Fantastic Fest Online 2008

Brief Summary:
Under the Christmas tree, unemployed loser François Margin mysteriously finds a jar of face cream that once applied, temporarily turns him into the most famous celebrity in France.

WINNER: Best Feature, Fantasy Worldwide Film Festival
WINNER: Best Foreign Feature, Oxford International Film Festival
WINNER: Best Film, Beijing Film Festival

Director Reynald Bertrand live in person!

Full Description:

As far as I'm concerned, a film like LA CREME is what film festivals are all about: Finding obscure gems that come from out of nowhere and suddenly become new favorites. Reynald Bertand's comedy has one of those premises that sound too simple and too pat - For Christmas, an unemployed family man gets a jar of facial cream that, when applied, makes people think he's incredibly famous - but this is a truly clever, multi-layered thing of beauty, a smart and hilarious farce that proves that all you need is the right idea and clarity of vision to make a terrific comedy.

Some might think that a small French comedy might seem out of place at a genre festival like Fantastic Fest, but they couldn't be more wrong. LA CREME is about fantasy itself, about the power of illusion and the power that comes with it and how, once it's applied, takes on a life of its own. It's a very simple "What would you do?" premise, like having the ability to fly, and Bertand works it like a dream. The cream comes into the life of its lead character (played by Laurent Legeay) just when he's struggling to survive with his family on welfare while he's up for a much-needed sales job against the similarly desperate Nicolas Abraham, and with its great power comes not great responsibility but big trouble and tremendous consequences and Bertand's screenplay takes it into risky places directions that pay off wonderfully. Like a great genre film should, LA CREME is about more than what its premise implies - the ease in which people give in to power and celebrity - but also about how we all give in to illusion to make ourselves feel more important.

This is not to say that LA CREME is a serious dissertation on this topic, because it's also one god damn funny movie, briskly paced (Bertand is one of France's top editors, here making his feature directorial debut) with barely a single wasted moment. He's helped immeasurably by a terrific cast; the wonderful Legeay makes for a perfect everyman, with top-notch support from Abraham, Marie-Anne Pauly as Leagay's wife, and an amusingly deadpan Rachid Moutsafy as a straight-laced cop who damn near steals the show.

OK, I'm sure you guys get it that I really, really like this one, so expect to see me in at least one screening and if you like it, make sure to vote for it in this year's Next Wave competition, because it deserves to become a breakout hit. As far as I'm concerned, LA CREME is this year's TIMECRIMES. (Matthew Kiernan)

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