Archive of films lapidation de Saint Etienne / La lapidation de Saint Etienne

Spain / France
2012, 80 min

Section: Official Selection - Competition
Year: 2012

Etienne is a sick old man living alone in a cramped apartment full of stuff, and he refuses to leave it although it no longer belongs to him. Here, the topics of old age and loneliness are not conceived as a traditional psychological story. Instead, in the spirit of contemporary Catalan cinema, the filmmaker aims for the greatest concision, even to the point of abstraction.

Synopsis

Etienne is a sick old man living alone in a cramped apartment full of stuff. He won’t get rid of it all and he would never think of moving out, even though the flat doesn’t belong to him. He refuses to talk to the social worker, his neighbours or to the owner of the flat believing that the souls of his dead wife and daughter are still present within its walls. The symptoms betrayed by the main character in the film, whose title is inspired by the frequent depiction of the myth of St Stephen’s martyrdom, are in no way unusual in the modern world. The themes of old age and loneliness are not conceived within a traditional psychological narrative, where the film develops a story for the central character with varying degrees of intensity. We discover very little about Etienne’s past and can only surmise the reasons for his strange behaviour from the indications he gives us. In the spirit of contemporary Catalan cinema, the filmmaker aims for stringency, even to the point of abstraction. He entrusted the role of Etienne to Lou Castel, who faithfully embodies the irritating combination of corporeality and intellect.

About the director

Pere Vilà i Barceló (b. 1975, Girona, Spain) studied screenwriting at Centre Calassanç in Barcelona as the pupil of famous director and screenwriter Joaquin Jordà. He has written a number of screenplays and has made various short films. He won the Elsa Peretti Foundation prize for his film The Fish of the River Lethe (Els peixos del riu Leteo). In 2006 he shot his first feature film, Railroad Crossing (Pas a nivell), presented at several festivals, including Rotterdam. He then made the short documentary Origin (Origen, 2008) while also shooting the civil war documentary Unknown Soldiers (Soldats anònims, 2008), which he co-directed with Isaki Lacuesta.

Contacts

Eddie Saeta S.A.
Pasaje Permanyer 14, 080 09, Barcelona
Spain
Tel: +34 934 677 040
Fax: +34 934 677 489
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.eddiesaeta.com

Media Luna New Films UG
Aachener Strasse 24, 506 74, Cologne
Germany
Tel: +49 221 510 918 91
Fax: +49 221 510 918 99
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.medialuna.biz

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About the film

Color, DCP
World premiere

Section:	Official Selection - Competition

Director:	Pere Vilà i Barceló
Screenplay:	Pere Vilà i Barceló, Laura Merino
Dir. of Photography:	Jose Luis Bernal
Music:	Jordi Casadevall
Editor:	David Perez
Producer:	Luis Miñarro
Production:	Eddie Saeta S.A.
Cast:	Lou Castel, Marie Payen, Luis Rego
Contact:	Eddie Saeta S.A., Media Luna New Films UG

Guests

Lluís Miñarro

Film Director / Producer

Pere Vilà i Barceló

Film Director

Lou Castel

Actor

Monica Garcia Massague

Film Institution Rep.