FELIX AND LOLA (FELIX ET LOLA) European Showcase

Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of revered singer/songwriter/iconoclast Serge Gainsbourg, stars in this stylish romance directed by Patrice Leconte, one of France’s most prolific, award-winning auteurs.

The mundane life of Felix (Philippe Torreton), a carnival-ride operator, is forever altered when he notices a pale, listless young woman (Gainsbourg) among the violent revelry of bumper cars he supervises. Fearful of never seeing her again, Felix hires Lola on the spot. Soon, he falls madly in love and becomes entangled in her mysterious past which surfaces repeatedly in the form of a strange, lone man roaming the fairgrounds. Felix’s amorous passion becomes muddled with obsession as Lola’s secrets lead her to repeatedly disappear. Only one thing seems capable of emancipating Lola from her haunting past and placating lovesick Felix-murder.

Leconte (THE WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE, GIRL ON THE BRIDGE, RIDICULE) balances brilliant bursts of emotion with ethereal lulls of rumination, altogether blurring love and infatuation in this classic account of l’amour fou.