Fantastic Fest Grinder

La Creme

La Creme is a smart French comedy which examines the nature of desire. Beyond it’s initial fantastic conceit, this film avoids being a farce movie with some nice, subtle character work throughout.

Unemployed Francois Margin is looking for an edge in La Creme. He’s been pitted against a rival job applicant and they must unanimously agree who should get the job by the end of the week. Then Margin’s edge appears on Christmas morning in the form of a pot of face cream which when applied makes people believe they’re in the presence of a famous celebrity. Margin quickly deduces the effects of the cream and sets out to take full advantage of it. But being the local object of desire creates complications for himself, his family, and his rival.

La Creme was made with a trivial budget and a mixed cast of actors and non-actors by long-time editor, first-time director Reynald Bertrand who has assembled a tight film that shows what you can do with a good script and good execution. During the Q’n’A with the director after the film, Bertrand mentioned that in France there’s no interest in distribution for La Creme because it lacks well known actors (oh, irony). My fingers are crossed for U.S. art house release at least.

Nacho Vigalondo Shorts Program

The Spanish movie TimeCrimes was a Fantastic Fest 2007 favourite. That movie’s director, Nacho Vigalondo, was also a big hit, so this year’s festival planners programmed a shorts selection as a way to bring this indie film rock star back this year.

Since Nacho personally introduced each short with anecdotes and stories, it’s hard to give you a complete picture of the program. But highlights include his Oscar nominated 7:35 In the Morning which is simply a masterful bit of comedy. Be sure to watch it a few times to admire just how uncomfortable the cafe patrons look. Disappointed with big budget Hollywood trilogies like The Matrix and Lord of the Rings, Nacho created Codigo 7, a trilogy of shorts as an homage to Philip K. Dick that covers a truly galactic struggle with a microscopic budget. But it wasn’t all laughs, he provided an educational one too.