Jenni Ajderian

     A marriage rife with Bovarysme and ennui, this 1920s power-struggle follows the marriage of young Thérèse (Audrey Tatou), who sees only one route to life until her best friend shows her otherwise.      What is most interesting is that this girl, who crashes onto screen on a bike, kills rabbits and pidgeons for the family, takes a lover and is then imprisonned by her powerful parents, is not the protagonist. These are the actions of Anne (Anaïs Demoustier), the childhood friend of Thérèse, whose story, far more dramatic and classically cinematic, is told through letters and painful pleas for help. The two women are both destined for powerful marriages arranged to monopolise the ownership of riverside pine forests, and Thérèse, the elder, goes through hers first. As she does, Anne's story of forbidden love begins, and Thérèse sees that her path was not the only one available.      In some respects, this is a story we've heard before. U...

     There's a kind of irony in seeing a French-made film shot in New York. The city, like Paris, brings with it certain stereotypes and traditions of film-making, which will always creep into any director's vision, regardless of nationality. There will be a dramatic city-skyline shot, an inspiring panorama of downtown, a nice view of the Brooklyn Bridge. People like New York. People fantasise about New York. Even the French. New York is a kind of brand that can be put on a film to draw in an audience, but once we're there, we need a storyline to keep us there. This is when directors Géaldine Nakache and Hervé Mimran stopped trying.      Three French guys go to surprise-visit their two French girl mates in the Big Apple. And. That's about it. They make friends, they explore, they buy those annoying I Heart NY tshirts and they shout "Obama!" a lot. Between flash-in-the-pan arguments and on-the-spot personality changes we see the panoramas and the skyline sh...

     Aix is a tricky city to drive in. The trademark French winding cobbled streets and semi-pedestrianised alleyways which turn into markets three days a week can't be an easy thing to steer a ton of metal down, even on a lazy wednesday. So it's not surprising that there are a lot of bikers here- and before they all go into hibernation for winter (which, oddly, has not happened yet. It's mid-November) I thought I'd give them a little showcase       As well as the beautiful tourers and big macho bikes are the little girly scooters that whizz around Europe whatever country you happen to pick. If anything these seem more appropriate here for inner-city driving, as usually bikers (scooterers?) are going at near-walking pace to weave in and out of pedestrians and nip in front of the white vans and lorries which still seem to manage to negotiate Aix's streets.      But what's really got me interested are these little things- at about ...