Premiere:
“La Fille du RER“ by André Téchiné
November 27 and 29, 2010
Of all the filmmakers who inherited the legacy of the French New Wave, André Téchiné, along with Maurice Pialat, remained the most steadfast. Téchiné would not allow himself to be marginalized or pushed into the “art film” corner; instead he tried repeatedly – and often very successfully – to connect with the general moviegoing public in France. In spite of star-filled casts and influences from popular genres such as gangster films (Les Voleurs), melodramas (Rendez-vous), historical biopics (Les Sœurs Brontë) or coming-of-age dramas (Les Roseaux sauvages), Téchiné’s oeuvre has developed into a bracingly unsentimental and highly personal diagnosis of contemporary life in Europe – delivered with cinematic passion in each individual work.
Téchiné’s most recent film, starring Émilie Dequenne (Rosetta) and Catherine Deneuve, is a shining example of his mastery in fusing social observation and narrative drive. La Fille du RER (2009) tells the fact-based story of an aimless young woman who portrays herself as the victim of an (imaginary) anti-Semitic attack on a suburban RER express train outside of Paris. Téchiné knits together her search for a place in society with narrative strands from other classes and generations – a highly dynamic weave of (rollerskate, train, and car) movements, directed with tremendous visual flair.
