Eiffel ★★★
BIOGRAPHY (2021)
Directed by: Martin Bourboulon
InterpretationsCast: Romain Durie, Emma McKay, Armand Boulanger

The man behind one of the most famous architectures of contemporary culture is taking us on a tour of a film by Frenchman Martine Bourboulon that hits theaters this week. We are in 1886 and the already famous engineer Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) intends to work on the Paris Metro project, but he is being pressured by the French government to build a more spectacular monument, on the occasion of the 1889 World’s Fair, to be held in the city . The idea of ​​a huge metal tower is born, at the same time, an old love passion returns to Eiffel’s life, which threatens to turn everything upside down.

Bourboulon puts on a rather academic film that nevertheless manages to avoid the triviality of a mere biography, thanks in large part to the touching story hidden within. The romance between Eiffel and young Adrienne (played by Emma McKay from the television series Sex Education) begins in the countryside of Bordeaux and continues, despite hardships, decades later in modernist Paris. In general, the story here looks like a race, on the one hand, against the problems posed by a grandiose work, and on the other hand, against the conventions of that time that stand in the way of love.

Last summer ★★★
DRAMA (2021)
Director: Antonetta Alamat Kusijanovich
InterpretationsCast: Gracia Filipovic, Leon Luchev, Danica Kurcic

The Croatian film, which won the Camera d’Or at Cannes, is a sophisticated family drama that even has Martin Scorsese’s signature in the production. The main character here is Julia, a teenager who lives with her overbearing father and condescending mother on an island off the coast of Dalmatia. When a rich old friend visits to discuss a deal that could change their lives, the downtrodden girl finds an excuse to start a “revolution” in search of freedom.

Kusijanovic shows that she has a really great cinematic eye as she manages to create an (almost) thriller vibe against the backdrop of a Mediterranean seascape. The threat here is personified in the image of the father, who has a peculiar love-hate relationship with both his daughter and his wife; mistreatment will elicit a reaction from the former with anguish of liberation similar to the bite of a myrtle (Murina). ), a term that is also the film’s original title.

Ends ★★ ½
THRILLER (2022)
Directed by: Giordano Genderlini
InterpretationsCast: Antonio de la Torre, Olivier Gourmet, Marine Bakt

The Franco-Spanish production gives us a stormy police thriller, in which, however, the protagonist is an illegal immigrant. Antonio de la Torre (“Little Island”), one of Spain’s greatest contemporary actors, plays Leo Castaneda, a Brussels metro driver who is horrified one night to see his long-separated son throw himself onto the tracks in front of him. When he learns that the young man was originally involved in the bloody robbery, he sets out to discover the accomplices he believes are responsible. At the same time, the police are on his trail, trying to solve the case.

The Chilean Giordano Genderlini orchestrates the thriller with fast rhythms and twists, which, however, happen somewhat hastily and without much explanation for the viewer. On the contrary, Antonio de la Torre is once again magnificent, even as… an action hero in polished, true, action scenes, his shabby figure is somewhat reminiscent of Liam Neeson in the corresponding Hollywood revenge films.