The Wolberg Family

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Part of “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2010.”

Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival –  Directors Fortnight

“The Jewish mayor of a French provincial town desperately tries to keep his family together at all costs in Gallic scripter Axelle Ropert’s remarkable helming debut [with] heightened language, pitch-perfect performances and precision lensing in gorgeous widescreen.

“A former film critic, Ropert has written the screenplays for the films directed by actor-director Serge Bozon (Mods, La France). All of her scripts feature a slightly offbeat treatment of their subjects and dialogue that has a certain theatricality to it, as if each character had a background in oratory and psychology. But rather than sounding unnatural, the heightened language simply puts the characters and their situations under a magnifying glass, giving auds a closer look at their psychological makeup and the issues they struggle with.

“Head of the Wolberg family is Simon (Francois Damiens), the mayor of a town in the French Basque country. His wife Marianne (Valerie) and children, outgoing teenager Delphine (Leopoldine Serre) and silent kid Benjamin (Valentin Vigourt), all lead their own lives, which Simon finds hard to accept.

“During the preparations for the 18th birthday of Delphine, things slowly start to unravel. The first indication something is wrong is the presence of Marianne’s bohemian brother, Alexandre (Bozon), who hates the ordered life of his brother-in-law. Alexandre suggests to his sister to simply leave her hubby if she’s not happy — though in her mind perhaps she already has… As the incidents pile up and the cinematography grows increasingly darker, a complicated portrait of a family as a unit composed of individuals with different needs, desires and responsibilities comes into view.” – Variety

Sunday, Mar. 14 at 9:15pm – click here to purchase tickets

• Country France
• Language French
• Rating NR
• Year 2009
• Running Time 80 minutes
• Director Axelle Ropert

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