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From Monday, May 2nd we won't be here anymore; we'll be at our shiny new site, Theplaylist.Net. Update your bookmarks, and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for a shot at winning an iPad. "Andròn" apparently was on the festival circuit last year, but this is the first I'm hearing of its existence. But at any rate, the sci-fi movie now has a trailer and the compelling point of interest is Alec Baldwin, who takes a starring role in the kind of genre movie he doesn't generally do. Read More: The 25 Best Sci-Fi Films Of The 21st Century So Far Michelle Ryan, Gale Morgan Harold III, Skin, Leo Howard, Antonia Campbell Hughes, Jon Kortajarena, Mauro Conte, Korlan Madi, Alex Martin, Gaia Scodellaro, Elettra Mallaby, Clara Pasieka and Danny Glover are the other players in this ensemble, with the movie essentially playing out like a full-length version of...

Unforgivable

Directed by André Téchiné

Written by André Téchiné and Mehdi Ben Attia

France, 2011

There have certainly been worse cases of writer’s block, but the main character in the new French film Unforgivable really lets his spin out of control. Unforgivable, from co-writer and director André Téchiné, tells an almost Hitchcockian story of how paranoia can drive people to ridiculous lengths. Téchiné’s unique decision to let the script itself not be so single-minded is both a breath of fresh air and a bit of a detriment to the film’s overall impact.

André Dussolier plays Francis, a bestselling crime novelist who just can’t find the inspiration to push him forward in the writing process. Unable to focus in his homeland of France, Francis decides to move to Venice to re-commit to his latest work of fiction. While finding a place to stay, he becomes enamored with his real estate agent,...

Francis (André Dussollier) is a French mystery writer looking for a place to work on his new novel. He sets his sights on a small island off the coast of Venice, but when he falls for Judith (Carole Bouquet) the real estate agent he tells her he’ll only take the house if she agrees to move in with him. Many months later the two are married, and while she boats back and forth to Venice each day for work he spends the solitary afternoons struggling with writer’s block. Things take a darker turn when his adult daughter, Alice (Mélanie Thierry), arrives with her own daughter for a visit then promptly disappears. Worried, he hires a retired private eye and ex-lover of Judith’s named Anna Maria (Andriani Asti) to help find her. His actions take a toll on his relationship, and he hires Anna Maria’s ex-convict son, Jérémie...

Francis (Andre Dussolier) is an author of crime fiction who relocates to Venice in order to work on his next novel. He meets a younger woman, a real estate agent named Judith (Carole Bouquet), with whom he becomes instantly infatuated. Eventually, Judith gives in to Francis' advances; then, they marry and decide to live in a secluded house on Torcello Island. Unfortunately, Francis is unable to write whenever he is in love; and the writer's block redirects his overactive imagination towards obsessing about Judith's day-to-day activities. All the while, Francis' daughter (Mélanie Thierry) disappears with a bourgeois drug trafficker (Andrea Pergolesi). Francis hires a retired private detective (Adriana Asti) to track down his daughter and an ex-convict (Mauro Conte) to tail Judith.

Title: Unforgivable (Impardonnables) Strand Releasing Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten Director: André Téchiné Writers: André Téchiné, Mehdi Ben Attia, from Philippe Djian’s novel Cast: André Dussolier, Carole Bouquet, Mauro Conte, Adriana Asti, Mélanie Thierry, Andrea Pergolesi Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 6/12/12 Opens: June 29, 2012 You don’t need a degree in psychology or history to realize that the past is always with us. You can’t escape its impact. Its memory will leave with feeling of guilt but also haunting regressions of past loves: familial, platonic and romantic. If you’re a filmmaker, whether in the seat of the director or the writer, you need the skill to bring an [ Read More ]...

Impardonnables (English title: Unforgivable)

Directed by André Téchiné

Written by André Téchiné and Mehdi Ben Attia

France, 2011

French director and screenwriter André Téchiné has had a long and illustrious career, earning critical acclaim for a great variety of films. His works date as far back as 1969, the year he released his debut, Aline s’en va. Among the common threads which tie in his works are the complicated interactions and strained relationships between his characters, who are continuously confronted with emotional challenges they would much rather not deal with. The wealth they sometimes possess is belittled in the face of various interpersonal hardships. Another is that he adapts almost exclusively original scripts, oftentimes playing a major role in the writing process. For Impardonnables, his latest feature film, the inspiration differs, for it is based on a novel of the same name from Philippe Dijan. Dealing with a vastly different screenwriting process,...