Film show: An unkindly triptych from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos

The Yogos, Lantimos's latest release, a musical life under the lens and a satirical look at a very gory French story. That's all coming up in today's film Show. And for that, I'm joined by critic Lisa Nesselson. Hi, Lisa. Olivia. Well, we're starting with a film that got Jesse Plemons the best actor award in Cannes for his incarnation of three different characters in the three separate episodes that make up kinds of kindness. Tell us more about this one. Well, Greek director Yogoslavimosa's 2023 film Poor Things was so close to perfect that he made himself a hard act to follow. Kinds of Kindness definitely has its rewards, but the three installments are uneven, with the first one probably the best. OK, well, let's get a feel for this three pronged contemporary tale with a somewhat ironic title. Open your eyes and look clearly at what's going on around you. We might all be in danger. Some of them want to use you. Hi. Some of them want to get used by you. I love you. Some of them want to abuse you. This isn't love. Some of them want to be so plemons. Who we see there is a new addition to the director's favorite gang of actors. We've got Emma Stone and Willem Defoe back on board for this film. Yes, Stone was terrific in the Director's The Favorite and of course, won the Best Actress Oscar for Poor Things Under scary makeup. Defoe played the mad scientist surrogate father of Emma Stone's initially blank slate character in Poor Things. I don't want to give away too much about what happens in each freestanding tale, but rest heard that nobody is particularly kind in kinds of kindness. And it's amusing to ask yourself, what if these three were the only actors on earth and you had to keep mixing and matching them to tell news stories? An interesting formal experiment there. Well, here's more from Emma Stone on her collaborations with Yogos and Antimos. Now I just have extreme comfort. So I feel like I can do anything with him because we've worked together so many times and I trust him beyond the trust I've ever had with any director. So, and I've and I've been lucky to work with great directors, but we just have something that I can't explain and I'm so grateful for it. So as you said, you want to maintain some secrecy, not give too much away. But you did say you like the first chapter of this film best. Why was that? Well, you've heard of a boss who tells you what to do, however demanding your superiors. Maybe they'd have a hard time topping Plemons character's boss, played by Willem Dafoe. Anyone interested in how power is exercised in the workplace will perk up upon realizing that the boss tells his employee what to eat down to the gram, and even when to Make Love to his own wife. But when the employee wrinkles at one assignment, well, matters disintegrate. If you're new to this director, I wouldn't tell you to start here with this one. OK, Well, you shouldn't be new to this director. I would say personally Agreed. Well, next to a direct documentary, now Joan Baez, I Am Noise uses home movies, archives and original footage to summarize the long, productive life of this key figure in American musical history. Tell us more about this one. Joan Baez was incredibly famous from the time she was only 18. Her father was born in Mexico, her mother was born in Scotland, and she's a walking advertisement and for how people of foreign heritage have enriched the US and by extension, the world. This film was made while she was preparing for her final tour. Now, her contemporary Judy Collins has said that her voice has not only held steady, but gotten better with age. Joni Mitchell is still a delight to listen to, but her voice has changed. When the three directors of this Des Moines documentary start following her, Baez feels her vocal powers are in decline and so chooses to go out literally on a highlight. What an inspiring artist. Well, let's get a glimpse of a Joan Baez I am noise. I don't think anybody at a young age who gets famous has the slightest idea that'll ever end. I always said I wouldn't want to do it farewell to her because people who say that always come back. Maybe it'd be nice to celebrate 55 years a bit. Here she is, man. Miss Joan Byers, I was the right voice at the right time. You just shot me in another whole stratosphere. What does fame mean to you what fame actually is? I don't really know because I don't consider myself famous. I think there's a difference in being well known and being famous. So Joan Baez is really well known for helping popularize Bob Dylan songs. But in her 60 year career, she's much more than just a folk singer with an amazing voice, right? And how she has been a social activist her entire life, using her fame to shine a light on situations in need of social justice, from unjust wars to what we now call gender equality. She has always had fans all over the world. The French have long been fans. I went to a free concert she gave on the packed Plaza in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in the early 1980s. But the way French people tend to pronounce her last name translates as, to put it daintily, Joan freely distributes her sexual favors. This film feels honest and forthright, touching on depression and likely incest without being salacious or gossipy. Baez is a class act. So is this film OK? A good tip then? Well, now to a seriously wacky ensemble comedy. It's called Plastic Guns. It's loosely inspired by the real life case of Xavier DuPont Rigonez. A horrible if incredible true story that happened here in France. Tell us more about this. Well, DuPont de Ligunes to all appearances, a law abiding family man from a long line of aristocrats. One fine day in 2011 murdered his wife and four children, buried them in the the yard of their house in Nantes and managed to escape law enforcement. He was presumably at large in Europe and has not been found to this day. Incredibly, the authorities in Scotland, acting on a tip from an amateur sleuth, arrested a man who was as innocent as it is possible to be, while announcing to the world that they had the presumed murderer in custody. Jean Christophe Maurice has changed all the names, speculated galore, and here the poor innocent guy finds himself detained in Denmark. OK, well, let's get a look at the film. We ask you gently, politely, respectfully, to send us as soon as possible, as as soon as possible. As it's it's a question of of of day of hours of death, of life of or death. To send Mr. Bernardin. If only it's him. We've got the we've got the eight points. We know enough. Look what what is actually the concept? Why? Why are you insisting there? Let's see. Like that. It's our it's our killer. So it's pretty dark source material here. Are you sure it's commenting? As you can see, yes, of course. The film is macabre but really funny, poking fun from the first frames at the public's proven fascination for true crime stories and, you know, violence in general. Two medical professionals are performing a very deep dive autopsy while discussing how audiences have an unhealthy fascination with unsolved murders. What follows is a black comedy that is not for the squeamish or the easily offended. It is very, very French, and I say that with enormous affection here. The innocent guy is hard to deal with when pushed and his manners can be curt and off putting, while The Murder is Criminal, played with a radiant smirk by Lawrence Stalker of the Kobe de Fonses, is all sweetness and light. We meet him where else in Argentina, preparing to marry his adoring local bride. Now there's probably not a welcome criminals courtesy desk at the airport in Buenos Aires, but going back a long time, criminals have led to Argentina, which makes me wonder, where do you flee to if you happen to be an Argentine criminal already on Argentine soil? True, a very pertinent question there. And for an unsolved mystery indeed. Well, finally to an icon of French literature. Author Alexander Dumas gave the world The Three Musketeers in the 19th century, which became A2 part box office success in cinemas last year. He also wrote The Count of Monte Cristo and the adaptation of that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It's out this week in France now. The film star Pierre Nene, Conservatory trained and who you may know for his splendid performance ten years ago as Yves St. Laurent has called the character of the Count of Monte Cristo. The French language is equivalent to Hamlet. I call it bottomlessly juicy. On his wedding day, very uncool sailor Edmund Dantes is betrayed by his seafaring colleagues who accuse him of having incorrect political use vis a vis Bonaparte. He is imprisoned for life under unspeakable conditions, which gives him a lot of time to plot revenge. When he escapes after 15 years, he goes on to spectacular wealth and under the title identity, sets out to get back at everyone who wronged him. French technicians and producers know how to make very good looking historical movies on budgets a fraction of what Hollywood might spend. Yes, very respectable European swashbuckling. Well, France 24 spoke to Pianina at CAN about taking on the role of this much loved character. It's the first book that made me travel so much. It felt like my bedroom was moving. I didn't know where I was. I turned the light back on at night. And I'd say to myself, just one more chapter. This first revenge, justice, desire to replace God himself and become the richest man in the world. It makes you wonder, where does justice stop? When does one become a monster? Monte Cristo has endured and still feels modern because he's a French superhero who stands up to injustice. But his actions also raise ever pertinent questions about taking the law into ones own hands on a supposedly sacred mission. It's satisfying to see the French tapping into their own distinguished literary heritage. As with another masterful French writer, Jules Baron Alexandra Dumas, stories are still engaging, even thrilling now long after they were first published. OK, well, thank you very much, Lisa. We'll leave you with the action and intrigue of The Count of Monte Cristo. Do check in with us here on Arts 24 for more movie news that's on our website and social media too. There's more news coming up after this just so I guess you should not take a stop here. We've got maybe the cochinity here. I don't see you.