The French legend’s star power threads together tones of wit, danger and political substance
Robert Abele | July 14, 2021 @ 4:00 PM
Music Box Films
With a body of work that rivals any performer’s across the history of film, French actress Isabelle Huppert can swan in and out of challenging material with nary a scratch to her matchless reputation. Often, her cool intensity and versatility is what makes that material work, most recently exemplified in her Oscar-nominated turn in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle.” But sometimes you get what amounts to a perfect fit of risk and skill, leading to sheer delight. That’s the case with the fleet French crime comedy “La Daronne,” translated with a winking nudge into colloquial English, and toward its particular narrative, as “Mama Weed.”
‘Call My Agent’ one of the best show on Netflix The French hit series is a burst of talent, emotions, glamour and Parisian madness
It was in January 2021 that Netflix acquired rights to and released France’s breakthrough show
Call My Agent! (Originally titled Dix pour cent) –– four seasons of the subtle yet chaotic world of a talent agency ASK named after its founding member Samuel Kerr. While the show begins with the death of said founding member, four remaining agents Andrea (Camille Cottin), Gabriel (Gregory Montel), Mathias (Thibault de Montalembert) and Arlette (Liliane Rovere) struggle to keep the company afloat amid tax audits and persnickety actors with some real and some avant-garde problems.
Jack Davenport and Lydia Leonard are in the frame for starring roles in the English-speaking version of beloved French TV series Call My Agent!, about a top Paris talent agency and their high-maintenance movie star clients.
If the deals go through, they will be part of a coterie of agents, managing their clients foibles and successes while dealing with perilous politics in the office and often chaotic private lives.
John Morton, the man behind W1A and Twenty Twelve, is in charge of creative duties and is currently swamped with work: writing scripts and overseeing pre-production.
Jack Davenport (left) and Lydia Leonard (right) are in the frame for starring roles in the English-speaking version of beloved French TV series Call My Agent!, about a top Paris talent agency and their high-maintenance movie star clients
The Alliance Française French Film Festival, now in its 32nd year, might be constrained by COVID-19. But the event, under new artistic director Karine Mauris, still offers a schedule of over 35 features, a mixture of festival-only screenings and previews of films that will be released in cinemas later this year. Here is a rundown of films to select from.
In
Final Set, a veteran tennis player gives his all for one last chance to appear at Roland Garros; in
Mandibles, two clueless friends think their fortunes are made when they find a giant fly in the boot of a car.
With the loss of real cinema - and theatre - over lockdown, most of us have had to find our entertainment via alternative sources. My most recent screen pleasure is the hit French comedy-drama Call My Agent. It s a scream.
Set in a Parisian talent agency, which manages those in the performing arts, it s a back-stabbing, tempestuous, poignant and sophisticated story of four leading agents who have to placate, schmooze, promote and sometimes lie outrageously to their nervy and temperamental clients.
Actors of both genders are presented like highly-strung racehorses who might be upset by the slightest contretemps, might throw a tantrum about not being served the right kind of Himalayan flower tea and are childishly grateful for applause. (Just about describes us all, really).