July 14th: LA FILLE DU 14 JUILLET (Antonin Peretjatko, 2013)

A group of young people have their summer vacation cut short when the French government abruptly cancels the national holiday.

Writer-director Antonin Peretjatko made short films for over 10 years in his native France before moving into features. Inspired by the recent economic crisis and the early 1900s comic strip Les Pieds-Nickeles (a satire of bourgeois laziness), the political humor was combined with a story of youthful romance for narrative structure.

Because Peretjatko's plan was to use many visual gags difficult to describe in screenplay form, he had a harder time raising money compared to more dialogue-driven contemporary comedies. The film was shot mainly in two large chunks over a year apart, and ironically in the interim France elected a new prime minister.

The cast is made up mostly of younger, lesser-known actors, some of whom had previously worked with Peretjatko on his shorts. Indian actress Vimala Pons was coming off a role in legendary auteur Alain Resnais' final film You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet.

In addition to the anything-goes visual approach including an abundance of irises, wipes, dissolves, flashbacks, etc., the dialogue was recorded off-speed to give the film an extra off-kilter touch. Everything was shot on 16mm film, and with its bold colors is reminiscent of the look of early French New Wave works.

Influences and similarities include Monty Python, Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker (Airplane, The Naked Gun), Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers, as well as early Jean-Luc Godard and the late-period French films of Luis Buñuel. Peretjatko's work also bears the stamp of a group of younger French filmmakers working with lower budgets but considerable artistic freedom.

La Fille du 14 juillet premiered at the Director's Fortnight sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival, where it was met with mostly positive reviews. It received a screenplay award at the Athens International Film Festival.

Running time is approx. 90 min.