FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Review by Anthony Thurber

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Year: 2004
Director: Carlos Atanes
Stars: Xavier Tort, Anne Celine Auche, Manel Solas
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: SRS Cinema / FortKnox Audiovisual
Running Time: 82 Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Official Website: http://www.faqthemovie.com/



As you have notice with my reviews of Codex Atanicus and Proxima (which was recently released on DVD; click on the title to purchase either one of these films) that I loved both of Atanes's films. He is one of the most talented and visionary directors that no one has heard of. So after watching Proxima, I wanted to go back and take a look at his first feature film, FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). The film was released back in 2004. It’s about a sisterhood that has total control of France. Angeline, an exemplary and flawless citizen, has just joined the sisterhood and is conflicted with her duties. She is conflicted because she is in love with a special man. Soon this relationship will question her beliefs with the sisterhood’s doctrine and her relationship with this man.

One of the things that I learned by watching each of Carlos Atanes’s films is that he is great in creating some of the most beautiful and most disturbing imagery that you will ever see. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is the darkest film of the three films that I’ve seen from Atanes. He does that by making the film and it's story very gloomy, as it fits with the apocalyptic feel, in which he achieves with this film. He also uses a lot of background music here, as there are some scenes that are dialogue-less. The music helps make this film like a visual poem, something you would see in a Darren Aronofsky film. Atanes’s direction of the actors was very good. They did a very good job making their characters surreal and dark.

The screenplay was very good like Atanes’s previous other works. This is darkest of the three films that I’ve reviewed for this site. What made this film very interesting was that fact he was able to focus on a lot of issues, like sex, government, religion, and censorship. These issues were explored in a way that brings fear of what could happen if a group of powerful people ever decided to turn a country into a police state/dictatorship. In amidst of all these issues that Atanes presents here, he also does a very good job exploring the relationship between the two main characters, amidst this chaos. It added a dynamic that makes the story good and helps what message that Atanes is trying to get across. Also, I liked the fact, how he makes these characters dark, as it added to the gloom and doom atmosphere of the film.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is dark and entertaining film that leaves you with a lot of what ifs about society.

To purchase this film you can goto: http://www.amazon.com/FAQ-Frequently-Anne-Celine-Auche/dp/B000PY52H2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1215643992&sr=1-2