(La) Gestation

You'd think after two decades of increasingly rabid moviegoing and several years of writing about movies, I would get used to the elephantine gestation period of the foreign-language film. From initial release in their home country to touring with the festival circuit to American release. It's so long. I can never wrap my head around it in a culture that's otherwise all about speed. Why do distributors consistently ignore the possible benefits of festival buzz and word of mouth --only to send the films out one sometimes two years later when few people remember the films existed at all?

Last weekend I was dreaming it forward about this coming October's New York Film Festival and then this trailer popped up on my radar. A Girl Cut in Two, a blackly comic love triangle from septugenarian Claude Chabrol, was one of the yummiest entries at last year's NYFF and it's finally seeing US release in mid August. I hope vous will see it.



Benôit Magimel, who you'll remember as Isabelle Huppert's lover in The Piano Teacher is a major thrill as a wealthy gadabout and his designer clothes are so natty. Ludivine Sagnier continues to be the most succulent dish in French movies --love that girl. The film might be up for some filmbitch awards at year's end now that it's going theatrical. You never know. Wheeeee or should I see "oui". A Girl Cut in Two premiered in Paris last August but never mind that. If you care they're finally giving you a chance to see it in America. Or at least in NYC.