FRANTZ

FRANTZ, 2016

France, Germany | DCP, Black & White, 113’ | French, German

Cast:Pierre Niney, Paula Beer, Ernst Stötzner

Frantz, which competed at last year’s Venice Film Festival, is Ozon’s first film in black and white (or in German). Anna, whose fiancé Frantzdied in the First World War, is at his graveside when she meets a young Frenchman named Adrien, who introduces himself as a friend of Frantz’s from Paris. In fact Adrien has an entirely different reason to be there, and he won’t reveal his secret to anyone. Based on a theater piece which was later adapted for the screen (Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 Broken Lullaby), Frantz revisits many themes familiar to Ozon aficionados and has an array of complicated female characters, making it a signature Ozon film indeed.