“Forever Young” (“Les Amandiers”): Film Review | skin 2022

Patrice Chero diligently believed in actors. The performances were the production’s aorta, the source of its life. existence of reason. Guided by this principle, Chero, the mythical French director who died in 2013, used his plays and films to stir up, to fight against, the mystical relationship between actors and their characters.

His most rigorous application of this philosophy may have been during his directing years in Nanterre, France, at the Teatre des Amandiers, where he founded an acting school and a film studio. Appointed in 1982, Chero spent ten years at Amantier, assembling a cast. He was an inflammable figure; His temper flared easily, his demands surprisingly rigid. But the school was an unparalleled playground for beginners. There they could, not only learn, the principles of their craft.

Such an intense atmosphere inspires rumors of mythical proportions. Inside Forever YoungItalian-French actress Valeria Bruni Tedeschi explores the Cherro Amandie years. As with his previous character as director (this is his fifth), his interest in the subject is driven by personal significance: Bruni Tedeschi was a student at the exclusive school and his first role was in the 1987 drama Shero. hotel in franceWhich premiered at this festival.

But proximity is a double-edged sword when it comes to reflection. How to look back so as not to fall into the trap of nostalgia or illegal dishonesty? Forever Young Involuntarily studying these questions. It’s a sweet but strangely cautious film, fueled by the friction between competing demands: the lure of sad memories and the rigor of difficult judgments.

Bruni Tedeschi’s film tells the story of a group of Amandier students in the late 1980s. They are a stylish group who want to prove themselves to Chero and to each other. It doesn’t take long for them to realize that their time at this school will be more than just a competition for roles or a test of endurance for their whimsical driving humor. Like the characters in Donna Tart’s novel. secret StoryThey entered an intimate world, a cult society.

The film opens with the first round of tired audiences, with a quick montage of hopeful youngsters throwing their lines, throwing bodies, and getting involved on the chaotic level of theater. The instructors seated across from them were not impressed. Chero (Louis Garrel) is not present. According to assistant director Pierre Romance (Micha Lescott), he likes to be low-key.

At the end of the test, each student must answer a question: why theater? Reading is one of the film’s persistent themes. Some laid bare their tortured souls; Others look for sophistication or humor. The answers are colorful, fascinating, exciting. This movie isn’t just about a specific group; This also applies to acting.

and specifically that That’s it Temporary? Is this the misguided pursuit of madness, as one of the characters says at the beginning? Is this an exercise in vanity? An attempt to maintain the viability of youth? Or is it more sentimental? Really noble? Bruni Tedeschi, who co-wrote her screenplay with Naomi Lvowski and Agnes de Sassi, enthusiastically poses these existential questions through a group of inexperienced Thespians.

Stella, a talented, loyal and wealthy young woman played by Nadia Tereskevich, is the first person we meet. Her skills are evident from the start and her enthusiasm. He’s younger than he looks with interest in a world that borders on naivety. After listening, he awkwardly goes to the bathroom, where he meets Adele (Clara Bretto), a cheerful and impulsive redhead.

They immediately become friends and form a bond that I wish there was more to play with throughout the movie. They meet the rest of the gang on the day of the reception. This is a non-ceremonial event where students head to the main entrance of Amantier, where a list of 12 names is attached to the door. The stage, like the audience, is full of drama and emotion. The students scream at being accepted and burst into tears of rejection. Some desperately chase the instructors and ask for another chance.

But decisions are final. The selected class includes Stella and Adele; Etienne (Sophian Benasser), a gifted drug addict who suffers from a painful childhood; Frank (Noham Ege), a hopeless romantic with babies on the way; And Camille (Alexia Chardari), a pregnant student who decided not to sacrifice her dreams for motherhood.

The cohort fills up quickly. They have fun together, cry, have sex, laugh and panic. The performers, assembled by Bruni Tedeschi, are a band of conquerors who bring their amply painted characters to impressive life. Even the smaller figures are taken seriously, as if these performances speak directly to Chero’s philosophy.

A field trip to New York immerses students in the world of modern acting and excites them with a sense of what’s possible in acting. They are still forced to face the question: Why theater? The answers to this question change as students delve deeper into their craft and its costs.

This interesting study is, to some extent, unfortunately, only a small part of the narrative. in the core Forever Young This is a love story between a naive Stella and a hardworking and troubled Etienne. Their characters aren’t particularly distinctive, but Tereskevich and Benasser are excellent performers who handle the material with confidence. The duo fight, distance and engage at breakneck speed; Director of photography Julien Poupard prefers close-ups, giving these scenes a strangely intimate relationship. The relationship cliché is doomed from the start, though there’s certainly something appealing about watching a train wreck.

But emotion is hard to keep up, and when Stella and Etienne go down a familiar romantic path, the story slows down and they enjoy it. Other story points shed some light: the ambitions of a pregnant student, someone else’s antagonistic relationship with Chero, the looming AIDS crisis, but not enough time was devoted to making a significant investment.

There is also a lack of sophistication, which after a certain period starts to grind. The constant telegraph, whether Popupard’s excellent camera or script, indicates, at least to this critic, a strange lack of confidence in the spectator’s ability to narrate.

Forever Young It’s more powerful when it comes to reading why theater And he establishes chero relationships with his students. In these scenes, the director’s process takes center stage, raising questions about the value of his methods. At any time Forever Young Shift focus from Etienne and Stella to Chekhov’s classy production. PlatonovIt looks sharper, newer with its views and perspective.

Rehearsals are interrupted when students and chero succeed (or fail) to increase stress and tension levels. A sense of community emerges under Chero’s suffocating rule. Her instructions are complicated and precise, her mood unpredictable. Garell is perfect as a flawed director, teasing a man whose perfectionism obsessively masks cruel behavior.

when is this Forever Young It goes beyond the familiar melodrama of young love, starting in more authentic territory: the still-incomprehensible demands of the craft and the fine line between life and acting.