At first sight ,"Apres Le Sud" would display a Robert Guédigian influence: location in the South of France,average persons,whose paths meet ...
But further acquaintance shows it is not so: Guédigian's hope against hope and shades of optimism have disappeared . "Après Le sud" is a somber work Under the bright sun and the blue sky of French South.
The four characters seem to have lost their illusions ;the obese mother stuffs herself with Arab pastries while trying a medical treatment:she will remind you of Ellen Burstyn's desperate struggle with food in "requiem for a dream".Her daughter is a clerk in a supermarket ,a place she finds stifling :she's pregnant by a young Italian,Luigi ,himself a loser , who never succeeds in talking this over with her before the tragedy .The last character is a grumpy lonely old man who seems educated and who appreciates classical music.There's a scene where he is strip-searched in the supermarket by two hateful managers who humiliate him and whose behavior is really beyond the pale:taunting an incontinent old man,who is twice older than them! All this and more leads to an irreparable drama ,with a final scene recalling that of Pasolini's "Mamma Roma" .
Too bad the director succumbed to a contemporary vice: non-linear story,flashbacks,flash forwards,scenes showed twice (the latter would be interesting if we had a different point of view).This might be a little off-putting for the audience .
Nevertheless " Après Le sud" gets off the beaten track and thus can be considered an estimable work.
Dedicated to Cyril Collard ("Les Nuits Fauves ",1992)
But further acquaintance shows it is not so: Guédigian's hope against hope and shades of optimism have disappeared . "Après Le sud" is a somber work Under the bright sun and the blue sky of French South.
The four characters seem to have lost their illusions ;the obese mother stuffs herself with Arab pastries while trying a medical treatment:she will remind you of Ellen Burstyn's desperate struggle with food in "requiem for a dream".Her daughter is a clerk in a supermarket ,a place she finds stifling :she's pregnant by a young Italian,Luigi ,himself a loser , who never succeeds in talking this over with her before the tragedy .The last character is a grumpy lonely old man who seems educated and who appreciates classical music.There's a scene where he is strip-searched in the supermarket by two hateful managers who humiliate him and whose behavior is really beyond the pale:taunting an incontinent old man,who is twice older than them! All this and more leads to an irreparable drama ,with a final scene recalling that of Pasolini's "Mamma Roma" .
Too bad the director succumbed to a contemporary vice: non-linear story,flashbacks,flash forwards,scenes showed twice (the latter would be interesting if we had a different point of view).This might be a little off-putting for the audience .
Nevertheless " Après Le sud" gets off the beaten track and thus can be considered an estimable work.
Dedicated to Cyril Collard ("Les Nuits Fauves ",1992)