This film was released 12th March 2010, and is no longer screening.

What starts as a tribute to a hero of the European art film becomes an affecting meditation on the pursuit of happiness in this hauntingly beautiful offering from writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve. Although the character’s called Gregoire, the shamblingly charismatic Louis-Do de Lencquesaing plays an unfailingly enthused, financially doomed producer obviously modelled on the late Humbert Balsan. For a while, we’re hooked by the film’s brutally honest depiction of the sharp end of independent cinema, but as worries begin to weigh more heavily, the focus shifts to the long-suffering wife (Alice Gautier) who’s obviously wondering, like us, whether this masculine rage to build a legacy is actually depriving her and her kids of much of a life in the meantime.

Hansen-Løve’s methods are subtle, but her sun-dappled visuals and seemingly low-key storytelling combine with the wholly believable performances to work their way under our skin, leaving us moved and perhaps reflecting on the balance in our own lives.

IFI IRISH SHORTS
This screening includes Jamie Hannigan’s IFB-funded animation The Boy with the Ever Open Jaw, a tale of a boy who gains wisdom as he tries to mend his broken heart. 3 minutes.Co-directed by Jamie Hannigan and Maeve Clancy.