The Cinematic Fever Dreams of Jacques Audiard
DETAILS
In celebration of Emilia Pérez, the audacious, genre-defying new work from Jacques Audiard, we are proud to present this exhilarating journey through the auteur’s thirty-year career as a director. Every feature film helmed by Audiard is included in this series, which will allow audiences to explore the entire collection of his intricate, internationally-renowned narratives that blend crime, passion, and personal transformation. Never one to shy from big, bold swings, Audiard’s stories often marry a gritty realism with intense, awe-inducing story beats – a combination whose effect is nothing short of a fever dream.
Whether it's Zoe Saldana breaking into song-and-dance in a roomful of corrupt politicians in Emilia Pérez, or Marion Cotillard’s life-changing encounter with a killer whale in Rust and Bone, the experience of an Audiard film offers emotional highs unlike any other. It’s this originality that has attracted international stars and exciting up-and-comers alike to his films since he began in 1994 with French legend Jean-Louis Trintignant in See How They Fall. He quickly garnered attention for his ability to draw powerful performances from a diverse array of actors, including the likes of Mathieu Kassovitz in A Self-Made Hero, Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Devos in Read My Lips, and Romain Duris in The Beat That My Heart Skipped. These four early films created an undeniably excellent resume – and as none are currently available to stream in the U.S., this series offers an unmissable chance to see them.
International acclaim soon followed, as Audiard has become a fixture on the awards circuit, with multiple BAFTAs, Césars, and festival accolades to his name. A Prophet, which launched its star Tahar Rahim’s career, was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2009, while his 2015 look at the life of a Sri Lankan immigrant in France, Dheepan, took home the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. A stop in Hollywood was almost inevitable, and his adaptation of Patrick DeWitt’s novel The Sisters Brothers packed the star power of Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly and Riz Ahmed.
As we take this opportunity to look back on his illustrious career, it’s clear that Audiard's cinematic achievements have not only cemented his status as a true original of contemporary cinema, but they have inspired a new generation of filmmakers and actors to think big and go bold.