From the Land of the Moon (film)

From the Land of the Moon (French: Mal de pierres, literally "disease of the stones") is a 2016 French film written and directed by Nicole Garcia and starring Marion Cotillard. The film is adapted from the 2006 Italian novella by Milena Agus. The film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival,[3] and received eight nominations for the César Awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Nicole Garcia, and Best Actress for Marion Cotillard.[4]

From the Land of the Moon
Theatrical release poster
FrenchMal de pierres
Directed byNicole Garcia
Written byNicole Garcia
Jacques Fieschi
Based onFrom the Land of the Moon
by Milena Agus
Produced byAlain Attal
StarringMarion Cotillard
Louis Garrel
Alex Brendemühl
CinematographyChristophe Beaucarne
Edited bySimon Jacquet
Music byDaniel Pemberton
Production
company
Les Productions du Trésor
Distributed byStudioCanal
Release dates
  • 15 May 2016 (2016-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 19 October 2016 (2016-10-19) (France)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget10.5 million[1]
Box office$6.5 million[2]

Plot

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At the end of WWII, a woman enters a marriage of convenience to a man who had shown kindness to her family during the war. Sickly from kidney stones, she travels to a fancy clinic for treatment and falls in love with a veteran she meets there. After they part, she considers whether to build a family with the man who loves her or re-kindle the lost bond with the man she loved while briefly away from home.

Cast

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Director and stars at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Release

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In May 2015, StudioCanal acquired distribution rights to the film in United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia.[5] In March 2016, Sundance Selects acquired U.S distribution rights to the film.[6]

Reception

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Critical response

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The film was nominated for several awards at the César Awards and elsewhere in Europe, including for Cotillard's performance and the cinematography by Christophe Beaucarne.

American critics were less enthusiastic in their response. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 32% based on reviews from 56 critics, with an average score of 4.73/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "From the Land of the Moon benefits from striking visuals and strong work from Marion Cotillard, but they're both ultimately overcome by a story that drifts into wan melodrama."[7] On Metacritic the film has a score of 40 out of 100, based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8] Alan Zilberman of the Washington Post said, "Moments of visual beauty only call attention to the stilted dialogue and maudlin plot that otherwise define the film."[9] Sheri Linden of the Los Angeles Times said, "Marion Cotillard shines", but director Garcia's "lush period drama equates hyper-romance with both self-realization and delusion, a proposition that proves more muddled than illuminating."[10]

Box office

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In France, From the Land of the Moon was released to 335 screens, where it debuted at number nine at the box office, selling 283,843 tickets.[11] It sold a total of 669,856 tickets and grossed $4,718,885 after 13 weeks in French cinemas.[12][2] The film grossed a total of $6,547,983 worldwide against a production budget of 10.5 million.[1][2]

Accolades

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Award / Film Festival Category Recipients Result
Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Nicole Garcia Nominated
César Awards[4] Best Film Nicole Garcia Nominated
Best Director Nicole Garcia Nominated
Best Actress Marion Cotillard Nominated
Best Cinematography Christophe Beaucarne Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Nicole Garcia, Jacques Fieschi Nominated
Best Costume Design Catherine Leterrier Nominated
Best Editing Simon Jacquet Nominated
Best Sound Jean-Pierre Duret, Sylvain Malbrant, Jean-Pierre Laforce Nominated
Globes de Cristal Award[13] Best Film Nicole Garcia Nominated
Lumières Award[14] Best Actress Marion Cotillard Nominated
Best Cinematography Christophe Beaucarne Nominated
World Soundtrack Awards[15] Film Composer of the Year Daniel Pemberton Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b "Assayas, Dumont, Garcia and Guiraudie: Four aces for the Palme d'Or". Cineuropa. 15 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "From the Land of the Moon". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  3. ^ BACLE, ARIANA. "Cannes Film Festival reveals 2016 lineup". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b "2017 César Awards Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  5. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (16 May 2015). "Cannes: Marion Cotillard Drama 'Moon' Lures Studiocanal (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  6. ^ Seetoodah, Ramin (29 March 2016). "Marion Cotillard's 'From the Land of the Moon' Sells to Sundance Selects (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  7. ^ "From the Land of the Moon (Mal de pierres) (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  8. ^ "From the Land of the Moon". Metacritic.
  9. ^ Alan Zilberman, "‘From the Land of the Moon’: Cotillard emotes, but about what, exactly?", Washington Post, 3 August 2017; accessed 8 August 2018
  10. ^ Sheri Linden, "Marion Cotillard shines in an otherwise rocky 'From the Land of the Moon'", Los Angeles Times, 2 August 2017; accessed 08 August 2018
  11. ^ "Mal de Pierres (2016)". JPBox-Office. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Box Office du film Mal de Pierres". Allociné (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  13. ^ "11ème Cérémonie des Globes de Cristal : découvrez la liste des nommés". Globes de Cristal. 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  14. ^ "2017 Lumiere Awards Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  15. ^ "World Soundtrack Awards 2016 – Nominations". SoundTrackFest. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
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