French Film Festival = Oh La La

July 20, 2008 at 9:45 pm 1 comment

Sometimes I feel like French films get unwarranted credit for being “artsy” just because they have subtitles. There’s just something about having to read the words on the bottom of the screen that lends artistic credibility to a film. Maybe it’s because you can’t actually watch the film if you’re reading the whole time.

It’s possible that the average French film, lauded as an amazing artistic achievement, would come across as just another “Daddy Day Care” if you understood French. Conversely, if you threw some subtitles into it, maybe “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” would look like a Truffaut masterpiece. Try turning the closed captioning on next time you watch some brainless American talking animal film and see if it classes it up any.

I feel the same way about French food. When the Barefoot Contessa insists that the best French onion soup is available only in Paris, what is it that makes her think the onions know where they are?

At least, that’s what the logical side of me thinks. In reality, I’m just like everybody else and I think French films are fantastic and French onion soup tastes best under the lights in the Quartier Latin.

That’s why I jumped at the chance to attend the opening reception for the 7th annual Sacramento French Film Festival at the Crest Theatre.

When you enter the Crest you are greeted by this sign:

Sure enough, as soon as I walked in, I no longer cared to be sober. I positioned myself strategically between the wine bar and the cheese table and began some serious people watching. One of the people I watched was this guy:

Sadly, he turned out to not be very amusing. Don’t wear suspenders and a fake (I hope) gun, if you’re not going to be entertaining.

Then I met the model for the poster:

Much more amusing.

At this point I’d like to give a shout out to my beautiful and understanding girlfriend. Hi Sweetie!

Also, I need to stop giving the “thumbs up” sign every time somebody snaps a picture of me.

I was amazed at how many French people were there. Maybe they were just faking because of the spirit of the festival, but they had me fooled. There were accents, berets, moustaches and even one guy with a too-tight shirt which read “France.” My guess is that, in France, everyone is wearing those.

Or maybe that guy just has a shirt for wherever he happens to be. I can picture him preparing to go buy groceries: “Honey, where’s my shirt that says ‘Safeway’?” Just kidding, he doesn’t have a “honey.”

Anyhow, it was a great party. The aforementioned wine and cheese was fantastic and I had like 6 cups of gazpacho…which I don’t think is french, but whatever.

The reception kicks off two full weekends of French fun. The festival features recent french hits and a selection of classics. I’m looking forward to “The Red Balloon” and “400 Blows” which I’m sure is better than “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” with or without subtitles.

Opening night’s feature was “OSS 117: Le Caire nid d’espions (Nest of Spies)” a popular French spy comedy which, had I stayed around and watched it, I’m sure I would have enjoyed very much.

At this point, you’ve already missed weekend #1, but this upcoming weekend has plenty to offer. Check out the website for details.

Au revoir!

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1. Damn Dirty Hippie | July 31, 2008 at 1:12 am

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