Catching the Latest French Wave

For those of us who have developed a special and habitual craving for the annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, there are consolations and teasers between each 10-day festival blast early in the year. Falling almost exactly halfway in the year between the mothership festival, there is The Wave Film Festival — the modest yet substantial mini-festival dedicated to the art of recent French cinema, returning to the Riviera with 11 films between July 12-18. Although there is always a place at the table for French cinema in SBIFF’s programing, this festival brings a broader and much-valued focus on the state of French film of recent vintage.

After going dark during COVID, last year saw the welcome resurgence of the “Wave,” ushered back to life by curator Stewart Short.

Short reports, “The main idea in putting together this lineup is to present a snapshot of the past year in French cinema, with works of various genres and subject matters that explore elements of French culture through distinct cinematic lenses and perspectives. This year’s lineup includes films that were prominently featured at this past year’s top film festivals … films that received some of the highest accolades in the French film industry with nominations and wins at this year’s César Awards, and films that have been celebrated by critics and audiences both in France and abroad.”

Friday night’s opener, for instance, is The Goldman Case, whose actor Arieh Worthalter earned the Best Actor César for his performance, while All Your Faces features the magnetic actress Adèle Exarchopoulos — a memorable presence in Blue is the Warmest Color, who won the Best Supporting Actress nod at the César Awards.

Closing out the festival is The Crime is Mine, the latest from prominent director François Ozon. This time out, he conjures up a fascinating and frothy ‘30s period piece with Hollywood/French crosstalk and cinematic winks galore — not to mention a juicy turn from Isabelle Huppert.

Other titles heading to the French-dressed Riviera in the next week: All to Play For, Banel & Adama, Daaaaaali!, The Dreamer, Les Indésirables, Mars Express, Out of Season, and Red Island.  

I was able to screen several films — essentially road-testing the fest — and came away with a desire to catch them all. The Crime is Mine is of special interest for film geeks, even if its dark comic spin doesn’t reach the peak of artistry in Ozon’s many films about social and sexual politics. Based on a French play which was made into two Hollywood films (True Confessions, 1937, and Cross My Heart, 1946), Ozon’s ultimately “women rule” tale involving crimes of passion and justice rerouted basks in references to the French cinema of Renoir and Truffaut and the Hollywood likes of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges, and Blake Edwards. In one sight-gag moment, a movie marquee advertises a French version of Billy Wilder’s Bad Seed. Say no more.

Two films take on reality-based subjects with style and emotional moxie: The Goldman Case tells the story of a revolutionary turned criminal defending himself against a false murder charge, with elements of racism (of the anti-Arab and anti-Semitic sort) and slippery truths emerging. The wild ride of a French courtroom drama setting is reminiscent of Anatomy of a Fall, another fact-finding and fact-fuzzing saga.

In All Your Faces, the reality factor concerns a French program known as “restorative justice,” accepted into the legal system since 2014, in which crime victims and convicts convene in an awareness-raising intervention process. Exarchopoulos’ role as a victim abused as a child by her brother is a thing of quiet power and subtle detail — an award-worthy performance.

Was Salvador Dalí a visionary, dream-tapping surrealist or a shameless huckster … or both? The question hums beneath the intriguing surfaces of Daaaaaali!, Quentin Dupieux’s aptly peculiar and Bunuel-ishly bizarre fictionalized tale about an aborted Dalí doc. Reflecting on his process of discovery in the “Wave” programming hot seat, Short says, “There never seems to be a shortage of high-quality French cinema to choose from. Programming for this festival is so enjoyable as it’s an opportunity to become immersed in the world of French cinema, and our goal with the festival is to provide our audience with that same opportunity to explore the world of contemporary French films.

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For more information and a complete schedule, visit sbiffriviera.com/wave.