Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : 'It's the end of my world and I know it.' Nino ( Théodore Pellerin ) attends his surprise birthday party twenty-four hours after being told that he has throat cancer in a scene from writer-director  Pauline Loquès ' Paris-set film, ' Nino '. Still courtesy of Curzon (UK) Nino Clavel (Théodore Pellerin) the soon-to-be 29-year-old protagonist of French writer-director Pauline Loquès’ feature debut, Nino , faces his worst-ever birthday weekend. Visiting a Paris clinic on Friday to collect a sick note, he is told that he has throat cancer. Nino had complained of fatigue and a pain in his throat but did not expect the diagnosis of papillon carcinoma, the result of a sexually transmitted disease he contracted when he was younger.   However, he is being fast-tracked for treatment. He needs to have someone to accompany him on Monday morning for the first appointment. He is told that the treatment will not result in hair loss but will reduce his sperm count...

  The title Mal de Pierres refers to stone disease, an abdominal pain caused by the presence of a kidney stone. Kidney stones typically occur when a person is dehydrated, so people living in hot climates are more likely to develop them. You can also develop kidney stones if you have too much calcium and you are consuming way too many oxalates – vegetables like beetroot, asparagus or rhubarb – that prevent your body from absorbing it. Chocolate is also an oxalate. Before seeing Mal de Pierres , I had done zero research into kidney stones or excessive calcium, so at the very least director Nicole Garcia’s film encouraged me to learn about them. Put that on the film poster: ‘An overwrought tale of amour fou’, Wendy Ide, The Guardian ; ‘Sent me straight to NHS Direct’, Larry Oliver, Bitlanders . Re-titled From the Land of the Moon in the UK – you can’t really sell a film called ‘Kidney Stones’ – Mal de Pierres is adapted by Garcia and co-writers Jacques Fieschi and Natalie Carter...