desertfilmsociety
presents the Coachella Valley Premiere of

THE TOWN IS QUIET (La Ville est Tranquille)


Saturday, August 7, 2004

9:00 am - Camelot Theatres Doors Open
(Complimentary Coffee & Pastries)

9:20 am - Introduction of the Film
9:30 am - Screening begins
Q&A Session follows the Screening

DFS Members present Membership Card
Guests & Non-Members pay $15.00 per person at the door.


Director:  Robert Guédiguian
Cast:  Ariane Ascaride, Gerard Meylan Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Pascale Roberts, Alexandre Ogou

The Town is Quiet is Guédiguian's most ambitious work to date.  Set in the modern city of Marseilles, this ensemble drama follows people from different races and backgrounds who find themselves lost in an increasing sense of confusion   Guédiguian, a native of Marseilles, has made that bustling Mediterranean city, with its potent mix of races, classes and cultures, his special muse, chronicling the lives, loves and dreams of its inhabitants.
With constant references to Robert Altman's Nashville, an epic portrait of American life in the 1970's, Guédiguian attempts to weave the same sort of intricate tale of tangled lives in modern day Marseilles.  There is Michèle (played by Ariane Ascaride), a fishmonger who is raising her granddaughter while her daughter struggles to rebuild a shattered life; Paul, who uses his severance pay as a dockworker to buy the car of his dreams; and Abderamane, transformed by his experience in jail and now looking for a way to make his mark on the world.  Their stories combine with those of the other finely etched characters to create a rich, insightful, Altmanesque fresco of a particular contemporary urban reality, showing, in the words of the director, that "at a time when life is more and more meaningless, the town is not quiet."
RELEASE DATE:  January 17, 2001, France; October 26, 2001, NY; November 9, 2001, Limited.
NOT RATED.
WINNER:  FIPRESCI Prize -- European Film Awards
Best Screenplay -- Mons International Festival of Love Films
Best Actress - Ariane Ascaride (unanimously) -- Valladolid International Film Festival
A selection of the Rotterdam Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival.

RUN TIME:  143 Minutes
French - with English Subtitles.