes. These are very embarrassing concerns. What to do ? It is curable. At least if we are to believe the brochure of “Intrepid Travelers” which promises to cure this phobia thanks to an intensive course. They are three to participate in the adventure: here they are embarked on a repair flight to Iceland supposed to cure their anguish. For his first production in English, the Icelandic Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson (Under the Tree) chooses grating laughter, adopts a pessimism of superior quality, watches bits of civilization gently crumble in a glacial setting. That, the passengers will remember. The spectators too, who will be delighted to have been taken on this journey full of the unexpected. The way to fasten your seatbelt in your cinema seat? The only risks of turbulence will be due to contagious hilarity. IN.
Drama by Neill Bloomkamp, 2h14
This is the kind of film from which we expected nothing. Released in the middle of summer, with a cast of talented “second knives”, Gran Turismo, by Neill Blomkamp, is the big screen adaptation of the video game of the same name, released in 1997 and sold more than 80 million copies on PlayStation. Gran Turismo is inspired by a true story, that of Jann Mardenborough, a British teenager who managed to go from virtual to real thanks to his talent for the game of the same name. The director films the races masterfully. He plays very close-ups, orchestrates a double vision, that of the pilot, and sets up his camera at the heart of the engines so as to capture their accelerations. The finale of this very good, unpretentious summer entertainment takes place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in fanfare with La Marseillaise and the tricolor flag. We let ourselves be carried away by this swirling “teen movie ” which exalts class revenge as much as father-son transmission. O.D.
Animated film by Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears, 1h39
Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphaël are teenagers like the others. Except that they are giant turtles. And that they were raised in the sewers of New York by a rat who would rather gouge out his eyes than trust humans. Their father-rat warns: if the Men catch them, they will inevitably try to “milk” them. Later, the four brothers meet Alice, a high school student and apprentice journalist on the trail of Superfly, a mysterious criminal who is rampant in the city. The math is simple: if they stop this big bad, the human world will necessarily accept them, even turtles, even mutants. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is already well known to the public (no less than ten films have been devoted to the four brothers since 1990), but is successfully renewed here. The animation is superb. The French dialogues are adapted and incorporate local jokes, from the latest fashionable manga to the next Angèle concert. The formula is a bit conventional, but certainly generous. E.P.
Drama by Sofia Alaoui, 1h30
Itto lives in a fairy tale. The young Moroccan of working-class origin married a wealthy husband. Together, they live in a huge house and are expecting a child. One day when the in-laws go to town, a state of emergency is declared, strange events occur all over the country. To save herself, Itto must cross her native Morocco alone. With this first film, Sofia Alaoui attempts an incursion into magical realism. If the images of this surreal odyssey are sumptuous, the director gets lost in a scenario that says nothing, or very little. E.P.
Pierfrancesco Favino has lost weight. In short, that’s all there is to take away from the film. There is another detail to note: Jean Reno has gained weight. Apart from that, Amanda Sthers sinks into this long story of unconsummated love, sluggishly told in flashbacks and embellished with robust reflections on the meaning of life. “Do you think death is the land of second chances”? All very classy. We read Le baron perché. We quote Jane Austen. It’s about In Search of Lost Time. The characters forget to mention the novel that the director has adapted. They are right: it is from her. On a related subject, the yet derisory Hummingbird is a Citizen Kane. Kelly Reilly is a nice mix of Joanna Shimkus and Monica Vitti. The two male actors compete with inexpressiveness. It’s a duel of titans. IN.
