France / 2024 / 100 min / French with English subtitles / Mystery Suspense Thriller
Pierre and his wife Cléa lead a peaceful existence in a small provincial town. He is a teacher and she runs an optical shop. They are lodging Belle, the daughter of a friend.
What happens in this quaint French town, where everyone seems to know everyone…or do they?
Guillaume Canet (JOYEAUX NOEL) a fan favorite at FLIFF, brings a unique detachment to the lead role. As his wife Clea, played by Charlotte Gainesbourg (first introduced to FLIFF audiences in the 1993 CEMENT GARDEN, when she was 22) is brilliant as always. This film will get you thinking.
DIRECTOR: Benoît Jacquot was born on 5 February 1947 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Farewell, My Queen (2012), The School of Flesh (1998) and À Tout de Suite (2004).
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT: Georges Simenon never ceased to explore the theme of “guilt versus innocence” and the world that surrounds it. This undoubtedly, at least partially, explains why so many of his novels have been adapted to the big screen, as if the power of cinema can facilitate the almost mechanical oscillation between the ordinary and extraordinary, the peculiar and the banal. I’m thinking in particular of Jean Renoir’s Night at the Crossroads, based on a Simenon novel. Guilt is the driving force in many a movie, starting with the famous Hitchcock film The Wrong Man, along with most of his works; but when discussing this genre, my mind immediately goes to Fritz Lang’s Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, with its series of twists that prevent the viewer from discerning the main character, from start to finish.
Contact: laura.rinker@francetv.fr
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