''Two Friends'' (french: Les Deux Amis) is a 2015 French romantic

dramedy film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Louis Garrel Louis Garrel (born 14 June 1983) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his starring role in '' The Dreamers'', directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

in his feature debut, and co-written by Garrel and

Christophe Honoré Christophe Honoré (born 10 April 1970) is a French writer and film and theatre director. Career Honoré was born in Carhaix, Finistère. After moving to Paris in 1995, he wrote articles in ''Les Cahiers du Cinéma''. He started writing soon aft ...

. The film is loosely based on the play ''

The Moods of Marianne ''The Moods of Marianne'' (french: Les Caprices de Marianne) is an 1833 play by the French dramatist Alfred de Musset. It served as the basis for Jean Renoir's film ''The Rules of the Game'' (1939). The play was first published on 15 May 1833 i ...

'' by

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

. It was selected to screen in the

International Critics' Week The International Critics' Week (french: Semaine de la Critique) was founded in 1962 and is organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created following the showing of '' The Connection'' directed by Shirley Clarke which had been ...

section at the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...

Plot

Mona, a prisoner on

work release In prison systems, work release programs allow a prisoner who is sufficiently trusted or can be sufficiently monitored to go outside the prison and work at a place of employment, returning to prison when their shift is complete. Some work release ...

, meets Clément, a shy actor. Desperate to impress Mona, Clément recruits his extroverted friend, Abel, to help. When Mona becomes more interested in Abel, it sets off a conflict between the two friends. Meanwhile, Mona attempts to keep her past hidden.

Cast

Golshifteh Farahani Rahavard Farahani ( fa, رهاورد فراهانی; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (), is an Iranian-French actress. She is known for her performances in ''M for Mother'' (2006), '' Body of Lies'' (2008), ''Abo ...

as Mona *

Vincent Macaigne Vincent Macaigne (born 19 October 1978) is a French actor, theatre director and film director. He is also a screenwriter and playwright. Life and career Macaigne was raised in Paris, the son of a French businessman and an Iranian-born painter. H ...

as Clément *

Louis Garrel Louis Garrel (born 14 June 1983) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his starring role in '' The Dreamers'', directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

as Abel * Mahaut Adam as Colette * Pierre Maillet as Le réceptionniste hôtel * Rhizlaine El Cohen as La gérante *

Aymeline Valade Aymeline Valade (born 17 October 1984) is a French supermodel and actress. Early life Born in Montpellier, Valade grew up in Lyon, Paris and Nice. Valade learned to read at the age of 11 and learned how to skate. Valade was first noticed by an ...

as La femme station-service

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, during the

, on 18 May 2015. It was nominated for two awards, including the Golden Camera award. It was first released in French theaters on 23 September 2015.

Reception

Box office

''Two Friends'' grossed $0 in North America and $125,812 worldwide, against a production budget of about $3.3 million.

Critical response

On French

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 ...

AlloCiné, the film holds an average rating of 3.6 out of 5, based on 18 critic's reviews. Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film captures "a sense of genuine emotion many directors never accomplish in their entire careers". Jordan Mintzer of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called it "a charming if not entirely convincing feature debut". Jonathan Romney at

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

says it was "Elegantly shot, the whole thing nevertheless seems at once thin and over-cooked: Philippe Sarde's lush orchestral score feels excess to requirements, given the intimate, ultimately claustrophobic scale of the drama."

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

writes, "The latest filmmaker in the Garrel dynasty, Philippe’s son Louis picks up the camera for this, his debut feature as writer-director. Co-written with his regular collaborator Christophe Honoré, ''Two Friends'' is a terrific 21st-century spin on the classic—and yes, French—love-triangle drama."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Two Friends 2010s buddy comedy-drama films 2015 drama films 2015 directorial debut films 2015 films 2015 romantic comedy-drama films French buddy comedy-drama films French romantic comedy-drama films 2010s French-language films French films based on plays Films based on works by Alfred de Musset Films directed by Louis Garrel Films scored by Philippe Sarde 2010s French films