This screening of Love at First Fight is proudly presented by the Embassy of France

First up in tonight’s French double is the romantic dramedy Love at First Fight. (Although I prefer the French title Les Combattants (or Fighters) over the strained Australian punny title, I will concede that it is pretty accurate in giving you an indication of the story.)

Arnaud (Azaïs) is a young man who is at a bit of a loose end. He is working for the family business, and is content enough with the friends he hangs out with, but his restlessness with what he is doing in life is brought into sharp resolution when he meets Madeleine (Haenel), a beautiful, pessimistic young woman who challenges his conceptions of self and purpose. When she enlists for an army boot camp, he follows her on impulse, and their relationship slowly follows the standards of blossoming young love.

This film from first-time director Cailley was a pleasant surprise. It had trailers at this year’s French Film Festival that gave a misleading impression of the style of the movie. It mixes the traditional set-up of ‘young love’ movies with an alternative feel that embraces the eccentricity of the main female character. Haenel is a wonderfully charismatic actor whom I hope to see more of in the future (she can also be seen in this semester’s French Riviera, screening on August 7).

Lauded at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, this is a sweet, funny and poignant tale of two people who feel out of place but find some form of comfort in each other. A must-see.

This screening of The Blue Room is proudly presented by the Embassy of France

Second on tonight’s double bill showcasing two of the best feature films from this year’s French Film Festival is Mathieu Amalric’s The Blue Room. Straight from the opening sequence, whichcuts between a mysterious police interrogation room and a (quite explicit – this movie is MA for a reason) bedroom scene, you know that you are in for some intrigue. As the story develops, we get the sense that Julien (Amalric) has some questions that need answering, particularly about his highly sexual but strangely unemotional relationship with former school colleague Esther (Cléau).

Amalric is probably best known in this country for being the Bond villain in Quantum of Solace, but here he shows a distinct style behind the camera that reminds you of classic noir/Hitchcock courtroom thrillers. He also makes good use of cinematography and colour – there are three ‘blue rooms’ for the title, and each of them hosts a significant development to the story. In fact, the colour blue appears frequently in stark form, as does a continuing motif of bees, but I will leave it to you to interpret what these mean.

As with recent movies like Gone Girl and Force Majeure, Amalric presents us with another marriage that is unhappy to the point of being slightly twisted. This is a mature, exquisite film that, again, shouldn’t be missed.