The Town Is Quiet

Colour, 35mm
France, 2000, 132 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

This is the story of different people: Michele whose one aim is to save her daughter from drugs, Paul who betrayed his colleagues from the docks during a strike only because he wanted to become a taxi-driver, the musician Viviane who can no longer bear the political activities of her husband, young Abderaman whose life completely changed in prison and who tries to find his brothers, and Gérard whose attitude to death and his own mortality is highly singular. Their life stories unfold at the same time and in the same place, Marseille in the year 2000, and convince us that this town is certainly not a tranquil place. Robert Guédiguian admits that the view of Marseille from the cathedral inspired him to make the film; this view also opens the film and evokes a sense of calm, peace and security. “But I always said to myself that this is only a semblance, that dangerous things are happening in the town all the time, it’s bubbling over and the explosion threatens to come any moment. The film is about what concerns me and fills me with anxiety“.

About the director

Robert Guédiguian (b. 1953, Marseille) is a producer at Agat Films and Co. and Ex nihilo where René Allio, Solveig Anspach, Jean-Christophe Averty, Didier Bezace also make their films. Guédiguian also produces the films he directs and writes. His film Marius et Jeannette (1996) won the Louis Delluc prize and LumiŹres de Paris award for best film. He is currently filming Marie-Jo et ses deux amours. Filmography: Dernier été (1980), Rouge Midi (1983), Ki lo sa? (1985), Dieu vomit les tiŹdes (1989), L’argent fait le bonheur (1992), A la vie, ą la mort! (1994), Marius et Jeannette (1996), A la place du coeur (1998), A l’attaque! (1999), La ville est tranquille (2000).