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The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq
June 12, 2015 - June 27, 2015
$5
June 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 ♦
Michel Houellebecq, possibly the most widely read living French writer, was believed kidnapped on September 16, 2011. But was he really? After a flurry of media reports of his abduction, the story goes cold and Houellebecq, famously reclusive, refuses to set the record straight. Now he goes one step further by starring as himself in a film that purports to tell the tale. With a nod to O. Henry’s short story, The Ransom of Red Chief, the film explores the dramatic territory where the personae of criminal and victim are remade in unexpected and surprisingly amusing ways. (France; 96 min)
Coincidentally, a caricature of Michel Houellebecq was on the cover of the magazine Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7, the day that two jihadists entered its Paris offices and killed 12 people.
♦ “A divertingly eccentric, often comically absurd movie about a novelist … who finds something like happiness after being abducted.”
– Manohla Dargis, NEW YORK TIMES
♦ “A French intellectual’s equivalent of Michael Winterbottom’s TRIP movies, by way of Michael Bay’s PAIN & GAIN.”
– Scott Foundas, VARIETY
♦ “The Houellebecq we see on screen is obviously rooted as much in fiction as in fact, yet what makes his performance so fascinating is the mischievous glee he takes in sending up his own persona.”
– Melissa Anderson, VILLAGE VOICE
♦ “An inspired comic thriller…will reward curious viewers with its understated humor and unexpected warmth.”
– Stephen Dalton, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
♦ “This quietly uproarious drama delivers substantial artistic whimsy with a poker face.”
– Richard Brody, THE NEW YORKER
Fri, June 26
La Sapienza 7:00 @ IU Fine Arts
The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq 7:45 @ IU Woodburn
The Wolfpack 8:50 @ IU Fine Arts
Sat, June 27
La Sapienza 7:00 @ IU Fine Arts
The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq 7:45 @ IU Woodburn
The Wolfpack 8:50 @ IU Fine Arts
Sun, June 28
The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq 5:30 @ Bear’s Place
La Sapienza 7:45 @ Bear’s Place
Fri, July 3
La Sapienza 7:00 @ IU Fine Arts
The Wolfpack 7:45 @ IU Woodburn
Sun, July 5
La Sapienza 5:30 @ Bear’s Place
The Wolfpack 7:45 @ Bear’s Place – Last Chance!