From the beginning of the year 2023, the favorites begin. Although he left empty-handed from the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, The survivorsthe first feature film by Guillaume Renusson, is a success around the meeting of a broken widower and an Afghan woman trying to find refuge in France via the Italian Alps.
Denis Ménochet, massive and fragile, and Zam Amir Ebrahimi, strong and threatened, camp a duet to which the spectator quickly attaches himself so much the talents of the actor, seen recently in As Bestas and peter von kant and the actress awarded at Cannes for Nights of Mashhad, are complementary. “Faced with the colossus with feet of clay embodied by Denis, Zar plays a frail but resilient woman, capable of changing faces,” Guillaume Renusson explains to 20 minutes.
A genre film rooted in reality
These two beings that life has not spared discover the power of solidarity in the face of brutal identity groups that hunt down migrants with the ferocity of what they believe to be their right. “I wanted that The Survivorsbe a genre film anchored in reality whose “bad guys” don’t have the head of the job”, declares Guillaume Renusson. Those who persecute migrants feel they have a real mission and are only more terrifying because they seem ordinary.
At the same time political film, thriller and psychological analysis, this intense film shares strong emotions thanks in particular to a remarkable soundtrack where each noise can be a harbinger of danger. Sublime mountain scenery serves as a backdrop for thrilling chases. Guillaume Renusson tried to get as close as possible to the conditions of reality for the shooting of his film and it shows.
High quality entertainment
Humanity and cinema go hand in hand thanks to an ingenious scenario co-written by the director and Clement Peny. Often violent, sometimes tender, this original film leads to a fascinating reflection on the situation of migrants but also on the reactions of people who meet them.
Without giving lessons, or didactics, the filmmaker plays the card of a rhythmic suspense and a very well filmed action to approach his subject. This ambitious choice makes survivors highly recommendable high quality entertainment.