Movie Review: De rouille et d'os ((Rust and Bone) 2012)

Life loves a tragedy

Alain is drifter with a young son who moves to the south of France to find work where he and his son Sam move in with his sister.  When Alain encounters Stephanie, a former orca trainer who had a serious accident, they begin a relationship which is not easily defined.  I love Marion Cotillard, but this is the first French film that I've ever seen her in. She is great actress to watch in English language roles, but in her native French, she really comes alive.  Seeing her in this film is akin to me seeing Antonio Banderas in La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In) or Javier Bardem in Biutiful.  The truly surreal thing about watching this film is that the night before I had watched the documentary Blackfish.  Then I watched this one, not knowing that Cotillard's character in this film was once an orca trainer whose life was rocked by an accident like the one's portrayed in that documentary.  Crazy!

De rouille et d'os gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.   

Director: Jacques Audiard
Writer: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Metacritic: 73%

Mesrine: L'Instinct de mort (2008)

Dehors ou mort!

When Jacques Mesrine returns home from the army to start a new life, he falls in with some unsavory characters.  Then he becomes an unsavory character as well - a murderer, bank robber, and fugitive from the law.  Part one of a 2-part story, this film is well written, beautifully shot and powerfully acted.  Plus I am a big fan of Vincent Cassell (Black Swan, Eastern Promises).  He is a great actor, but came to life in this role in a way I'd never seen him come alive before.  Fans of films based on true stories and gangster movies will love this one.  I can't wait to see part 2, Mesrine: L'ennemi public no. 1.

Mesrine: L'Instinct de mort gagne 4 de 5 Poblanos!

Director: Jean-François Richet
Writer: Abdel Raouf Dafri
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Elena Anaya, (The Skin I Live In (2011)and Gérard Depardieu
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Metacritic: 71 out of 100

La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In) 2011

Vengeance is mine?
Roberto is a well known, well respected surgeon with a haunted past.  His life has taken tragic turns so he throws himself into his cutting edge work.  Vera, one of Roberto's patients, is held captive by him in his home.  Told in a dual timeline form, this narrative weaves from present to past and back to the present as we learn how Vera and Roberto ended with their lives thus entwined. This is my first time seeing Banderas in a Spanish language film and his performance makes me like and respect him much more than before.  Very well told and extremely intriguing, this film is worth a watch. 

La piel que habito gets 4 out of 5 Poblanos!

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Writer: Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya and Jan Cornet
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Metacritic: 70 out of 100