From an incendiary and timely true story ripped to a screwball international mystery and a tale of family tradition and trauma, New Times has dissected the lineup to share some insight on what to see and what to skip.
The Goldman Case
From Alice Diop's meditative Saint Omer to Justine Triet's taut Anatomy of a Fall, the French courtroom drama is having a moment. Now, Cédric Kahn's The Goldman Case can be added to the emerging trend. While all these films take advantage of the theatricality of the French judicial system, The Goldman Case ups the ante by bringing to screen one of the most incendiary trials in French history. Perhaps lesser known outside of France, the film meticulously covers the 1976 retrial of French left-wing revolutionary Pierre Goldman.The film starts after Goldman's first trial, his published response, Obscure Memories of a Polish Jew Born in France, which, along with inconsistencies in the initial trial, led to an appeal. In contrast to the theatrics of French court, to which Goldman was morally opposed, the film limits nearly all its action to the courtroom with a text by Nathalie Herzberg and Kahn that feels ripped from the stenographer's transcription. From testimony to testimony, the trial unearths the rot of systemic racism and police brutality in French society.
Despite, or because of, Khan's austere approach, The Goldman Case is an edge-of-you-seat nail-biter that brings history alive. While the strict formalism might be off-putting to some, the tremendous contributions from Kahn's collaborators make the film an immersive experience. First and foremost, Arieh Worthalter's riveting and ferocious performance parallels Goldman's charismatic allure that made him such a lightning rod at the time. The combined efforts of Patrick Ghiringhelli's richly textured cinematography and the detailed production and costume designs of Guillaume Deviercy and Alice Cambournac transport the camera to 1976 with astounding authenticity. Finally, editor Yann Dedet takes the claustrophobic setting and breaks it open with a thrilling barrage of glances, accusations, and rebuttals. Beyond the exquisite crafts, it's the film's autopsy of post-1968 politics exposing racial injustice, the devastation of colonialism, and what it means to be disconnected from your homeland that lasts well beyond the verdict and reflects the present day. 8:30 p.m. Monday, January 15, at Miami Theater Center, 9806 NE Second Ave, Miami Shores; and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 24, at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center, 18900 NE 25th Ave., Miami.
Sandrine Kiberlain and Vincent Lacoste star in Green Perfume, a film with an intriguing premise that fails to deliver.
Miami Jewish Film Festival photo
Green Perfume
Green Perfume, the latest concoction of director Nicolas Parsier, has top notes of screwball comedy combined with base notes of political intrigue, but ultimately, it smells like nothing. Engineered in the vein of The 39 Steps or North by Northwest, Parsier's film fails to blend the necessary elements of comedy, suspense, and romance that made those Hitchcock films classics. Not without its merits, Green Perfume does not linger beyond the end credits.Similar to the most recent season of Only Murders in the Building, the film begins with an onstage murder and a man's last words, "green perfume." A cross-continental mystery unfurls when Martin (Vincent Lacoste), a befuddled member of the theater troupe, with the aid of Claire (Sandrine Kiberlain), a neurotic comic book artist, attempts to solve the mystery of the green perfume. The duo stumbles their way through political intrigue from Paris to Brussels to Budapest, exposing a global conspiracy along the way. The classic Hitchcock wrong-man, Martin must prove his innocence and possibly save the world. On paper, it's an intriguing premise but fails to deliver.
Everything in the film, from the comedy, the politics, and the ill-conceived romance, is far too lackadaisical for any excitement or investment. There is always the scent of something interesting, with its interest in the dangers of misinformation and contemporary penchants for conspiracy; if only Parsier would substitute subtlety for something consequential. Green Perfume maintains a certain je ne sais quoi that keeps you looking around each corner, but you are always left wanting a bigger surprise with each twist and turn. 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 16, at Miami Theater Center, 9806 NE Second Ave, Miami Shores; and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 23 at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave, Coral Gables. Streaming online January 17-24.
Seven Blessings
Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina begins with the famous line, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Seven Blessings could start the same way. Instead, at first glance, the film appears like Jewish My Big Fat Greek Wedding before unveiling an engrossing tragic-comedy about long-festering family betrayals and resentments.Director Ayelet Meahemi and star/co-writer Reymond Amsalem use the Sheva Brachot, literally the seven blessings, as a fascinating framework for their film. Set in the weeklong celebration following a wedding, Seven Blessing unfolds through a gauntlet of tense family dinners ranging from hilarious to horrific. What is meant to celebrate the new union of Marie (Amsalem) and Dan (Eran Mor) devolves into an excavation of family trauma from Marie's childhood. Each dinner exposes a new layer of hurt feelings and misunderstandings that threaten to destroy the family.
Perhaps the festival's most-awarded film, Seven Blessings earned a near record-making ten Ophirs, the Israeli Oscars, including Best Film, Director, and Actress, as well as becoming the Israeli Oscar submission this year. It is an impressive film, with the filmmakers and ensemble cast navigating a constant wave of tradition, trauma, and catharsis with great aplomb. Authentic to many family dinners, Seven Blessings can be challenging to sit through, but you'll be glad you stayed. 5:30 p.m. Sunday, January 14, at the Hub at Temple Beth Am, 5950 N. Kendall Dr., Pinecrest; and 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 23, at Miami Theater Center, 9806 NE Second Ave, Miami Shores.
Miami Jewish Film Festival. Thursday, January 11, through Thursday, January 25, at various locations; miamijewishfilmfestival.org.
