Audrey Tautou in 'Delicacy'

'Farewell My Queen'

If you can read this, you can read subtitles. Even though some folks shy away from foreign language movies, this year’s New Orleans French Film Festival offers plenty of reasons to exercise your readin’ muscles.

With a lineup that features action and suspense, romantic comedies, psychological thrillers, and lots of sexual tension, this year’s annual festival highlights that certain je ne sais quoi that many American films lack.

The French Film Festival starts Friday night, and runs for a week, showcasing both contemporary and classic films. All screenings are at the Prytania Theatre. Presented by the New Orleans Film Society, the annual event is sponsored in part by the Consulat General de France a la Nouvelle-Orleans, whose aim in to increase access to French culture throughout the city.

Béatrice Germaine, the Cultural Project Manager at the French Consulate, told NoDef, “It’s our action to support the French culture in Louisiana, so in supporting the French Film Festival, it’s also giving us exposure and a window to the audience and the general public.”

Germain says that with a strong collaboration between the consulate, NOFS, and the Prytania, the fest continues to get “bigger and better.”

John Desplas, Artistic Director of NOFS and curator of the festival, agrees. By establishing relationship with film distribution companies like IFC Films, he said NOFS is able to bring movies to New Orleans that might otherwise never be seen. In the case of Beloved, which opens the festival Friday night, New Orleans audiences will actually see the movie before its slated release date. The movie, which stars legendary actress Catherine Deneuve playing the mother to her real-life daughter, actress Chiara Mastroianni, explores the ups and downs of love and romance through parallel narratives that span three decades. Beloved screened on the closing night of Cannes last year, but the film’s wide theatrical release isn’t until late August.

In addition to Denevue, the festival features other sirens of French cinema. In Elles, Juliette Binoche plays a journalist researching a story on prostitution in Paris, which forces her to reexamine her own relationships with men. Audrey Tautou (Amélie) stars in Delicacy, about a young woman suddenly widowed who finds love again in an unexpected place. 

The ultimate ingénue, however, would have to be the singularly named Arletty, star of the 1945 classic Children of Paradise. Directed by Marcel Carné and written by screenwriter and Surrealist poet Jacques Prévert, the 3 hour epic revolves around Arletty and the four men who fall in love with her.    

“Arletty,” Germaine said, “she’s a grand dame in France. Arletty could be somebody who could have lived in New Orleans. Her voice, the way she was acting, Arletty was something.”

“It’s a classic,” said added. “When I was a kid, I remember that from TV.”

Desplas acknowledges that the classics are very popular at the French Film Festival and always do well, but Children of Paradise isn’t the only film of the fest generating some buzz. Farewell, My Queen, starring Diana Kruger as Marie Antoinette in the last days leading up to the revolution, opened at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year and has since gotten a lot of positive attention.

“The new film that has the most interest seems to be Farwell My Queen,” said Desplas, “and that may be because it’s had the most national publicity already.”

Despite the popularity of the films featured in the fest, Desplas admits that the audience for these films in New Orleans tends to be an older one. That’s something he’d like to see change. Desplas worries that younger crowds aren’t interested in foreign language films because reading subtitles seems like too much work. He believes people think of these films along the lines of “taking medicine” or “eating broccoli,” something that’s good for you, but unpleasant nonetheless.

These films might lack the excitement of the Hollywood summer blockbusters overflowing with aliens, superheroes, and vampire-hunting dead presidents, but Desplas says those films are like “big wind-up toys.” French films, he says, tend to deal with real-life issues like family dynamics and romantic relationships. However, Desplas adds, that doesn’t mean they’re dull.

“These films are also entertaining,” he says. “They’re very enjoyable, and if people would give it a chance, they’ll find out it’s not something that’s just going to be a duty, it’s going to be a pleasure.”

For a full schedule with descriptions of the films, visit the NOFS website. All tickets are $10 for NOFS members / $11 general admission (with the exception of Funny Face, which is $5.75 for everyone). NOFS members can purchase a 6-Film Pass for $50. Tickets are currently on sale now at the Prytania box office and online at the Prytania’s website.