Just To Be Sure, the French rom-com releasing into Australian cinemas on Boxing Day, is a grown-up comedy of errors about family ties and confused parentage, that stays on the straight side of farce, thanks to the performances of its two leads, Francois Damiens and Cécile de France.
Damiens plays a bomb-disposal expert who needs to apply his professional skills to his personal life, when an explosive revelation discloses that he shares no DNA with his elderly father. He sets off on a quest to meet his biological father, and along the way, romance starts to spark with a feisty doctor (Anna, played by de France), but the two adventures risk merging in the worst way... once he meets her dad.
In her role as Anna, de France is in top form playing another of the outwardly strong and more-than-a-little fiery characters she’s made her bread and butter over the years. In an interview with SBS’ The Playlist podcast, de France says “I have to be very involved in the story [to say yes to a role]. I really need to be captured by it, like a very, very good book.
“I think it’s intention, that I choose a woman who looks a little bit strong, but is more fragile inside. Of course, it’s more interesting to have a character who has different sides, and who has an appearance and behind there is something more deep and in relief. I’m listening to my heart.”
de France calls Just To Be Sure, “a film full of love, tenderness and emotion”, and says she was most intrigued by director Carine Tardieu’s use of humour to offset the “very deep and very intense subjects”
“Is there an ideal father? The one who helps you to grow up, or one who just gives you the genes? Can we choose our father? Can we forgive the lie of the one who said he was your father? It’s a very interesting subject.”
In a wide-ranging interview, de France talks about working with female directors, previews series two of The Young Pope, and reflects on the experience of parodying herself in the French comedy drama Call My Agent!
Just to Be Sure is in release around Australia from December 26, 2017 through Palace Films.
Listen to the entire interview with Cecile De France below. (Interview starts 35:02)
Watch Cecile de France movies at SBS On Demand
Watch 'Sister Smile'
PG
Belgium, 2009
Genre: Biography, Drama, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgender, Queer
Language: French
Director: Stijn Coninx
Starring: Cecile de France, Marie Kremer, Chris Lomme, Sandrine Blancke
What's it about?
Follows the tumultuous story of Belgian nun Jeanine Deckers, who rose to fame as The Singing Nun aka 'Sister Smile', after scoring a chart-topping hit song ('Dominique') in 1963. Her life came spiralling down after the hit as she tried to pursue an alternative career.
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Watch 'The Kid with a Bike'
M
Italy, France, Belgium, 2011
Genre: Drama
Language: French
Director: Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Starring: Cecile de France, Fabrizio Rongione, Thomas Doret, Jérémie Renier
What's it about?
This deeply moving film by the Dardenne brothers delves into the emotional life of troubled 11-year-old Cyril (newcomer Thomas Doret). When his father (Jérémie Renier) abandons him, Cyril obsessively searches for his bicycle – placing his last bit of hope in this symbol of their relationship. Almost by accident, he becomes the ward of a kind hairdresser (Cécile de France), who seems surprised to find herself so determined to help him. With his wild, unpredictable behaviour and his disastrous search for father figures, Cyril risks losing her – though she refuses to give up without a fight.
[link title="The Kid with a Bike Review" url="node/5555"]
Source: SBS Movies
Stream the entire first series of 'The Young Pope'
Start with Episode One
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What's leaving SBS On Demand this month: December 2017
