''Francofonia'' is a 2015 internationally co-produced

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Alexander Sokurov Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov, PAR (russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Сокуров; born 14 June 1951) is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a feature film, ''Russian Ark'' (2002), filmed in a s ...

. It was screened in the main competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and in the Masters section of the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naom ...

. The film won the Mimmo Rotella Award at Venice. ''Variety'' defined it as a "dense, enriching meditation on the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

and specifically (but not exclusively) the museum’s status during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

". Among the works of art referenced in the film are: * The

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...

The Raft of the Medusa ''The Raft of the Medusa'' (french: Le Radeau de la Méduse ) – originally titled ''Scène de Naufrage'' (''Shipwreck Scene'') – is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791� ...

Cast

Louis-Do de Lencquesaing Louis-Do de Lencquesaing (born 25 December 1963) is a French actor and film director. His daughter, Alice de Lencquesaing, is also an actress. Filmography As an actor *''Les dernières heures du millénaire'' (1990, Short) *''Madame Bovary'' ( ...

Jacques Jaujard Jacques Jaujard (3 December 1895 - 21 June 1967) was a senior civil servant of the French fine art administration instrumental in the evacuation and protection of the French arts collections during World War II. Evacuation of the Louvre museu ...

* as

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

* as

Franz von Wolff-Metternich Graf Franz Wolff-Metternich (31 December 1893 – 25 May 1978) was a German aristocrat, art professor, historian and curator. Biography During World War II, he was responsible for the conservation of Rhineland and French art collections under th ...

* Johanna Korthals Altes as Marianne

Reception

Critical response

''Francofonia'' has an approval rating of 87% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 75 reviews, and an average rating of 6.90/10. The website's critical consensus states, "''Francofonia'' may test the patience of the uninitiated, but viewers willing to delve into a beautifully filmed look at the intersection of art and war will be richly rewarded". It also has a score of 71 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francofonia 2015 films 2015 drama films 2010s French-language films French drama films 2010s Russian-language films Films directed by Alexander Sokurov 2010s French films