There are bandits in every country. This is what was confirmed by Reims Polar where we were able to take the pulse of crime in several countries like Israel, including Highway 65 by Maya Dreifuss won the Grand Prize.
Coincidentally with the calendar, three feature films presented in Reims are being released this week, testifying to the diversity of the genre and the differences in morals in each country.
“LaRoy”, America at the bottom
LaRoyhe Shane Atkinson won the Grand Prix at the Deauville Festival last September and well deserved his trophy. A misunderstanding between a suicidal cuckold and the client of a hitman leads to a game of massacre, the origins of which the Coen brothers have looked into. “I assume this influence 200%,” confides the director to 20 minutes. Like them, I show a fantasized America with pieces of reality in it. » Black humor touches all the characters from Steve Zahn as a nerdy cowboy detective to Dylan Baker as an icy hitman to John Magaro, a doormat husband trampled by his corrupt ex-beauty queen wife (Megan Stevenson). “This gallery of characters really resembles the people you might encounter in the depths of the United States,” insists Shane Hudson. I barely forced the line. » Which makes his story as amusing as it is disturbing when these brave people reveal themselves ready to do anything to recover a stolen loot.
“Borgo”, Corsica behind bars
The ironic expression “as friendly as a prison guard” loses all its meaning with the one played by Hafsia Herzi in the thrilling Borgo by Stéphane Demoustier, Jury Prize at Reims Polar. This young woman, firm but devoted to her family and the inmates, risks losing everything by letting herself be drawn into the Corsican mafia system. “I wanted to draw inspiration from real events while choosing to create 100% fictional characters, leaving aside the point of view of the criminals and focusing my story on the destiny of a prison guard, » specifies the filmmaker. This depiction of regional crime is all the more fascinating as the excellent supporting roles (notably the debutant Louis Memmy, Moussa Mensali and Pablo Pauly) make each protagonist credible.
“Hopeless”: no hope in South Korea
The hero of Hopeless by Kim Chang-hoon, discovered in Cannes and presented in Reims, must have killed baby unicorns in a previous life. It’s very simple: everyone is talking about this 17-year-old teenager who dreams of leaving a small town in South Korea. His father-in-law and his friends would smuggle the gangsters from Borgo and the killer LaRoy for tender lambs. Tired of being taken for a punching bag, he joins the gang where he also takes pies but where he finds himself a substitute big brother. “I wanted to show all the forms of violence that govern our society in a more or less hidden way and to what extent this influences individuals,” specifies the director. Corruption, poverty and death go hand in hand in this skilful first film that its cruelty reserves for a strong-hearted audience.