On a French scene where the "feel-good" flick makes more and more its presence felt ,"Tempête " looks like a small miracle.
Played by non-professionals ,as far as the three leads are concerned ,with a documentary side, this movie is closer to Kenneth Loach than to Robert Bresson though:all along the way , we feel Samuel Collardey's sympathy for his characters .
"Dom has to choose between being a commercial fisherman or keeping custody of his two children."Dom is a good dad ,in the noblest sense of the word ;but he has to survive in a hostile world : the social worker,the man from the bank and the "others" are not "villains" :but they are part of another world ,where Dom's problems are unknown .
Although it's the story of a fisherman ,the " tempest " actually happens on the dry land :Dom's dream is to get his own boat ,to be able to come back home every day and take care of his children -it's important to point out that he's only a stepfather to the girl- ;the scene with the mom may be the key to the film: Dom tells her how he regrets his own dad was not always at home and that being his own boss would solve the problem ;but he finally breaks like a little boy and burst into tears.
Dom appears at first as a tough guy ,when he's on the boat ,a short sequence is enough to show us how hard a sailor's life is.Although he got a raw deal when he tries to fulfill his dream ,he never complains ,he never puts the blame on a society where you do not count when you do not have any personal capital contribution.The short scene when he shouts at the boy who got his stepdaughter pregnant has no effect on the story.
The rapport he has with his children is worth all the money in the world :the scrabble game which ends as a free-for-all or the more serious physical exam in the gynecologist's consulting-room .And to return to school and to pass your exam when you're forty is not that simple .But Dom's best is never enough : in the supermarket ,when you cannot pay all the food you buy ,you're humiliated in front of your son ;adding insult to injury ,the boy tells later that he considers being an apprentice bricklayer with his mother's partner.
Dominique Leborne ,playing his own role,gives a harrowing performance and both his young "co-stars' rise to the occasion too: Mailys telling her dad "who was not here" about her delivery in a voice broken with sobs could teach some professional actresses a thing or two.
The movie begins with a joyful scene in an Irish pub ,complete with folk music and dance ;it would end once the tempest had died down .In between ,a fight which was already lost.But we do know that Dom has retained the main thing:his children's love.Like the pupils at school who learned how hard it is to be a fisherman (the scene looks improvised),they will realize their dad gave all .
Very beautiful movie!
Played by non-professionals ,as far as the three leads are concerned ,with a documentary side, this movie is closer to Kenneth Loach than to Robert Bresson though:all along the way , we feel Samuel Collardey's sympathy for his characters .
"Dom has to choose between being a commercial fisherman or keeping custody of his two children."Dom is a good dad ,in the noblest sense of the word ;but he has to survive in a hostile world : the social worker,the man from the bank and the "others" are not "villains" :but they are part of another world ,where Dom's problems are unknown .
Although it's the story of a fisherman ,the " tempest " actually happens on the dry land :Dom's dream is to get his own boat ,to be able to come back home every day and take care of his children -it's important to point out that he's only a stepfather to the girl- ;the scene with the mom may be the key to the film: Dom tells her how he regrets his own dad was not always at home and that being his own boss would solve the problem ;but he finally breaks like a little boy and burst into tears.
Dom appears at first as a tough guy ,when he's on the boat ,a short sequence is enough to show us how hard a sailor's life is.Although he got a raw deal when he tries to fulfill his dream ,he never complains ,he never puts the blame on a society where you do not count when you do not have any personal capital contribution.The short scene when he shouts at the boy who got his stepdaughter pregnant has no effect on the story.
The rapport he has with his children is worth all the money in the world :the scrabble game which ends as a free-for-all or the more serious physical exam in the gynecologist's consulting-room .And to return to school and to pass your exam when you're forty is not that simple .But Dom's best is never enough : in the supermarket ,when you cannot pay all the food you buy ,you're humiliated in front of your son ;adding insult to injury ,the boy tells later that he considers being an apprentice bricklayer with his mother's partner.
Dominique Leborne ,playing his own role,gives a harrowing performance and both his young "co-stars' rise to the occasion too: Mailys telling her dad "who was not here" about her delivery in a voice broken with sobs could teach some professional actresses a thing or two.
The movie begins with a joyful scene in an Irish pub ,complete with folk music and dance ;it would end once the tempest had died down .In between ,a fight which was already lost.But we do know that Dom has retained the main thing:his children's love.Like the pupils at school who learned how hard it is to be a fisherman (the scene looks improvised),they will realize their dad gave all .
Very beautiful movie!
