The brutal flights from Africa to the U.S. at least had one benefit:
they allowed me to sample a few French films (with subtitles!) I would
have a hard time catching in the U.S. By far the best of these those
I saw in-flight (sans sound, because I hate using headphones) is
_Floride_ ("Florida") directed by Philippe Le Guay. I haven't heard
of him before, but the film is extremely competently made, with excellent editing (meshing a journey-to-Miami framing device with a tricky,
subjective, time-shifting narrative). The framing of individual scenes
and the occasional but dramatic use of sweeping camera motion are
impressive. Equally impressive are the lead actors: Jean Rochefort
playing a near-senile former paper mill owner, and Sandrine Kiberlain
playing his daughter and successor. Rochefort's Claude is not a
sweet, forgetful old man, unlike the Michel Piccoli character in _I'm
Going Home_. His fading memory leads to dire consequences, including
vicious verbal attacks on his daughter and a physical assault on
her boyfriend. And what more can one say about Kiberlain, who gets
better with every film when you think that cannot be possible. The
rich characterization of supporting characters helps make this a near-masterpiece.

The rest of the films I sampled are mostly comedies and I seldom finished
them. I have never heard of Virginie Efira but she seems to be in
every other film, playing wide-eyed blonde roles that used to go to
Ludivine Sagnier. _Family for Rent_ and _Caprice_ are middling French
comedies only, however. _Le tout nouveau testament_ is some kind of high-concept take on the 10 commandments, but is so weak-brained that
I tuned out before Catherine Deneuve shows up. _First Growth_ is not
a comedy, but is another drama about that overripe French subject of wine-making. The best comedy I saw was probably the Isabelle Carre
vehicle _Love at First Child_, where Carre's soon-to-be grandmother
character intervenes in her pregnant teenage daughter's affairs.

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