The summer holidays are unfortunately over! The opportunity for The Next Meeting to come back behind the microphones, in order to prepare you many programs and events in connection with this 7th art that binds us and passions us. But while waiting for all this to happen, the association offers you, in partnership with your favorite media MaG – Movie and Game, the last episode of Mag.7... The journey offered by our dear Etienne, in the middle of DVDs and other Blu-rays, to present you the riches of physical support!
It was the next session!
Mag.7 is a podcast, produced and distributed by the association blésoise The Next Meeting. The principle is simple: in collaboration with libraries of Agglopolys In the town of Blois, the host Étienne invites people to walk through the music-cinema service and video games of the places and to choose DVDs there. More specifically, seven films, series, documentaries or concerts – seven corresponding to the borrowing capacity proposed by the library – then evoke their selection to the microphone. A monthly program based on the sharing and passion of the 7th art, and seeking to highlight the quality and quantity of films available in public libraries, all accessible for modest amounts, if not totally free in some communities.
Sculpture and 7th Art
The guest of the moment: Simon Déliot. If his name doesn't tell you anything, you may have seen one of his works. And for cause, sculptor and professional plastic artist, he worked on films such as Nun 2 or the remake of The Killer by John Woo. Of course, other projects are coming! In the meantime, come and discover his DVD selection at the Agglopolys libraries in the city of Blois. Good reading, and good listening!
The Lycean (2022)
Nationality : France – Gender : Drama – Director : Christophe Honoré – Distribution : Paul Kircher, Vincent Lacoste, Juliette Binoche, Erwan Kepoa Falé, Adrien Casse...
DVD Edition France | Mento Distribution | 18 April 2023 - Blu-ray Edition France | Mento Distribution | 18 April 2023 - Dissemination platforms : France TV, Canal VOD, Cinémutins and UniversCiné
The pitch : Lucas, 17, sees his teens flying off after his father died. With the help of his mother and brother, he will have to struggle to learn to hope and love a life that he now sees as a wild beast to tame...
Opinion of The Next Meeting (Marie): The Lycean is in line with Christophe Honoré's great films on mourning, desire, love and depression. In particular, we are thinking of In Paris, Love songs or Loved goods. We're also thinking about Heaven of Nantes, one of the wonderful plays written by the director. In addition to all these themes, we must add tenderness, which could also play the main role. Despite the conflicts and tensions in the family we follow, the relations between the brothers and the mother are of immense tenderness. And then, there is the relationship between Lilio and Lucas, which is an incarnation of tenderness.
The film inspired by biographical elements of the director, one can see there (perhaps?) the teenager who could be Honored and a part of the adult he became. One then imagines that the words brought by Lilio's character are words from the adult Christophe Honoré to the adolescent Christophe Honoré. This mirrored dialogue is an ode to life that continues. We swing between pain and comfort. And while everything can attack like the evoque so well Lilio, it's as good to age.
The subject is heavy and it is necessary to watch the film in good conditions because it deals with the loss of a parent and suicide. If these subjects are indeed heavy, the film is in no way heavy, suffocating or overwhelming but rather soft. To all those who live with mourning, to all those whom all attack, to all those who try to persist, The Lycean makes you feel less alone. And we want, again, to (re)dive into the director's filmography.
Beautiful Work (1999)
Nationality : France – Type: Drama, War – Director : Claire Denis – Distribution : Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, Richard Courcet, Marta Tafesse Kassa...
DVD Edition France | France.TV Distribution | 12 March 2003
The pitch : An ex-adjutant of the Foreign Legion recalls the moments lived with his men, at the Djibouti military base with the mission to train and repair the roads. His memories will mainly focus on a young legionary of the time, with whom he refused to share the command...
News from Home (1977)
Nationality : France, Belgium, West Germany – Gender : Documentary – Director : Chantal Akerman
Dissemination platforms : LaCinetek and Tënk
The pitch : With various places in New York from the 70s, the director shares the letters sent from Belgium by her mother...
Boogie Nights (1997)
Nationality : United States – Gender : Comedy, Drama – Director : Paul Thomas Anderson – Distribution : Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Luis GuzmánWilliam H. Macy...
DVD Edition France | New Line | 23 October 2024 - Blu-ray Edition France | New Line | 20 November 2024 - Dissemination platforms : Canal VOD, VIVA and Pathé Home
The pitch : The fate of a diver in a nightclub that will become a porn movie star. And this at a time when sex is safe pleasure and pleasure a full-fledged industry...
Opinion of The Next Meeting (Sebastian): Boogie Nights is not Paul Thomas Anderson's first feature film, but it could be considered as such. Indeed, like a James Cameron on Piranha II or David Fincher on Alien 3, production of Double bet clearly was not a rest for the filmmaker. To such an extent that he was ousted from the project during the assembly because of his version of 2h30, considered far too long and contemplative by the producers. This led to important cuts, leading to a version of 1h40, and especially to a film, to be sure, far removed from the director's vision. Why this little introduction? Simply to raise that it's good with Boogie Nights that Paul Thomas Anderson's career really took off, cinematically speaking.
Drawing inspiration from the life of John C. Holmes and various other pornographic personalities, Anderson draws his shoulder rifle, which from the outset will become his trademark. To follow and narrate the destinies beyond the norm of characters, bathed in well-defined universes. The oil war in There Will Be Blood, sewing in Phantom Threadpsychedelic '60sInherent Vice, sect in The Master, the 1970s Licorice Pizza... And what about patchwork Magnolia ? Boogie Nights So we take back carelessness and the festive side of the 1970s-80s and plunge us in an immersive way into the life of this diver who became the star of the X. Bringing us to meet the colourful men and women, performed with panache by a crowd of delusional actors – Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman...
Moreover, this observation is reinforced by the style of Anderson, which takes on that of Martin Scorsese. In short, unfold its intrigue with a certain lightness – without putting aside the dark and tortuous facet of it – and an energy level mounting that offers a whole dynamic to the whole. Certainly, the film can appear long with its 2h35 viewing. But this is the price of a beautifully conducted fresco, which, joyfully, will take you from the prosperous period of porn to its decadence. A treat!
Birth (2004)
Nationality : United States, Germany, Great Britain – Gender : Drama, Thriller, Fantastic – Director : Jonathan Glazer – Distribution : Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, Danny Huston, Lauren Bacall, Alison Elliott...
DVD Edition France | New Line | 02 October 2024
The pitch : While she is happy and about to remarry, a woman meets a ten-year-old boy, who claims to be the reincarnation of her late companion...
Opinion of The Next Meeting (Alexandra): What about the mourning of the loved one when you're about to remarry? That's what the movie says Birth by Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin, The Area of Interest). Anna, interpreted by Nicole Kidman, will meet a 10-year-old (Cameron Bright) who claims to be the reincarnation of her late husband Sean, who disappeared a decade earlier and whom she loved very much. And he wants to convince her not to marry his fiancé Joseph (Danny Huston). Is that a hoax? A joke? A miracle?
This woman, who came from the upper New York bourgeoisie, and those close to her, is trying to unravel the truth of the false situation. But what about Anna's feelings? She who finds herself facing this child with adult feelings? This tortuous and dramatic complexity is perfectly played by Nicole Kidman because of her intense look that details a palette of intense and contradictory emotions.
A tragic tale that doesn't leave any marble and asks about: "Did we really know the people we knew and who are no longer there?" Special mention to the music of French Alexandre Desplat who succeeded in creating this particular atmosphere, coupled with the staging of Jonathan Glazer.
The Ascension of Werner Herzog (2014)
Nationality : Germany, France – Gender : Documentary – Director : Werner Herzog
DVD Edition France | CTV Potemkine Films | 02 June 2015 - Dissemination platform : Cine+ OCS, UniverseCine and Orange
The pitch : Compilation of three short documentaries by Werner Herzog – The Great Ecstasy of the wood sculptor Steiner (1974), The Sufrière (1977) and Gasherbrum, the bright mountain (1985) - speaking of the same theme through different stories and points of view: the mountain...
Opinion of The Next Meeting (Etienne): Herzog, known especially for his crazy fictions with Klaus Kinski (Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo, Nosferatu) also marvels the viewer with his documentaries. The three films have the particularity of being made with extremely small teams composed only of Herzog and two camera operators most of the time. This does not prevent him, on the contrary, from producing images that remain unforgettable.
In the first, he follows the Swiss ski champion Walter Steiner and tests on this occasion a new type of camera to immortalize the jumps (and falls) of the athletes, and this is a grace and breathtaking poetry. The following documentary takes place in Basse-Terre on the island of Guadeloupe where the authorities evacuated the population to protect it from a very probable eruption of the volcano The Sufrière. Herzog and his team wander through the deserted streets, go to meet the indomitable inhabitants who refused to leave the place and approach, in disregard of the dangers, the crater ready to explode. The end of the world atmosphere is incredible and this documentary takes place, despite everything, with a phlegm and tranquillity that seem paradoxal given the situation. The last documentary follows two German mountaineers who undertake the ascent of Himalayan peaks of the Gasherbrum highest to more than 8000 m. And it's once again an opportunity to see characters confronted with a hostile environment that tries to overcome themselves to satisfy their obsessions of self-overtaking.
For this really is the main theme that seems to fascinate Herzog through all his documentaries: man who seeks to exceed his limits in the face of a much larger and much more dangerous environment than he, and who will continue to deepen his obsessions despite injuries or failures. And he puts it beautifully on stage, between unique images, and Herzog's own commentary that gives a unique rhythm to these films. Werner Herzog's documentaries are unique and show that this kind of cinema can provide works that are at least as deep, complete and poetic as fiction.
Videodrome (1983)
Nationality : Canada – Gender : Thriller, Horror, Fantastic – Director : David Cronenberg – Distribution James Woods, Sonja Smits, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky, Leslie Carlson...
DVD Edition France | Elephant Films | 17 January 2023 - Blu-ray Edition France | Elephant Films | 19 September 2023 - 4K Ultra HD Edition United Kingdom | Arrow Films | 24 October 2022 - Dissemination platforms : Canal VOD, Pathé Home and PremiereMax
The pitch : The boss of a small erotic chain on the cable discovers by chance a strange program-pirates, staging torture and sexual abuse. From then on, he will be the target of hallucinations and physical alterations, blurring the boundary between reality and the TV world...
Opinion of The Next Meeting (Sebastian): Videodrome is undoubtedly the film that could be most representative of David Cronenberg's career. He who combines all his cinema. Of course, we find here this horrific B-series side, which recalls the resourcefulness of his first works, against the background of totally delusional intrigues (Fresh, Chromosoma 3, Scanners). Also at the rendezvous, his pronounced taste for body horror. These often unlikely physical transformations of which he is the only one to have the secret, giving his work an aspect just as palpable as it is organic. And that allow him to address the themes that are dear to him: the body and its mutations, the drifts of technology and its relation to the human, sexuality and its deviances, the lack of boundaries between real and imaginary, the loss of identity... All this you find in Videodrome !
But with this feature film, Cronenberg moves even further away from the simple exploitation film, proposing an intrigue of great complexity. By mixing his themes, the filmmaker delivers a reflection on our society. In particular, on the impact of violence and pornography by the television media, Videodrome étant sorti en plein début de l’âge d’or de la VHS. Le titre met littéralement notre appétence pour les images extrêmes en doute et nous questionnent sur le fait que la violence peut rimer avec spectacle. Et qu’ainsi, à l’instar du signal radio du film, les médias peuvent être considérés tel un virus, qui nous contamine au quotidien.
Mené par un James Woods impliqué, Videodrome est un cauchemar viscéral qui possède tout ce qui caractérise un bon film d’horreur. À savoir jouer sur notre tension sans que cela ne soit gratuit, amenant à nous faire réfléchir. En clair, le film de la consécration pour Cronenberg, qui lui apportera l’attention des producteurs au point de lui offrir des projets tels que Dead Zone (une adaptation de Stephen King) ou encore The Fly (un remake).
La Nuit se traîne (2024)
Nationality : Belgique, France – Gender : Thriller, Action – Director : Michiel Blanchart – Distribution : Jonathan Feltre, Romain Duris, Natacha Krief, Jonas Bloquet, Thomas Mustin…
DVD Edition : France | Gaumont | 08 janvier 2025 – Blu-ray Edition : France | Gaumont | 08 janvier 2025 – Dissemination platforms: Canal+, Canal VOD, Arte Boutique et PremiereMax
The pitch : Un serrurier de nuit voit sa vie basculer quand il ouvre la mauvaise porte, devenant accidentellement le complice d’une affaire de grand banditisme …
Opinion of The Next Meeting (Marie) : Quelle joie, ce film ! Quelle contemporanéité. Les plans sont beaux. Le rythme est impeccable. C’est exaltant. L’interprétation de l’acteur principal, Jonathan Feltre (Mady), est si variée que l’on croit à la fois à sa violence et noirceur qu’à sa douceur et gentillesse. On veut à la fois que celui-ci s’en sorte mais qu’il ne sacrifie pas tout sur son chemin. Même s’il est allé ouvrir la mauvaise porte…
Ce film est une incarnation de la chanson dont il porte le titre. C’est fou, on n’avait jamais pensé qu’un film pouvait si bien revêtir les paroles d’une chanson. Et quand arrive le générique de fin, on hésite à savoir si la nuit n’en finit plus ou si elle ne finira jamais.
Rien n’est cru dans les moments violents de cette course-poursuite à pieds, à vélo, en voiture dans Bruxelles. C’est comme si tout flottait. On suit Mady en équilibre jusqu’au bout. Et maintenant, on voudrait bien voir la suite des ses aventures, parce qu’on ne doute pas qu’il puisse y avoir une suite à cette histoire.
On aurait d’ailleurs aimé que le film rassemble plus de spectateurs en salles, il le mérite vraiment. Dire que ce film n’est que le premier long métrage de Michiel Blanchard… On a hâte de voir la suite de son œuvre.
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