“Les Cinq diables”: Film Review | skin 2022

When it comes to directing a second feature film, some filmmakers break focus, throwing everything away and hoping to stay in some way. This is a big gamble that could backfire or give you something like Julia Ducurnau TitaniumOverly ambitious, overworked and brutally insane work in its sophomore year, which paid off at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it came out with a golden palm branch.

five demons (Les Cinq closes), another promising debut from screenwriter and director Lea Misius, ava, which aired at Critics’ Week 2017, is also overly ambitious, telling a gender story best described as a multiracial, bisexual, small-town love triangle that captures the mind of M. Night Shyamalan. Like Dukurnau, Mysius goes here, but his film misses the mark by a few miles, even though the target scene is inspired and drives Adel Exarchopoulos perfectly, as usual. Directors Monday was the way to go for the film which, had it been in the main competition, would have compromised its difficult reception by finding some fans.

The problem is rooted in the decision of Mission and co-screenwriter / director of photography Paul Gilhaum to bring an intimate and convincing tragedy with elements of witchcraft, supernatural and time travels that seem to belong to another film, or if Shyamalan or Robert Eggers, the something like. by MarvelMarvin. Rather than adding to the intrigue, the genre’s components separate it, and when the film’s two sides finally merge, the impact feels vague.

To simplify, five demons Followed by swimming instructor Joan (Exarchopoulos) and her orbital daughter, Vicki (Sally Drama), who live in a foggy village at the foot of the Alps. Joanne is married to a local firefighter, Jimmy (Mustafa Mbengue), but their marriage seems to be on a precipice and ends when Jimmy and Julia (Swala Emati) show up after a long absence, remembering a terrible tragedy that happened ten years ago. . .

For so many simple things. The difficult task involves the newborn strength of little Wick, who has a sense of smell so strong and animalistic that he can kill his mother in the middle of a forest blindfolded. But that’s not all: Julia comes in with a magic potion that transports Vicky back in time to witness what happened between her mother, father and aunt, which led to her apparent antagonist. One towards the other. The problem, just to add one more, is that Julia can actually To see Vicky, when she appears in these moments, in a time paradox that reminds us back to the future s Terminator.

You see why making a movie isn’t easy, and Mysius uses everything in his toolbox: beautiful saturated colors and a slimy Guilhaume camera; Strong and physically exhausting performance by Exarchopoulos; Bonnie Tyler’s karaoke performance of “Complete Eclipse of the Heart” to end it all smoothly. but in contrast TitaniumWhose opening scene involving the vintage Cadillac serial killer meant all bets of credibility were off, five demons Fighting for credibility and yet it continues to pull the viewer away from it, with an ending that doesn’t leave its mark.

At its core, the film is about parochial racism (directed by Vicky, who is derided as “toilet brushes” by other all-white schoolchildren), homophobia (we know Joanne and Julia were madly in love, Joan Chareli, who is stalked by Albo Patrick Buchite plays), bisexuality (apparently, Joan was torn between Julia and Jimmy, whom she married after Julia left town and whom she still loves), and a fire (the companion’s face on the brink) Joan’s pool, Nadine, which Laurel patakia, covered in hideous burn scars).

That’s too much for anyone, including Misius, who has had a great writing career, like Jacques Audiard, Arno Desplechin and Claire Dennis (with this year’s competition title). night stars). However, despite his many attempts to unify the conspiracy, five demons It opens because more ingredients are added to the drink, or rather the witches’ drink, when we talk about the medicine that Vicky starts preparing, including urine and a dead wolf. The approach to everything is fast-paced and the movie will have its defenders, but the problem when you try to say too many things at once is that you end up sealing your own voice.

On a technical level, this is as powerful a job as ava, who made excellent use of 35mm film to film the suffering of his young heroine. Here the camera works wonders with Exarchopoulos and the budding drama, as it renders the alpine setting as if it were a distant fairytale town, with elements of fire and water, red and blue, hot and cold constantly filling the frame. The sound design by Alex Meinett and Victor Proud is effective with a score by Florence Di Concilio adding an epic and paranormal side to a film that has so many other sides it’s hard to know which side to switch to.