Summary
In the sleepy Northern French town of Bailleul, an out-of-work youngster Freddie relieves
his monotonous existence by riding around on his motorbike with his gang of friends and
sleeping with his girlfriend. With no qualifications and suffering from epilepsy,
Freddie has little hope of getting a job, and his frustration turns to hatred when he
sees a young Arab man trying to chat up his girlfriend...
Review
This remarkable debut film from Bruno Dumont paints a bleak picture of adolescent frustration,
bearing some similarities to Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 film La Haine, which also tackled
the themes of racism and social exclusion. In distinct contrast to La Haine, Dumont’s
film is far less intense and far less concerned with visual style. Whilst La Haine
takes place in a crowded urban setting (where racist tensions are almost inevitable),
Dumont sets his film in a picturesque, under-populated country town. Somehow the
evils of racism and rape take on a darker hue when they surface in a more remote, bucolic
location.
The film has a distinctive visual style, alternating between the alluring and the shocking,
with a minimalist simplicity that is very reminiscent of Robert Bresson’s later films.
Like Bresson, Dumont used non-professional actors, although Dumont’s actors have been
coached to give a more naturalistic performance. The Bresson influence is most apparent
at the end of the film, when the central character Freddie, after his staggering fall
from grace, discovers redemption, in an exceptionally poignant and beautifully shot sequence.
© James Travers 2002
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