'The Family' -- Sharp, Interesting, A Little Dumb, A Little Smart

Plays interesting and dumb, then you see it's directed by Luc Besson and you wonder -- okay, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert De Niro, and Michelle Pfeiffer -- with Besson behind the camera...might be charming. So, looks dumb, might be charming. Has to be charming.


























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Shooting The Bad Life: 'Malavita'

Luc Besson directs from a script by Michael Caleo based on the novel by Tonino Benacquista. The logline from IMDb:

• A retired American gangster relocates his family to Normandy and lives under the witness protection program.  

Well. That could lead anywhere. However, with Robert De Niro (as the retired gangster no doubt), Tommy Lee Jones, and Michelle Pfeiffer it should be easy to watch.

Looks like it's easy to shoot what with all that red wine.

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The Restaurant Scene: La Femme Nikita

Lots of good scenes in restaurants. Scorsese's tracking shots from 'Goodfellas' comes to mind. I like this one from 'La Femme Nikita'.



Directed by Luc Besson in 1990, with Anne Parillaud and Tchéky Karyo. Lovely subtle emotions, lots of stuff between the lines (typical for a French film), and great camera/editing. I like the juxtaposition of elegance and brutality, intimacy and betrayal, then pain followed by resolve to do your job in a professional manner.

This was remade by Hollywood as 'Point of No Return', directed by John Badham with Bridget Fonda and Gabriel Byrne -- a by-the-numbers walk-through that offers the advantage of not having subtitles as it was done in English.

'La Femme Nikita', on the other hand, is one of the most rewarding flicks I've ever seen. It plays in a single breath and you never, for a second, feel disconnected. It's very nearly spellbinding.













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International Poster for Luc Besson's 'The Lady'

I like this better than the US version.

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Poster for Guy Pearce's 'Lockout'

via MTV













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The Ladies

Michelle Yeoh portrays Aung San Suu Kyi in the upcoming 'The Lady', directed by Luc Besson. It's been mentioned but I'm still struck by the resemblance between the two. Remarkable.

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Luc Besson Talks 'The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec'

More The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec Videos

Trailers for 'The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec'

Aka 'Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec'. Written and directed by Luc Besson. Just great. Must see.





posters

Luc Besson

Jaime Wolf, who usually writes for NYT Magazine, has a very nice piece regarding Luc Besson's un-French style of moviemaking:

...he has almost single-handedly dragged French cinema, kicking and screaming, from the art house into the multiplex.

To the chagrin of French critics and cinephiles, the scale of this success has reoriented French filmmaking away from the literary-intellectual tradition for which it is famed.

Besson has 'Angel-A' (pictured) set for release in the US on May 25.

I like Jaime's style of writing. He (she?) has the essayist's flair and it's a welcome change from the brass tacks style usually found at NYT, which is so incongruent with coverage of Hollywood.

Cannes In The Hood

Director Luc Besson is showing select movies from the Cannes festival in the same troubled neighborhoods where the riots of 2005 occurred.