‘Stella’ is a little SIFF treasure

Sitting in Seattle’s The Egyptian theater on Saturday morning, waiting for an 11 a.m. Russian film “Captive,” I was forced to listen to a woman pontificate about cinema.

This, of course, happens at festivals. I’ve probably done it myself more than once. But I do know that, when in a theater at least, I try to talk in a low voice. I consider it the reverent thing to do. Kind of like being in church.

This woman, though, was talking to her friends in a normal voice, which at that time of the day, especially in a theater where your voice tends to travel, felt intrusive.

“Well,” she said at one point, “I’m NOT going to miss a French film. If I have to crawl on my knees …”

Eye-rolling time. See, this is what I have against fans of French films. It’s as if nothing made in France, starring French actors or featuring the French language, could ever be crap. Which clearly is an asinine attitude.

I’ve said it before: The best of French cinema ranks among the best the world has produced. The worst of French cinema isn’t worth an ounce of spoiled Boursin cheese.

It’s clear from the post immediately below that my favorite film over the Seattle International Film Festival’s opening weekend was French. So was my second favorite, the life-seen-through-a-child’s-eyes study “Stella,” which tells the story of a middle-school-age girl (Léora Barbara) from a working-class family who has to struggle to fit in with her more elitist classmates.

So I appreciate French cinema. Some of my favorite films of all time are French (see Francois Truffaut’s “Les quatre cent coup” ). I might even crawl on my knees to see one.

But I sure as hell wouldn’t announce that possibility in a theater.

Below: The trailer for “Stella.”