French
Wednesdays: Contemporary French Cinema
Wednesday,
November 12 at 7:30 PM
Presented by International House and the French
Institute for Culture and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Premiere!
The Son
dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, France, 2002, 35mm, 103
mins, color, French w/ English subtitles
This intensely focused
film from brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (La Promesse,
Rosetta) follows Olivier (Olivier Gourmet), a man in mid-life
working as a carpentry instructor in a blue collar French suburb.
By day he teaches teenage boys how to work with wood. By night
he leads a drab, solitary, routine existence. As the film rolls,
it becomes increasingly evident that Olivier is nervous, edgy,
even seething about something deep inside. He develops a fascination
with one of the boys in his class and nervously pursues the
boy, offering him friendship and advice with a frightening lack
of affection. Through forced spurts of dialogue and unexplained
actions, Olivier's connection to the boy is slowly and painfully
revealed. The Son meditates on its own static tension,
turning suspense into a gripping plotline all its own. Gourmet's
performance is pointed and perfect, and it earned the Best Actor
award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002.
Tickets are $6.00
for general admission, $5.00 for I House members, students and
seniors. Available in advance at your local TLA
Video store, on line at www.tlavideo.com/ihouse
or one hour before showtime at the International House box office.
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