These are 5 top movies that you likely never got to see. There is still a chance to catch them on a streaming service, all of which truly remarkable films.
D’AVOUE JAMAIS (France 2024) ****
Directed by Ivan Calberac
A surprisingly good film, hilarious, insightful, and extremely well performed by veteran actors Sabine Azema and Andre Dussollier. When ex-military Francois discovers 40-year-old love letters in the attic from his wife’s admirer, he goes ballistic and decides to go to Nice to beat him up. But after 40 years, he cannot recall what the admirer, an old acquaintance of theirs looks like. As Annie remembers, she tags along hoping to quell her husband’s anger. The best surprise is the admirer, who turns out to be played by Thierry Lhermitte, who is a heartthrob in his younger acting days. Annie treats the trip as a second honeymoon. But things take a turn with twists in the story that include Francois finding out that his daughter living in Nice is a lesbian and that he himself has an admirer. The film contains perhaps the funniest segment in a film this year - the one in Andre’s daughter’s bedroom where he discovers her lover under the sheets. D’AVOUE JAMAIS is pure delight and is the type of comedy CineFranco is famous for.
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FIREWORKS (Italy 2023) *****
Directed by Giuseppe Fiorello
The film follows the troubled relationship between Gianni and Nino, set in the narrow-minded and prejudicial Sicily of 1982. It is a compelling, disturbing watch based on true events with an ending that will blow your mind. The film has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it is not difficult to see why,
LIVING LARGE (Czech/Slovakia/France 2024) ****
Directed by Kristina Dufkova
A coming-of-age story of 12-year-old Papethca, as he juggles what paths are considered the most pressing at the time. On the first day of school, he is bullied for his weight, and falls in love with a fellow classmate, while venturing into his career as a chef or as a rap band member with his buddy. At the same time, he has to deal with his divorced parents - he is living and cooking for his mother and coping with his father and his new girlfriend. All this is a lot to take in for a 12-year-old but director Kristina Dufkova blends all the issues effortlessly in an entertaining film that is both hilarious and emotional. You have to love a movie that has on its soundtrack classic opera, rap, ac/dc, and piano. The film shifts into full gear when Papethca decides to go on a diet. The film is based on the novel ‘Ma Vie, En Gros’ and has the look of the Academy Award-nominated MA VIE EN COURGETTE, the recent animated claymation feature also on the topic of adolescence. One of the strongest points of this best-animated feature is the positive and feel-good message it has for people of large. The feature premiered at Annecy following a screening at the Locarno Film Festival.
MISERICORDE (France 2024) ****
Directed by Alain Giuraudie
MISERICORDE has the feel of a Claude Chabrol murder film in which the cat-and-mouse tale is mainly the mouse outwitting the cat with the aid of his cohorts. The film is a prized twisted macabre tale with bouts of unexpected humour from the director of the 2014 gay hit L’CONNU DU LAC (Stranger by the Lake), this one with the fabulous Catherine Frot as a widow. who takes in Jérémie as a lodger whose sensual presence is immediately and progressively destabilizing to all around him. Martine (Catherine Frot) happens to be the mother of his childhood friend, the brutish Vincent (fJean-Baptiste Durand). The duo’s interactions are terse and laden with resentment, but clearly erotically charged. When a fight goes awry, Misericordia swerves into noir territory with absurdist undertones, and an ensuing investigation spirals around a loner neighbour, ineffectual gendarmes, and a nosy country priest — seemingly the only inhabitants in this dewy, mountainous village perpetually bathed in twilight. No sex scenes but there are two with full penises on display, that are both erotic and hilarious. MISERICORDE, extremely well plotted and executed is a total wicked delight! This film was screened at TIFF and will likely be released in 2025.
QUAND VIENT L’AUTOMNE (France 2024) ***** Top 10
Directed by Francois Ozone
Auter Francois Ozon in 'tres gentil' mode gives deserving sympathy to an old lady and a second chance for an ex-convict. QUAND VIENT L’AUTOMNE follows a senior lady Michelle (Hélène Vincent) living a peaceful retirement in a charming Burgundy village near her longtime friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balansko). She eagerly anticipates her grandson Lucas spending the school vacation with her, but things don’t go as planned with tensions arising from her daughter who takes Lucas back from her vacation with Michelle. Feeling lonely, Michelle loses her sense of purpose, until Marie-Claude’s son gets out of prison. Described as the idiot son, fate then plays a twist in the story of Michelle’s life. Director Ozone proves a superb storyteller with the twists and turns in his tale effortlessly unfolding surprises and twists to utter delight. Though not a comedy, this charming drama of life is nevertheless lighter than his wicked comedies like SITCOM and LES AMANTS CRIMINELS. His mark of excellence is everywhere in the film. Though not a gay film, the gay element is beautifully brought into the picture in one scene where Lucas is asked by Marie-Claude’s son if he has a girlfriend. When the answer is no, Marie Claude’s son gives him a look that girls have nothing to do with their lives. Arguably Ozon’s career-best film. The film had one showing at Cinefranco 2024.
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