Cannes 2023 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MARGUERITE’S THEORY (Cannes 2023) – Review by Nadine Whitney

May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 Nadine Whitney Anna Novion, Cannes 2023, Ella Rumpf, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Julien Frison, Le théorème de Marguerite, Marguerite’s Theory, Sonia Bonny

In Anna Novion’s Marguerite’s Theory, for brilliant student Marguerite Hoffman (Ella Rumpf) theoretical mathematics have been a way for her to “find order in infinity.” At the age of twenty-five she is ensconced in academia at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure and about to deliver a thesis she has been working on for three years with her taciturn supervisor Laurent Werner (Jean-Pierre Darroussin). Like most elite institutions it is intensely competitive at all levels and the world of theoretical mathematics is small and filled with rivalry and resentment. Marguerite has nothing in her life outside her work. She is the epitome of single-mindedness.

Festivals Reviews

ALL TO PLAY FOR (Cannes 2023) – Review by Nadine Whitney

May 23, 2023May 28, 2023 Nadine Whitney Alexis Tonetti, All to Play For, Cannes 2023, Delphine Deloget, Félix Lefebvre, Rien à perdre, Virginie Efria

The English language title of Delphine Deloget’s debut feature is almost the opposite to its original French title. All to Play For does not match up with the direct translation of Rien à perdre which means nothing to lose, and yet both titles are fitting for the tense drama about a single mother dealing with overzealous child protection services. Sylvie (Virginie Efria) gets to a point where she is playing for everything to reclaim her eight-year-old son, Sofiane (Alexis Tonetti) but with every dehumanising wall she encounters the boiling point will be reached where she has nothing left to lose.