French cinema - the sales are on

While Paris recovers from its post-New Year hangover by bingeing on the “soldes” (sales) an invasion of a different sort has taken over the cinemas along the Grands Boulevards for this year's Rendez-vous with French Cinema. A veritable army of international film buyers looking for the next Untouchable or The Artist are attending screenings in cinemas close to the fabled Grand Hotel where the Lumiere Brothers first gave Parisians a taste of the movies more than 100 years ago.

The rather Presidential and distinguished Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre who is the head of the film promotional body Unifrance who organise the event now in its 15th year, noted that more than 50 countries were represented from Europe, Australia and China as well as North and South America.

Because the French industry is primarily based in Paris the organisers can muster more than 100 “artists” for journalists to interview this weekend, among them Audrey Tautou for Claude Miller’s last film Thérèse Desqueyroux (the latest adaptation of Francois Mauriac's acclaimed novel) and Romain Duris for Populaire, Regis Roinsard’s retro rom-com, both of which are destined for the Glasgow Film Festival (read more about the GFF line-up here).

Star-crossed lovers Mobile Home's Arthur Dupont with Agathe Bonitzer in Under the Rainbow

So far the hottest ticket has been the new offering from Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri (French cinema’s golden double act after Look at Me and Let's Talk About The Rain). Although professionally the pair remain close collaborators they are no longer together on personal basis, which may give an added frisson to the new title Under The Rainbow (Au Bout du Conte), Jaoui’s first foray behind the camera in four years. The crush of buyers fighting to get a first view of it rivalled those red carpet scrums in Cannes.

Co-written by Jaoui and Bacri, we follow a group of modern day characters in their search for the meaning of life and love through the imagery of traditional fairytales. The two of them feature in it, alongside French Film Festival UK guest (for Mobile Home) Arthur Dupont as a talented musician finding the path of true love with Agathe Bonitzer rarely runs smoothly. As fairy tales are the dominant imagery then it’s no surprise to find there is a happy ending of sorts.

The quality of the writing and the acting as well as the astute threading of the various narrative lines is beautifully engineered and in sharp contrast to Daniele Thompson’s clunky opening gala film ineptly titled in English It Happened In St Tropez (Des Gens Qui s'Embrassent), also set against a family landscape of trials, tribulations and misunderstandings but without the finesse of the Bacri-Jaoui tandem. Not even Monica Bellucci or Kad Merad, can save it which is a pity for those who appreciated her previous hit Orchestra Seats.

Undoubtedly the mood of French cinema at the start of 2013 is on a roll – for the sake of all European national cinemas let’s hope they can maintain the momentum.