Éric Rohmer was notoriously secretive about his personal life, giving alternate birth names, birth cities, and birth dates. But according to biographers Antoine de Baecque and Noël Herpe, Rohmer was actually born Maurice Joseph Henri Schérer, in Tulle, on March 21, 1920. Whatever the truth, such resolute devotion to privacy reflected the exclusive and rigorous nature of Rohmer’s working life as well. Often going against the grain of his early French New Wave contemporaries, and from there enjoying a similar autonomy and singularity within the sphere of international cinema, Rohmer directed distinctive films most aligned—emphatically and productively—with his own filmography. Maintaining a remarkable dedication to consistent themes, dramatic interests, and, in nearly all cases, a comparable formal approach, Rohmer placed the nuanced behavior of the individual at the fore of all his work. Above: Le Signe du lionSteeped in studies of history, literature, and philosophy, Rohmer arrived at his burgeoning cinephile comparatively late.
- 11/5/2020
- MUBI
Christian Petzold's The State I Am In (2000) and Christoph Hochhäusler's The City Below (2010) will be showing in September and October, 2017 on Mubi in most countries around the world.Christian Petzold (left) and Christoph Hochhäusler (right) on the set of Dreileben. Photo by Felix von Böhm.We meet in Christian Petzold’s office in Berlin-Kreuzberg. A giant wall of whispering books, almost like a Borgesian brain of fiction, encircles the table at which Christoph Hochhäusler, myself and the owner take place to discuss their films. The idea of the interview was to get Petzold’s take on Hochhäusler’s The City Below (2010) and Hochhäusler’s take on Petzold’s The State I Am In (2000). In the end, both filmmakers ended up talking about a lot more, as cinema for them has always been something that shines most brightly when remembering it, discussing it and loving it. The fictions proposed...
- 9/20/2017
- MUBI
Film Movement brings Eric Rohmer’s classic period film The Marquise of O… to Blu-ray, the first time the title is made available in the Us (previously, it was sandwiched into a Region 2 Rohmer collection, the same set which features another rare title, 1982’s A Good Marriage). Awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival (it tied with Carlos Saura’s Cria Cuervos), it would be the only accolade the famed filmmaker would collect from the event and it was his last time in competition.
It’s one of Rohmer’s earliest historical dramas (he would continue in this vein intermittently, with titles like Perceval and The Lady and the Duke), and initially seems like a black comedy on social mores before it seeps into a . A German co-production, the film is based on a short story by Heinrich von Kleist (Jessica Hausner’s 2014 film Amour Fou documents the writer’s curious denouement,...
It’s one of Rohmer’s earliest historical dramas (he would continue in this vein intermittently, with titles like Perceval and The Lady and the Duke), and initially seems like a black comedy on social mores before it seeps into a . A German co-production, the film is based on a short story by Heinrich von Kleist (Jessica Hausner’s 2014 film Amour Fou documents the writer’s curious denouement,...
- 11/10/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
It’s with great pleasure to see Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s fourth feature Amour Fou available on Blu-ray in the Us, considering several of her previous exemplary titles have failed to secure distribution altogether. Winner of Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing at Austrian Oscars, premiering her latest at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, it’s an innovative exploration of the strange thing called love. Film Movement released the title in three theaters in early summer of 2015, and only managed to rake in around thirteen thousand in a three month run. Although it ultimately didn’t manage to heighten Hausner’s international profile as much as one would’ve hoped, with a little luck this should end up on some year-end best lists and continue to grasp a wider, more deserving audience.
Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts...
Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts...
- 11/3/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Read More: BAMcinématek Presents 'Ingrid Bergman Tribute' to Commemorate 'Casablanca' Star's Centennial Birthday Eric Rohmer's first period piece, the beautiful and intense romantic drama "The Marquise of O..." (1976), is set to screen for one week at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn. The film, an adaptation of the 1808 novella of the same name by Heinrich von Kleist, is the heart-wrenching story of an 18th-century elite widow who narrowly escapes attack with the help of a Russian count. When she discovers she is mysteriously pregnant, she goes on a journey to find the father while facing intense romantic pursuit by the count. The ornate, elegant drama stars Edith Clever and Bruno Ganz, and won the Cannes Special Jury Prize in 1976. "The Marquise of O..." will screen from August 28-September 3. Visit the Bam website for more information. Read More: BAMcinématek Reveals Plans for 'Indie 80s' Screening Series...
- 7/28/2015
- by Meredith Mattlin
- Indiewire
Love Fool: Hausner’s Latest an Exquisitely Shot, Humorous Exploration of Love and Death
With her fourth feature film, Amour Fou, Austrian director Jessica Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts that manages to expertly blend her unique tone with exquisite digital compositions from her longtime cinematographer Martin Gschlacht. In comparison to their first outing together, 2001’s Lovely Rita, their mastery of the digital image couldn’t be more strikingly apparent. Whereas that film’s complex subject suffered greatly from the rather jarring presentation of image and jagged zooms, here they’ve controlled the medium fantastically. The film’s look is so remarkably beautiful that non-German speakers will be hard pressed to keep up with subtitles as they soak in her unique tale of dying for love.
In 1811 during the last several months of German poet Heinrich von Kleist’s (Christian Friedel) life, his search...
With her fourth feature film, Amour Fou, Austrian director Jessica Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts that manages to expertly blend her unique tone with exquisite digital compositions from her longtime cinematographer Martin Gschlacht. In comparison to their first outing together, 2001’s Lovely Rita, their mastery of the digital image couldn’t be more strikingly apparent. Whereas that film’s complex subject suffered greatly from the rather jarring presentation of image and jagged zooms, here they’ve controlled the medium fantastically. The film’s look is so remarkably beautiful that non-German speakers will be hard pressed to keep up with subtitles as they soak in her unique tale of dying for love.
In 1811 during the last several months of German poet Heinrich von Kleist’s (Christian Friedel) life, his search...
- 3/19/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
This is a reprint of our review from the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. That crazy little thing called love. Is it even possible to count how many times the theme of love was used in movies? Doubtful. But the times it’s been used with such sardonic wit, polished with such fine veneer, is much easier to count, and Jessica Hausner’s "Amour Fou" — which had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes — could be ranking among the very top of such a list. Fans of austere auteurism, immaculate framing, and laughter that leaves lumps in your throat will be floating on cloud nine with this one. A production that suffers a bit too much from heartsickness and stumbles on awkward moments stop you from falling in love with it completely, but nonetheless, the film still screams for a spotlight to be directed at Hausner. Inspired by...
- 3/18/2015
- by Nikola Grozdanovic
- The Playlist
Written by Jessica Hausner
Directed by Jessica Hausner
Austria, 2014
Presented in the Limelight of the Iffr 2015, a new program section focusing on features set for release across the Netherlands, Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou is an atypical period drama, a biographical story about the lives, or yet better, deaths of the 19th century Berliners, Henriette Vogel and Heinrich von Kleist. Though “delightful” may appear to be a surprising choice of words for a story about a double suicide, that is precisely what the film is.
Hausner, an Austrian director and screenwriter, stylised both the film’s form and content, while maintaining a quiet and reserved aesthetic. The muted colour palette, the floral patterns and tapestries of Romantic-era Berlin, the delicate porcelain cups from which tea is sipped elegantly by gentlemen and gentlewomen lingering in their drawing rooms, contemplating the human rights of peasants, poetry and death, the theatrical setting of...
Directed by Jessica Hausner
Austria, 2014
Presented in the Limelight of the Iffr 2015, a new program section focusing on features set for release across the Netherlands, Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou is an atypical period drama, a biographical story about the lives, or yet better, deaths of the 19th century Berliners, Henriette Vogel and Heinrich von Kleist. Though “delightful” may appear to be a surprising choice of words for a story about a double suicide, that is precisely what the film is.
Hausner, an Austrian director and screenwriter, stylised both the film’s form and content, while maintaining a quiet and reserved aesthetic. The muted colour palette, the floral patterns and tapestries of Romantic-era Berlin, the delicate porcelain cups from which tea is sipped elegantly by gentlemen and gentlewomen lingering in their drawing rooms, contemplating the human rights of peasants, poetry and death, the theatrical setting of...
- 2/23/2015
- by Tina Poglajen
- SoundOnSight
The weirdly compelling story of 19th-century author Heinrich von Kleist’s dark desire for a married woman has an undertone of absurdity
Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou is a strange tragicomic chamber piece based on the life of the 19th-century author Heinrich von Kleist. The film is as carefully composed and disquieting as earlier Hausner films such as Lourdes (2009) and Hotel (2004) but more inert, more deathly: an effect entirely deliberate.
It is set in the Berlin of the Romantic era, where von Kleist has had a sensational success with his 1808 novel The Marquise of O. Christian Friedel – who played the kindly schoolteacher in Haneke’s The White Ribbon – is Heinrich himself, overwhelmed at despair at the human condition and longing for death. Conceiving a doomed passion for a young married woman Henriette Vogel (Birte Schnoeink), he tries to persuade her to join him in a suicide pact, having failed to...
Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou is a strange tragicomic chamber piece based on the life of the 19th-century author Heinrich von Kleist. The film is as carefully composed and disquieting as earlier Hausner films such as Lourdes (2009) and Hotel (2004) but more inert, more deathly: an effect entirely deliberate.
It is set in the Berlin of the Romantic era, where von Kleist has had a sensational success with his 1808 novel The Marquise of O. Christian Friedel – who played the kindly schoolteacher in Haneke’s The White Ribbon – is Heinrich himself, overwhelmed at despair at the human condition and longing for death. Conceiving a doomed passion for a young married woman Henriette Vogel (Birte Schnoeink), he tries to persuade her to join him in a suicide pact, having failed to...
- 2/5/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
With the release of her fourth feature film in 13 years Jessica Hausner continues the current flow of quietly antagonistic Austrian auteurs speaking truth against the powerful constructs of a bourgeois society that eats its own for sport and pleasure. After the success of 2009's Lourdes she returns with Amour Fou (2014), a look at the death and suicide pact of romantic poet Heinrich von Kleist and his cousin Marie. The film was a much sought after pleasure via word of mouth after it premiered in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Bizarrely, in the catalogue, the log line for the film referred to it as a 'romantic comedy'. This mischievous labelling seemed a perfect entry point when we had the chance to sit down to talk to Hausner in London late last year.
- 2/5/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
★★★★☆ Jessica Hausner's Amour Fou (2014) has enjoyed considerable praise since it premiered in the Un Certain Regard section back at the Cannes Film Festival last May and is a quietly effective denunciation of the idea of dying for love. It's a reserved period piece, but as with her brilliant Lourdes (2009) it's Hausner's restraint that ends up imbuing her argument with power. We meet German romantic writer Heinrich von Kleist (Christian Friedel, who audiences may recognise from fellow Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or-winning The White Ribbon) as a young, melancholy poet more than a little in love with the notion of death.
- 2/3/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
For Astoria’s Museum of the Moving Image to house an event like the First Look series—opening this Friday and running through January 18—is a cinematic blessing. Here, in its fourth year, you’ll find undistributed gems, but, though its similarities to other festivals halt with “undistributed,” the curation of the series is precise and impeccable, giving an illusion of intimacy. This year, with selections from Omer Fast, Gina Telaroli, and Jessica Hausner, there’s a stress on waking nightmares; films whose atmospheres are bone chilling in both overt and subtle ways.
Ville Marie
Opening with a title card dedicating the film to Carlos Lorenzo, Ville Marie—one of the many experimental films being exhibited during the series—intentionally or otherwise becomes a living fever dream, its use of double and reverse exposure reminiscent of E. Elias Merhige’s horror experiment Begotten. That film sought to expose the horror of creation,...
Ville Marie
Opening with a title card dedicating the film to Carlos Lorenzo, Ville Marie—one of the many experimental films being exhibited during the series—intentionally or otherwise becomes a living fever dream, its use of double and reverse exposure reminiscent of E. Elias Merhige’s horror experiment Begotten. That film sought to expose the horror of creation,...
- 1/6/2015
- by Kyle Turner
- MUBI
It was no surprise that “Leviathan” made the nine-film shortlist in the Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film — given the rave reviews earned by Andrey Zvagintsev’s dark epic since its debut at Cannes, it was one of the favorites to advance in a highly competitive year.
The surprise, though, was that “Leviathan” was in the race at all. In recent years, Russia has routinely submitted brawny period pieces, many of them dealing with World War II and few of them displaying the artistry or impact needed to land a nomination.
See photos: Golden Globes 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
“Leviathan,...
The surprise, though, was that “Leviathan” was in the race at all. In recent years, Russia has routinely submitted brawny period pieces, many of them dealing with World War II and few of them displaying the artistry or impact needed to land a nomination.
See photos: Golden Globes 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
“Leviathan,...
- 12/31/2014
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The New York-based film distributor has acquired Us rights from Coproduction Office to Jessica Hausner’s Cannes selection.
Film Movement has set a March roll-out in New York following the Us premiere at First Look Film Festival
Amour Fou chronicles the death by suicide pact between the nineteenth century writer Heinrich von Kleist and Henriette Vogel.
Film Movement’s recent acquisitions include The Dinner and The Lesson and will open Italy’s Oscar submission Human Capital in January.
Film Movement has set a March roll-out in New York following the Us premiere at First Look Film Festival
Amour Fou chronicles the death by suicide pact between the nineteenth century writer Heinrich von Kleist and Henriette Vogel.
Film Movement’s recent acquisitions include The Dinner and The Lesson and will open Italy’s Oscar submission Human Capital in January.
- 11/21/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Dear Danny,
I also rode the Tokyo Tribe rollercoaster, and my head hasn’t stopped spinning yet. Slamming together the most rabid excesses of the worlds of manga comics and hip-hop music, it’s a continuous blitzkrieg: Sono’s ne plus ultra of sheer brio, and, along with Godard’s Adieu au language, the festival’s most assaultive sensory experience so far. Its pinwheel neon hues, inflamed camera movements and acrobatic gangland mugging are straight-up dilations of Seijun Suzuki’s vintage gonzo pulp—indeed, the first time I ever heard Japanese rapping on screen was during a brief interlude in Suzuki’s mock-opera Princess Raccoon. I doubt even that veteran iconoclast, however, could have dreamed up the bit in Tokyo Tribe when the vile underworld kingpin (Riki Takeuchi), swollen like an obscene parade float, pulverizes a field of warring gangs with a Gatling gun held, of course, crotch-level. Such moments of absolute glee abound,...
I also rode the Tokyo Tribe rollercoaster, and my head hasn’t stopped spinning yet. Slamming together the most rabid excesses of the worlds of manga comics and hip-hop music, it’s a continuous blitzkrieg: Sono’s ne plus ultra of sheer brio, and, along with Godard’s Adieu au language, the festival’s most assaultive sensory experience so far. Its pinwheel neon hues, inflamed camera movements and acrobatic gangland mugging are straight-up dilations of Seijun Suzuki’s vintage gonzo pulp—indeed, the first time I ever heard Japanese rapping on screen was during a brief interlude in Suzuki’s mock-opera Princess Raccoon. I doubt even that veteran iconoclast, however, could have dreamed up the bit in Tokyo Tribe when the vile underworld kingpin (Riki Takeuchi), swollen like an obscene parade float, pulverizes a field of warring gangs with a Gatling gun held, of course, crotch-level. Such moments of absolute glee abound,...
- 9/9/2014
- by Fernando F. Croce
- MUBI
Released on demand and in select theatres a couple days ago, it’s all-but a guarantee that by now, Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas has already greatly disappointed some uninformed viewer expecting the next great piece of fantasy schlock from bargain bin king Uwe Boll. With its mouthy title and posters featuring sword-strapped star Mads Mikklesen, a vision of medieval masculinity, one could easily mistake Age of Uprising for a B-grade sword and sorcery epic. But that all-important asterisks of the box art, the Cannes “Official Selection” frond, is your real indicator of what to expect from this French import, which nobly (to a fault) walks a path of high-minded high art, not high fantasy.
Like a worrywart parent hiding vegetables in their child’s Kraft Dinner, Age of Uprising is just one of several European releases this year that’s tried to lure North American audiences...
Like a worrywart parent hiding vegetables in their child’s Kraft Dinner, Age of Uprising is just one of several European releases this year that’s tried to lure North American audiences...
- 6/2/2014
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
Amour Fou by Jessica Hausner, one of my favorite directors, was, as all her films are, a surprise, rising out of a quietly building plot whose ending punctuates a philosophic idea that plays out like a melodic line of a larger song. Framed in the simple Beidermeyer style of 1811 Berlin, again the question of ownership over a person and a person’s soul is the subtle subject of this film. The shadows cast by the French Revolution, Prussian militarism and Hapsburg conservatism, slavery, the emancipation of the peasants, the birth of the working poor and the place of women as the chattel of their husbands are embodied in the personal drama of a fragile soul and interpreted by society as a tragic love story when in truth it is the story of a woman worn down by the societal tyranny of her pre-Freudian society who perhaps, barely perceives her true self only at the end of the film’s trajectory.
The simplicity of the production design by Katharina Wöppermann,the production designer of Lourdes, Lovely Rita and Raúl Ruiz‘s Klimt as well, was discussed in an interview with Jessica Hausner posted on the Austrian Film Commission site : “And there was wallpaper, there were carpets that covered the floor of the whole room like fitted carpets. Our film is set in the Empire Period, that short time between 1810 and 1815 when people followed the model of ancient Greece. You can also see it in the clothes [by costume designer, Tanja Hausner, Jessica’s sister] with high waists and soft, flowing, light material. In terms of interior design, they used ancient columns, draped curtains and Greek landscapes painted on the walls. This was also connected with the philosophical ideal of antiquity. The patterns and colors don’t really develop until the Biedermeier period, but it all started at the beginning of the 19th century. Another interesting point is that heating, light and comfort were generally concentrated only in one living room, which is why people would sit around a table - five, six or more of them together, and they would hear what the other people were talking about. To a certain extent there was a different kind of privacy in those days.”
Jessica Hausner, an Austrian director and screenwriter is so lucky to have found in Philippe Bober, founder of The Coproduction Office, a kindred spirit whose patience and warm passion for developing projects fits perfectly with her sparse, introverted and deep examinations of souls whose human owners are not fully cognizant of them.
She has written and directed seven films since 1999 with Philippe Bober. Her first feature film Lovely Rita was developed with Philippe and screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Lourdes won the Fipresci and Signis Awards at its debut in Venice Film Festival 2009. Before that, she shot a couple of shorts and was a script girl in Michael Haneke’s Funny Games in 1997 and went on to write and direct her first 45 minute feature Inter-View which was developed at Cinefondation where it won an Honorable Mention in 1999.
Philippe Bober works with people with a distinctive signature. In a previous discussion we had , he claims that it takes 10 to 20 years before an “auteur” can create a name for herself or himself which carries a certain weight in terms of raising money and appealing to audiences. Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, the most successful of her films began 12 years before its debut. He and Jessica have been working together since 1999.
Philippe’s job is to bring “auteurs” to audiences via sales and marketing. His work is to help them make decisions which will not compromise their art but will shape the films they want to make during scripting, casting and editing to be more accessible to audiences. One example of this pertains to the decision on casting to result in greater ticket sales. To do that one must know which past films made what box office numbers in which territory. There is no such recipe for scripting or editing in terms of making the message and story clearer to the audience without censuring the auteur. As he explains, sometimes this process takes two years and sometimes it can take up to 10 years.
Jessica Hausner shaped Amour Fou first around the idea of a double suicide, and then, in the course of her research, around the romantic poet, Heinrich von Kleist and his double suicide with Henriette Vogel.
Kleist subverted clichéd ideas of Romantic longing and themes of nature and innocence. He infused them with irony, taking up the subjective emotions and placing them into contextual paradox to show individuals in moments of crises and doubt, with both tragic and comic outcomes. As often as not, his dramatic and narrative situations end without resolution.
Hausner says, “His work is fascinating. I'm thinking particularly of the Marquise of O. It's an unfathomable story. Here I’m completely in agreement with Henriette's mother in my film, who says: ‘What an absurd idea, that a woman who is impregnated against her will by a man can come to love him in the end.’ That's a very male fantasy. And I think that's also what inspired my character of Kleist in the film. What kind of man could think up something like that? He'd have to be somebody who is very caught up in his own extremes, who doesn't step outside, and who can only accept extreme things.”
And so, after watching Amour Fou, we are left with the almost humorous unanswered question of what was Henriette thinking and about to say at the moment the trigger was released.
The simplicity of the production design by Katharina Wöppermann,the production designer of Lourdes, Lovely Rita and Raúl Ruiz‘s Klimt as well, was discussed in an interview with Jessica Hausner posted on the Austrian Film Commission site : “And there was wallpaper, there were carpets that covered the floor of the whole room like fitted carpets. Our film is set in the Empire Period, that short time between 1810 and 1815 when people followed the model of ancient Greece. You can also see it in the clothes [by costume designer, Tanja Hausner, Jessica’s sister] with high waists and soft, flowing, light material. In terms of interior design, they used ancient columns, draped curtains and Greek landscapes painted on the walls. This was also connected with the philosophical ideal of antiquity. The patterns and colors don’t really develop until the Biedermeier period, but it all started at the beginning of the 19th century. Another interesting point is that heating, light and comfort were generally concentrated only in one living room, which is why people would sit around a table - five, six or more of them together, and they would hear what the other people were talking about. To a certain extent there was a different kind of privacy in those days.”
Jessica Hausner, an Austrian director and screenwriter is so lucky to have found in Philippe Bober, founder of The Coproduction Office, a kindred spirit whose patience and warm passion for developing projects fits perfectly with her sparse, introverted and deep examinations of souls whose human owners are not fully cognizant of them.
She has written and directed seven films since 1999 with Philippe Bober. Her first feature film Lovely Rita was developed with Philippe and screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Lourdes won the Fipresci and Signis Awards at its debut in Venice Film Festival 2009. Before that, she shot a couple of shorts and was a script girl in Michael Haneke’s Funny Games in 1997 and went on to write and direct her first 45 minute feature Inter-View which was developed at Cinefondation where it won an Honorable Mention in 1999.
Philippe Bober works with people with a distinctive signature. In a previous discussion we had , he claims that it takes 10 to 20 years before an “auteur” can create a name for herself or himself which carries a certain weight in terms of raising money and appealing to audiences. Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, the most successful of her films began 12 years before its debut. He and Jessica have been working together since 1999.
Philippe’s job is to bring “auteurs” to audiences via sales and marketing. His work is to help them make decisions which will not compromise their art but will shape the films they want to make during scripting, casting and editing to be more accessible to audiences. One example of this pertains to the decision on casting to result in greater ticket sales. To do that one must know which past films made what box office numbers in which territory. There is no such recipe for scripting or editing in terms of making the message and story clearer to the audience without censuring the auteur. As he explains, sometimes this process takes two years and sometimes it can take up to 10 years.
Jessica Hausner shaped Amour Fou first around the idea of a double suicide, and then, in the course of her research, around the romantic poet, Heinrich von Kleist and his double suicide with Henriette Vogel.
Kleist subverted clichéd ideas of Romantic longing and themes of nature and innocence. He infused them with irony, taking up the subjective emotions and placing them into contextual paradox to show individuals in moments of crises and doubt, with both tragic and comic outcomes. As often as not, his dramatic and narrative situations end without resolution.
Hausner says, “His work is fascinating. I'm thinking particularly of the Marquise of O. It's an unfathomable story. Here I’m completely in agreement with Henriette's mother in my film, who says: ‘What an absurd idea, that a woman who is impregnated against her will by a man can come to love him in the end.’ That's a very male fantasy. And I think that's also what inspired my character of Kleist in the film. What kind of man could think up something like that? He'd have to be somebody who is very caught up in his own extremes, who doesn't step outside, and who can only accept extreme things.”
And so, after watching Amour Fou, we are left with the almost humorous unanswered question of what was Henriette thinking and about to say at the moment the trigger was released.
- 5/31/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Itself loosely based on a true story, the 19th century novella by Heinrich von Kleist, “Michael Kohlhaas," has been adapted several times for screen, notably by Volker Schlöndorff in 1969, even spawning “The Jack Bull," a pretty good HBO restaging starring Johns Cusack and Goodman, in 1999. But with Schlöndorff himself telling us in an interview that he considered his version his "biggest failure” it would have seemed that there was still room for the definitive, high-profile, straight-up adaptation. And on paper, that’s what Arnaud de Pallières’ “Michael Kohlhaas” was meant to be -- just check out its impeccable line-up of European stars-with-major-arthouse-appeal: Mads Mikkelsen (last year’s Cannes Best Actor for “The Hunt”), Bruno Ganz (whose sclerotic Hitler in “Downfall” spawned its own remarkably resilient meme) and Denis Lavant (coming off his chameleonic performance in the critically worshipped “Holy Motors”). But stacked with a...
- 5/28/2014
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
If you're not following Mads Mikkelsen career as of late, well then, you're doing something wrong. He currently stars as Hannibal Lecter in NBCs stunning "Hannibal," can do period pieces a la "A Royal Affair" and is perhaps one of the best Bond villains of all time. Now, thanks to The Playlist, we have a clip of more Mikkelsen badassery from his upcoming film "Age Of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhaas." Based on the novel "Michael Kohlhaas," by Heinrich von Kleist, "Age Of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhaas" stars Mikkelsen as a sixteenth century man who resorts to crime when justice isn't served. In the trailer we see a silent Mikkelsen, staring intently at the man accusing him of having a wicked heart. He's also wielding a sword; a sword he will no doubt use eventually."Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas," which is directed by Arnaud des Pallières,...
- 5/22/2014
- by Eric Eidelstein
- Indiewire
It's hard to think of any other 48-year-old actors having the kind of moment Mads Mikkelsen currently is. A Cannes winner for his turn in "The Hunt," an American network TV star thanks to his excellent work in "Hannibal," and currently turning heads on the Croisette thanks to the western "The Salvation," pretty much everything the actor touches is worth tuning in to see what he does. And so it goes with "Age Of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhaas," and today, we have an exclusive clip from the film. Based on Heinrich von Kleist's 16th century novella, and directed by Arnaud de Pallières, the story follows a horse dealer who rebels against the establishment when two of his animals are illegally confiscated. He soon finds people to back his cause as the situation escalates but not everyone agrees with his tactics. As you'll see in this scene, Michael Kohlhaas...
- 5/22/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Diana Drumm reporting from Cannes...
The Blue Room and Amour Fou, two films in the Un Certain Regard section, examine the pitfalls of unrequited romance. A French modern noir, The Blue Room centers on an extramarital affair between a farm equipment rep and a pharmacy employee that leads to a murder investigation. A German Romantic period piece, Amour Fou also centers on an extramarital affair, though this time between poet Heinrich von Kleist and wife of a businessman Henriette Vogel which also leads to violent crime. The former film's narrative goes in and out of its protagonist’s recollections, while the latter follows its protagonist’s determined trajectory. Neither man actually loves his mistress, with one outrightly denying and the other unwilling to admit, but both end linked inextricably to their “beloveds” through tragic means...
The Blue Room and Amour Fou, two films in the Un Certain Regard section, examine the pitfalls of unrequited romance. A French modern noir, The Blue Room centers on an extramarital affair between a farm equipment rep and a pharmacy employee that leads to a murder investigation. A German Romantic period piece, Amour Fou also centers on an extramarital affair, though this time between poet Heinrich von Kleist and wife of a businessman Henriette Vogel which also leads to violent crime. The former film's narrative goes in and out of its protagonist’s recollections, while the latter follows its protagonist’s determined trajectory. Neither man actually loves his mistress, with one outrightly denying and the other unwilling to admit, but both end linked inextricably to their “beloveds” through tragic means...
- 5/18/2014
- by Diana D Drumm
- FilmExperience
Cannes - Only a few months ago, in the colder climes of the Berlin Film Festival, I had the misfortune of seeing and reviewing "A Long Way Down," a terminally laughless British farce about four suicidal souls who meet and bond on the roof of the same popular London jumping-point. Some critics decried it as tasteless, but it was only the execution that was botched: there is scarcely a taboo subject that can't be made funny in crafty directorial hands, and along comes Jessica Hausner's deft, delightful "Amour Fou" to prove it. A delicate, cerebral romantic comedy based on -- wait for it -- the 1811 suicide pact between German Romantic writer Heinrich von Kleist and his married ally Henriette Vogel, "Amour Fou" is neither romantic nor comedic in the uncompromised, mallow-centered fashion that has given the genre an undeservedly bad name. (There's going to be no Jennifer Aniston-starring remake any time soon,...
- 5/17/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
That crazy little thing called love. Is it even possible to count how many times the theme of love was used in movies? Doubtful. But the times it’s been used with such sardonic wit, polished with such fine veneer, is much easier to count, and Jessica Hausner’s "Amour Fou" — which had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes — could be ranking among the very top of such a list. Fans of austere auteurism, immaculate framing, and laughter that leaves lumps in your throat will be floating on cloud nine with this one. A production that suffers a bit too much from heartsickness and stumbles on awkward moments stop you from falling in love with it completely, but nonetheless, the film still screams for a spotlight to be directed at Hausner.Inspired by the true story of poet Heinrich von Kleist, "Amour Fou" makes a...
- 5/17/2014
- by Nikola Grozdanovic
- The Playlist
Croisette regulars veterans Jean Luc Godard, Ken Loach and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne will compete alongside Competition first-timers Alice Rohrwacher, Xavier Dolan and Damian Szifron at the Cannes Film Festival next month.
Artistic director Thierry Fremaux announced the Official Selection of the 67th edition on Thursday (17) at a packed press conference at the Normandie Cinema on the Champs Elysées in Paris.
“Anyone who makes a film of more than one hour in duration, has the right to submit a film to Cannes… this year we received some 1,800 films in total – all of which were screened,” said Fremaux.
He announced 49 titles in total from 28 countries and hinted a further two or three could be announced ahead of Cannes. [Click here for the full list.]
Fremaux, who tied up the line-up at 1am local time ahead of the announcement, said films were arriving later and later for consideration due to digitisation of filmmaking.
“It used to be that January was late,” he said. “Now...
Artistic director Thierry Fremaux announced the Official Selection of the 67th edition on Thursday (17) at a packed press conference at the Normandie Cinema on the Champs Elysées in Paris.
“Anyone who makes a film of more than one hour in duration, has the right to submit a film to Cannes… this year we received some 1,800 films in total – all of which were screened,” said Fremaux.
He announced 49 titles in total from 28 countries and hinted a further two or three could be announced ahead of Cannes. [Click here for the full list.]
Fremaux, who tied up the line-up at 1am local time ahead of the announcement, said films were arriving later and later for consideration due to digitisation of filmmaking.
“It used to be that January was late,” he said. “Now...
- 4/17/2014
- ScreenDaily
★★☆☆☆Following the runaway success of Danish director Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair (2012) a couple of years back, another period European drama of revolt and revenge starring the magnetic Mads Mikkelsen would undoubtedly have seemed like an excellent idea. Somewhat regrettably, Arnaud des Pallières' Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (2013), adapted from the Heinrich von Kleist novella, not only fails to live up to the mark but struggles to work on a more fundamental level. Even the presence of the venerable leading man fails to elevate this glossy but staid vengeance drama that repeatedly struggles to either quicken the pulse or provoke the mind.
- 3/10/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Amour Fou
Director: Jessica Hausner
Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producers: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Philippe Bober
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Christian Friedel, Birte Schnoeink, Stephan Grossmann
We’re excited to see Hausner’s followup to her excellent third feature, 2009’s Lourdes, which starred Sylvie Testud and Lea Seydoux. While many had been hoping her latest would have been ready for a late 2013 release, we can look forward to seeing her latest get a prime slot at a major festival. Starring Christian Friedel, who many will recognize from The White Ribbon, Hausner seems to be positioning a new take on the period piece.
Gist: Amour Fou is inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel. However, rather than being a biographical portrait, the film is to be understood as a parallel about the ambivalence of love.
Director: Jessica Hausner
Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producers: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Philippe Bober
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Christian Friedel, Birte Schnoeink, Stephan Grossmann
We’re excited to see Hausner’s followup to her excellent third feature, 2009’s Lourdes, which starred Sylvie Testud and Lea Seydoux. While many had been hoping her latest would have been ready for a late 2013 release, we can look forward to seeing her latest get a prime slot at a major festival. Starring Christian Friedel, who many will recognize from The White Ribbon, Hausner seems to be positioning a new take on the period piece.
Gist: Amour Fou is inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel. However, rather than being a biographical portrait, the film is to be understood as a parallel about the ambivalence of love.
- 2/28/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Outside of Camelot Theatres, where Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas screens in 30 minutes, stands an older man with a telescope. He doesn’t appear to be affiliated with the Palm Springs International Film Festival — or even attending it, for that matter — and is dressed as you might expect an actual astronomer to be. Arnaud des Pallières’ adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s 1811 novella premiered to mixed reviews at Cannes last year, but familiarity with the source material and the fact that Mads Mikkelsen and Denis Lavant are both involved seem reason enough to take a […]...
- 1/17/2014
- by Michael Nordine
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Outside of Camelot Theatres, where Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas screens in 30 minutes, stands an older man with a telescope. He doesn’t appear to be affiliated with the Palm Springs International Film Festival — or even attending it, for that matter — and is dressed as you might expect an actual astronomer to be. Arnaud des Pallières’ adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s 1811 novella premiered to mixed reviews at Cannes last year, but familiarity with the source material and the fact that Mads Mikkelsen and Denis Lavant are both involved seem reason enough to take a […]...
- 1/17/2014
- by Michael Nordine
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
While many are hanging out for Mads Mikkelsen's return to the small screen with the second season of NBC's "Hannibal," the actor himself will soon be back on the big screen with the English territory release of the 16th-century revenge tale "Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas".
Arnaud des Pallieres directs the 16th-century feudal France-set tale based on Heinrich von Kleist’s classic novella. Mikkelsen plays a horse dealer whose property is taken away from him on behest of a greedy local nobleman. The situation escalates, turning the dealer into a revenge-fueled desperado.
The film opens today in the UK and in March in Australia. No word on a U.S. release at the present time.
Arnaud des Pallieres directs the 16th-century feudal France-set tale based on Heinrich von Kleist’s classic novella. Mikkelsen plays a horse dealer whose property is taken away from him on behest of a greedy local nobleman. The situation escalates, turning the dealer into a revenge-fueled desperado.
The film opens today in the UK and in March in Australia. No word on a U.S. release at the present time.
- 1/3/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
This classy and beautiful 16th-century period drama is determined, but it delivers less than it promises
Reading on mobile? Watch the trailer here
Age of Uprising – entitled Michael Kohlhaas when it was premiered in competition at Cannes last year – is a handsomely made and beautifully photographed 16th-century period drama from film-maker Arnaud des Pallières. It is based on the 1811 story by Heinrich von Kleist, and here transposed from Germany to France: the casting of Danish star Mads Mikkelsen in the title role is perhaps a nod to the story's northern European origins.
Kohlhaas is a well-to-do and law-abiding horse dealer who is mistreated by an arrogant nobleman. Two of his horses are wrongly confiscated. Kohlhaas's grievances against the powers that be escalate and, denied justice, he leads a military rebellion against these decadent timeservers.
The movie is played out in a mood of grim, concerted determination that matches Kohlhaas's own mood.
Reading on mobile? Watch the trailer here
Age of Uprising – entitled Michael Kohlhaas when it was premiered in competition at Cannes last year – is a handsomely made and beautifully photographed 16th-century period drama from film-maker Arnaud des Pallières. It is based on the 1811 story by Heinrich von Kleist, and here transposed from Germany to France: the casting of Danish star Mads Mikkelsen in the title role is perhaps a nod to the story's northern European origins.
Kohlhaas is a well-to-do and law-abiding horse dealer who is mistreated by an arrogant nobleman. Two of his horses are wrongly confiscated. Kohlhaas's grievances against the powers that be escalate and, denied justice, he leads a military rebellion against these decadent timeservers.
The movie is played out in a mood of grim, concerted determination that matches Kohlhaas's own mood.
- 1/3/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
This dour 16th-Century-set revenge thriller (adapted from a novel by Heinrich von Kleist) suffers from the formal constraints it places on itself. Director Arnaud des Pallières is seemingly aiming for dirty realism, late-Medieval style. That means he uses natural light wherever possible and real locations (the wetter and muddier the better) rather than studio sets. He largely eschews music and shies away from primary colours, aiming instead for a dark, desaturated look. The action sequences are shot in surprisingly murky fashion.
- 1/2/2014
- The Independent - Film
He made his name in Pusher and Open Hearts and went on to be a Bond baddie. But he is still waiting to work with Lars von Trier – and still trying to keep things radical
Mads Mikkelsen, as handsome as you like, lowers himself into a seat, rolls a cigarette and stares handsomely out over the sea. Did I mention he was handsome? Not only is he wearing the kind of shiny suit that only the handsomest among us can get away with, he's also sporting a radioactive tan that sets off his handsomely glittering eyes. The tan, he says, is because he's just come back from shooting a western in South Africa, not, I'm relieved to discover, the latest manifestation of the World Conspiracy of Handsomeness.
Oh well. It's safe to say that the way Mikkelsen, 48, looks has not hurt him in his quest to become a well-known and successful actor.
Mads Mikkelsen, as handsome as you like, lowers himself into a seat, rolls a cigarette and stares handsomely out over the sea. Did I mention he was handsome? Not only is he wearing the kind of shiny suit that only the handsomest among us can get away with, he's also sporting a radioactive tan that sets off his handsomely glittering eyes. The tan, he says, is because he's just come back from shooting a western in South Africa, not, I'm relieved to discover, the latest manifestation of the World Conspiracy of Handsomeness.
Oh well. It's safe to say that the way Mikkelsen, 48, looks has not hurt him in his quest to become a well-known and successful actor.
- 12/13/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Arnaud des Pallieres adapts Heinrich von Kleist's hugely influential novel into a heartbreaking story of injustice and revenge in 16th Century France, centred around an incredible performance from Mads Mikkelsen.Michael Kohlhaas (Mikkelsen), a respected horse trader and family man, is stopped on the road by soldiers in the employ of the region's new young Baron, and fined two of his finest mares. When Kohlhaas' attempts to appeal the decision are repeatedly dismissed, the situation quickly escalates and Kohlhaas sets out on a personal crusade to see his rights restored and horses returned. Events take an increasingly bloody and tragic turn as Kohlhaas incites rebellion in the local peasant population, until he has amassed a small army that terrorises the community.Michael Kohlhaas is the second cinematic...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 12/3/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Review by Dana Jung
Hans Kohlhase was a real-life historical figure, a European merchant during the middle ages who waged a class war against the artistocracy because of a perceived injustice. Little had changed by the 1800s, when German author Heinrich von Kleist published the tale as the short novel Michael Kohlhaas. The plight of the wronged man, especially wronged by the upper class, has been the stuff of countless plays, movies, books, and more. The von Kleist work has had a highly influential impact on fictional characters from Zorro to Josey Wales to Coalhouse Walker. The novella has been filmed at least once before, a 1969 version by Volker Schlondorff starring David Warner and Anita Pallenberg. Now comes a new version of the story by French filmmaker Arnaud des Pallieres, starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, TVs Hannibal) as Kohlhaas.
Michael Kohlhaas is a respected horse dealer in the Saxony region of old Europe.
Hans Kohlhase was a real-life historical figure, a European merchant during the middle ages who waged a class war against the artistocracy because of a perceived injustice. Little had changed by the 1800s, when German author Heinrich von Kleist published the tale as the short novel Michael Kohlhaas. The plight of the wronged man, especially wronged by the upper class, has been the stuff of countless plays, movies, books, and more. The von Kleist work has had a highly influential impact on fictional characters from Zorro to Josey Wales to Coalhouse Walker. The novella has been filmed at least once before, a 1969 version by Volker Schlondorff starring David Warner and Anita Pallenberg. Now comes a new version of the story by French filmmaker Arnaud des Pallieres, starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, TVs Hannibal) as Kohlhaas.
Michael Kohlhaas is a respected horse dealer in the Saxony region of old Europe.
- 11/20/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The fourth annual London Underground Film Festival is the first edition of the fest to be run by new caretakers Daniel Fawcett and Clara Pais, two accomplished filmmakers. The festival will run November 14-17 at the legendary avant-garde media center, the Horse Hospital.
Fawcett and Pais have programmed a bold fest, which begins on the 14th with the London-based documentary Grasp the Nettle by Dean Puckett. The film follows the challenges faced by a group of land rights activists fighting for a piece of disused land in West London. Also on opening night is Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow, which was filmed surreptitiously at Disneyland; and Táu by Daniel Castro Zimbrón.
Other films screening at the fest include the award winning doc A Body Without Organs, directed by Steven Graves; Alex Munt’s Warhol homage Poor Little Rich Girls (After Warhol); Irene Lusztig’s history of childbirth, The Motherhood...
Fawcett and Pais have programmed a bold fest, which begins on the 14th with the London-based documentary Grasp the Nettle by Dean Puckett. The film follows the challenges faced by a group of land rights activists fighting for a piece of disused land in West London. Also on opening night is Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow, which was filmed surreptitiously at Disneyland; and Táu by Daniel Castro Zimbrón.
Other films screening at the fest include the award winning doc A Body Without Organs, directed by Steven Graves; Alex Munt’s Warhol homage Poor Little Rich Girls (After Warhol); Irene Lusztig’s history of childbirth, The Motherhood...
- 11/13/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Versatile actor at Berlin's Schaubühne theatre who made films with Wim Wenders and Eric Rohmer
The German actor Otto Sander, who has died aged 72 after suffering from cancer, made his name as one of the members of Peter Stein's Schaubühne theatre in Berlin, where he developed a versatile but precise stage presence that he brought to all kinds of roles. Sander also had more than 100 credits in film and TV productions, most notably Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (The Boat, 1981), as a drunk and disillusioned U-boat captain, and Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire, 1987), as one of the two angels in Wim Wenders's magical survey of the divided city.
Born in Hanover, Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated from the Friederichsgymnasium in 1961. He did his military service as a naval reserve officer. In 1965, in his first engagement at the Düsseldorf Kammerspiele, he showed a natural...
The German actor Otto Sander, who has died aged 72 after suffering from cancer, made his name as one of the members of Peter Stein's Schaubühne theatre in Berlin, where he developed a versatile but precise stage presence that he brought to all kinds of roles. Sander also had more than 100 credits in film and TV productions, most notably Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (The Boat, 1981), as a drunk and disillusioned U-boat captain, and Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire, 1987), as one of the two angels in Wim Wenders's magical survey of the divided city.
Born in Hanover, Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated from the Friederichsgymnasium in 1961. He did his military service as a naval reserve officer. In 1965, in his first engagement at the Düsseldorf Kammerspiele, he showed a natural...
- 9/13/2013
- by Hugh Rorrison
- The Guardian - Film News
The Toronto film festival unveiled its glittering programme this week with an impressive array of titles to charm canuck located cinefans when the 38th edition of the event commences on the 5th September 2013. Running for ten days the world’s largest movie festival in terms of volume of screenings boasts a global prestige and attracts talent from around the world, as one of the only major festivals which is open to the public the chances of rubbing shoulders with the superstars of California and Cannes ensure that tickets are swiftly snapped up for the huge variety of films and debates which arrange across the full gamut of the celluloid spectrum.
Now traditionally seen as strong candidate for highlighting potential future Oscar bait the directorial heavyweights of Europe and North America are out in force, with new films from Alfonso Cuarón, Xavier Dolan, Atom Egoyan, Steve McQueen, Kelly Reichardt, Jason Reitman,...
Now traditionally seen as strong candidate for highlighting potential future Oscar bait the directorial heavyweights of Europe and North America are out in force, with new films from Alfonso Cuarón, Xavier Dolan, Atom Egoyan, Steve McQueen, Kelly Reichardt, Jason Reitman,...
- 7/25/2013
- by John
- SoundOnSight
Arnaud des Pallieres’ take on Heinrich von Kleist’s novella, Michael Kohlhaas, has all the makings of a riveting, party-crashing entry into the Cannes Film Festival’s In Competition banner, what with its focus on adventure and righteous vengeance. Disappointing it is, then, that while it features Mads Mikkelsen in as game a mode as ever, and the landscapes are sumptuously shot, the soporific narrative pulse has kept this oddly forgettable film clear of festival discussion pretty much altogether, which many could argue is even worse than it being an alright flop. The story begins as the titular character (Mikkelsen), a merchant, is forced by a local Baron (Swann Arlaud) to relinquish two of his prized horses as collateral on the way to the market due to him not having the proper documentation. When Kohlhaas returns to discover that the steeds are of ill health and Cesar (David Bennent), the man he left behind to tend for...
- 5/29/2013
- by Shaun Munro
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
★★★★☆ The 66th Cannes Film Festival just got medieval on our asses with Arnaud des Pallières' Palme d'Or outsider Michael Kohlhaas (2013), a tale of injustice and revolt set in 16th century France. Adapted from the Heinrich von Kleist novella, Pallières' latest follows the plight of its eponymous hero (Denmark's Mads Mikkelsen), a happy and prosperous family man and horse trader who suffers an injustice at the hands of an arrogant young baron. Kohlhaas seeks redress legally, only to be rebuffed and threatened. Tragedy strikes when Judith, his wife (Delphine Chuillot), is murdered, leading our protagonist on the path to vengeance.
The towering Mikkelsen wowed Cannes last year as a teacher stubbornly refusing to bow to injustice in Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt (Jagten, 2012). Injustice is one again on the menu here; however, as an actor in possession of a range as epic as the Cevénnes landscape against which his latest film plays against,...
The towering Mikkelsen wowed Cannes last year as a teacher stubbornly refusing to bow to injustice in Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt (Jagten, 2012). Injustice is one again on the menu here; however, as an actor in possession of a range as epic as the Cevénnes landscape against which his latest film plays against,...
- 5/29/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Itself loosely based on a true story, the 19th century novella by Heinrich von Kleist, “Michael Kohlhaas," has been adapted several times for screen, notably by Volker Schlöndorff in 1969, even spawning “The Jack Bull," a pretty good HBO restaging starring Johns Cusack and Goodman, in 1999. But with Schlöndorff himself telling us in an interview that he considered his version his "biggest failure” it would have seemed that there was still room for the definitive, high-profile, straight-up adaptation. And on paper, that’s what Arnaud de Pallières’ Cannes competition entrant “Michael Kohlhaas” was meant to be -- just check out its impeccable line-up of European stars-with-major-arthouse-appeal: Mads Mikkelsen (last year’s Cannes Best Actor for “The Hunt”), Bruno Ganz (whose sclerotic Hitler in “Downfall” spawned its own remarkably resilient meme) and Denis Lavant (coming off his chameleonic performance in the critically worshipped “Holy Motors”). But...
- 5/27/2013
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Mads Mikkelsen has one of the most expressive faces in cinema today. Emotional, challenging, demanding and domineering, and this is before he ever bats an eye, furrows his brow or says a word. For these reasons I was able to stay with Michael Kohlhaas for the better part of an hour, but then it began to wear on me, though not in a way that had me giving up on it. It's not that the narrative is slow, in fact it's rather lyrical, but director Arnaud des Pallieres is overly patient, lingering from one scene to the next. Many, if not most, scenes could be chopped down by 10-15 seconds, making room for more story. While des Pallieres is committed to the story of his title character, he forgets to show us more of his actions after a lovely set up, all leading to an emotional conclusion, that would have...
- 5/24/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Mads Mikkelsen makes a principled avenging warrior in this handsome 16th-century-set tale of a man wronged – which could certainly use picking up the pace a little
Here is a handsomely-made and admirably high-minded revenge movie, set in 16th century France, that paints its world in glowing, vivid colours, but is rather too much in love with its leading man, Mads Mikkelsen, to achieve the epic grandeur it is aiming at. It is directed by Arnaud des Pallières, making his first visit to the Cannes competition with his fourth feature, and is adapted from the novella by Heinrich von Kleist, with the action transposed from Reformation-era Saxony to the mountainous Cévennes region of France.
Des Pallières' film follows the original fairly closely: Mikkelsen plays a horse trader who is badly treated by a local baron; his attempt to gain legal redress over two illegally-held horses and a beating of his servant...
Here is a handsomely-made and admirably high-minded revenge movie, set in 16th century France, that paints its world in glowing, vivid colours, but is rather too much in love with its leading man, Mads Mikkelsen, to achieve the epic grandeur it is aiming at. It is directed by Arnaud des Pallières, making his first visit to the Cannes competition with his fourth feature, and is adapted from the novella by Heinrich von Kleist, with the action transposed from Reformation-era Saxony to the mountainous Cévennes region of France.
Des Pallières' film follows the original fairly closely: Mikkelsen plays a horse trader who is badly treated by a local baron; his attempt to gain legal redress over two illegally-held horses and a beating of his servant...
- 5/24/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Cannes -- An old-fashioned, Robin Hood-style revenge tale that favors self-serious storytelling over action and suspense, Arnaud des Pallieres’ Michael Kohlhaas provides a few quick thrills and some beautifully photographed landscapes, but never really convinces as an intellectual’s swords-and-horses period piece -- even when it’s the formidable Mads Mikkelsen who’s holding the sword. Following a Cannes competition premiere, this pristinely crafted Franco-German co-production should see additional fest and Euro art-house slots, but will have a hard time riding far overseas. Based on Heinrich von Kleist’s novella, this is actually the second screen adaptation following
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- 5/23/2013
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
French filmmaker Arnaud des Pallières’s new film, Michael Kohlhaas is an adaptation of the Heinrich Von Kleist novella from 1811 of the same name. The film was selected to play in the main competition of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival – marking the first time that a film by des Pallières competes for the Palme d’Or. Set in sixteenth-century France, the film features Bruno Ganz, Denis Lavant and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who this time last year, went on to win the Best Actor prize at Cannes for his role in Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt. The first clip for the film has been released, which you can watch below. Enjoy!
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****...
- 5/22/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
This time last year, Mads Mikkelsen was about to become the toast of Cannes. The Danish actor was on the Croisette starring in Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt," a stunning morality play, and went on to win the Best Actor prize at the festival for his role in that. "The Hunt" is still yet to open in the U.S. (it's coming next month), but Mikkelsen has gone from strength to strength; he's currently killing it, as it were, as the title character in "Hannibal," which has unexpectedly turned out to be one of the best dramas currently on television. And now the actor's back at the festival to star in "Michael Kohlhaas," an adaptation of the novel by Heinrich von Kleist about a 16th century horse dealer who rebels against the establishment when two of his animals are illegally confiscated. It might not be the sexiest subject matter, but it's in Competition,...
- 5/20/2013
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Ahead of its first Cannes market screening, Chicago-based Music Box Films has picked up all Us and Canadian rights to Arnaud des Pallières' competition title "Michael Kohlhaas," starring Mads Mikkelsen and adapted from the 1811 Heinrich von Kleist classic Romantic novel. Films du Losange is selling the film, which is Des Pallières' fourth feature, at Cannes. Des Pallières describes the film as: "set in a period where an impoverished aristocracy precariously still clings to feudal privileges passed down since the Middle Ages, while in the towns, a new world is taking shape. The townspeople are educated, often wealthy, but politically almost powerless. Kohlhaas, a horse merchant, suffers an injustice at the hands of a young baron and demands his rights, but society lets him down. He reacts by suddenly, brutally declaring war on society. He chooses the path of violence, with a razor-sharp sense of justice as his only moral guideline.
- 5/17/2013
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Germany has a large number of films in Cannes this year both as coproducer and single producer. Three German co-productions are in the competition including Heli by Amat Escalante (Mexico/ Germany/ France/ Netherlands), the adaptation of the Heinrich von Kleist novella Michael Kohlhaas by Arnaud des Pallières (France, Germany) and Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive (Germany, U.K., France, Cyprus), which has always been supported by the German producer Karl Baumgartner of Pandora. U.S. gets bragging rights but has no actual credit in the film.
Screening in Un Certain Regard are Tore Tanzt, the debut feature film of German director Katrin Gebbe ♀ which is eligible for the Camera d'Or as are first films from all sections, the co-productions My Sweet Pepper Land by Hiner Saleem (France, Germany) and Bastards by Claire Denis (France, Germany).
A digitally remastered version of Fedora by Billy Wilder will be shown in Cannes Classics along with four more German co-productions.
The German short Come And Play by Daria Belova ♀ is in Semaine de la Critique which will also present the German co-production The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra (India, Deutschland, France).
Directors Fortnight is screening The Congress by director Ari Folmann (Israel, Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, France, Belgium).
The debut feature Summer Outside by Friederike Jehn (Germany, Switzerland) will be shown in Ecrans Juniors / Cannes Cinephiles which is curated by Cannes Cinema during the festival. The Strange Little Cat by Ramon Zürcher (Dffb) will be presented in the L'Acid-series, a special program by the Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion during the festival.
German Films will be presenting a total of 30 New German Films to professional visitors at Cannes' Marché du Film from 17 to 22 May. Furthermore, this will be the 13th time that German Films joins forces with Focus Germany, the amalgamation of the seven major regional film funds, to run the German Pavilion in the International Village of the Marché du Film. The German Pavilion has been a popular platform for many years for people to get know one another personally and to foster an exchange between the accredited festival delegates from the German and international film industries in Cannes.
Screening in Un Certain Regard are Tore Tanzt, the debut feature film of German director Katrin Gebbe ♀ which is eligible for the Camera d'Or as are first films from all sections, the co-productions My Sweet Pepper Land by Hiner Saleem (France, Germany) and Bastards by Claire Denis (France, Germany).
A digitally remastered version of Fedora by Billy Wilder will be shown in Cannes Classics along with four more German co-productions.
The German short Come And Play by Daria Belova ♀ is in Semaine de la Critique which will also present the German co-production The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra (India, Deutschland, France).
Directors Fortnight is screening The Congress by director Ari Folmann (Israel, Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, France, Belgium).
The debut feature Summer Outside by Friederike Jehn (Germany, Switzerland) will be shown in Ecrans Juniors / Cannes Cinephiles which is curated by Cannes Cinema during the festival. The Strange Little Cat by Ramon Zürcher (Dffb) will be presented in the L'Acid-series, a special program by the Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion during the festival.
German Films will be presenting a total of 30 New German Films to professional visitors at Cannes' Marché du Film from 17 to 22 May. Furthermore, this will be the 13th time that German Films joins forces with Focus Germany, the amalgamation of the seven major regional film funds, to run the German Pavilion in the International Village of the Marché du Film. The German Pavilion has been a popular platform for many years for people to get know one another personally and to foster an exchange between the accredited festival delegates from the German and international film industries in Cannes.
- 5/13/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
#47. Arnaud des Pallieres’ Michael Kohlhaas
Gist: This is an adaptation of Heinrich Von Kleist 1811 novella of the same name. Set in the sixteenth century somewhere in the Cévennes, Michael Kohlhaas is a prosperous horse merchant leading a happy and simple family life. A fantastic quest for justice, the book – and therefore, probably, film – is an existential chronicle of one man’s leadership and rise to protect his community.
Prediction: Set for a domestic release in early July, here’s an historical epic that could really wind up in any of the major sections. Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess of Montpensier is the closest recent film in spirit and scope, and that competed for the Palme, but then Arnaud des Pallieres isn’t exactly a major dude yet, so anything better than Un Certain Regard would be quite the gesture on Thierry’s part. The film does star last year’s...
Gist: This is an adaptation of Heinrich Von Kleist 1811 novella of the same name. Set in the sixteenth century somewhere in the Cévennes, Michael Kohlhaas is a prosperous horse merchant leading a happy and simple family life. A fantastic quest for justice, the book – and therefore, probably, film – is an existential chronicle of one man’s leadership and rise to protect his community.
Prediction: Set for a domestic release in early July, here’s an historical epic that could really wind up in any of the major sections. Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess of Montpensier is the closest recent film in spirit and scope, and that competed for the Palme, but then Arnaud des Pallieres isn’t exactly a major dude yet, so anything better than Un Certain Regard would be quite the gesture on Thierry’s part. The film does star last year’s...
- 4/6/2013
- by Blake Williams
- IONCINEMA.com
Amour Fou
Director/Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producer(s): Tba
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Tba
I got to know Jessica Hausner a little late in the game, the Austrian director wowed me with her minimalist portrait Lourdes (a Venice Film Festival selection) but she first made waves back in 2001 with her sophomore film, the Cannes Un Certain Regard selected Lovely Rita. Currently a bit past the funding stages, her sixth aptly titled Amour Fou is probably in the casting portion of the production.
Gist: Inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel, the deals with the ambivalence and absurdity inherent in the very concept of two people committing suicide because of their love for one another. Committing this act is the yearning to escape the inevitability of death through love, to avoid dying alone and to oppose...
Director/Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producer(s): Tba
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Tba
I got to know Jessica Hausner a little late in the game, the Austrian director wowed me with her minimalist portrait Lourdes (a Venice Film Festival selection) but she first made waves back in 2001 with her sophomore film, the Cannes Un Certain Regard selected Lovely Rita. Currently a bit past the funding stages, her sixth aptly titled Amour Fou is probably in the casting portion of the production.
Gist: Inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel, the deals with the ambivalence and absurdity inherent in the very concept of two people committing suicide because of their love for one another. Committing this act is the yearning to escape the inevitability of death through love, to avoid dying alone and to oppose...
- 1/11/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
From Bond villain to mythical monster bait, Mads Mikkelsen knows his place on the Hollywood roll call. But with his arthouse career booming, he's ready for the big time
Mads Mikkelsen is battleworn. He has just been chasing the moonlight across a Romanian set, filming the climactic gunfight of a new mob thriller, The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman. It's a Us production starring Shia Labeouf, so naturally the Danish actor plays the baddie.
This, broadly, is how it goes for Mikkelsen in Hollywood: he's one of a roll call of European actors (Vincent Cassel, Mathieu Almaric, Alexander Skarsgård) recruited to add spice to popcorn. For Mikkelsen, that means being ready to shoulder the status of morally ambiguous sex symbol, whether as Bond villain (Le Chiffre, Casino Royale's blood-weeping banker), enforcer (the baneful Rochefort of last year's The Three Musketeers), or mythical monster bait (Clash of the Titans'...
Mads Mikkelsen is battleworn. He has just been chasing the moonlight across a Romanian set, filming the climactic gunfight of a new mob thriller, The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman. It's a Us production starring Shia Labeouf, so naturally the Danish actor plays the baddie.
This, broadly, is how it goes for Mikkelsen in Hollywood: he's one of a roll call of European actors (Vincent Cassel, Mathieu Almaric, Alexander Skarsgård) recruited to add spice to popcorn. For Mikkelsen, that means being ready to shoulder the status of morally ambiguous sex symbol, whether as Bond villain (Le Chiffre, Casino Royale's blood-weeping banker), enforcer (the baneful Rochefort of last year's The Three Musketeers), or mythical monster bait (Clash of the Titans'...
- 6/7/2012
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
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