The Alpe d’Huez festival is full of sex and money

Happy Winners and And More if Affinities, presented in official competition, tackled the two most promising subjects. To the delight of festival-goers.

We met the president of the Alpe d’Huez festival jury, Valérie Bonneton, at the HQ, between a Mini supreme (the Milka snacking partner of the festival) and a glass of Roussette (5 stars on Google). And we asked Valoche, as one of the pillars of the HQ had just nicknamed her, we asked her, therefore, her impressions of the festival. “ Maybe you want me to tell you the name of the winner, hey ho!? » OK, so just a feeling maybe? “ It’s good “. As we practice investigative journalism, we didn’t give up, and we ended up having what we were looking for: “ What’s great is this new generation of writing, and especially this diversity. We laugh at Alpe d’Huez, we laugh frankly this year, but we also laugh sadly » (we suspect her of having stolen our formula from yesterday, I mean). “ There are different formats, different genres, different subjects but it speaks about us, and about society “.

Spot on, President. Yesterday’s program was about sex and money. Or the two breasts of life. It started with Happy Winnersa sketch film which revolved around a single theme: money. Following the path indicated by its ironic title, the film therefore evoked the fate of people who had just won the Lottery and the generally disastrous consequences of this “happy” coincidence.

Various genres

A big candidate to conquer the public, simmered in the spirit of the late Italian comedy, and enhanced by a gallery of actors from the fun who bring a volcanic extra. Five sketches on the program, of which here is the minute description:

1. A family of cassos goes on vacation. The father (Fabrice Eboué), total loser, his cantankerous wife and their two children. On the way, the girl discovers that her father, an inveterate gambler, has won the jackpot in the Loto. Problem: he only has a few minutes left to claim his winnings before losing the money forever. Then follows a race against time in the streets of the South, the father transforming into Bruce Willis of the Calanques. This is the action segment of the film and undoubtedly the most invigorating.

2. A young woman has just collected her big check after winning the Lotto. On her way out, she gets knocked down by a handsome man. Love at first sight, first date and then very quickly paranoia: what if the handsome Apollo was after her money? The segment plays with doubt and slaloms (we’re at Alpe d’Huez, it works) between romantic comedy and scam film.

3. Islamist terrorists want to detonate a bomb. When buying the phone that will trigger the explosion, one of the bad guys takes a lottery ticket so as not to arouse suspicion. The attack is being prepared and as the team heads towards the location of the package, one of the members discovers that they have won the jackpot! A theoretical discussion ensues: should they go through with their project or should they pocket the money for the cause? Crazy and provocative comedy, quite close to the spirit of a We are Four Lionsthis segment works mainly on the slaughter of its actors.

4. Henry’s Curse is the fantasy-horror sketch. After winning the lottery, an old man dies of a heart attack in his nursing home. The nurses and doctor who took care of him came across the ticket and decided to keep the money. Very quickly, those who pocketed the money died one after the other. Anouk Grinberg is impeccable in the role of the nurse ready to do anything to keep the money

5. We find the couple from the beginning. The husband is in jail and to avoid the worst abuse in prison, must pay the guards and prisoners. Will his wife agree to give the money?

We understand: the directors Maxime Govare and Romain Choay are – almost openly – in line with the Monsters of Risi or New Savages by Szifron, two stylistic exercises on the shabbiness of the human soul. It was Risi who said: “I hate moralism and would always rather be cruel than say the “right” word or show the “right” attitude.” The two filmmakers are the heirs of this philosophy, with a deluge of dirty tricks and pettiness of all kinds. Above all, they outline a cinema that fits into a varied base: action B series, films from the 70s which flirted with the underground, horror or fantasy, and trashy and politically explosive comedy. It’s necessarily uneven, but quite pleasing.

Bernard Campan, Julia Faure and Pablo Pauly at the Alpe d’Huez festival for And more if affinities.

At the other end of the spectrum (we didn’t say sex!) we saw the same evening And maybe more. In this film by Wilfried Meance and Olivier Ducray, it’s not about money, but about sex – and a little love. French remake of the Spanish film Sentimentalthis boulevard comedy is a theatrical closed door in which a struggling couple (Bernard Campan and Isabelle Carré) invite their younger and much more modern neighbors (Pablo Pauly and Julia Faure) to dinner.

Even more than modern: free. When the young people propose a foursome to Campan and Carré, the pleasant evening planned gradually becomes charged with tensions and unsaid words, where explicit dialogues quickly deteriorate the friendly atmosphere. And more… is intended to be an olé olé version of the traditional “dinner with friends that goes wrong”, a patent revised and redeposited a few years ago by Yasmina Reza. There is Carnage or First name here. Despite its beautiful setting and the luxurious production, the film leaves an impression of filmed theater. Everything is based on reverse shots and the crudeness of the punchlines released by the character of Campan, an embittered and failed musician. The improbable surprises of the scenario and the outcome make the whole thing a bit artificial. But, in terms of perspective, it is the most serious candidate for the Public Prize. The room, laughing, vibrated to the tune of the film. And we must admit that Julia Faure and Pablo Pauly, through the grace and finesse of their acting, and their sense of timing too, gave a lot of humanity to their couple.

Was Valérie won over by the film? See you Saturday evening, president.

And more if you like, April 3, 2024 at the cinema. Happy Winners will be in theaters on March 13.