Even though the reopening of theaters is still limited in some areas, French cinema reached wide audiences around the world this summer. Here is our latest press roundup.
Cinemas in Belgium reopened on July 1. The weekly news magazine Moustique describes How to be a Good Wife as a "domestic saga with a joyful feminist perspective."
https://www.moustique.be/25591/aime-la-bonne-epouse
Focus, the magazine produced with the Belgian daily Le Vif, published an interview with Emmanuelle Devos to coincide with the release of the film Perfumes.
https://focus.levif.be/culture/cinema/emmanuelle-devos-une-actrice-au-parfum/article-normal-1306425.html
This film by Grégory Magne was also well received in French-speaking Switzerland by the women's magazine Jjsphere.com, who praised it as "an olfactory comedy that makes you feel good."
https://www.jjsphere.com/film-les-parfums-une-comedie-douce-qui-se-hume/
In German-speaking Switzerland, it was Thalasso by Guillaume Nicloux that hit theater screens. The Swiss daily Aargauer-Zeitung described the film as "an encounter set in the inferno of wellbeing," highlighting the "jubilant game-playing of two enfants terribles."
https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/kultur/michel-houellebecq-und-grard-depardieu-treffen-sich-in-der-wellnesshoelle-138311626
The film's review in the national daily Tages-Anzeiger drew a parallel between the Houellebecq/Depardieu duo and Laurel & Hardy dressed in bathrobes:
https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schlammpackung-fuer-michel-houellebecq-und-gerard-depardieu-278545651544
La Vérité by Hirokazu Kore-Eda was launched in theaters in Portugal early July. On c7nema, the Japanese filmmaker explained his decision to "introduce humor and adopt a lighter approach":
https://c7nema.net/entrevistas/item/83858-familia-e-ressentimentos-a-conversa-com-hirokazu-kore-eda.html
The daily online newspaper Público also talked about the film:
https://www.publico.pt/2020/07/02/culturaipsilon/noticia/momento-verdade-deneuve-binoche-1922433
In Germany, the release of The Best Years of a Life has created quite an impression in the media. The cinema-dedicated website Film-Dienst presented an in-depth in interview with Claude Lelouch:
https://www.filmdienst.de/artikel/42583/interview-claude-lelouch-die-schonsten-jahre-eines-lebens
The daily newspaper the Stuttgarter Zeitung evoked "a story that reaches far beyond the love between two people":
https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.kinokritik-die-schoensten-jahre-eines-lebens-franzoesische-liebeserinnerungen.cd5ca4b4-f3c5-46f4-b56d-e5d61b7155ec.html
The movie magazine EPD also devoted an article to the film:
https://www.epd-film.de/filmkritiken/die-schoensten-jahre-eines-lebens
As did the regional daily, the Berliner Morgenpost:
https://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/article229420874/Die-schoensten-Jahre-eines-Lebens-Im-Sog-der-Erinnerung.html
In Spain, the month of July saw the release of two French films:
- On a Magical Night, "a vaudevillesque comedy about love and infidelity starring a magnificent Chiara Mastroianni"
https://elpais.com/cultura/2020-07-02/la-vida-adultera-de-chiara-mastroianni.html
- And the documentary by Jean-Gabriel Périot Our Defeats, whose trailer was presented by the national daily El País:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2020-07-08/la-politica-a-traves-de-los-ojos-de-estudiantes-franceses-de-instituto.html
Outside Europe, the big French hit in Asia this summer was A Mermaid in Paris, which was released in South Korea late July. On Cine 21, it was depicted as "a fantastical love story."
http://www.cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=95846&utm_source=naver&utm_medium=news
In Latin America, the French film that marked the summer of 2020 was In Safe Hands, which attracted over 42,000 spectators in Mexico! According to Cine Premiere, the film offers "an empathetic and alternative view on adoption":
https://www.cinepremiere.com.mx/en-buenas-manos-critica.html
Media Gallery
