This weekend we took in a couple of French dramas at the SFIFF, but because at least one of them is slated for distribution in the near future, we’ve been asked not to give too many details. Not surprisingly, both films shared a fair amount of angst, lust, passion, and sexual tension -- they are French, after all.
The backdrop for much of 7 Years is a rural French prison, which is home (at least temporarily) to Maite’s husband, Vincent. It is at the prison that a very unexpected ménage a trios, the central relationship for the rest of the film, commences. We don’t want to give away too much, but as we viewed 7 Years, we wondered what happened to conjugal visits, which we determined later are still allowed under certain circumstances in the French penal system.
Like its name implies, Dans Paris takes place in the heart of Paris, and offers fabulous views of the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, and even the Bon Marche Christmas displays. We loved the quirky narrator, who offered us a fair deal of insight (not always objective) into his dysfunctional family, and whose romantic escapades provided us with welcome comic relief from his brother’s broken-hearted malaise.
Dans Paris will hit the theaters late summer. But if you want to get a head start, it plays again at the Kabuki tonight at 9:30 p.m. For a marathon night at the Kabuki, start off with 7 Years too, also showing tonight at 7:00 p.m. (7 Years screens again at the Kabuki on Wednesday, May 9 at 1:00 p.m. )
Picture from Dans Paris.
