Anna, a young teenager, comes home from her catholic boarding school for the holidays and discovers her father has left. Youd be hard pushed to find a more honest and tender portrayal of early adolescence than first time director katell quilleveres coming of age film love like poison. From french cinema we expect tension, balance and clarity. My traitor, my love 2018, alone at my wedding 2018, heal the living 2015 news 10 november, 2012. A small breton village marked by the stamp of catholicism and a 14yearold girl at that uncertain threshold between childhood and womanhood. Aug 04, 2010 from french cinema we expect tension, balance and clarity. A comingofage drama which skilfully combines sexual frankness with a captivating sense of innocence, katell quilleveres heal the living charming debut feature love like poison was a surprise, yet deserved, critical hit at the 2010 cannes film festival. Apr 20, 2011 tender comingofage film starring clara augarde, michel galabru and lio 15 85min. A film like this can only be made in france or europe, a us version would make a pg teen movie with no heart, soul or. Annas, chiefly, although there is a bplot almost as rich in character detail involving jeannes growing dependence on the.
She also grows close to pierre, a freespirited teenager who cares little about god. Find where to watch love like poison in new zealand. Love like poison was one of the gems of last years cannes festival, and it is a great pleasure to see it get a uk release. May 14, 2010 small in scale but beautifully written, extremely wellplayed and sensually lensed, love like poison, from firsttime french helmer katell quillevere, centers on a middleclass 14yearold. As intended, it succeeds both as a comingofage story and an ensemble drama, although, at a mere 77 minutes minus the end credits, it is a fraction too short. Oct 04, 2015 the interviewer suggests that this interest in religion and desire is unusual in young french cinema i. A film of nuance and subtle glimpses, like looking at the world through a curtain of breton lace. Her mother is devastated and confined in the company of the local priest, who is also a childhood friend. A little too focused on the theme of conflict between flesh and spirit, love like poison is nonetheless a subtle and promising debut feature which, with its own individual talent, joins the ranks of works by the many young french women directors discovered in recent years at the cannes film festival mia hansen love, lola doillon, cecile. It was screened in the directors fortnight section of the 2010 cannes film festival. Love like poison 2011, directed by katell quillevere film.
The subtlety in love like poison seems to demand that we watch it at least twice, in order to fit all the pieces together properly. This discreet french drama looks at turbulent teenage emotions, says philip french. Love like poison 2010 letterboxd your life in film. The intimate, finessed female comingofage drama is a french speciality. Love like poison is a 2010 french comingofage drama film directed by katell quillevere and starring clara augarde, lio and michel galabru. This film tells the bittersweet story of teenager anna, who returns home from boarding school to discover that her parents have separated.
Im surprised it didnt make more of an impact in the uk or north america. Love like poison 2010 allmovie movies and films database. Meanwhile, anna strikes up a friendship with pierre youen leboulangergourvil, a boy her age who lives nearby, and shes torn between her blossoming desires and the strict teachings of the church. The biggest issue with love like poison is simply that it feels like a collection of subplots that are never adequately explored. Sep 01, 2012 the strength of love like poison lies in the simple and honest nature of the storytelling. Snagfilms and unifrance launch my french film festival back to indiewire. French filmmakers like eric rohmer, catherine breillat and more recently celine sciamma water lillies and lucile hadzihalilovic innocence have sketched. A comingofage drama which skilfully combines sexual frankness with a captivating sense of innocence, firsttime director katell quilleveres charming love like poison was a surprise, yet deserved, critical hit at the 2010 cannes film festival. Rapturous in tone, this is one of the most personal comingofage tales of recent french cinema, marking quillevere and her young star as. Teenage emotional turmoil in love like poison cineuropa. Katell quilleverecomingofage movies typically regard adolescence as a freak weather condition, a hormonal typhoon encountered on the road to calmer climes. A sophie dulac distribution release in france of a les films du belier production, in coproduction with arte france cinema, with the participation of canal. If love like poison, the first film from french director katell quillevere, had been made in english with an english cast, it would remain a solid but otherwise unremarkable film about a young girls struggle between religion and burgeoning adolescence.
A scene from the film love like poison, playing at french cinema now, october 28 november 3 at landmarks embarcadero center cinema. Michel galabru, philippe duclos, clara augarde, lio, stefano cassetti, thierry neuvic, youen leboulangergourvil. And honestly, that is what i received not too much, but brilliantly presented and charmingly executed. Love like poison new zealand international film festival. If you like love like poison you are looking for psychological, sincere and touching movies about with coming of age, village, dysfunctional family, faith, teenage life, teenage love and youth themes of drama genre shot in france. W riterdirector katell quillevere, with her first feature, reveals herself to be a supremely natural filmmaker. Jul 22, 2011 love like poison centres around a burgeoning adolescence that often makes for uncomfortable viewing. As she prepares for her confirmation, annas world is further rocked when she grows close to a freespirited.
A refined, atmospheric and profound directorial debut which gained, among other awards, the prix jean vigo at the 63rd cannes film. Titlelove like poison other known titlesun poison violent publication. For me, this title refers more deeply to all the things that can make us feel alive. Quillevere grasps those butterflies in the stomach. In a more profound way, to me it refers to everything that makes us feel like were. A bittersweet french gem from last years cannes festival gets a welcome uk release.
As it stands the fact that it is french, with french actors and french dialogue, means. The interviewer suggests that this interest in religion and desire is unusual in young french cinema i. In 2015 she was selected to be a member of the jury for the international critics week section of the 2015 cannes film festival. This notable new example directed and cowritten by katell quillevere endows a teenage girls apprehensions about sex, death and the love of jesus with an empathetic sense of adolescence as a solitary pursuit. San francisco film society presents french cinema now, oct. May 12, 2011 love like poison was one of the gems of last years cannes festival, and it is a great pleasure to see it get a uk release. Snagfilms and unifrance launch my french film festival. A film whose gentleness and humanity will leave you sighing with assent peter bradshaw, the guardian a film of nuance and subtle glimpses, like looking at the world through a curtain of breton lace.
Love like poison possesses plenty of the nonchalant frankness weve come to expect from french cinema, yet its as fresh and radiant as its heroine. Like tinker, tailor, soldier, spy, love like poison is a film in which on the surface nothing is happening, but in fact there is so much going on. And yet, amidst this metaphysical landscape, the drama is very real, spending 24 hours in the aftermath of a young surfer meeting a gravelly grave. French films to have a strong presence at the london film. Incident is not high on the directors list of priorities she also wrote the screenplay, in collaboration with mariette desert. The film refuses to be either prurient or particularly erotic. This is a new zealand classification of love like poison. She discovers her parents are living apart, her mother coping only through the efforts of the local priest.
Feb 04, 20 sunday night i spent in bed, with the perfect pizza air cured beef, parmesan, and rocket, with a side of flirtation from the chefs while i watched them make it, a bottle of italian red, and a spontaneously watched french film, love like poison. Fourteenyearold anna clara augarde returns home from boarding. Three lives and only one death 1996 trois vies et une seule mort click cc for english subs. This film, i feel this exact film has been done so many times by french directors, particularly but hardly exclusively french women directors. The francogerman film meetings and the berlin french film week. French comingofage drama about a 14yearold girl discovering sexuality everywhere she looks, including the church she attends with her mother. I viewed it at a small french film festival in south africa no less, and did not expect too much. Love like poison is, to the exclusion of virtually all else, a depiction of personality. Here it is experienced by anna an unaffected, delicately poised performance from clara augarde, a devout 14yearold girl from a middleclass family in britanny.
The san francisco film society, in association with the french american cultural society, the french consulate of san francisco and unifrance usa, presents french cinema now, thursday, october 28 wednesday, november 3, at landmarks. A teenager girl learns some vital lessons about growing up. Love is indeed a poison, a potent metaphorical hemlock which extinguishes something in the soul and leaves its victim eternally stricken with a lingering desolation. In the quest for realism, writers quillevere and mariette desert arent too focussed on easy answers, so dont expect everything to be tied in a neat bundle by the films end. Anna, a 14 year old girl, returns from boarding school to discover that her father has left home, leaving her to live with her mother and paternal grandfather. French films showcased at the 42nd directors fortnight. She is once again present at the directors fortnight in 2010 with a first feature film love like poison, just crowned with the jean vigo prize.
Anna a young teenager comes home from her catholic boarding school for. Love like poison french coming of age tale deals with the bizarre. Love like poison french film festival event cinemas. But this holiday will become a struggle as she matures into adulthood. Young teenager anna clara augarde returns home from her catholic boarding school in time for her impending confirmation. It is a film of nuance and subtle glimpses, like looking at.
The subtlety in love like poison seems to demand that we watch it at least twice, in order to fit all. Like stealing beauty awash with catholic guilt, its a charming comingofage tale that packs. But in love like poison, the first film by the writerdirector katell quillevere, everyone is in emotional disarray irrespective of how many miles they have on the clock. What is the film saying about love, burgeoning sexuality and religion. Katell quillevere born 30 january 1980 is a french film director and screenwriter, known for directing the films love like poison 2010 and suzanne 20.