Trite as it certainly sounds, the saccharine label of a “lover letter to cinema” applies all too precisely to French director Arnaud Desplechin’s enchanting docufiction effort “Filmlovers!” (“Spectateurs!”). But even with that obnoxiously overused denomination hanging over it, this multifaceted personal essay succeeds at rekindling or reaffirming one’s own relationship with the miracle of this young art form that we so often take for granted.

Continue reading ‘Filmlovers!’ Review: Arnaud Desplechin Pays Tribute To The Miracle Of Cinema On Enchantingly Personal Docufiction [Cannes] at The Playlist.

There have been a million films about films. How many times have you seen a director make a movie about the love of movies? It’s so commonplace that it almost loses its meaning. But when a filmmaker like Arnaud Desplechin makes a film about films, such as “Filmlovers!” you pay attention.

READ MORE: ‘Hayao Miyazaki & The Heron’ Trailer: Go Behind-The-Scenes Of Miyazaki’s Latest In New Cannes Doc

As seen in the trailer for “Filmlovers!” the movie follows the story of a young kid who becomes obsessed with films after seeing one on the big screen.

Continue reading ‘Filmlovers!’ Trailer: Arnaud Desplechin’s Latest Is A Coming-Of-Age Story About The Love Of Film at The Playlist.

Let’s catch up on all things Cannes Film Festival. For one, if you haven’t seen it, Cannes recently revealed its 2024 poster, featuring a scene from “Rhapsody in August,” directed by the great Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, 81 at the time (see it below in full). But there’s much more, including today’s announcement of new titles. This morning, the Cannes Festival announced the addition of thirteen titles to the line-up, featuring notable names from filmmakers like Oliver Stone and Lou Ye and French filmmakers like Arnaud Desplechin and Michel Hazanavicius.

Continue reading Cannes 2024 Adds 13 New Titles: Films By Arnaud Desplechin, Michel Hazanavicius & Oliver Stone at The Playlist.

Arnaud Desplechin’s latest film superficially resembles some of his most beloved and best work, family dramas featuring very colorful, neurotic, sometimes impulsive characters by turn extremely sincere and sardonic, loquacious and secretive — films such as “My Sex Life… or How I Got Into an Argument” (1996) and “A Winter’s Tale” (2008). But unlike them, “Brother and Sister” is also a puzzle, even if the director does not make it easy for us to solve it.

Continue reading ‘Brother & Sister Review: Arnaud Desplechin’s Captivating Sibling Drama Starring Marion Cotillard & Melvil Poupaud [Cannes] at The Playlist.

If you can count on death and taxes, you can also count on French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin having a new film at the Cannes Film Festival. Desplechin has had ten films play at Cannes either in competition or in other sections, his most recent being 2021’s “Deception” and 2019’s “Oh Mercy.” His latest, “Brother And Sister” (“Frère et Sœur”) stars Marion Cotillard and Melvil Poupaud as estranged siblings who are forced to reunite after 20 years following the death of their parents.

Continue reading ‘Brother And Sister’ Trailer: Marion Cotillard, Melvil Poupaud & Golshifteh Farahani Star In Arnaud Desplechin’s New Cannes Drama at The Playlist.

In Arnaud Desplechin’s “Deception” (“Tromperie”), one character’s husband is described as “passionate about dazzling, interesting women.” In this adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel of the same name, one can’t help but wish the director shared the character’s interest. Instead, Desplechin and his film seem to have a perverse and single-minded fixation not on “dazzling, interesting” women, but lost, tragic ones—women who can gravitate toward and glom onto Philip (Denis Podalydès), an inexplicably francophone version of the author, who lavishes the attention. 

READ MORE: Cannes Film Festival 2021 Preview: 25
Films To Watch

In the stuffy and garrulous adaptation, a rotating cast of women populates Philip’s imagination: There’s an unnamed English actor (also inexplicably francophone, played by Léa Seydoux), whose affair with Philip is a convenient escape from a languishing marriage with an American novelist.

Continue reading ‘Deception’: Arnaud Desplechin’s Chatty Philip Roth Adaptation With Léa Seydoux Needs Less Talking, More Action [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

Whoever “wins” the Cannes Film Festival this year, French actress Léa Seydoux will certainly be up there regardless if she takes home any awards or not. The actress has four films at Cannes, Bruno Dumont‘s “France” in competition, Wes Anderson‘s “The French Dispatch,” ldiko Enyedi‘s “The Story Of My Wife” also in competition, and Arnaud Desplechin‘s latest Cannes premiere, “Deception,” based on a story by the great Philip Roth (let’s not forget, she’s one of two actresses ever to win the Palme d’Or for “Blue Is The Warmest Color,” so everything is always upside for her).

Continue reading ‘Deception’ Trailer: Lea Seydoux Stars In Arnaud Desplechin’s Steamy Film Headed To Cannes at The Playlist.

In terms of French cinema, you can’t get much better than filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin. The man behind features such as “The Sentinel,” “My Golden Days,” and “Ismael’s Ghosts” consistently brings something new to each film, often switching genres between films. So, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that, coming off of a crime drama and a Philip Roth adaptation, Desplechin is venturing into the realm of family drama for “Brother and Sister.”

READ MORE: ‘Deception’: Léa Seydoux Stars In Arnaud Desplechin’s Secret Drama Filmed During Lockdown

According to Arte (via The Film Stage), Arnaud Desplechin is set to begin production shortly on his next film, titled “Brother and Sister.” In addition to the film being announced, it appears the filmmaker is reteaming with French actress Marion Cotillard for the film.

Continue reading ‘Brother And Sister’: Marion Cotillard Reteams With Filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin For A New Family Drama at The Playlist.

It’s becoming so commonplace that we learn about filmmakers creating secret projects during pandemic lockdown that we may have to create a new subgenre for these pictures. Ben Wheatley, Neill Blomkamp, and others have all taken the pandemic as an opportunity to work on projects previously unscheduled. And it appears that Arnaud Desplechin is set to join that list as well, with his new film, “Deception.”

READ MORE: ‘Oh Mercy!’: Arnaud Desplechin Tackles The Crime Genre With Léa Seydoux & Sara Forestier [Cannes Review]

According to Cineuropa, Desplechin has revealed that during the lockdown in September, the acclaimed French filmmaker went ahead and filmed an adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel, “Deception.” And he was able to secure a pretty great cast that includes Léa Seydoux alongside Denis Podalydès, Emmanuelle Devos, and Gennadi Famin.

Continue reading ‘Deception’: Léa Seydoux Stars In Arnaud Desplechin’s Secret Drama Filmed During Lockdown at The Playlist.

“There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.” This line, which closes film noir classic “The Naked City,” would fit comfortably among the dialogue of Arnaud Desplechin’s latest work, “Oh Mercy!,” making its debut in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. Best known for his unwieldy family dramas, the film is a genre swerve for Desplechin.

Continue reading ‘Oh Mercy!’: Arnaud Desplechin Tackles The Crime Genre With Léa Seydoux & Sara Forestier [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

Filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin is no stranger to the Cannes Film Festival. Dating back to the early-’90s, the director has been regularly screening his films in the various sections of the event, including the competition for the Palme d’Or, Un Certain Regard, and the Directors’ Fortnight. The filmmaker returns this year with his latest film to debut at the prestigious event, “Oh Mercy.”

And as we approach the beginning of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, we now have a trio of clips from the upcoming crime drama from Desplechin.

Continue reading ‘Oh Mercy!’ Clips: Arnaud Desplechin’s Latest Is Set To Debut At Cannes & Stars Léa Seydoux And Sara Forestier at The Playlist.

Since his first feature-length film, “The Sentinel” in 1992, Arnaud Desplechin has been a fixture at the Cannes Film Festival. Just last year, the acclaimed director premiered “Ismael’s Ghosts” as the opening film of the prestigious event. And it appears that with his next film, “Roubaix, une lumière,” Desplechin is poising himself for another run at the festival.

Continue reading Léa Seydoux Cast In New Thriller By French Filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin at The Playlist.

Paris-based distribution company, Wild Bunch is debuting a slew of upcoming films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The batch of titles comes from longtime collaborators and first-time filmmakers. Some of those names and titles include Ken Loach’s social drama “Sorry We Missed You,” filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Elia Suleiman, and Arnaud Desplechin, among others.

Continue reading Details On Films By The Dardenne Brothers, Ken Loach & More Revealed at The Playlist.

Toward the end of Arnaud Desplechin’s “Ismael’s Ghosts,” an actress character declares that a film director is “all over the film,” and that certainly seems to be the case for Desplechin himself. The personal nature of “Ismael’s Ghosts” is tangible in every frame: Ismael, the film’s protagonist played by Mathieu Amalric, shares Desplechin’s obsessions with death, women, and obsession itself. And like Desplechin, Ismael is a filmmaker.

Continue reading Marion Cotillard And Charlotte Gainsbourg Elevate ‘Ismael’s Ghosts’ [New Cut Review] at The Playlist.

Last spring, “Ismael’s Ghosts,” the latest from acclaimed auteur Arnaud Desplechin (“A Christmas Tale,” “Kings & Queens,” “My Golden Days“), premiered at the Cannes Film Festival with very little buzz. We called it a “watchable amalgam of all his best and worst tendencies.” However, it’s now landing stateside with a new version that might turn the tide of critical opinion.

Continue reading ‘Ismael’s Ghosts’ Trailer: Arnaud Desplechin’s Latest With Charlotte Gainsbourg & Marion Cotillard Gets A Director’s Cut at The Playlist.

Opening the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, and presented out of competition, French auteur’s Arnaud Desplechin “Ismael’s Ghosts” is a Pandora’s box of a film which stars two of the best French actresses around: Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It’s the director’s most ambitious film to date, a loosely-inspired remake of Jean Renoir‘s “Providence” as directed by Bergman and Hitchcock. 

Continue reading Arnaud Desplechin Talks Cannes, Marion Cotillard & ‘Ismaël’s Ghosts’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

What do Joyce’s “Ulysses,” Tajikistan, night terrors, Bob Dylan, fraught fatherly relationships, Russian spies, astrophysics, Jacques Lacan, dependent disabled brothers and Jackson Pollock have in common? In the unlikely infinite-monkeys-infinite-typewriters scenario whereby this becomes an actual riddle, you now have an answer: nothing, but they all pop up in Arnaud Desplechin‘s “Ismaël’s Ghosts.” If storylines were measured in yardage, laid end to end the film’s narratives could comfortably lasso the moon, but its very fundamental problem is that they’re not laid end-to-end.

Continue reading ‘Ismaël’s Ghosts’ Starring Marion Cotillard & Charlotte Gainsbourg Is Arnaud Desplechin At His Best & Worst [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

Now that Arnaud Desplechin‘s “Ismael’s Ghosts” is set to open the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, the film has released its first official trailer, complete with its brand new Sundance badge. “Ismael’s Ghosts” and Cannes are a strong match: not only is Desplechin a five-time Palme d’Or nominee — beginning with his 1992 film “La sentinelle” and continuing through 2013’s “Jimmy P.

Continue reading Marion Cotillard Shines In The Trailer For Cannes Film Festival Selection ‘Ismael’s Ghosts’ at The Playlist.

While Arnaud Desplechin, the director behind celebrated films like “Kings & Queens” and “A Christmas Tale,” stumbled a bit with “Jimmy P.” in 2013, be bounced back in a big way with last year’s “My Golden Days.” It was a return to form for the director, and he’s already jumping into his next project, which has assembled a promisingly starry cast.

Continue reading Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Gainsbourg & Marion Cotillard Team For Arnaud Desplechin’s ‘Les Fantomes d’Ismaël’ at The Playlist.

The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘My Golden Days’ Director Arnaud Desplechin

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Review: Arnaud Desplechin's Intelligent And Warm 'My Golden Days'

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Watch: U.S. Trailer For Arnaud Desplechin's 'My Golden Days' Starring Mathieu Amalric

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The 10 Best Films Of 2008

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The 10 Best Films Of 2005

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Naturally, details on this one are scarce at the moment, but apparently, it will be based on “The History Of Thought” “Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian: Realities” and dreamby psychoanalyst and anthropologist George Devereux.

Update: Cinema Teaser have the true details (apparently jacked from Tout Le Cine without credit, tsk, tsk).

Continue reading Arnaud Desplechin’s ‘Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian’ Shooting Next at The Playlist.