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Please Give

That the film you are about to see intends to examine female characters openly, humorously, and without illusion is indicated in the sequence that that plays under the credits of Please Give. I won’t describe it because too many people would take it the same way, but it’s a witty opening to a movie that is funny, incisive, and sharply observed, which makes it a must-see during one fo the worst summer movie seasons in memory.

The Girl On The Train

On July 9 2004, a young woman walked into a police station in a Paris suburb and reported that she had been attacked on a subway platform by a half dozen young Muslim men, who drew swastikas on her and otherwise roughed her up for being a Jew (even though she wasn’t). The case immediately became a national outrage in a country that is both sensitive to charges of anti-Semitism and uncomfortable with its immigrant population. The furor lasted for four days until the woman admitted that she made the whole thing up as a bid for attention. Her story was threadbare at best, and the lasting lesson was how willing the French were to accept it.



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