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Mezzanine is thrilled to bring director Arnaud Desplechin to Los Angeles in person for a two-night residency. We will be screening his newly restored debut and a carte-blanche selection by the filmmaker, followed by the U.S. premiere of his new Philip Roth adaptation Deception.

Arnaud Desplechin presents: La vie de morts (1991) + Petite conversation familiale (2001)

March 3, 7:30 PM

2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057

 

Followed by a conversation with Arnaud Desplechin

 

La vie des morts (The Life of the Dead)

directed by Arnaud Desplechin

1991, France, 54m, DCP

 

Winner of the Prix Jean Vigo for debut short film— though its medium-length prevented it from getting a release stateside—Desplechin’s first film follows a large extended family running in the Lille countryside following the suicide attempt of their cousin. All of the hallmarks of Desplechin’s style—the vivid sense of character, the high-wire balance of dense interpersonal relationships and their related anxieties, and stirring literary allusions—were already on display in this debut, which kicked off a string of 1990s masterworks. Featuring an ensemble of many who would continue to work with the filmmaker, including Emmanuelle Devos and Marianne Denicourt.

 

Los Angeles premiere of the digital restoration from Why Not Productions

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Official Selection: Cannes Film Festival, 1991

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“For both its rarity and its painfully resonant command of mood, ranks among the highest priorities in [Desplechin’s filmography]…originates signature images from the Desplechin to come: […] dining room gatherings quaking with emotional turbulence…a delicately scattering camera pinned to the movements of a large family sharing intimate spaces...all cyclical, rotating activities that add up to a moving-diorama perspective on the tumult of family life.” -Danny King, The Village Voice

 

followed by:

 

Petite conversation familiale (A Little Family Conversation)

directed by Hélène Lapiower

2000, France, 67m, digital

 

Never before screened in the U.S., this tender documentary portrait is the sole directorial effort by Belgian actress Hélène Lapiower, who appeared in Desplechin’s My Sex Life, and tragically passed away from cancer in 2002. Shot over the course of seven years, Lapiower’s project begins as an intimate chronicle of her Jewish family, who immigrated to Brussels from Poland decades before, and transforms into a complex study of generational divide and questions of identity.

 

"When I began filming my family, I wanted to preserve images of my own world, which seemed to be slipping from grasp. A particular Jewish world on the brink of extinction, like many such worlds. I also wanted to create a link between two worlds: me, the actress in Paris, in mine; and my family, working-class Polish Jewish immigrants, in theirs. The typical immigrant dilemma: you’re suffocated if you stay within the family; but you’re an exile in the outside world… Today I realize exactly what sort of film I’ve made. The burning question happened all by itself: At what point has my generation, and me along with it, been deeply affected by the weight of 'history'? Did these great values of openness which had been passed down to us – and which are even drawn from the history of Jewish persecution – carry within them a contradiction which lead to the breakdown of Jewish identity? My film centers around this breakdown, full of rips and tears, and what is left of our identity. What will become of it all? Should something be left of it? And what exactly is 'it all?'" -Hélene Lapiower

 

In French, Yiddish and English with English subtitles

Arnaud Desplechin presents: Deception (Tromperie)

March 4, 7:30 PM

Lumiere Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211

 

U.S. premiere, followed by a Q&A with Arnaud Desplechin

 

Deception (Tromperie)

directed by Arnaud Desplechin 

2021, France, 105m, DCP

 

Based on the 1990 autobiographical novel by Philip Roth, Desplechin’s new film is a passion project thirty years in the making, adapted for the screen with Julie Peyr and shot during lockdown after several attempts for the stage. It tells the story of a married American writer named Philip (Denis Podalydès), living in London, and his intellectual and erotic tryst with a married Englishwoman (Léa Seydoux), trapped with a small child in a loveless upper-middle-class household. The lives of both characters are gradually revealed as they talk, before and after making love. With Emmanuelle Devos and Anouk Grinberg.

 

In French with English subtitles

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Official Selection: Cannes Film Festival, 2021

 

“A dissection on the different modes of communication and expression that arise within the private confines of an illicit affair… Much of the film looks at the idea that being more instinctual and selfish when it comes to matters of the heart can usher in positivity, clarity, joy and even poetry.” -David Jenkins, Little White Lies

 

"An unabashed curio, with its talky, self-consciously theatrical construction and detached, ambivalent stance on toxic masculinity, it will satisfy the most completist admirers of Desplechin and Roth alike... True to the novel, the complexes and insecurities of Philip’s Jewish identity are frequently at the heart of the conversation... Thoughtfully acted across the board." -Guy Lodge, Variety

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Both programs are presented with generous support from Unifrance and Villa Albertine.

 

Please note that these screenings are taking place at two separate venues: 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown on March 3, and Lumiere Music Hall in Beverly Hills on March 4. Tickets for both events must be purchased separately.

 

Beer and wine will be sold at the 2220 Bar before, during and after every screening. 🍷🍺

 

COVID-19 safety note: Our screenings abide by city, county and state regulations in requiring masks for internal events, and will continue to adapt to regional constraints as they are announced. This means, per current LA city requirements, that all guests must show proof of full vaccination or a recent negative test (<72 hrs) to attend indoor events.​

 

Questions? Please email us: info@mezzaninefilm.com

 

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