In an early announcement to retailers, independent distributors Music Box Films have revealed that they will release on Blu-ray Michel Leclerc's Le nom des gens a.k.a The Names of Love. Earlier this year, the film won Cesar Awards for Best Actress (Sara Forestier) and Best Original Screenplay (Baya Kasmi and Michel Leclerc). Street date is October 4th.
Baya Benmahmoud, a young, extroverted liberal, lives by the old hippie slogan: "Make love, not war" to convert right-wing men to her left-wing political causes by sleeping with them. She seduces many and so far has received exceptional results – until she meets Arthur Martin, a Jewish middle aged, middle-of-the road scientist. Bound by common tragic family histories (the Algerian War and Holocaust under Vichy), the duo improbably falls in love. Amid the bubbly amour, humorous lasciviousness and moments of sheer madness, filmmaker Michel Leclerc injects satirical riffs on such hot-button sociopolitical issues as Arab-Jewish relations, anti-Semitism, immigration, and racial and cultural identity.