Animal Kingdom: Fire destroys film set with Romain Dury

What is it about?

plot Kingdom of animals It takes place in a world plagued by a wave of mutations that transforms humans into animals. Francois’ character does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this phenomenon, and takes his 16-year-old son on a quest that will change them forever.

Filming in New Aquitaine

Director Thomas Caille filmed most of Animal Kingdom in the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park. He used old maps, tree enthusiast blogs and satellite images to find his settings. He recalls: “Together with my brother, we intensively covered the region David Keil, the film’s cinematographer, before finding the perfect setting. Everything was there: the primeval forest, the lagoon, the tree leaning over the water necessary for the fairy tale…”

“But in the middle of filming in the summer of 2022, everything was destroyed by the terrible Gironde fire. The film had to be stopped, the team left, I was left on the ground in the raining ash to look for alternative settings. complete the movie. We still had 5 weeks left to work… completely in the woods.”

Animal Kingdom: How to create larger-than-life mutants? Meeting with the special effects team

The possibilities of fantasy

With Animal Kingdom, Thomas Kail makes his second feature film after the highly acclaimed Les Combattants (2014), which began with a realistic tone and gradually moved towards fantasy. The filmmaker confides: “This trip was not planned, I discovered it while shooting the film. But the possibilities of imagination excited me. While participating in the Fémis jury, I read the script written Pauline MeunierIn which there was talk of human and animal hybridization…”

“I had the feeling that this metaphor was at the crossroads of all the themes I wanted to address at the time: transmission, the worlds we want to bequeath, the things we inherit, the ones we destroy, or that “perhaps still remain. Animal Kingdom follows the relationship between a 16-year-old boy and his father at a time when, almost everywhere in the world, the ‘animal part’ of humans is awakening as a dormant gene that breaks down the invisible boundary between humanity and ‘nature’.”

Choice Roman Duris

Director Thomas Keil explains that he discovered much of French cinema with Romain Dury: “young menace and good morning It’s one of those French movies that had a lot of meaning when I was a teenager. He is also a charming actor who gives a very strong portrayal of this father role. And always that light, that glow, and that contagious, inspiring joy of play.”

His ability to work and listen is impressive, his understanding of issues, his emotions are very instinctive. François is a whole character, he has something overwhelming, romantic. It is also a physical role. Features that are also novel. François is constantly acting, never giving up. Roman gave him speed, accuracy, very clean physicality.

Transformation into a bird

Tom Mercier (recently seen in The Beast in the Jungle) plays Chitman, whose mutation stage is very advanced. To give it shape, Thomas Cayley and his special effects team had to cast and scan his entire body, then build articulated prosthetic wings. The director adds: “Giving her new skin, pigmented like a bird, partially feathered. In addition to 6 hours a day of make-up, Tom pushed himself physically by jumping and stretching, while sculpting a truly impressive dancer’s body.”

“Fortunately, I felt early on on set that we were reconnecting with that basic element of acting, which goes back to the beginnings of the pleasure of acting, to childhood: dressing up, playing at being something other than human, inventing. Your own animal, running, jumping, screaming, flying. The filming also had this fun and cathartic dimension.”

“Big ambition. Huge payoff”: Rated 4.4 out of 5, Animal Kingdom is a “stunning masterpiece”

Prestigious references

Thomas Cayley conceived this film as its precedent : height of characters. Tone and genre adapt to their quest, which in turn is physical, sensory, or existential. The director explains: “For me, the coexistence of drama and comedy, action and contemplation, intimacy and spectacle makes a film more unexpected and alive. This mix of genres is the basis of my desire for cinema.”

“Speaking of clues, I thought as much Perfect world from Clint Eastwood or at the end of the race from Sidney Lumet than Thelma and Louise from Ridley Scott or that The host from Bong-joon Ho. These are porous films built around their characters, which encourage emotion and transcend genre constraints (escape, thriller) to offer a complete spectacle.