aixcentric

…which ends tomorrow at 11:30.   I have only just caught up with this film which I found to be amusing, intriguing, moving in equal measures.  Holy Lands tells the story of an Ashkenazi Jewish American cardiologist who leaves everything behind to become a pig farmer in Israel.

Harry, played by James Caan, has to contend with the local rabbi (a brilliant Tom Hollander), his ex-wife in NYC played by Rosanna Arquette, and his grown-up son and daughter.  Accordingly it switches between action in Israel and America in a fast-moving narrative which nevertheless has lyrical passages illustrating the relationships between the characters. Great writing and direction from Amanda Sthers.

It has been released here in France but I can’t find dates for UK or US – I hope it does get a wider release as it is a fine film. Catch it tomorrow morning at the Cézanne in Aix, or at Cinema Prado Marseille.

I also enjoyed Green Book which, unlike Holy Lands, has had a huge launch with several awards in the bag already for the film itself and the principal actors.

It’s based on the real-life Dr Don Shirley who was a world-class African-American pianist, about to embark on a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. In need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Tony Lip, a tough-talking bouncer from an Italian-American neighbourhood in the Bronx.  The Green Book was actually a guide for black people, during the 60s, to find places where they would be allowed to stay or eat.

So it’s a road-movie, and true to genre we know that they will overcome obstacles en route and differences of character too, but end up bonding while learning from each other.

It can be seen as predictable and uncomplicated, but as Viggo Mortensen said in an interview in The Sunday Times, that they were aiming at a very wide public…’conservative families in small towns across America will get something from it’.  It certainly brings it home how difficult things were, so very recently. Sadly, as so often with films based on true stories, the project is  mired in controversy, with the Shirley family calling it a ‘symphony of lies’.

It’s been nominated for Oscars so it will be interesting to see how it fares.  Certainly when I saw it yesterday, the large audience at the Cézanne gave it loud applause at the end – something I don’t remember seeing before.

Continues at the Cézanne in VO and VF.