2016 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 5: Nicole Garcia Passionate About “From the Land of the Moon”

With her eighth feature film under her belt, veteran actress (Resnais’ My American Uncle) turned filmmaker Nicole Garcia returns to the Cannes competition a full decade after shoring up with Selon Charlie. Not sure if it was the lack of enthusiasm, or some critics might have hit a wall of fatigue, but not many showed up for the 8:30 a.m. screening this morning. Going by the title of From the Land of the Moon (Mal de pierres), Marion Cotillard and Louis Garrel share top billing in this period piece based on a novel by Milena Agus. While The Hollywood Reporter’s Deborah Young calls this “a smoothly told tale is more of a character study than a romance, yet should still draw fans of romance fiction who will particularly appreciate Louis Garrel in the role of the dashing lieutenant Andre Sauvage,” and Variety’s Jessica Kiang categorizes this as a “gloss of respectability by the tastefulness of Garcia’s style, the genteel photography from Christophe Beaucarne, an unobjectionable score from Daniel Pemberton and a performance of tremulous commitment from Marion Cotillard,” our group of critics have had a tempered response to the film.

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