All Films Showing at the Museum of Fine Arts
1001 Bissonnet Street
http://mfah.org/films/series/14/
Romantics Anonymous (Les émotifs anonyms)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Améris
Friday, March 23, 7:00 p.m.
Romantics Anonymous tells the story of Angélique (Isabelle Carré, Private Fears in Public Places), a gifted chocolate-maker whose uncontrollable shyness prevents her from acknowledging her talents. Struggling chocolatier Jean-René (Benoît Poelvoorde, Coco Before Chanel), who also suffers from a similar case of awkward bashfulness that threatens to drown his company, hires Angelique as his new sales associate. Realizing she’s attracted to her boss, Angelique decides to anonymously develop a new line of chocolates to save the company. With the future of the business hanging in the balance, Angélique and Jean-René must overcome their limitations and confess their sweet affections for one another in this delectable comedy.
The Day I Saw Your Heart (Et soudain tout le monde me manque) Film Movement 35mm
Directed by Jennifer Devoldère,
Friday, March 23, 8:45 p.m.
This lighthearted comedy offers poignant reflections on family life. Eli Dhrey’s (Michel Blanc, The Girl on the Train) news that his third wife is pregnant unsettles his grown daughters. Dom, trying to adopt, is indignant. Justine (Mélanie Laurent, The Roundup; The Concert; Inglourious Basterds), her unmoored twenty-something half sister, responds by making stunning X-ray art from images acquired during her day job.
Untouchable (Intouchables)
Directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano
Saturday, March 24, 7:00 p.m.
Based on wealthy businessman Philippe Pozzo di Borgo’s memoir recounting his paragliding accident that left him a quadriplegic, art house cinema star François Cluzet (Tell No One) plays the handicapped millionaire who develops an unlikely friendship with his hot-headed, uninhibited Algerian caregiver (Omar Sy, dubbed “the French Eddie Murphy,” in a breakout role). Shattering box office records in France, Untouchable has been saluted for revolutionizing how French society views itself – and has been optioned for an American remake by Harvey Weinstein. The film is a rare, positive story of the banlieue (areas of low-income apartments and social housing on the outskirts of town) and has been hailed as a masterpiece – the buoyant humor has even been compared to the films of Frank Capra.
“In France we’re used to popular homegrown French comedy, specific French gags and easy laughs. This is very Anglo-Saxon slapstick, a humor which is both absurd and subtle, something which is working more and more in France today.” – Premiere (France)
Low Cost
Directed by Maurice Barthélémy
Saturday, March 24, 9:15 p.m.
Jean-Paul Rouve is Dagobert, a pathologically anxious industrial spy who just boarded a very cheap flight in Djerba, Tunisia. After eight long hours without air conditioning, the passengers are told that the plane is not going to take off. In a moment of bravado, intended to impress sexy airline stewardess Nuance(Judith Godrèche), Dagobert starts a mutiny. Among the passengers is Jean-Claude (Gérard Darmon, from Betty Blue and Diva), a former airline pilot going through a deep depression. Although he is clearly unable to do the job, Jean-Claude cannot resist the call to action and the passengers vote to take control of the plane. A hilarious and irreverent comedy reminiscent of Airplane!
The Names of Love (Le nom des gens)
Directed by Michel Leclerc
Sunday, March 25, 5:00 p.m.
Baya Benmahmoud, a young, extroverted liberal, lives by the old hippie slogan: “Make love, not war” to convert right-wing men to her left-wing political causes by sleeping with them. She seduces many and so far has received exceptional results – until she meets Arthur Martin, a Jewish middle-aged, middle-of-the road scientist. Bound by common tragic family histories (the Algerian War and Holocaust under Vichy), the duo improbably falls in love. Amid the bubbly amour, humorous lasciviousness and moments of sheer madness, filmmaker Michel Leclerc injects satirical riffs on such hot-button sociopolitical issues as Arab-Jewish relations, anti-Semitism, immigration, and racial and cultural identity.