A new selection of films is arriving in French cinemas this week, including Yoshifumi Kondo’s animated feature Whisper of the Heart, Martin McDonagh’s espionage comedy Wild Horse Nine, Club Kid by Jordan Firstman and L’Affaire Marie-Claire, directed by Lauriane Escaffre and Yvo Muller.
Whisper of the Heart, first released in Japan in 1995, is reaching French cinemas following a recent restoration. It was the only film directed by Kondo, who died in 1998 at the age of 47. Adapted from Aoi Hiiragi’s manga, the story follows Shizuku, a book-loving and independent middle-school student in the Tokyo suburbs, over the summer as she prepares for high school entrance exams.
The other films in this week’s selection take on very different subjects: Wild Horse Nine is described as a black spy comedy featuring two CIA agents; L’Affaire Marie-Claire revisits the historic trial that helped pave the way for the legalization of abortion in France; and Club Kid draws on the energy of New York nights.
Sources: Le Monde Culture.