Also on opening night is WESTERN, a comic and gentle look at two misfits trying to make it in a foreign land. Set in Brittany, or “western France,” — its rugged locations beautifully shot in CinemaScope — this contemporary road movie follows Paco, a Spaniard who is very successful with women, and Nino, a humble Russian immigrant who would like to be successful with one woman in particular. Their relationship begins when Paco (Sergi Lopez) picks up Nino (Sacha Bourdo), who is hitchhiking, and Nino takes off with the car and all of Paco’s possessions. Not a very auspicious beginning for a lasting friendship, but through twists of fate and circumstances, including the introduction of Marinette (Elisabeth Vitali), a local gift shop operator, Paco and Nino learn to rely on each other. An affectionate portrait of small town life in France, WESTERN, which won the 1997 Jury Prize in Cannes, is a delightful and accomplished work by Manuel Poirier.

A New Yorker Films Release.
(121 minutes, France, 1997)