Film Picks: Voilah! French Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, Pierce

Voilah! French Film Festival 2024

The 40th edition of the Voilah! French Film Festival makes a return in November. Organised by the Embassy of France and co-presented by Alliance Francaise de Singapour, Shaw Organisation and The Projector, the event features 36 films that showcase contemporary works as well as classics of French cinema.

A highlight of the 2024 festival is the big-budget production The Count Of Monte-Cristo (2024, PG13, 178 minutes, screens from Nov 15 to 26, various times, at Alliance Francaise, Shaw Theatres Lido and PLQ). The latest version of Alexandre Dumas’ much-adapted 1844 novel sold nine million tickets in its home country, making it France’s second highest-grossing film of 2024.

Directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patelliere, this story of revenge follows sailor Edmond Dantes (Pierre Niney), who is imprisoned after being framed. The resourceful man escapes and disguises himself as the mysterious count to exact vengeance.

The Guardian reviewer calls the film “a fast-moving, good-looking gallop of Mission: Impossible-style mask play, languorous conniving in courtyards and occasional outbreaks of derring-do”.

French cinema classics are screening at The Projector, including crime thriller Purple Noon (1960, PG, 118 minutes, screens from Nov 23 and Dec 6, various times at The Projector at Cineleisure and Golden Mile Tower). Starring Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, it is an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, famously turned into a movie in 1999 and a streaming series in 2024.

Where: Shaw Theatres, Alliance Francaise de Singapour, The Projector, as well as community clubs and integrated community hubs around the island
MRT: Various
When: Nov 14 to 30
Admission: $16 (standard); concession tickets range from $12 to $14.50; free screenings are also available
Info: str.sg/azh4

Singapore International Film Festival: Lesser-known films

The 35th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) will run from Nov 28 to Dec 8. The hot tickets will sell fast, but Asian titles deserve a second look.

The Killers (2024, rating to be advised, 119 minutes, screens on Nov 30, 2pm, at National Museum Singapore, Gallery Theatre, ticket availability to be confirmed) is a South Korean anthology that brings together four award-winning directors. Kim Jong-kwan, Roh Deok, Chang Hang-jun and Lee Myung-se give a dark comic interpretation of Ernest Hemingway’s often-reprinted 1927 short story.

Each director takes a turn, giving his or her spin on the tale of hitmen carrying out a murder. Trade magazine Screen Daily says that while the storytelling is uneven, actress Shim Eun-kyung shines. “The versatile Shim inhabits each of her characters – the calculating bartender, the distressed victim, the kooky waitress – with precision,” says the publication.

The Unseen Sister (2024, NC16, 112 minutes, screens on Dec 6, 8pm, at Golden Village VivoCity Max, ticket availability to be confirmed), a Mandarin-Yunnan dialect thriller, is directed by celebrated Myanmar-born, Taiwan-based film-maker Midi Z.

The film follows Qiao Yan (Chinese actress Zhao Liying), an actress who has achieved success despite her low beginnings. Her meticulously crafted persona unravels when she receives a mysterious blackmail text. Her estranged sister suddenly reappears, forcing her to confront her past and make difficult choices about things that matter.

Adapted from author Zhang Yueran’s 2017 piece of literary fiction, the film was reviewed in the trade magazine Screen Daily, which says: “Midi Z’s thriller has style to spare, and some terrific individual scenes land with the force of a knife to the throat.

“Where the film is less successful is in tying together these scenes. This is not a film that flows, but rather lurches, somewhat abruptly, through the story.”

Where: Various locations, including Capitol Theatre, Filmgarde Kallang, Golden Village Cineleisure, National Gallery Singapore, National Museum Of Singapore
MRT: Various
When: Nov 28 to Dec 8, various times
Admission: General screenings are $15, $10 to $15 for the In Conversation (Forum) section, excluding Sistic booking fees. Concessions and bulk promotions are available
Info: sgiff.com

Pierce (M18)

106 minutes, now showing
★★★★☆

High school fencer Zijie (Liu Hsiu-fu) believes in his older brother Zihan (Tsao Yu-ning), who returns after seven years in juvenile detention following a violent incident at a fencing competition. Despite their mother’s (Ding Ning) objections, Zijie secretly reconnects with his brother, causing events that will force him to question everything he believes about family and truth.

Singaporean director Nelicia Low’s debut feature, a Singapore-Taiwan-Poland production, uses the precise, calculated world of competitive fencing as both setting and metaphor.

Low, a former national fencer, brings remarkable authenticity to the sport sequences, but it is in the quiet moments between matches that Pierce truly excels.

Liu delivers a breakthrough performance, capturing both the physical demands of competitive fencing and the psychological complexity of a young man caught between family obligations, truth and self-deception.

Tsao brings magnetic menace to Zihan, crafting a character whose charm makes his potential for darkness more unsettling.

The film’s thoughtful visual style, which comes from Polish cinematographer Michal Dymek, mirrors its themes of self-delusion and wishful thinking.