Focus on French Cinema - French Film Festival of Greenwich

2009

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	Genre: COMEDY
	Director: Tonie Marshall
	Screenplay: Tonie Marshall
	Director of photography: Christophe Offenstein
	Cast: Nathalie Baye (Irène) Edouard Baer ( Darry) Guy Marchand (Pierre) Melanie Bernier (Sonia)
	Running time: 1hr 33min Production: France, 2007 Distributor: Warner Bros. France ›› OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Passe-Passe
Off and Running

Sponsored by CIC
Introduction by Ronnie Scharfman, Professor of French at Purchase College

A screwball comedy for the 21st century, the title Passe-passe refers literally to a magician’s sleight of hand, an apt description for an adventure that encompasses unlikely pairings, blackmail, and an international arms conspiracy. Producer, director and writer Tonie Marshall crafted the role of the sophisticated mistress Irene especially for award-winning actress Nathalie Baye, who has starred in three of Marshall’s other films, including her acclaimed Venus Beauté (institut) (Venus Beauty Institute) in 1999. When Irene and Darry, the unemployed magician (Edouard Baer), meet unexpectedly on the road, Irene is toting an Hermès bag stuffed with cash, while Darry is driving his brother-in-law’s stolen BMW. The sharp, witty conversations that ensue between these unlikely road trip partners have been compared to Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night, but Capra would never dreamed of the complications Irene and Darry encounter on their way from Paris to Locarno, Italy.

Director’s quote
“At its base, I wanted to tell the story of two adults who have not found their place in life, as happens with so many people. (…) To find one’s place is not necessarily in relation to work or love; it’s more of a sensation, of being in the right place at the right time. (…) Under cover of fantasy, the film touches on serious, sometimes grave things”.

“Rich opening dialogues between Darry and Irene are filled with classic screwball repartee, and thesps Baye and Baer hit all the right marks…” – Jordan Mintzer, Variety

Tonie Marshall, director
Tonie Marshall , the daughter of beloved French actress Micheline Presle and American actor/director William Marshall, grew up on soundstages, an experience which led her to become an actress. Unsatisfied with available roles, she moved into screenwriting and directing, performing both functions on her first movie, "Pentimento" in 1989, followed by "Something's Fishy," "Bastard Brood", and "Venus Beauty Institute," which swept the 1999 Cesars, France's Academy Awards. "Passe-Passe" is her third collaboration with Nathalie Baye.

2003 France Boutique
2002 Au plus près du paradis (Nearest to Heaven)
1999 Vénus beauté (institut) (Venus Beauty Institute)
1996 Enfants de salaud (Bastard Brood)
1994 Pas très catholique (Something Fishy)
1989 Pentimento

Nathalie Baye
Nathalie Baye: is an award winning French actress. She has won the César award for her acting four times and been nominated a further five times. Her first cinema appearance was in Two People directed by Robert Wise. Then she rose to fame as the 'script girl' in La Nuit américaine (Day for Night) by François Truffaut. In 1981 she won her first César, for best supporting artist in Sauve qui peut (la vie) by Jean-Luc Godard. There then followed an impressive sequence of success and rise to stardom with Le Retour de Martin Guerre and La Balance.
She became one of the most popular and renowned French actresses, gaining two more Césars (Best Supporting Female for A Strange Affair, and Best Actress in 1982 for La Balance). 1999 started a glittering year as she was voted Best Supporting Actress at Venice Film Festival for Une liaison pornographique and in 2000 starred in the multi-award winning film Vénus Beauté (institut) by Tonie Marshall. Since 2002 she has had many new collaborations including Claude Chabrol and Steven Spielberg (she was Leonardo Di Caprio’s mother in “Catch Me if You Can”), and remains one of France's busiest and most popular actresses of stage, screen and television. Passe-Passe is her forth film with Tonie Marshall!

Edouard Baer
Actor, screenwriter, director, producer, theater writer, radio and TV host; he is celebrated as for his literacy and eloquence. A suave and spontaneous compère, he has several times hosted the Cesars, and in 2008 officiated at the Cannes Film Festival. Among the filmmakers with whom he has worked are Bertrand Blier “Combien tu m’aime?”, Alain Chabat “Asterix et Obelix: Mission Cleopatre”, Bernardo Bertolucci “Paris Je T’aime” , Claude Chabrol “La fille coupee en deux” or most recently Tonie Marshall with “Passe-Passe” (2008), all of which show the extent of his talent not limited to comedy.