Hélène Vincent as Michelle Giraud and Josiane Balasko as Marie-Claude Perrin in a scene from "When Fall Is Coming." (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)
It's already starting to feel like summer out there, but one South Florida arthouse is skipping a few months ahead. Two French movies playing at Coral Gables Art Cinema this month dive headfirst into fall with stories set in picturesque rural villages where the mood is decidedly autumnal: We're not in Paris anymore, Toto.
But don't be fooled by the serene surfaces and radiant vistas. These tales bathed in yellow and orange explore their characters' capacity to commit acts that put them on the opposite side of the law. The films, which screened in local festivals ahead of their commercial release, are recent works from renowned directors who march to the beat of their own drum and refuse to be pinned down to one genre, Good versus evil? Too reductive. These openly gay storytellers prefer to explore those shades of gray in between, the better to determine what makes their protagonists tick. Now let's find out what all that pretty foliage is hiding.
Hélène Vincent as Michelle Giraud and Garlan Erlos as Lucas Tessier in a scene from "When Fall Is Coming." (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)
“When Fall Is Coming”: Michelle Giraud, the sweet-natured retiree at the center of this character-driven drama, is a model citizen. An avid churchgoer, Michelle (Hélène Vincent) likes to go on walks with her neighbor Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko, of “French Twist” fame), not just to enjoy the beautiful fall colors, but to pick out mushrooms for din-din.
“How quaint,” I scribbled in my notes. That's not a jab at Michelle and her chill lifestyle, but an observation on writer-director François Ozon. Could it be possible that this former bad boy of French cinema, known for pushing the limits of the medium, and moviegoers' buttons, has gone all Pottery Barn on us now that he's in his late 50s? There's something undeniably staid about the opening scenes of his latest effort, a selection at last month's Miami Film Festival, down to a tinkly, piano-driven score by Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine that enhances the cozy Burgundy locales.
But keep looking, because there are cracks on those surfaces. These women of a certain age are not living their best lives, you see. Marie-Claude's son, Vincent (hunky Pierre Lottin) is in the slammer for an unspecified crime, triggering existential angst on his mother's part. As for Michelle, she might look the part of the warm, caring granny, but her personal life is a mess. Her daughter, Valérie (Ozon regular Ludivine Sagnier) is a ball of resentment who's dealing with her own domestic crisis.
Pierre Lottin as Vincent Perrin and Hélène Vincent as Michelle Giraud in a scene from "When Fall Is Coming." (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)
But Michelle perks up when she finds out her grandson, shy and withdrawn Lucas (Garlan Erlos), is being brought over by his mom to stay a few days while Valérie sorts out the dissolution of her marriage to Laurent (Malik Zidi), Lucas' dad. A stay that, alas, is cut short when Valérie eats something that sends her to the hospital. Let's just say “Phantom Thread's” Reynolds Woodcock would wince in recognition, and probably stifle a laugh.
The lunchtime faux pas causes an already deep fissure between mother and daughter to widen, thus amplifying Michelle's solitude. But Michelle does something generous to keep despair at bay: She gives Vincent a job fixing things up in her home as soon as he's released from jail. A garden in disarray, being tended by someone who himself is in need of help and is open to bettering himself. An American filmmaker would lay on the feel-good vibes and turn this material into syrupy goop.
But that's not the way Ozon rolls. Vincent is more of a loose cannon that he lets on, though the filmmaker wisely opts against turning him into a two-bit delinquent, But chaos and calamity are about to enter Michelle's life all the same, in ways she could not have anticipated and that uncover a past that turns “When Fall Is Coming” into a more potent piece than it initially appears to be.
Josiane Balasko as Marie-Claude Perrin, Pierre Lottin as Vincent Perrin and Hélène Vincent as Michelle Giraud in a scene from "When Fall Is Coming." (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)
One may be tempted to label the film “pastoral Claude Chabrol,” but that's not quite accurate. It pleases me to report that Ozon has entered the elder statesman stage of his career behind the camera with grace and restraint. Four years ago, he was poking fun at “Call Me by Your Name,” and young adult romances in general, in his spiky “Summer of 85.” But he has evolved into a kinder, gentler filmmaker, certainly more compassionate than Chabrol ever was. In his newest film, fall doesn't just come for Michelle, as she weathers a nasty storm and the calmness that follows, but for Ozon as well. He has delivered a solid mid-tier entry that generates some excitement about the next dark corners he will turn.
“Misericordia”: Aimlessness spontaneously dovetails into malfeasance in this aggressively weird offering from “Stranger by the Lake” auteur Alain Guiraudie. The setting is rural and the time of year is most certainly fall, but this off-kilter portrait of small-town ennui veers tone-wise from Ozon's drama, showcasing a darkly comedic bent that's accentuated by its characters' idiosyncrasies.
Félix Kysyl as Jérémie Pastor in a scene from "Misericordia." (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)
Poker-faced Jérémie Pastor (Félix Kysyl) returns to his (fictional) hometown of Saint-Martial for the funeral of his old boss at the bakery where he learned his trade. Jérémie is currently between jobs, and a look at his old haunts, and his former employer's family album, appears to have triggered the young man's nostalgia, because on a whim, he asks his boss' widow, Martine (Catherine Frot), to stay a while. Martine, glad for the company, agrees.
But the extended sleepover doesn't sit well with Martine's adult son, Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), who displays increasingly hostile behavior toward her visitor. But even when Vincent's aggression turns physical, Jérémie is nonplussed. Much like his protagonist, Guiraudie is not one to give out the kind of information that other filmmakers might deem essential. It's unclear whether the bond Jérémie had with Martine's husband was strictly paternal in nature, and the shared past that might have explained Vincent's brusque mistreatment is kept tantalizingly under wraps.
Félix Kysyl as Jérémie Pastor and Catherine Frot as Martine Rigal in a scene from "Misericordia." (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)
Instead, Guiraidie is content with following Jérémie around town, his mild-mannered demeanor tinged with unpredictable shifts in behavior that manifest themselves when you least expect them. Things take a sudden, considerably shocking turn that suggests a more serious direction for “Misericordia,” but part of the film's bizarre appeal is that it retains its bone-dry sense of humor throughout. The best way to explain its unusual mix of tones: imagine a movie that tosses Alfred Hitchcock's “The Trouble with Harry,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Local Hero” in the Osterizer and hits frappé.
“Misericordia,” which played in Miami last year as part of OUTshine Film Festival's fall edition, is mellow where other genre-hopping efforts might ratchet up the intensity. Seeing it unfold is like stepping into a dream where an unseen force keeps sweeping the rug from under your feet. There's the nagging sense in the back of your head that bad things are about to happen, but instead you end up having a friendly chat with the source of your paranoia.
Félix Kysyl as Jérémie Pastor and Jean-Baptiste Durand as Vincent Rigal in a scene from "Misericordia." (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)
Much stranger than Guiraudie's superb “Stranger,” “Misericordia” has an ace in the hole, in the form of Abbé Philippe Griseul (Jacques Develay, terrific). The nosy local priest is aware of the magnitude of Jérémie's predicament and takes him under his wing. The men's buddy-movie friendship does come with strings, and it's here where Guiraudie finds inspiration, turning in a most unlikely exploration of what love and connection mean at different points in your life, but choosing to take a cerebral, unsentimental approach that, if you fall on its wavelength, is quite funny as well.
Another MVP is cinematographer Claire Mathon (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Spencer”), who captures the physical decay of this village and juxtaposes the beauty of the surrounding woods with the sinister acts they conceal. She skillfully enhances Guiraudie's clever, willfully eccentric deconstruction, of genres and big subjects, that is also an acquired taste. Your mileage may vary.
Félix Kysyl as Jérémie Pastor and Jacques Develay as L'abbé Philippe Griseul in a scene from "Misericordia." (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)
“When Fall Is Coming” is now showing at Coral Gables Art Cinema for a one-week engagement. “Misericordia” opens next Friday, May 16, also for a week at Coral Gables Art Cinema, after having played at O Cinema South Beach in late March/early April.
