François Girard Movies
A filmmaker armed with both intelligence and unique vision, French-Canadian writer/director Francois Girard managed to stake a claim for himself on the map of international cinema with only a handful of credits to his name. Girard, who was born in St-Felicien, Quebec, in 1963, started his career as a video artist, and eventually founded a company that became, in his words, his "film school" where he worked on experimental projects like architecture and dance films, as well as short dramas.In 1990, Girard made his feature-film debut with Cargo, a French-language drama that was unable to get distribution outside of Quebec. Four years later, the director had his international breakthrough with Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, which he also co-wrote with Don McKellar. Its structure inspired by Gould's famous rendition of the "Goldberg Variations," the film was heralded as a visionary take on the life of the iconoclastic pianist that skillfully combined fact and fiction. It earned a score of Genies -- Canada's equivalent of the Oscar -- as well as particular acclaim for actor Colm Feore's title performance.
Girard, Feore, and McKellar again collaborated on The Red Violin (1998), Girard's most anticipated project to date. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as a violin expert who tries to establish the authenticity of the titular violin, the film, which spans 300 years and several narratives, manages to interweave music, drama, and linear fragmentation in the same manner as its predecessor. Although it received a mixed reception stateside, The Red Violin proved to be a great critical success in Canada, where it garnered eight Genies, including one for Best Achievement in Direction.
For his next project, Girard continued to use film as a means of exploring music. As the director of one segment of the six-part Canadian TV series Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach (1998), Girard captured the famed cellist in a performance of one of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. The segment, entitled "The Sound of Carceri," examined the relationship between music and architecture by having Ma perform in a virtual prison based on the work of the architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2008
A man slowly learns his new friend is no friend at all in this psychological thriller from France. Georges Clou (Sergi Lopez) seemingly leads a charmed life; he has a beautiful and loving wife, Helen (Nathalie Richard) and he has a fine home in an exclusive gated community, away from the growing chaos of the cities. There are occasional signs that not all is well, most of which come from their teenage son Tony (Laurent Delbecque), who is withdrawn and often seems to be the victim of some sort of violence. But for the most part Georges is a happy man when Paul Marteau (Jean-Marc Barr) moves into the neighborhood. Paul is a wealthy but jaded man who strikes up a friendship with Georges at a housewarming party, even though he alienates many of his new neighbors. Beneath Paul's friendly surface is a bitter, angry man who loathes the complacent suburbanites around them; he wants to give them a harsh dose of unpleasant reality, and Paul has chosen Georges to receive his first lesson. Adapted from John Cheever's novel Bullet Park, Parc received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergi López, Nathalie Richard, (more)
Francois Girard's adaptation of Alessandro Baricco's novel Silk stars Michael Pitt as a young Frenchman who travels to Japan at the request of a wealthy silkworm magnate who asks him to smuggle back some new worms. The mission succeeds, and this allows the man to live in great comfort with his wife (Keira Knightley). After a few years, they are unable to conceive a child, a situation that leads to the man taking on a lover during his subsequent visits to Japan. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, (more)
- 2000
Christophe Blanc directs his nuanced character study of a nurse, wife, and mother of three who is on the verge of a breakdown. After learning that her husband of 15 years is having an affair with his young slatternly secretary, Francoise (Agnes Jaoui) throws her spouse out on his ear and starts frequenting seedy bars. As she slowly disconnects from her job and her children, she starts hanging out at boxing rings, having cheap and easy sex. and eventually ending up in the same hospital where she works. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agnès Jaoui, Serge Riaboukine, (more)
Francois Girard directed this drama tracing the history of a musical instrument through five countries and three centuries. In 1681, to keep the spirit of his wife alive, an Italian paints the violin with a red varnish made from her blood. It is later found in the Austrian Alps when a prodigy gives a performance in the court of Vienna in 1792. Taken by gypsies, the instrument is acquired by a Dionysian composer. After a journey by boat to China in 1966, it is hidden during the Cultural Revolution. In contemporary Canada, it is spotted at an auction house by a violin expert (Samuel L. Jackson) who becomes obsessed with it. Scripted by Girard and Don McKellar. Filmed on a $10 million budget in Montreal, China, Italy, Austria, and Oxford. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Don McKellar, (more)
- 1997
Violin virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma has entertained audiences around the world with his extraordinary talents. This is the second of six Inspired by Bach programs that blends the music against a story of a short film. In this video the setting is Giovanni Piranesi's prison etchings to address this master architect's unfilled dreams, using vivid imaginary and three-dimensional computer graphics under Francois Girard's talented hand. This unusual musical video addresses Yo-Yo Ma's interpretations, imagination, and thoughts upon the this Bach selection against the etchings, hoping to pose questions about the nature of one's perception and experiences. Mainly, this video brings together various mediums to explore musical ideas against the life of one man's experiences. ~ Forrest Spencer, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yo-Yo Ma
- 1994
- NR
The highly acclaimed and famously eccentric classical pianist Glenn Gould is the subject of this idiosyncratic film portrait. As the title suggests, Gould's life is explored through a series of thirty-two self-contained but interrelated vignettes, a structure inspired by Bach's "Goldberg Variations," the compositions that were the basis for one of Gould's most famous recordings. Fictional recreations, many starring an excellent Colm Feore as Gould, follow the musician from his precocious childhood to his early death at the age of fifty. Juicy biographical details like a surprising early retirement from public performance and an addiction to prescription drugs are featured prominently, but equal attention is paid to Gould's challenging theoretical ideas. Director Francois Girard refuses to provide easy explanations for the pianist's quirks, instead using his unconventional structure to provide great insight while suggesting the real Gould remains essentially unknowable. Especially interesting is the film's mix of dramatization and documentary, as it juxtaposes its fictional recreations with actual interviews with Gould's friends and associates. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colm Feore, Gale Garnett, (more)
- 1990
In this enigmatic melodrama, a father, his daughter, and her lover are all out at sea in a small sailboat for an pleasurable cruise. The daughter Alice is earnestly telling her father that he should not be so serious, and should enjoy life a little more. Before long, a serious storm has blown up out of nowhere, and Alice is swept overboard. Alice's lover impetuously dives overboard to try and find her. Later, the father is rescued by a cargo ship. In one of the two endings included in the story, the two lovers were also picked up by the cargo ship. Relieved, the old man decides to take a cruise on the ship rather than returning to his job. The film's other ending is not so benign. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Dumont, Genevieve Rioux, (more)
