Film society's French offering Standing Tall a tale of redemption

Rod Paradot as Malony and Benoit Magimel as Yann in a scene from French film Standing Tall.

Whanganui Film Society screenings resume on Monday with 2015 Cannes Film Festival offering Standing Tall.

Made by director and actor Emmanuelle Bercot, the film tells the story of juvenile delinquent Malony played by Rod Paradot.

Last year Paradot, now 21, received the Cesar Award for Most Promising Actor for his role in the film.

Standing Tall also stars veteran actor Catherine Deneuve as a family court judge who has witnessed the neglect suffered by Malony as a child.

Together with Malony's counsellor Yann (played by Benoît Magimel who also collected a Cesar for his supporting role) she tries to save Maloney from a future life in prison.

Reviewer Peter Debruge of Variety complimented the director's restrained narrative.

"She doesn't pretend that there's some secret trick that can 'fix' kids like Malony, allowing the character to be volatile and inconsistent," he wrote.

"One moment, we glimpse the promising soul hidden behind his furrowed brow and want to help, the next, he's erupting into a feral rage, as the movie dares us not to declare him a lost cause."

Bercot first worked with Catherine Deneuve on the 2013 film On My Way (Elle s'en Va) which the Film Society will screen in September.

Deneuve also stars with Yves Montand in the 1975 Jean-Paul Rappeneau film Le Sauvage which screens here in August.

The French Connections selections are presented with the cooperation of the Embassy of France and Institut Français.

Standing Tall in high definition, runs for 120 minutes and has an R16 rating. It contains violence, sexual violence and offensive language. ​In French with English subtitles.

Standing Tall screens at Davis Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum, Watt St, on Monday, July 24 at 7pm.