Music Box Theatre Hosts CHICAGO FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL, Beg. Today

The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport, showcases the best of contemporary French cinema in the expanded third annual Chicago French Film Festival. With an entire week dedicated to the festival this year, Music Box seizes the opportunity to program more titles and additional screenings of the very best in contemporary French film and some newly restored classics. This year's modern highlights include opening night feature Fly me to the Moon starring Inglourious Basterds' Diane Kruger, Carine Tardieu's family drama The Dandelions, the nail-biter The Prey, the wine-drenched cinematic postcard You Will Be My Son, horror flick Carre Blanc and closing night feature 11.6, a 2013 French heist film, based on a true story, directed by Philippe Godeau and starring Francois Cluzet (Intouchables, Tell No One). General admission to each feature in the Chicago French Film Festival is $10. An All-Access Pass, $75, admits one to all film screenings; while a 9-Film Pass, $50, admits one to nine film screenings.

In partnership with Goethe-Institut Chicago, German director Wim Wenders' 1987 classic, Wings of Desire, will be screened at the festival. 2013 marks the 50thanniversary of the Elysée Treaty, or Treaty of Friendship, which ushered in a new era of cultural and diplomatic relations between France and Germany. With a German director (Wenders) and a French actress (Solveig Dommartin), this modern classic is a stunning and powerful film that beautifully illustrates the spirit of artistic cooperation between France and Germany.

The Music Box is also excited about screening a new 35mm print of Jean-Pierre Melville's iconic 1972 heist movie, Un Flic, starring Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon and Richard Crenna, fresh off its extended run at New York's Film Forum. The entire 2013 Chicago French Film Festival lineup follows.

Opening Night Feature: Fly Me to the Moon (Un Plan Parfait)
(Director Pascal Chaumeil; France, 2012, 104 minutes)
Isabelle's (Diane Kruger) family suffers from a curse that dooms all of their first marriages to be disastrous while the second marriages are wonderful. In order to ensure the success of her imminent marriage to Pierre, Isabelle tries to quickly seduce the free spirited and eccentric Jean-Yves (Danny Boon) and rope him into a quickie, easily-dissolved first marriage. A charming, fun romantic comedy, Fly Me to the Moon was one of the highest grossing comedies in France last year. Shows Friday, July 26, 7:15 p.m.

Closing Night Feature: 11.6
(Director Phillipe Godeau, France, 2013, 102 minutes)
On November 5, 2009, Toni Musulin (Francois Cluzet) made off with 11.6 million Euros. It was the heist of the century that took years of planning and preparation including extracting himself from a marriage and breaking with his sole friend. But oddly, just a few days after pulling off his headline-grabbing crime, Musulin turned himself in. This fictionalized account of Musulin's famous exploit is based on the book Toni 11.6 by Alice Géraud-Arfi, who is the only person to interview Musulin in prison, where he is currently serving a five-year sentence in isolation. In the tradition of French romantic crime figures comes this portrait of a man for whom going to jail may actually be part of the master plan. Shows Thursday, August 1 at 7:20 p.m.

Special Presentation: Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)
(Director Wim Wenders, Germany/France, 1987, 127 minutes)
A special screening and event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, or Treaty of Friendship, which ushered in a new era of cultural and diplomatic relations between France and Germany. Co-presented with Goethe-Institut Chicago*

A beautiful symphony celebrating the city of Berlin, Wings of Desire has become a timeless classic. The angel Damiel (Bruno Ganz) perched on top of buildings high over the city can hear the thoughts, fears, hopes and dreams of everyone living below. But as one soul speaks to him louder than the others, he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist and realizes he is willing to give up his immortality and return to earth to be with her. Filmed not long before the fall of the Berlin wall,Wings of Desire is an unforgettable tapestry of sounds and images, that, with a German director and French actress, perfectly embodies the spirit of the Elysée Treaty.

*Q & A with Sara Hall, Associate Professor of Germanic Studies at UIC and Lorraine Groleau Darrow, Director and screenwriting faculty at DePaul University, follows the screening on Sunday, July 28, 6 p.m.

Carre Blanc
(Director Jean-Baptiste Leonetti, France, 2011, 77 minutes)
In an austere dystopian future in which the population is rapidly declining and the weak are killed and used for meat, Phillipe (Sami Bouajila) and Marie (Julie Gayet) meet in a brutal state-run school where they form a connection based on survival. Years later they are married but estranged and both are struggling to endure the ruthless, cold, infernal world they live in. Disturbing, dark and grim, Carre Blanc is an intense film that could best be described as a blend of surreal horror and dark sci-fi that frighteningly paints a picture of a future we could very well still face. Shows Saturday, July 27 at 9:30 p.m. and Wednesday, July 31 at 5:15 p.m.

The Chef (Comme un chef)
(Director Daniel Cohen, France, 2012, 84 minutes)
Chef Alexandre (Jean Reno) of the three-star restaurant Cargo Lagarde is facing a crisis. Much to his horror, the son of his retired business partner wants him to cut costs and introduce molecular gastronomy. Meanwhile, Jacky (Michael Youn), a self-trained cook with haute-cuisine ambitions, keeps getting canned from menial cooking jobs. When his girlfriend, Beatrice, arranges a handyman position for him at an old folks home, he just can't resist the siren call of the kitchen. Together these two masters of the kitchen cook up an irresistibly delightful comedy in this fast paced, frothy French farce that serves up a huge helping of laughs. Shows Sunday, July 28 at 9:15 p.m. and Tuesday, July 30 at 7:20 p.m.

The Dandelions (Du vent dans mes mollets)
(Director Carine Tardieu, France, 2012, 89 minutes)
It's the 1980s. Precocious nine-year old Rachel lives with her overprotective mother (Agnes Jaoui) and Holocaust survivor father (Denis Podalydes) and regularly visits her eccentric child psychologist Madame Trebla (Isabella Rossellini). Life gets more interesting when Rachel finds a new best friend in her wild child classmate Valerie. The Dandelions brims with humor, charm and tells an unpredictable story with realism, pathos and fancy. Shows Sunday, July 28 at 1:30 p.m. and Tuesday, July 30 at 9:15 p.m.

Un Flic
(Director Jean-Pierre Melville, France, 1972, 98 minutes)
Piano-playing Alain Delon and nightclub owner Richard Crenna (U.S. TV star, Wait Until Dark, and Rambo's mentor) both love Catherine Deneuve - who doesn't? - only trouble is, one's a post-burn-out cop and the other's bent on the heist of a lifetime - and are they both looking past her at each other? Melville's final work features minimalistically iconic performances from the star trio: a never more jadedly detached Delon; a never more chillingly icy Deneuve; and a surprisingly effective, smilingly insinuating Crenna; with two trademark heists, the first a near wordless bank job on a deserted, bleakly rain-sodden seaside street; and a nerve-shredding, timed-to-the-second drug snatch done via helicopter-to-train transfer - and back again. Shows Wednesday, July 31 at 7 p.m.

Populaire
(Director Regis Roinsard, France, 2012, 111 minutes)
Twenty-one-year-old Rose (Deborah Francois) longs for a new life away from her grouchy widower father, the mechanic she is engaged to and small town life, so she heads off to the city to find a job. Here, she meets the charismatic Louis Echard (Romain Duris) who runs an insurance agency and is looking for a new secretary. The interview is a disaster, but Rose reveals a special gift - she can type at an extraordinary speed and, unwittingly, the young woman awakens the competitive spirit in Louis, a former athlete. If she wants the job she'll have to participate in a speed typing competition. Louis declares himself her coach and vows to turn her into the fastest typist in the world! But a love of competition doesn't always mix well with love itself. Saturated in a bright Technicolor palette, perky and utterly charming, Populaire is a love letter to the 1950s and the innocence of a time gone by. Shows Saturday, July 27, 7 p.m. and Thursday, August 1, 5 p.m.

The Prey (La proie)
(Director Eric Valette, France, 2011, 105 minutes)
Franck Adrien (Albert Dupontel), a bank robber convicted of a heist and sentenced to six months in prison, shares a cell with the seemingly weak Jean Louis Morel who has been wrongfully accused of child abuse. Franck makes the mistake of defending the vulnerable Jean Louis from the other inmates but once Morel is released, he learns that his former cellmate is actually a sadistic serial killer who now knows private details about Adrien's life and the whereabouts of his family. In order to protect his wife and daughter, Franck must break out of prison and catch Morel before he gets to them all while France's elite police detectives are hunting him down. Superbly tense, The Prey is a non-stop adrenalin rush that has kept audiences worldwide on The Edge of their seats. Shows Friday, July 26 at 9:40 p.m. and Monday, July 29 at 9:30 p.m.

The Stroller Strategy (Le Strategie de la pousette)
(Director Clement Michel, France, 2013, 90 minutes)
A charming romantic comedy, The Stroller Strategy follows the adventures of bachelor Thomas (Raphael Personnaz) who suddenly finds himself taking care of a neighbor's baby and has no idea what he's doing. He realizes that his newfound role as a "father" may be just what he needs to win back the love of his life Marie (Charlotte Lebon). The plan could backfire or it could rekindle the romance! Shows Saturday, July 27 at 4:30 p.m. and Monday, July 29 at 5 p.m.

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (Vous n'avez encore rien vu)
(Director Alain Resnais, France/Germany, 2012, 115 minutes)
Based on two works by the playwright Jean Anouilh, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet opens with a who's-who of French acting royalty (including Mathieu Amalric, Michel Piccoli and Sabine Azema) being summoned to the reading of a late playwright's last will and testament. In a videotaped message, the playwright (Denis Podalydes) asks his guests to evaluate a recording of an experimental theater company performing his Eurydice - a play they themselves all appeared in over the years. But, as the video rolls, these seasoned thespians can't help but insert themselves into the work. Alternately wry and wistful You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet is a valentine to actors and the art of performance from a director long fascinated by the intersection of life, theater and cinema. Shows Saturday, July 27 at 2 p.m. and Tuesday, July 30 at 5 p.m.

You will be My Son (Tu seras mon fils)
(Director Gilles Legrand, France, 2012, 102 minutes)
Passionate about his wine and his work Paul (Niels Arestrup) is the proprietor of his family's prestigious estate. Disheartened by the thought that his son Martin (Laurent Deutsch) will inherit the business and by the fact that his hardworking estate manager Francois is dying, Paul rejects his own offspring in favor of Philip (Nicolas Bridet), Francois' son, grooming him to be the rightful heir. Work, love and wine all play key roles in this gripping family drama, and oenophiles and cinephiles alike will relish this psychological thriller that showcases the beauty of the Saint Emilion region of France. Shows Sunday, July 28 at 3:30 p.m. and Wednesday, July 31 at 9:15 p.m.

To post a comment, you must register and login.