The French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski has been making quite a lot of noise on the festival circuit over the last few years. Her debut, Belle Epine, was a brash, beautiful tale of teenage angst centered on a young woman (Spectre standout Lea Seydoux) who becomes interested in motorcycles and the men who drive them. She followed that up with the fine, prickly drama Central Station, where she once again partnered with Seydoux as well as A Prophet breakout Tahar Rahim. And now, she's working in some English speaking with her French with her luminous-looking third feature, Planetarium, which focuses on a pair of sisters (Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp) who move to Paris and begin working in the entertainment business. Check out the trailer below:
There's clearly a more robust sense of style here than there was in either of Zlotowski's past features, but the suave sense of movement that can be felt in every shot here is a trademark of the filmmaker. One could see similar, sleek motions in the long motorcycle rides in Belle Epine, allowing the glowing, nighttime rides hugging against the curves of a desolate road to simply reflect the anxiousness of her protagonist. Even in these first swirling images of Planetarium, there's a similar sense of an antic, inventive inner life in the images of Portman and Depp dressing up and posing for audiences in all manner of wardrobe, setting, and headdress. In this way, the film feels as personal to the woman behind the camera as the women and men in front of it.
Planetarium is produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, and is set to premiere in Venice and TIFF. Though it doesn’t have a US distribution yet, it will undoubtedly have one by the end of these festivals. Meanwhile, it will open in France in November.
