Elegant, electric, enticing. François Ozon is one of the most important (and exciting) filmmakers working today. Prolific and daring, Ozon’s filmography defies characterization or generalization — ranging from high-art pastiche to erotically-charged thriller to humanistic, empathetic storytelling. After several short films and a few features well-received in France in the 1990s, Ozon shot to worldwide acclaim with the Cukor and Sirk-influenced, star-studded musical comedy whodunit 8 Women (2002), winning the Silver Bear at Berlin and stringing up twelve César Award nominations. His next film was the critically acclaimed, art house smash hit Swimming Pool (2003), an erotic thriller with strokes of Hitchcock and Highsmith, starring Charlotte Rampling as a crime novelist just trying to get away in the south of France. Highlights since his early aughts international breakout include In the House (2012), a tantalizing-told, transgressive tale featuring teacher and student; The New Girlfriend (2014), a suspense-filled melodrama bending norms of both narrative and gender; and Double Lover (2017), an eye-poppingly erotic psychological thriller in the vein of De Palma and Verhoeven — all featured in this retrospective series.
The Quad is thrilled to present this taste of François Ozon, leading up to the U.S. release of Everything Went Fine, based on the autobiographical novel by Emmanuèle Bernheim (Ozon’s friend and oft-screenwriting collaborator, including Swimming Pool) and starring Sophie Marceau and Alain Resnais regular André Dussollier with scene-stealing turns from icons Charlotte Rampling and Hanna Schygulla.
April 10-13.