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The film in theaters: Twenty gods by Louise Courvoisier
A teenager, party animal, caught up in the most tragic of realities. The death of his father will force him to find money to be able to stay on the farm with his little sister and obtain custody of her. And in order to achieve this, he will set out to win the competition… for the best county in the region! At the helm of this coming of age story located in his native Jura, Louise Courvoisier films rurality with rare accuracy. Shot in scope, his film has the appearance of a western. But the greatest strength of Twenty gods and its irresistible cast of non-professional actors is that despite all the obstacles placed in the way of its young hero, he never loses his luminous, joyful, exalted appearance. One of the best first films of this 2024 cinema year.
What's new at the cinema this week
The series: Don't say anything
Adapted from the novel by Patrick Radden Keefe, this historical mini-series has all the makings of a great one, exploring the Northern Irish conflict like never before. From the perspective of the IRA, she passionately and accurately describes a time not so long ago when civil war raged in the heart of Britain, a time when the British military practiced torture and repression on their own population. Ne dit Rien treats the conflict as the heartbreaking drama that it was, with its betrayals, its mourning and its outbursts of violence and remains on a thin line, without ever trivializing the suffering caused by some or exonerating the complicity of others.
Watch Say Nothing on Disney Plus
The film on VOD: Golo and Ritchie by Martin Fougerol and Ahmed Hamidi
Stars of TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, Golo and Ritchie are followed by hundreds of thousands of followers. It all started when Golo started filming Ritchie, his childhood friend who has autism spectrum disorder. Videos that are often hilarious (Ritchie's reactions, more or less written and more or less well acted, have enormous comic potential) and always kind, with Golo treating his friend as his equal, without ever reducing him to his handicap. The film dedicated to them is somewhere between documentary and comedy (we laugh a lot): the duo takes on the challenge of crossing France in tandem, in order to meet other cultures. A light and lively journey about an unwavering friendship, which never takes us where we expect it. Who knows, you might even shed a little tear at the end…
Watch Golo and Ritchie on VOD on Première Max
The Classic: City of God by Fernando Meirelles (in theaters)
Released from a film that some considered too well-crafted to tell the inside story of the hell of a Rio favela. In May 2002, Fernando Meirelles made the Croisette buzz with this Affranchis do Brasil which immediately put the film into orbit. Based on an ultra-realistic novel, this City of God draws its frenzy directly from characters as real as life who cross the frame at the speed of a galloping rooster. The omnipresent music contributes to the shaking of the whole. To those who found him a little too shiny, Fernando Meirelles, met recently in Lyon, replied simply: “ It was necessary to “sell” to the spectators this world that they did not know ! ” After The City of God the vein of the “favela-movie” will become juicy, only perpetuating this object of worship.
City of God is released in cinemas and available on VOD on Première Max
The documentary: Cary Grant, Through the Looking Glass
“Everyone wants to be Cary Grant, even me.” Really ? In 2017, Mark Kidel signed a captivating portrait of the star of Death in pursuit. Adored by women (he was married five times) or by Alfred Hitchcock who found him “easy to direct”, he was nevertheless haunted for a long time by a heavy family secret. In wanting to tell how Archie, an attractive and ambitious Briton, became a star, this portrait above all reveals his deep flaws. With the help of personal archives given by his only daughter, born when he was 62, we understand why it took him decades to appease his demons and finally start a family.
Watch Cary Grant, through the looking glass on Arte
The video game: Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle
Seen from afar, Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle could pass for a relic of the previous generation of consoles: neither very beautiful nor very ugly, and quite old school in its mechanisms, the title from the Swedish studio MachineGames is nevertheless a perfect daredevil game. Slippers on, we follow with delight the phases of puzzles (never very complicated), exploration (the impeccable map to guide us), combat (basic but surprisingly rhythmic), infiltration (very light) and platform. What emerges from this FPS (a surprising choice but it works) is a sense of adventure that we haven't felt for a long time, and which makes the film saga so special. Pure pleasure, but that's normal: its place is to amuse us.
Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle, available on Game Pass Xbox and PC. A release is planned for PS5 in spring 2025
The book: Stanley Kubrick's The Shining
After a first edition that only the most fortunate were able to afford (2,500 euros!!!), the publisher Taschen is reprinting this superb baby in a much more affordable version. For 100 euros, you will have to settle for two volumes instead of three – missing is the book dedicated to a batch of archival documents, including facsimiles and booklets of original sketches – and a format reduced. An object however essential, where director Lee Unkrich (Coco And Toy Story 3), obsessive about the film, meticulously retraces the filming of Shiningwith many unpublished documents and interviews. You don't come across an ultimate making-of like that every day.
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, épublished by Taschen, 100 euros, 1,396 pages. Available for pre-order.