Annual Top Films Lists

Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #130. La pièce rapportée – Antonin Peretjatko

Published on December 30, 2019

La pièce rapportée

For his third feature, Antonin Peretjatko commences on the comedic La pièce rapportée, produced by Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe and recruits an impressive cast with Anaïs Demoustier, Josiane Balasko, Philippe Katerine, William Lebghil and Sergi Lopez. Simon Roca (who lensed Peretjatko’s previous two films as well as F.J. Ossang’s 9 Digits and the upcoming Kandisha for Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury) returns as cinematographer. Peretjatko’s 2013 debut The Rendezvous of Deja Vous premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and scored a Cesar nod for Best First Feature. His sophomore feature Struggle for Life (2016) was programmed in Locarno and named one of the Best 10 Films of the year by Cahiers du Cinema.

Gist: Based on Noelle Renaude’s play We Need an Heir, Paul falls in love with metro ticket counter girl Ava. His mother, who insists on being called Queen Mother, doesn’t approve of their marriage, but then, at nearly fifty years of age, she wants Paul to have a baby. But Ava can’t seem to conceive, which instigates Queen Mother to hire a detective to follow her. Suddenly, Ave falls pregnant…but is Paul the father?

Release Date/Prediction: Peretjatko concluded production in early November 2019. We predict the director will return to Locarno, perhaps this time in competition.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.