Tonight on TV: Rated 4 out of 5 This movie rivals The President’s Men and the best of New Hollywood

Do you only know Mark Ruffalo for his role as the Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? So it’s time to discover another facet of the talent of the American actor with the excellent Dark Waters, directed by Todd Haynes.

It was released in cinemas in 2019. Dark waters tells the story of Robert Bilott, a lawyer who specializes in defending the chemical industry. Interrogating the farmer, his grandmother’s neighbor, he discovers that the idyllic countryside of his childhood has been poisoned by the factory of the powerful chemical group DuPont, the region’s largest employer.

Result ? An essential action thriller, as gripping as it is subtle and moving, it manages to make a difficult case clear and engaging, to say the least. Not to mention Mark Ruffalo’s accurate interpretation of fighting the system. In short, it’s a cool movie.

It was Mark Ruffalo and his production company Participant who pitched Dark Waters to Todd Haynes, a year after Nathaniel Ritchie’s New York Times Magazine article on the subject. When the director discovered this, he was understandably shocked by the affair, which Rob Billot, a brazen lawyer, had revealed in spite of himself.

“This material will be difficult to invent”notes Todd Haynes. “At the same time, he pointed to a number of unscrupulous practices by large companies that have been violating the law for several years and continue to do so.

A practice that remains terribly relevant socially and politically. If we immediately thought of several talented directors to bring this project to the screen, Mark thought of me in a way that I could not explain why.”

It should be noted, as a funny anecdote, that Dark Waters marks the second film in which Mark Ruffalo plays a character who rubs shoulders with the du Pont family. In Foxcatcher, which was released in 2015, the actor played wrestler Dave Schultz, who was killed by John Eleuther du Pont, a family heir played by Steve Carell.

Tonight at Arte at 20:55.

Dark Waters: Robert Billott Seen by Mark Ruffalo