Directed by:
Raoul RuizCinematography:
Stefan IvanovComposer:
Jorge ArriagadaCast:
Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli, Melvil Poupaud, Andrzej Seweryn, Bernadette Lafont, Mathieu Amalric, Pascal Bonitzer, Brigitte Sy, James Thiérrée (more)Plots(1)
This film was inspired by an anecdote from the history of psychoanalysis. Hermine Hellmut von Hug, a child psychologist in Vienna in the early 20th century, believed that she had discovered in her five-year-old nephew a pathological tendency to kill. As a disciple of Freud, she was certain that her nephew had reached the age at which his character was complete. She therefore decided to observe his inevitable criminal development until he finally committed the crime she was expecting of him.
What happened, however, was that the boy killed her, his aunt – the only person who knew about his tendency. So much for the facts.
In this film, René, the young defendant, is represented by a female lawyer called Solange. She aims to expose the convoluted interplay of subtle relationships that has existed between the victim and the (future) perpetrator over a period of more than ten years.
Initially, it looks as though Jeanne – the boy's aunt – is not only bent on exploring her nephew's inescapable tendency but on proving a new theory as well. And the young man, apparently, not only wants to punish his aunt for her unsavoury curiosity but also responds to her seemingly irresistible 'invitation' to commit a murder.
In brief; it isa film about determinism versus free will.
In the course of the investigations, however, the case takes a surprising turn for Solange.
(Berlinale)
Cast
Catherine Deneuve
France
Best movies:
Persepolis (2007)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen (2012) - a.f.
Michel Piccoli
France
Best movies:
Un amour de pluie (1974)
Milou in May (1990)
Mado (1976)
Melvil Poupaud
France
Best movies:
Laurence Anyways (2012)
An Officer and a Spy (2019)
A Tale of Summer (1996)
Andrzej Seweryn
Best movies:
Schindler's List (1993)
The French Revolution (1989) (TV movie)
The Promised Land (1974)
Bernadette Lafont
France
Best movies:
The Sleeping Car Murders (1965)
Le Beau Serge (1958)
How to Keep the Red Lamp Burning (1965)
Mathieu Amalric
France
Best movies:
Pascal Bonitzer
France
Best movies:
Don’t Forget You’re Going to Die (1995)
Love on the Ground (1984)
The Brontë Sisters (1979)
Brigitte Sy
France
Best movies:
Regular Lovers (2005)
Meeting Venus (1991)
Versailles (2008)
James Thiérrée
Switzerland
Best movies:
Prospero's Books (1991)
Stefano Quantestorie (1993)
Total Eclipse (1995)
Monique Mélinand
France
Best movies:
To Die of Love (1971)
Three Murderesses (1959)
The Mouth Agape (1974)
Hubert Saint-Macary
France
Best movies:
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Milou in May (1990)
East/West (1999)
Jean-Yves Gautier
Best movies:
Holy Year (1976)
Life and Nothing But (1989)
The French Detective (1975)
Jacques Pieiller
Best movies:
Time Regained (1999)
Le Voyage en douce (1980)
Three Lives and Only One Death (1996)
Jean Badin
Best movies:
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters (1999) (TV movie)
Crossroads (1986)
Time Regained (1999)
Lemmy Constantine
France
Best movies:
In Praise of Love (2001)
Capital (2012)
Immortel (ad vitam) (2004)
Messaoud Hattau
Best movies:
Michou d'Auber (2007)
Chouchou (2003)