"Blame it on Fidel" and "Beau Travail"

I watched two French movies in the past week, La Faute à Fidel! (2006) and Beau Travail (1999).

The first one was a detailed urban story about foreign politics through the eyes of a child, the second one was a modern Billy Budd story taking place in a desert. Perhaps there is no similarity between these two movies, unless that they are both directed by French female directors.

La Faute à Fidel! is a story probably more appealing to the female audience, since it is loaded with subtleties about the children and their relationship with their parents, how they perceive the world and how they react to the adults' ideals like political freedom and equality. The movie is great when it comes to portraying feelings of the main character, little miss de la Mesa, and it is even comic to a certain degree, that eventually makes us ask, as adults, that is it really worth it? Fighting for "adult" ideals instead of focusing on raising happy kids?

The movie is definitely worth being watched, but there is a risk of getting bored (specially for the average male audience), but I think it is mostly worth being watched due to the director's hilarious outlook on politics.

The second movie, Beau Travail is right the opposite: It is made by a female director but there is a good chance that it would appeal more to the male audience due to the subject matter (war, soldiers, morality, decisions), but interestingly enough, this was the first movie I watched with a "female gaze" (instead of the common "male gaze") in it. The scenes regarding the soldiers getting trained or doing physical exercises are filmed in a way that satiate the female audience' curiosity about men's physical features. Almost all the actors have great bodies and the angles adopted by the camera are exactly matched with what the average heterosexual female look probably yearns to catch in a man's body. With the desert as setting, with its warm shining sun, and the exquisite characterization, the whole experience of watching this movie can be an intense visual pleasure to certain groups of audience.

Claire Denis, the director of this movie, is also one of the professors teaching in my school, EGS. I originally wanted to get familiar with her work, that's why I watched this movie, but actually, after watching it, I felt good enough to want to watch other movies by her.