THE SCREENING ROOM
THE TITLE of François Ozon’s new film—his 16th in less than two decades—is heavier, more nuance-laden, than it first appears. In the past, Ozon’s titles have been bluntly descriptive, even taxonomic, in their handling of a central igure (Young and Beautiful, from 2013) or figures (Criminal Lovers, 8 Women, from 1999 and 2002). He has also shown lashes of mischief: His first film, Sitcom (1998), was about the horrors of family life; his last, The New Girlfriend (2014), concerned a cross-dressing man.
The title of Frantz is something else again, neither a piece of handholding nor an act of mild subversion, but a monosyllable with a gift for multitasking—and an index of the impacted richness that the film displays for roughly an hour.