Ava (2017 French film)

Ava
Ava
	Film poster
Directed by	Léa Mysius
Written by	Léa Mysius
Produced by	Jean-Louis Livi; Fanny Yvonnet;
Starring	Noée Abita; Laure Calamy; Juan Cano
Cinematography	Paul Guilhaume
Edited by	Pierre Deschamps
Music by	Florencia Di Concilio
Production; companies	F comme film; Trois Brigands Productions; Arte France Cinéma;
Distributed by	BAC Films
Release dates	19 May 2017 (Cannes); 21 June 2017 (France);
Running time	105 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Ava is a 2017 French drama film directed by Léa Mysius in her feature-length directorial debut. It was screened in the Critics' Week section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]^[2] At Cannes, it won the SACD Award.^[3]

Plot

Ava is an unhappy 13-year-old, who is losing her sight from Retinitis Pigmentosa – a genetic condition which leads to her losing her night sight, then her peripheral vision, followed by total blindness. She is determined to live life to the full while she can see, exploring her approaching blindness and her constant nightmares which keep her awake at night.

She is attracted to an 18-year-old, Juan and his dog, who she names Lupo. Juan is a traveler in love with Jessica, over whom he fights but is stabbed. Ava comes across the wounded Juan, helping him to recover. Once he is better, they embark on a spree of robberies at the beach, helping Ava to cope with her sadness. This, and the fact that Juan is having sex with Ava, gets Juan into trouble with the police.

They escape from the police and Ava offers to help Juan recover his car keys and papers from his caravan so they can run away together. Ava joins Jessica's wedding on the traveler site to wait tables, then slips away when the cake is served. She finds Juan's wallet and driving license but can't find his car keys.

The police raid the wedding so that Juan and Ava are forced to run away without his car. While they are walking away, Jessica appears to give Juan his car, leaving her veil with Ava as a token of her love and support for the couple.

Cast

Noée Abita as Ava
Laure Calamy as Maud, Ava's mother
Juan Cano as Juan
Tamara Cano as Jessica
Daouda Diakhate as Tété
Baptiste Archimbaud as Matthias
Franck Beckmann as the ophthalmologist
Carmen Gimenez as Carmen
Valentine Cadic as Wedding waitress
Ismaël Capelot

Production

In a dreamy scene, Laure Calamy appears on a counter with her legs spread. It was the actress herself who suggested to director Léa Mysius that "we see a little more than the pubic hair, that the vulva is shown."^[4]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10.^[5]

References

^ "Selection of the 56th Critics' Week". Semaine de la Critique. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
^ "56th Critics' Week Press Kit" (PDF). Semaine de la Critique. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
^ Keslassy, Elsa (25 May 2017). "'Makala,' 'Gabriel and the Mountain' Scoop Cannes' Critics' Week Awards". Variety. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
^ "Rencontre tout en corps avec Laure Calamy". www.troiscouleurs.fr. February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
^ "Ava". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 21 January 2024.

External links

Ava at IMDb

[Semaine-1] "Selection of the 56th Critics' Week". Semaine de la Critique. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2017.

[Semaine-press-2] "56th Critics' Week Press Kit" (PDF). Semaine de la Critique. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.

[semaine-awards-3] Keslassy, Elsa (25 May 2017). "'Makala,' 'Gabriel and the Mountain' Scoop Cannes' Critics' Week Awards". Variety. Retrieved 25 May 2017.

[4] "Rencontre tout en corps avec Laure Calamy". www.troiscouleurs.fr. February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2022.

[5] "Ava". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 21 January 2024.

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