Les Herbes folles (Wild Grass)

• Director: Alain Resnais
• Writer: Alex Reval, Laurent Herbiet
• Cast: André Dussollier, Sabine Azéma, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric
• Theatrical Release Date:
• Criticwire: B+
• On The Web IMDB Entry

Synopsis: A wallet lost and found opens the door - just a crack - to romantic adventure for Georges and Marguerite. [Synopsis courtesy of Cannes Film Festival]

Round-up: "Some may remember the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for the ephemeral brouhaha of Antichrist, but time will be most understanding of all to 'Wild Grass,' the new masterpiece by Alain Resnais," gushes Daniel Kasman for the ... Auteurs Notebook. "It has breathed life not just into the festival but into cinema itself, a true, effervescent delight as sad, hilarious, and wonderful as can be imagined, which is exactly the point. It is the ultimate Resnais film, an entire story, an entire cast of characters, and entire candy-colored film world all pitched as speculation." Jordan Mintzer, writing for Variety, notes that "'Wild Grass' shows that although Resnais has grown more light-hearted in old age, he hasn't lost his desire to challenge the viewer on all levels" noting that it's "more freewheeling than 2006's 'Private Fears in Public Places,' but with a similar networking structure that connects the destinies of several melancholy adults into one intriguing web." For his part, Duane Byrge, reviewing the film for The Hollywood Reporter dismisses the film as "a polished ditty from revered French director Alain Resnais. He's revered and he's French, and that's the likely explanation for inclusion of this demi-divertissement in the Competition... With its thin narrative and elliptical story jumps, 'Wild Grass' crashes and burns in a pretentious and unsatisfying manner."