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Mini Reviews by Alex Deleon -- 

This turns out to be a most timely film about the flood of refugees now giving Europe gigantic headaches. This one follows a group of French speaking refugees from Burkino Faso braving the waters of the Mediterrean in a flimsy raft between Libya and Italy where they are received with more hostility than hospitality.  In the wake of this gripping drama, African actor Koudrous Seiphon, handsome in the mold of Harry Belefonte, with charisma to burn, may well become the next Big Thing in black movie stars if he learns English.

"Pawn Sacrifice" by Hollywood veteran Edward Zwicki starring Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer, the mad American chess prodigy who faced down Russian Grand Master, Boris Spassky in "the game of the century" in Reykjavic, at the height of the Cold war in 1972. Bobby later became an international Nut Case spouting tirades against the Jews (he was Jewish) and a thorn in the side  of the American State Department when he again faced Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992 in defiance of an American ban on travel to that country. With his American passport canceled and wanted by the Law in the States he bounced around the world as a political refugee from U.S. "justice" finally ending up ingognito behind a full white beard in Iceland where he died in 2008 at age 65, a man without a country.

The French entry "Deux Amis" (Two buddies)  Directed by Louis Garrel, starring himself, Victor Macaigne, and Golshifte Farahani.

This flimsy French flick is of interest mainly because it is the first star vehicle for stunning exiled Iranian actress Golshifte Farahani outside of her native Iran. She appeared in a much smaller role last year in Ridley Scott's "Exodus Gods and Kings" as the abandoned fiancé of Moses.  Golshifte was a top star in Iran before being declared persona non grata in the Islamic Republic for refusing to wear a head scarf in Cannes, then, even worse -- appearing partially nude in a French magazine. Directed by and co-starring Louis Garrel, himself a popular screen heart throb among the younger crowd in France and the 'significan other' of Golshifte in Paris at the time of filming.

Plotwise this is kind of a poorman's version of Jules and Jim with Vincent and Abel both in love with Monica, but more in love with each other as it will eventually turn out.  Unlike Truffaut's J&J this never turns into a full on ménàge à trois as Mona's (Golshifte) interest shifts from bungling loser Vincent to his cool love adviser Abel (Director Garrel). The rankling between the two boys is little more than an excuse to present the ravishing Golshifte in just about every scene from every possible angle. In one scene she even gets to show off her dancing chops.  The highly contrived threeway plot is not very convincing but worth sitting through just to see Persian beauty Golshifte finally getting the full attention she deserves as the leading lady and star of a non-Iranian western film. Anybody aware of the serious offscreen romance between Garrel and Goldhifte will realize that this was Garrel's main purpose in slapping this lightweight actrice vehicle together.  Apparently this gesture did not help cement their relationship as they are no longer a couple offscreen.

The question remains whether any director French, English, or other, is finally going to see the potential box office drawing power of this talented, beautiful charismatic actress and give her a major role in a real movie.  Having seen some of her star appeal in her Iranian films  before she was banned from return to the homeland it is clear to me that somebody out there is missing the boat. Ridley Scott found her but only deigned to give her a couple of small middle eastern type eyecandy roles -- in 'Body of Lies' 2008, and Exodus, Gods and Kings, 2014, and the current piece of Gallic fast food is not likely to promote her international image. If I were a director or producer I would immediately cast her as the lead in a big budget film opposite romantic stars like Jake Gyllenhall, Ben Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, Colin Firth, or even George Clooney.

Golshifte Farahani is a free woman she proved it by posing naked for french publication Egoiste.

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