Agnès Jaoui’s comedy about the shortcomings of time dedicated to Jean-Pierre Bacri, a piano tuner who falls into crime, a zombie film or a romantic comedy… The cinema selection of Figaro.
The object of the crime - À voir
Dramatic comedy by Agnès Jaoui – 2h13
Agnès Jaoui takes us to the South. We playThe Marriage of Figaro  outdoors. Rehearsals are going well. The director is a model, or an influencer, or both. The auditions took place in Paris. This whole little troop moved to Provence, with their hopes and their grudges. The show is modern. Eye HaïdaraÂ, the last mistress of ceremonies in Cannes, plays Chérubin. This causes some misunderstandings between the performers. The Italian tenor is accused of having made an inappropriate gesture towards his partner. MeToo is coming onto the scene. The singer is ostracized. The revolt is brewing. Will the performances be canceled? General meetings, votes by show of hands, the arsenal is complete. Hannah, the singer (Jaoui himself), sighs. What a story! The penalty is perhaps a little heavy, no?
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In this comedy which describes the flaws of time, dedicated to the late Jean-Pierre Bacri, the director and actress shakes, provokes and irritates. This elegant entertainment has its share of seriousness. The director tackles a delicate subject. She walks on eggshells, one step forward, one step back. It’s called nuance. We’re witnessing the other side of the scene. The times are getting their due. Sometimes we’d think we were Anouilh who had subscribed to Mediapart. É. N.
The note of Figaro : 3/4
Also read
Our review of L’Objet du délÂ: Agnès Jaoui gives us the hell of a setting
The virtuoso – to see
Police officer Daniel Roher – 1h49
A pianist with perfect pitch, Nicky (Leo Woodall) can no longer play since he developed hyperacusis. His hearing is so sensitive that the slightest sound becomes painful. The prodigy converted to a more artisanal and thankless profession: piano tuner for conservatories and rich New Yorkers. One evening, to help out his boss Harry (Dustin Hoffman) who has forgotten the code to his safe, Nicky has the idea of using his hyperacusis to detect the clicks that announce the right combination. A few days later, while he is practicing on a piano in a beautiful villa, Nicky hears muffled noises which bother him. Arriving upstairs, members of security personnel try to open a safe with a blowtorch. Confoundingly naive, Nicky believes their explanations. One thing leads to another, Nicky will be recruited by this gang of crooked agents. Nicky falls into the depths of crime.
For his first fiction feature film, Canadian documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher, Oscar winner at the age of 29 for his portrait of the Russian opponent Navalny, surprises with his ease in moving from tenderness to violence, from the most trivial everyday life to the most suffocating suspense. C.J.
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The note of Figaro : 3/4
Also read
Our review of the Virtuoso: a robber without a false note
Colony – To see
Horror of Yeon Sang-ho – 2h02
While a scientific symposium is being held at the top of an ultra-modern tower in Seoul, a young scientist out of school releases a degenerate virus which transforms some of the people into zombies remotely controlled by a collective intelligence. Stuck with other survivors, a biologist and his ex-wife try to survive as the horror spreads inside the mall.
For this entertainment that is as terrifying as it is exhilarating, Yeon Sang-ho’s big idea is to have verticalized his playing field. Locked up at the top of a tower, his characters have no other way out than to fall. This simple change of axis is enough to renew the energy of the genre and to install an almost claustrophobic tension. As always with him, gender serves as a social revealer. Here, the zombies don’t just run after the living: they wander, in slimy clusters, in the shopping malls like emaciated consumers. O. D.
The note of Figaro : 3/4
Also read
Our review of Colony: a zombie film as scary as it is clever
Everything is great – avoid
Comedy by Patrick Cassir – 1h31
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The best scene from the film is in the trailer. Elie (Hakim Jemili) and Anaïs (Marie Colomb) meet on December 31 in a bar. Love at first sight between the tall, somewhat awkward boy and the charming mixologist who have nowhere to go for a feverish first night. The taxi driver, moved by the two homeless lovebirds, welcomes them into her home, a studio too small for an intimate relationship. The scene is well-dialogued, well-acted, well-paced. We want to believe it. And then nothing, or not much except Noémie Lvovsky in yet another role as a stifling mother, this time in remission from cancer, and Rudy Milstein as an incompetent but full of good will at home help. Elie hides his mother’s relapse from Anaïs, without us understanding why. Between seriousness and lightness, Patrick Cassir’s romantic comedy is too neutral to move. E.S.
La note du Figaro : 1/4
