A corrupt minister and a delusional pair of dance contestants are just two of the monsters of mediocrity who haunt Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s strange film
Macron’s France gets tied to a chair in a basement and abused in this scabrous and gruesome state-of-the-nation black comedy from Jean-Christophe Meurisse. Olivier (Olivier Saladin) and Laurence (Lorella Cravotta) are a conceited retired couple in deep denial about how much debt they’re in, but hoping to win big money by competing in a dance contest. They figure they are entitled to extra points for being older, and the ferocious opening scene shows the judges debating precisely this kind of liberal identity-politics issue.
The couple’s grown-up son, Alexandre (Alexandre Steiger), is a lawyer who, along with a bleary spin doctor (Denis Podalydès), is advising a creepy and reactionary government minister (Christophe Paou) who is keen to cut welfare while engaging in personal...
Macron’s France gets tied to a chair in a basement and abused in this scabrous and gruesome state-of-the-nation black comedy from Jean-Christophe Meurisse. Olivier (Olivier Saladin) and Laurence (Lorella Cravotta) are a conceited retired couple in deep denial about how much debt they’re in, but hoping to win big money by competing in a dance contest. They figure they are entitled to extra points for being older, and the ferocious opening scene shows the judges debating precisely this kind of liberal identity-politics issue.
The couple’s grown-up son, Alexandre (Alexandre Steiger), is a lawyer who, along with a bleary spin doctor (Denis Podalydès), is advising a creepy and reactionary government minister (Christophe Paou) who is keen to cut welfare while engaging in personal...
- 9/12/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Pondering Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s Bloody Oranges kindled a somewhat unexpected association in my mind. The opening minutes, and the following deviation from the tone they set, made me think of Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods. A strange comparison indeed, but not entirely unfounded. Both introductory sequences defy the expectations about the respective features - that of a disturbing dark comedy and a run-of-the-mill slasher. In both cases, prolonged and talky openings act as preludes to mayhem. You would certainly be reading a more elaborate analogy were Bloody Oranges as subversive and effortlessly witty as Goddard’s debut.
Meurisse's film assumes a fragmented format, following, among others, a pair of seniors (Lorella Cravotta and Olivier Saladin) hoping to counter their debts by winning a dancing contest, an insecure lawyer who happens to be their son (Alexandre Steiger), a teenager readying herself to lose her virginity (Lilith Grasmug), a corrupt finance secretary (Christophe.
Meurisse's film assumes a fragmented format, following, among others, a pair of seniors (Lorella Cravotta and Olivier Saladin) hoping to counter their debts by winning a dancing contest, an insecure lawyer who happens to be their son (Alexandre Steiger), a teenager readying herself to lose her virginity (Lilith Grasmug), a corrupt finance secretary (Christophe.
- 4/11/2022
- by Antoni Konieczny
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
A case study in the importance of knowing as little about a movie’s plot in advance as possible, “Bloody Oranges” ends somewhere completely different from where it began with only minor stumbles along the way. This acerbic look at the France of today isn’t as ha-ha funny as director Jean-Christophe Meurisse probably intended, but its darker shades reveal an underbelly that’s hard to turn away from — even if a few graphic scenes will make you want to.
Our deceptively low-stakes entrée into this world is a lengthy scene in which the judges of a local dance competition argue among themselves over the contestants’ respective skills and get sidetracked by tangential digressions and increasingly heated debates; one of them even breaks down in tears. The contest itself is a no-frills affair taking place in a gymnasium with no real audience beyond the aspiring dancers themselves, including an older...
Our deceptively low-stakes entrée into this world is a lengthy scene in which the judges of a local dance competition argue among themselves over the contestants’ respective skills and get sidetracked by tangential digressions and increasingly heated debates; one of them even breaks down in tears. The contest itself is a no-frills affair taking place in a gymnasium with no real audience beyond the aspiring dancers themselves, including an older...
- 11/10/2021
- by Michael Nordine
- Variety Film + TV
Alexandre Steiger, Christophe Paou, Vincent Dedienne, Blanche Gardin and Denis Podalydès, all star in the cast of this Mamma Roman and Rectangle production, set to be sold by Best Friend Forever. After kicking off on 26 October, filming on Oranges sanguines, Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s second feature film after Apnée (discovered in a Special Screening in Cannes’ Critics’ Week 2016), is scheduled to wrap on 2 December. Also known for being a stage director for his theatre company Les Chiens de Navarre, the filmmaker gathered together a cast including Alexandre Steiger, Christophe Paou (highly acclaimed for his performance in Stranger by the Lake), youngster Lilith Grasmug (Sophia Antipolis), Frédéric Blin, Olivier Saladin (whom he previously worked with on Apnée), Lorella Cravotta (Romantics Anonymous), Vincent Dedienne, Blanche Gardin...
- 11/27/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Hugo (U)
(Martin Scorsese, 2011, Us) Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen. 126 mins.
Eyebrows were raised and expectations lowered at the prospect of a Scorsese-made 3D family movie – but now it all makes sense. This is less a kids' romp than a hymn to early cinema – sugar-coated with a junior steampunk adventure revolving around an Parisian orphan and his mystery automaton. It's a satisfyingly lavish affair technically, with a story that's intelligent and heartfelt.
We Have A Pope (PG)
(Nanni Moretti, 2011, Ita/Fra) Nanni Moretti, Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr. 105 mins.
Moretti's Vatican satire is wry rather than scathing, which will disappoint many. But there's fun to be had as Piccoli's panicked new pope seeks therapy from Moretti's secular psychoanalyst.
Surviving Life (15)
(Jan Svankmajer, 2010, Cze) Václav Helsus, Klára Issová, Zuzana Krónerová. 109 mins.
More light-hearted Freudian comedy, with Monty Python-style cut-out animation, as a middle-aged man prefers his dream world to reality,...
(Martin Scorsese, 2011, Us) Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen. 126 mins.
Eyebrows were raised and expectations lowered at the prospect of a Scorsese-made 3D family movie – but now it all makes sense. This is less a kids' romp than a hymn to early cinema – sugar-coated with a junior steampunk adventure revolving around an Parisian orphan and his mystery automaton. It's a satisfyingly lavish affair technically, with a story that's intelligent and heartfelt.
We Have A Pope (PG)
(Nanni Moretti, 2011, Ita/Fra) Nanni Moretti, Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr. 105 mins.
Moretti's Vatican satire is wry rather than scathing, which will disappoint many. But there's fun to be had as Piccoli's panicked new pope seeks therapy from Moretti's secular psychoanalyst.
Surviving Life (15)
(Jan Svankmajer, 2010, Cze) Václav Helsus, Klára Issová, Zuzana Krónerová. 109 mins.
More light-hearted Freudian comedy, with Monty Python-style cut-out animation, as a middle-aged man prefers his dream world to reality,...
- 12/3/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Whoever said French people are rude clearly never saw the movie Amélie, a movie all about an altruistic young French woman living in late '90s Paris.
Audrey Tautou plays Amélie, a very passive and observant young Parisian. Her life seems without purpose as she lives day to day as a server in a small cafe. We learn about her life as a child, and can understand her slight bit of anti-social behavior -- for the most part, it was due to being raised by anti-social and eccentric parents. Her mother (Lorella Cravotta) eventually dies in a freak accident involving a woman jumping off a building and landing on her, and so grows up with only her inattentive father (Rufus) by her side.
Read more...
Audrey Tautou plays Amélie, a very passive and observant young Parisian. Her life seems without purpose as she lives day to day as a server in a small cafe. We learn about her life as a child, and can understand her slight bit of anti-social behavior -- for the most part, it was due to being raised by anti-social and eccentric parents. Her mother (Lorella Cravotta) eventually dies in a freak accident involving a woman jumping off a building and landing on her, and so grows up with only her inattentive father (Rufus) by her side.
Read more...
- 8/8/2011
- by Ryan Katona
- JustPressPlay.net
Rank the week of July 19th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Limitless
(DVD & Blu-ray | PG13 | 201)
Flickchart Ranking: #1890
Times Ranked: 3217
Win Percentage: 51%
Top-20 Rankings: 12
Directed By: Neil Burger
Starring: Bradley Cooper • Robert De Niro • Abbie Cornish • Anna Friel • Andrew Howard
Genres: Psychological Sci-Fi • Psychological Thriller • Science Fiction • Thriller
Rank This Movie
Take Me Home Tonight
(DVD & Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #5722
Times Ranked: 1234
Win Percentage: 49%
Top-20 Rankings: 2
Directed By: Michael Dowse
Starring: Topher Grace • Anna Faris • Dan Fogler • Teresa Palmer • Chris Pratt
Genres: Comedy • Comedy Drama • Coming-of-Age • Drama • Period Film • Romance • Romantic Comedy • Romantic Drama
Rank This Movie
The Reef
(DVD & Blu-ray | Nr | 2010)
Flickchart Ranking: #10667
Times Ranked: 152
Win Percentage: 47%
Top-20 Rankings: 2
Directed By: Andrew Traucki
Starring: Adrienne Pickering • Gyton Grantley • Zoe Naylor • Damian Walshe-Howling • Kieran Darcy-Smith
Genres: Horror • Natural Horror • Thriller
Rank This Movie
Tekken
(DVD & Blu-ray | Nr | 2010)
Flickchart Ranking: #9314
Times Ranked: 332
Win...
(DVD & Blu-ray | PG13 | 201)
Flickchart Ranking: #1890
Times Ranked: 3217
Win Percentage: 51%
Top-20 Rankings: 12
Directed By: Neil Burger
Starring: Bradley Cooper • Robert De Niro • Abbie Cornish • Anna Friel • Andrew Howard
Genres: Psychological Sci-Fi • Psychological Thriller • Science Fiction • Thriller
Rank This Movie
Take Me Home Tonight
(DVD & Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #5722
Times Ranked: 1234
Win Percentage: 49%
Top-20 Rankings: 2
Directed By: Michael Dowse
Starring: Topher Grace • Anna Faris • Dan Fogler • Teresa Palmer • Chris Pratt
Genres: Comedy • Comedy Drama • Coming-of-Age • Drama • Period Film • Romance • Romantic Comedy • Romantic Drama
Rank This Movie
The Reef
(DVD & Blu-ray | Nr | 2010)
Flickchart Ranking: #10667
Times Ranked: 152
Win Percentage: 47%
Top-20 Rankings: 2
Directed By: Andrew Traucki
Starring: Adrienne Pickering • Gyton Grantley • Zoe Naylor • Damian Walshe-Howling • Kieran Darcy-Smith
Genres: Horror • Natural Horror • Thriller
Rank This Movie
Tekken
(DVD & Blu-ray | Nr | 2010)
Flickchart Ranking: #9314
Times Ranked: 332
Win...
- 7/19/2011
- by Jonathan Hardesty
- Flickchart
Chicago – In our special French film festival edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the Chicago showing of the film “Romantics Anonymous” at the opening night of the Music Box Theatre’s Chicago French Film Festival!
The film’s original title is “Les émotifs anonymes”. “Romantics Anonymous” from writer and director Jean-Pierre Améris stars Benoît Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré, Lorella Cravotta, Lise Lamétrie, Swann Arlaud, Pierre Niney and Stéphan Wojtowicz. Director Jean-Pierre Améris will be at this Music Box Theatre showing in person!
To win your free pass to the opening-night Chicago showing of “Romantics Anonymous” at the Chicago French Film Festival courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This showing is on Friday, July 22, 2011 at 7:45 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and win can be found beneath the image below.
The film’s original title is “Les émotifs anonymes”. “Romantics Anonymous” from writer and director Jean-Pierre Améris stars Benoît Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré, Lorella Cravotta, Lise Lamétrie, Swann Arlaud, Pierre Niney and Stéphan Wojtowicz. Director Jean-Pierre Améris will be at this Music Box Theatre showing in person!
To win your free pass to the opening-night Chicago showing of “Romantics Anonymous” at the Chicago French Film Festival courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This showing is on Friday, July 22, 2011 at 7:45 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and win can be found beneath the image below.
- 7/18/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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