An erotic French thriller, located in a small town: NPR

Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) remains with the new widow Martine (Catherine Frot) in the French thriller Misricordia.

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Diamond production

There have been countless films on people who return home after a while and obtained a reception less than to the company. Some of these characters just look for a little peace and calm, like the ex-boxer, played by John Wayne, who returns to his Irish roots in the classic of John Ford The calm man. And then there are those like the Misanthropic writer of Charlize Theron in Young adultwhich goes back in his hometown of the suburbs which seeks to arouse trouble.

One of the pleasures of Alain Guiraudie’s thriller Misricordia Do you never know in which camp is in which his protagonist falls. Jérémie, played by Félix Kysyl, is a man of about 30 years old, and he is difficult to understand – beautiful, but with something cold and inscriptionable in his eyes with blue eyes.

While the film begins, it goes to a tiny French village called Saint-Martial, nestled in a hilly and densely wooded countryside where residents make long walks and feed on mushrooms. Jérémie returned to the funeral of her former employer, a baker, who has just died at the age of 62.

Jérémie stays with the widow of the baker, Martine – she is played by the great French actor Catherine Frot, and she is open and welcoming, allowing Jérémie to stay a little after the funeral. The son, Vincent, who lives nearby with his wife and son, is rather hospital, but who often goes through his mother’s house, which indicates each time Jérémie exceeds his welcome. The two men have unfinished affairs; They were friends and there is an underlyotic underlying current with their barely disguised hostility.

Everything that could have happened between Jérémie and Vincent was never stated. But what does Misricordia He is so disturbing – and also so dark and funny – is his conviction that we all walk by carrying our share of latent and annoying desires.

Guiraudie is a leading figure in European queer cinema which is best known for its 2013 gay recruitment thriller, Foreigner by the lake. This film was a narrowly sharp exercise; For all the limited nudity of the sun, it threw an icy Hitchcockian cold. Since then, however, Guiraudie’s work has become more loose, strange and cheerer, by cutting borders in terms of tone, gender and sexuality. His films are full of gay romantic, straight and often intergenerational pairs – indeed, his fascination for meetings in May -December can be the most taboo of his work.

In MisricordiaJeremiah does not lack potential lust objects; It goes from an erotic possibility to another with a lack of insensitive investment. He seems to have one thing for his former boss. He strikes an older friend who pushes him violently – at least at the start. There is also a village priest that shakes, played by a hilarious Jacques Develay, who seems to know all the secrets of Jeremiah – and houses some of his own.

Misricordia becomes a mystery of murder in a small town in a way, with a corpse, concealment and a police investigation. But it is not one of those puzzles where the truth goes out in a sudden burst of flashbacks and revelations. Guiraudie does not have much use for the past; He is interested in the way his characters react in here and now. Misricordia know exactly what he does And Also seems to be folded up as you go. It is meticulous and intelligent, but it is also spontaneous and alive.

The title is the Latin word for “Mercy”, and as with so much here, it is wrapped in ambiguity. Jeremiah receives more than his share of compassion for others, like Martine, who is ridiculously patient with him, and the priest, who, in an example of moral logic upside down of the film, insists on admitting his sins to Jeremiah.

Guiraudie himself grew up in a small town in the south of France, and he clearly likes to tell stories against wild and evocative landscapes, where anything can happen. Jeremiah is also clearly attracted to this place. For all his humor and Misricordia turns out to be a completely sincere portrait of a small town where bakeries, farms and a whole way of life are about to disappear. Perhaps this film was the little act of mercy of Guiraudie-a reminder for Jeremiah, and the rest of us, that sometimes, maybe you can go home.