French cinema continues to make headlines in the international press! Read on to discover four viewpoints in the media in South Korea, Russia, Brazil and the United States on the release of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Specials, The Truth, Jumbo, and Cuties.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire hit movie screens in South Korea in mid-January, and quickly topped the 100,000 admissions mark, marking a highly successful opening for a French film in this market.
On the Seoul Broadcasting System website, the Korean distributor Green Narae Media proclaimed "a record-breaking 80,000 spectators in 12 days," calling the film "the first artbuster of 2020" and highlighting the "excellent word of mouth" that is likely to "push the figures up to 200,000 admissions."
http://sbsfune.sbs.co.kr/news/news_content.jsp?article_id=E10009792599
An in-depth analysis can be found on Artinsight.co.kr, South Korea's leading cultural website, which states that the film offers "an unshakeable vision of love and fate" and lists the "four reasons why it was eagerly awaited by South Korean audiences: a female director, a woman's story, a historical drama, and a queer film [...], in addition to being a beautiful film with a strong and gently story that fully deserved its award at Cannes." The film's music, described as "a highly important factor" along with its use of color, the themes of resistance and solidarity, and the director's vision are other aspects discussed in this article:
https://www.artinsight.co.kr/news/view.php?no=45979
Released in Brazil on January 9, Portrait of a Lady on Fire has attracted over 31,000 spectators, with a mixed reaction from reviewers depending on the different regions of the country.
In the state of Saõ Paulo, the Folha de São Paulo stated that "the film does not appeal to the majority of male moviegoers," and "demonstrates that men have a different perspective on the voice of women in cinema."
On the other hand, according to the daily newspaper Estado de Minas, the film paints film a "delicate portrait of the flowering of love" and "tackles important topical subjects from an entirely feminine perspective," with "the female viewpoint at the heart of the film right from the opening scene."
Portrait of a Lady on Fire was also released in theaters in Quebec on February 14. Cinoche, Quebec's main film criticism reference, declared that Céline Sciamma's film "is far more than your average romance [...]. It instantly stands among the finest love stories of the past decade. [...]. There can be no better St. Valentine's Day gift than this."
https://www.cinoche.com/films/portrait-de-la-jeune-fille-en-feu/critiques/ce-regard-qui-brule
Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache were interviewed by the Kino-teatr.ru, Russia's most authoritative movie industry portal, to coincide with the release of The Specials, which has registered 86,793 admissions to date.
Kino-teatr.ru took up the film's "focus on the main characters' religious faith" and "the importance of making a film whose story has a 'social' meaning in a world where empathy is increasingly rare," while also discussing the "French social system" and the "impact of comedy on our perception of these kinds of issues."
https://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/person/728/
The Russian press also turned its interest to the film The Truth, which was released on February 6. The Russian daily business newspaper Kommersant devoted an article to the film titled "The Difficult Behavior of a Grandmother," positioning it "in the era of post-truth, in which emotions are more important than truth; or, perhaps, Kore-eda is reminding us once again that that there is only one truth, that which remains imprinted on the film itself."
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4235136#id1856020
Jumbo, the debut film by Zoé Wittock, launched its international run at the Sundance Film Festival. Variety interviewed its lead Noémie Merlant, who, according to the US magazine, is "one of the most promising actresses of her generation."
https://variety.com/2020/film/global/noemie-merlant-sundance-jumbo-mi-iubita-1203473383/
Zangro,the producer of Cuties, which was also presented at Sundance, stressed in an exclusive interview with Variety "the great importance of this festival to the film's international career," a festival "whose vision we strongly identify with."
https://variety.com/2020/film/global/zangro-sundance-cuties-1203467120/
French cinema's presence at Sundance was also covered in the following articles in the British publication Screen Daily:
https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/jumbo-sundance-review/5146294.article
https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/cuties-sundance-review/5146293.article
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