France,
2002, 112 min
Shown in 2004
CREDITS
- dir
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Guillaume Canet
- prod
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Alain Attal
- scr
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Guillaume Canet, Philippe Lefebvre
- cam
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Christophe Offenstein
- editor
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Stratos Gabrielios
- mus
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Sinclair
- cast
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François Berléand, Guillaume Canet, Diane Kruger, Philippe Lefebvre
- source
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LTC. FAX: 33-1-49-11-11-67.
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FILM POSTER
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COMMENTS
Guillaume Canet in person.
OTHER
Guillame Canet may be known to American audiences for his performance as Leonardo DiCaprio’s rival in Danny Boyle’s The Beach, but Canet works on both sides of the camera for Mon Idole, his outrageous debut feature. Employing a stylistically diverse approach that includes vibrant animation sequences and an audacious visual style, the French-born Canet creates a vicious satire of reality TV, its creators and a culture that celebrates humiliation. Bastien is an ambitious production assistant for the brutal reality show "Take Out the Tissues." Undercut by the show’s narcissistic and abusive host, Bastien is forced to take his idea for a new show directly to hard-driving middle-aged producer Jean-Louis Broustal. Faced with a deadline from the network and problems with his proposal, Bastien allows himself to be spirited away by Bourstal and his beautiful wife Clara to the producer’s country retreat. But what starts out as a working weekend turns into a decathlon of degradation as Bastien discovers that his new job requires him to entertain more than the TV audience. Nominated for two César awards for best leading actor (Berléand) and best first film, Mon Idole examines the tension between shock TV and the shocking behavior of its creators.
—Aaron Lazenby
FACTOID #97
Actor Franchot Tone, the former husband of Joan Crawford, was the master of ceremonies at the first festival in 1957.
