As far back as his 1996 short, “A Summer Dress,” in which a gay man has sex with a woman and enjoys wearing her clothes, French writer-director François Ozon (“Swimming Pool,” “8 Women”) has explored gender and sexual fluidity in his films. So it’s not a surprise to find him examining transgenderism in his latest, “The New Girlfriend.” What is surprising is his mealy-mouthed approach, which may stem from the antecedent material, a chilly 1985 Edgar Award-winning short story by British mystery writer Ruth Rendell. The LGBT movement has made almost incalculable progress in the last thirty years and, in her writing, Rendell (who died last spring) was hardly awash in sympathy for her fellow humans even when they did cleave to convention. Still, Ozon’s flair for melodrama – an out-of-fashion genre that doesn’t receive its due – as well as his careful treatment of the complexity of female friendship saves this from being a purely nasty piece of work. Continue Reading →
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Q&A: Patricia Clarkson
With her fog-horn voice and barely contained mischief, the luminous Patricia Clarkson is the sort of movie star who wows people who claim not to be wowed by movie stars. When I met her at the Hamptons International Film Festival, she was so funny, generous, and clever that I pounced at the recent opportunity to interview her about “Learning to Drive,” the Isabel Coixet-helmed adaptation of the eponymous Katha Pollitt essay. In it, Clarkson plays New York City book critic Wendy, who is newly on her own as her husband (Jake Weber) has left her and her daughter (Grace Gummer) has moved to a Vermont commune. A lifelong city kid, Wendy realizes she needs to learn to drive if she’s ever going to see her daughter again, so she enlists the services of Darwan (Ben Kingsley), a Sikh immigrant who drives a taxi by night and teaches driving by day. “Learning to Drive” is currently in theaters – and “Maze Runner: Scorch Trials,” in which Clarkson also appears, will open Friday.
Although Clarkson’s publicist refers to her as Patty, I was too awed to use anything but the actress’s full name in audible italics whenever addressing her directly. It seemed appropriate; Clarkson speaks in audible italics as well – a raspy patois of spoken-word poetry and bawdy, feminist delight.
PATRICIA CLARKSON: I think we met at a backyard austere mansion party. It was very Hamptons.
LISA ROSMAN: We did, Patricia Clarkson! I can’t believe you remember! You were there for “Learning to Drive,” actually. [The film did the festival circuit last year.]
PC: Oh my god! I was just delirious. I mean, can you believe the roster of that film? There were so many incredible women involved. I have had many, many photos taken of me in my life but one from a screening of this film takes the cake. The women! I am with Katha Pollitt, [screenwriter] Sarah Kernochan, Isabel Coixet, [producer] Dana Friedman, and [editor] Thelma Schoonmaker. I can’t believe Thelma came on board! She said, ”Okay, I’ll take a break from working with Marty [Scorsese] and edit this film,” because she knew it was a great project. Continue Reading →
Natural, Formal: ‘Breathe’
There may be no human bond more powerful than the friendship between two teenage girls – which means, by the transitive property of adolescent hormones, that there may be nothing more powerfully destructive than the friendship between two teenaged girls. In the French-language feature “Breathe,” an adaptation of Anne-Sophie Brasme’s young adult novel, actress-turned-director Mélanie Laurent describes one of these relationships with a brush that, appropriately enough, is as beautiful as it is harrowing.
Charlie (Josephine Japy) is not having an easy time of it. Lovely in a mousy way, she seethes with a cringing resentment, especially when her parents – who are on the verge of breaking up due to her father’s infidelities – go at it while she bleakly maws her breakfast cereal. In other words, she’s ripe for an experience that will obliterate everything else. Instead of drugs or an eating disorder, she discovers honey-haired Sarah (Lou De Laage), a new girl in her class who exudes an enticingly subversive glamour. Wielding cigarettes and a perfect pout, Sarah announces that she’s moved back to France because Nigeria, where her mother still works for an NGO, has grown too dangerous. Continue Reading →