Directed by:
Brigitte SyCinematography:
Frédéric ServeCast:
Ronit Elkabetz, Carlo Brandt, Noémie Lvovsky, Camille Figuereo, Gurgon Kyap, Sasha Andres, François Négret, Xavier Legrand, Abdelhafid Metalsi (more)Plots(1)
Like Cléo in Agnès Varda's film, Barbara has her fortune told at the beginning of Les mains libres. Can the cards shed light on a recent encounter? Neither the fortune teller nor her best friend has anything good to say about this new love. "It is highly recommended" that she get out of the game while it is still possible. Barbara is a director who makes films in prison. Michel is a prisoner who takes part in her film workshop. They fall in love. Their seemingly controlled relationship goes off the rails. But they are not only separated by the prison wall. In an exchange between the inside and the outside world, their passion develops through touch, whispering, furtive letters and looks. In this story, nobody's hands are free. The lovers are abandoned to fate, imprisoned by their love. With a fine sense for nuance, Brigitte Sy delivers an impassioned film about forbidden love. In Ronit Elkabetz as Barbara, she has found a stunning proxy to tell her very intimate, autobiographical story. Les mains libres is a story about filmmaking and the re-invention of love. Imprisonment is no impediment to passion. (Berlinale)
(more)Cast
Ronit Elkabetz
Israel
Best movies:
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014)
The Band's Visit (2007)
Late Marriage (2001)
Carlo Brandt
Switzerland
Best movies:
Indochine (1992)
Ridiculous (1996)
Freedom (2009)
Noémie Lvovsky
France
Camille Figuereo
Best movies:
Nuages (2006) (TV movie)
Gurgon Kyap
Tibet
Best movies:
Himalaya (1999)
François Négret
France
Best movies:
Les Misérables (2000) (series)
The Night Is Young (1986)
Au revoir les enfants (1987)
Xavier Legrand
France
Best movies:
Au revoir les enfants (1987)
Regular Lovers (2005)
Abdelhafid Metalsi
France
Best movies:
Munich (2005)
Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)
Michou d'Auber (2007)
Jean-Charles Dumay
Best movies:
Polina (2016)
Until the End of the World (1991)
After You (2003)
Dominique Frot
France
Best movies:
La Cérémonie (1995)
Louise by the Shore (2016)
Sarah's Key (2010)
Mireille Roussel
Best movies:
Wild Innocence (2001)
Patchwork Family (2014)
Un ami parfait (2006)
Norbert Ferrer
Best movies:
Versailles (2008)
The World Is Yours (2018)
Huguette (2018) (TV movie)
Jocelyne Desverchère
Best movies:
A Parting Shot (2007)
After You (2003)
Les Destinées sentimentales (2000)
Eric Marcel
Best movies:
The Connection (2014)
Redoubtable (2017)
Alex Hugo (2014) (series)
Denis Maréchal
France
Best movies:
I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single (2006)
Camping paradis (2006) (series)
Clem (2010) (series)
Louison Blivet
Best movies:
Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)
Pascal Ternisien
Best movies:
L'allée du roi (1996) (series)
Romantics Anonymous (2010)
Too Close to Our Son (2015)