Under the leadership of Pierre Nini, Gilles Lellouche and Emmanuel Bercott, is Goliath based on real facts?
Goliath, which was released in theaters on March 9, tells the story of the fate of three characters who should never be crossed. France (Emmanuel Berco), day sports teacher, night worker, is an active fighter against the use of pesticides.
Patrick (Gilles Lellouche), a vague and lonely Parisian lawyer, specializes in environmental law. Matthias (Pierre Nin), a brilliant lobbyist and fast man, defends the interests of the agrochemical giant.
After the radical action of an anonymous person, these three destinies, which should never have crossed, revolt, clash and ignite.
True history or total invention?
In the film, the pesticide defended by lobbyist Matthias is called Tetrazine. In fact, director Frederick Telier is based on a real phytosanitary scandal, glyphosate.
It is a chemical found in herbicides to kill unwanted plants. Very effective, cheap and easy to use, it is widely used by farmers.
However, glyphosate remains highly controversial, it has been accused of toxicity. However, the EU allowed it until December 2022. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization, classified the product as a “potential carcinogen” for humans.
As Pierre Nini points out to our microphone, Emmanuel Macron in his “Presidential Speech” in 2017 assured that Glysophat will be banned for three years. This promise was never fulfilled.
Indeed, farmers have no more effective and easy-to-use alternative to this product; So many of them oppose a possible ban. So the government is still cautious about this issue.
“Our position is to say that we should get out of glyphosate as much as possible. As the President of the Republic reminded us, this position must also be transferred to the European level, because we are in a common market and therefore we must bring the transitions to this point. Scales to avoid distortion of competition “Said Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie in March 2021.
Prolonged investigative work
Consumption of glyphosate is still very high in France. In 2020, it amounted to 8,645 tons. Therefore, Frederick Tellier created his own scenario from this controversy and invented his entire history.
“I was writing to L’Affaire SK1 when I discovered this question about pesticides. I came across a small observation book that did not talk exclusively about pesticides, but was a broader warning about the agricultural environment and what we eat.”Trusts film director Goliath’s press kit.
“I started reading this for the first time, worrying about my life as a citizen and consumer. “I told myself that this observation of the state of our agriculture, of our civilization, of our consumption, of our ability not to see the chaos around us, is in fact consistent with our individual and collective history.”Explains the director.
It took the filmmaker more than 5 years to do the research and start writing the screenplay, in collaboration with Simon Mutairou.
“Then I started an investigation that lasted for more or less 5 years because the environment is very opaque. Several books talk about the lobby environment and very few agrochemical lobbyists, so-called politicians or specialist journalists agree to testify.”Reveals Frederick Telier.
“In the beginning I also thought about tying L’Affaire SK1 and Goliath, but Save or Perish went faster, or rather Goliath, because of this difficult investigation, it took longer.”he says.
Goliath will be released in cinemas from March 9.
Teaser
Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
