Rendez-Vous. 12.

In his charming introduction to The Valet (La Doublure) and its director Francis Veber, the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Richard Pena reminded us of what the late New York Times drama critic Walter Kerr once said about a certain kind of French comedy - which reminded him of a funny watch. That is to say: the movement of the timepiece is so perfectly put together that, once wound, it sets you to laughing. Pena then introduced Veber, the dapper little man responsible for writing some 39 films, 11 of which he's also directed - one of these (Les Fugitifs) he wrote and directed again as an American remake (Three Fugitives, with Nick Nolte and Martin Short). He's also given us Le Jouet, La Chevre, Les Compères, Le Diner de Cons and Le Placard.

In his own brief introduction to his film, Veber kept returning again and again to how marvelously tall, beautiful and talented its leading lady, Alice Taglioni, is. He managed to mention the rest of the cast - including the likes of Daniel Auteuil, Kristin Scott Thomas, Richard Berry, Virginie Ledoyen, Michel Aumont and, in the title role, Gad Elmaleh - almost as an afterthought. Clearly, this Alice puts him in Wonderland. Once the film began, two things were almost immediately apparent: Miss Taglioni is indeed tall, beautiful and talented (she pretty much walks away with the movie) and, yes, this is another of those watches that makes you laugh. To carry the Pena/Kerr metaphor further, this watch, instead of having the usual metal plate covering its movement, has a transparent cover that allows you to observe quite clearly how the timepiece works.

I've enjoyed this novelty on occasion when viewing a watch, but as far as my movies are concerned, I prefer not having to see how all the gears mesh. And mesh, they do, perhaps most perfectly in the scene in which Scott-Thomas, as the wronged wife, makes an early morning call on the title character. The scene is short and sweet: click-click-click go those gears, and we laugh, even as our breath is taken away by the sheer, swift brilliance of the execution. After a while, though, we become a bit too cognizant of the machine itself. Which leaves us with the writing (okay to good) and the performances, most of which are relatively one-note yet played-well. Auteuil is frustrated, Scott-Thomas imperious, Aumont self-involved, Ledoyen sweetly confused, and moon-faced Elmaleh utterly passive. All of which puts the burden squarely on the shoulders of Taglioni, who single-handedly creates a new stereotype: the supermodel with a heart of gold (Naomi Campbell, are you taking notes?).

Foreign film aficionados here in the US may be familiar with Ms Taglioni's work in films such as Grande École, Sky Fighters (Les Chevaliers du Ciel) and Jet Lag (Decalage Horaire; if not, all three are available on DVD.) Here she is as stunning as ever, with the added fillip of seeming to be perhaps the only character possessing enough sense of herself and her place in the world (and this movie) to relax, kick back and have fun. She is marvelous, and I can fully understand why M Veber is so enamored.

Before The Valet began, audience members in the row behind me were having an interesting conversation about the series in general and in particular why a film such as this would be included, since the writer/director makes such "old-fashioned movies and this festival is supposed to be cutting edge" - to paraphrase the words of one of the gentlemen. Yet showcasing "cutting edge" is not the purpose of Rendez-Vous, which brings together, deliberately, a wide range of genres and styles to give New Yorkers a sense of what French filmmakers have been concerned with during the past 12 months or so.

How did this year's festival stack up against those of the past? Quite well, in my opinion, and I managed to catch all 17 films. As usual, there were many more positives than negatives - better than four to one, which is vastly superior to any experience I've had attending a similar number of movies playing in NYC at any given time. For me, the "find" of this fest was Zabou Brietman's The Man of My Life. Ms Brietman's ability to mesh style and content with such beauty and originality has left me panting to see this one again - and to share it with those I love - as soon as possible.

For mainstream romance and comedy, I Do!, The Valet and Ambitious certainly filled the bill. The theme of how parents and politics affect the lives of children found a lovely home in Blame It on Fidel, and the movie bio was well (if rather typically) served by La Vie en Rose, carried mainly on the shoulders of Marion Cotillard, who played Edith Piaf. The documentary field saw Anne Andreu's study, Humbert Balsan: Rebel Producer, while Countdown offered us Balsan's penultimate production; the former, I would not have wanted to miss (and may not have a chance to see again: another reason to hail the yearly Rendez-Vous series).

Two films about twins in a family or society threatening to spin out of control came from Philippe Lioret (Don't Worry, I'm Fine) and Jean-Marc Barr/Pascal Arnold (One to Another). Both had flaws but were well worth seeing. Less so, for me, was another story of raw-youth, badly-used: Murderers by Patrick Grandperret. As a study of character and métier, Xavier Gianolli's The Singer gave Gérard Depardieu and Cécile de France two wonderful roles, which both actors assumed with relish.

On the mystery front, Denis Dercourt's elegant The Page Turner and Guillaume Canet's hot, fast-paced Tell No One were both stunners. And if Benoît Jacquot's The Untouchable offered less than some of his past cinematic outings, for many of us in the audience, his star Isild Le Besco certainly made up for that. My least among these 17 films would be Bruno Dumont's Flanders (although my Greencine colleague David D'Arcy remains a fan, even after a second viewing!) and Christopher Honoré's Inside Paris, with its look at a Parisian family done with some style and a good cast but not enough believability to keep the whole thing grounded.

Nine of these movies have already been picked up for distribution: The Man of My Life, The Valet, Blame It on Fidel, La Vie en Rose, One to Another, The Page Turner, The Untouchable, Flanders and Inside Paris. I think this may be a record for Rendez-Vous; certainly it is very good news for French film buffs around the country.

Posted by dwhudson at March 14, 2007 7:39 PM