Premonition

Colour, 35 mm
France, 2006, 97 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Well-known French actor Jean-Pierre Darroussin adapted and directed this early work of writer Emmanuel Bove, who also made a name for himself in Italy and in Germany thanks to Peter Handke and Wim Wenders. Both the novel and the film tell the story of a successful Parisian attorney, Charles Benesteau, who one day abandons his family and his career and takes a modest flat in an immigrant quarter. He wants to be able to write in peace there and begin living a different life from the hectic, snobbish and inauthentic existence he has known until now. Charles tries to be a good neighbour, but his accommodating actions lead to more than a few harsh surprises and bitter disappointments, particularly where the family of young Tomasz is concerned. The film is the story of a man trying - with mixed results - to gain control over his life, to stop time and experience simple happiness. On the social level the film does not aim to be a fairytale about purely proletarian values, but is able to reflect this world with openness and show its persistent, almost insurmountable problems.

About the director

Jean-Pierre Darroussin (b. 1953. Courbevoie, France) studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He first appeared on the big screen in Notre historie (Our Story, 1984) by director Bertrand Blier. Since then he has acted in more than 70 pictures, he has worked with directors such as Cédric Kahn, or Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Very Long Engagement / Un long dimanche de fiançailles, 2004). In 1997 he won the César award for Best Supporting Actor in Cédric Klapisch’s Family Resemblances (Un air de famille), and in 1999 he was nominated for the same prize in the leading role of The Octopus (Le Poulpe), directed by Guillaum Nicloux. Audiences at the Karlovy Vary festival had the opportunity to see him in Robert Guédiguian’s The Town Is Quiet (Le ville est tranquille, 2001). Premonition is his directorial debut, for which he and Valérie Stroh wrote the screenplay and in which he also plays the lead role.