The 30th edition of Gérardmer's International Fantastic Film Festival took place in a cold winter from Wednesday 25 to Sunday 29 January 2023. Covered by KillerS7ven and the celest wolf, the event was worth the trip since the good-child atmosphere (Ahouuu !!!), the mountain scenery, the encounters in the queues of waits, the good food (at the munster) and the discussions between the cinéphages were also worth the visit « lost » in the Vosges.
More eclectic programming than usual (Domingo and mist and The Mountain are much more Cannois than Gérômois), beautiful encounters (such as Mathieu Plainfossé, chef op Tropical), the memorable private evening for the feast party (where our « Tarzan » of Strasbourg set fire to the stage alongside Pablo Cobo and Louis Peres, the main roles of Tropical), exciting interviews (opened by Lorcan Finnegan, the director of The Nocebo Effect) and shooting at the aurora of critical returns in a makeshift studio (you seriously thought that we were going to spend without counting !?), have thus rhythmized the peregrinations of our two companions.
And if you're going to have to wait a little while to discover everything (many articles and/or videos will follow in the coming days), we start hostilities with the post-session of our canis lupus of the Pyrenees (a sure, The Mountain must have reminded him of his den). Follow the knives...
Contents
Piaffe
(2022 / Germany / 86 min) by Ann Oren
Viewed on Thursday 26 January at 11:00 a.m. at the LAC Space. Competition
Eva, a young introverted woman who works as a noiseer, encounters difficulties in creating the sounds of an advertising film featuring a horse. As a horsetail begins to grow on its body, it develops a submission relationship with a botanist.
Abolishing the boundaries of gender and gender (male/female), this surrealist fetishist work nevertheless misses its gallop by adorning itself with too big hoofs. For if she shows a plastic all at once all attuned (a Super 16 capture in 1.66 format), the self-assertion she talks about (a female-horse who discovers all her femininity with a symbolically manly attribute) is supported too coarsely to mark the spirits. And despite some fulgurances (the passage on the examination table, the clubbing sequences), this strangeness has a hard time transmitting the mechanics of his desires. A short film would have been easier to tame! 🔪🔪
Watcher
(2022 / United States / 96 min) de Chloe Okuno
Viewed on Thursday 26 January at 5 p.m. at the LAC Space. Competition
Julia and her husband of Romanian origin leave the United States to move to Bucharest, where he found a new job. Having recently drawn a line on her acting career, Julia often finds herself alone in her large apartment and tries to take care of herself as she can. One night, looking through the window at the building opposite, she sees a silhouette that seems to look at her in return...
At the crossroads of genres, this psychological thriller with cold beauty and subliminal tension is a Window on courtyard modern where the threat runs behind the curtains. Focusing on the out-of-the-box to raise anxiety and with a relevant look at harassment (exercised by men), this elegant work sees a Maika Monroe delivered to herself who, unlike her character in the raised horror It Follow-up, is determined to follow his executioner to confirm his suspicions. Archi-classical but effective in his Hitchcockian exercise. 🔪🔪🔪
Blood (2022)
(2022 / United States / 98 min) by Brad Anderson
Viewed on Thursday 26 January at 8 pm at PARADISO. Competition
After a complicated divorce, Jesse moved in with his daughter and young son Owen to an old farm. Soon after, Owen was violently bitten by a dog. In the hospital, he wakes up with a strange thirst for blood. His mother will do everything to provide him with it and keep him alive.
This depressing family drama in which supernatural horror (a rereading of vampirism) is satisfied with a metaphor on the separation of couples and dependencies, is an engaging dysfunctional monster (the director does not lack know-how) despite a certain lack of originality (the stakes he draws and the bases he lays are known of the genre). Interesting when she plunges into the mother's psyche, a former drug addict developing Münchausen syndrome by proxy, much less when she tries to shape a mythology, too clumsy and mysterious to captivate, this series B cruel for her characters nevertheless does not succumb to the call (free) of blood and disturbs with the appropriate dosage. 🔪🔪🔪
The Tower
(2022 / France / 89 min) by Guillaume Nicloux
Viewed on Thursday 26 January at 10pm at PARADISO. Competition
In the heart of a city, the inhabitants of a tower wake up one morning and discover that their building is wrapped in opaque fog, obstructing doors and windows – a strange dark material that devours everything that tries to cross it. When trapped, residents try to organize, but to ensure their survival, they gradually succumb to their most primitive instincts, until they sink into horror...
Playing the childish fear of the dark, this extreme confinement invites in the suburbs The Mist (without scary creatures) to better dissect French society not without oppressive pessimism. Against the background of communalism and survival that push men into barbarism, this HLM tower of all horrors (the decor is skillfully exploited) ensures that its inhabitants remain in motion to confront them with extreme dramas (proxeneism, cannibalism, etc.). Indeed, exploring the darkness of the human soul, this ambitious post-apo drama (sometimes too much, cf. the temporal ellipses where some narrative tracks evaporate into nothingness) is a dark originality in the French film landscape. 🔪🔪🔪🔪
Memory of Water
(2022 / Finland, Germany, Estonia & Norway / 100 min) from Saara Saarela
Viewed on Friday 27 January at 11:00 a.m. at the LAC Space. Competition
In a futuristic world where water is scarce, Noria became the Mistress of the tea of her village, following to the letter the traditions inherited from her late father. It also has a well-kept secret for generations. The young woman must use her quiet force to guide her through a dangerous odyssey for the survival of her people.
While the water has dried up, this northern totalitarian dystopia (at Hunger Games and Divergent) which recalls the darkest hours of the old continent (the Third Reich) quench our thirst for cinemaphilia with its European sensitivity. And even if full of good feelings and populated by manichean characters (but no less endearing), this eco-friendly fable with dusty futuristic aesthetics (where SF elements are tastefully integrated) and with the staging as refined as it was (like the tea ceremony in Japan) is animated by a feminine heart that beats the chamade. TheVesper Chronicles 2023 is here! 🔪🔪🔪🔪
In full fire
(2022 / France & Belgium / 85 min) de Quentin Reynaud
Viewed on Friday 27 January at 15:00 at the LAC Space. Non-competition
While a forest fire has been ravaging the area for weeks, 41-year-old Simon and 74-year-old his father Joseph have to leave their home and take the road following evacuation warnings. But the wind rises, making the fire impossible to control. Will Simon and Joseph succeed in getting out of their vehicle and alone in a forest turned into a giant firewood?
Walking in the flames of the disaster movie, this suffocating survival « sembrase » when the symbolic family drama is to act (for the planet and its loved ones) before it is too late. Technical and artistic pride (especially for a French film) projecting us as closely as possible to the characters (interpreted by two very talented actors), this echo of the climatic crises (which we have been going through for a few years) with the good idea of putting ourselves at the service of his intrigue, which evolves in real time (or almost) in the midst of burning landscapes, so that the allegory on the family and mourning adroitly revives the stakes. Facing Mother Nature, whose devastating power is no longer to be demonstrated, the trip could only be anxiogenic! 🔪🔪🔪🔪
Domingo and mist
(2022 / Costa Rica & Qatar / 92 min) by Ariel Escalante Meza
Viewed on Friday 27 January at 6:30 p.m. at the MCL. Non-competition
In the tropical mountains of Costa Rica, Domingo, who lost his wife, owns land coveted by entrepreneurs determined to build a new highway. Increasing acts of intimidation, they dislodge people one after another. But Domingo resists because this land contains a mystical secret...
In an disappearing universe where rampant capitalism prevents recollection, a man « alone against all » lost in endless dreamlike wanderings. Much too contemplative and mutical for his own good, this « end of a world » very successful formally (the vaporous landscapes are enchanting and the dissonant music that mixes with this nature « contaminated » by the deconstruction of men is remarkable) seems to be an internal journey to the melancholic sweetness certain whose mist, mysterious and omnipresent, is a real symbolic character (death and mourning). But if it is important to remember that it is always difficult to get rid of the past, there are 70 minutes too many to do it! 🔪
The Nocebo Effect
(2022 / Ireland, Philippines, United Kingdom & United States / 96 min) by Lorcan Finnegan
Viewed on Friday 27 January at 10:30 pm at the MCL. Competition
A fashion designer is suddenly struck by a mysterious illness that disconcertes her doctors and upsets her husband. But the arrival of a Filipino nurse, who is a fan of traditional local medicine, reveals the terrifying origin of the evil that strikes her.
Admittedly agreed (he in no way renews the genre) and little subtle (the narration is too mechanically explanatory), this slow-burning horrific thriller heals with a South-East Asian folklore to challenge the exploitation of poor nations. Lander than her Vivarium which carried out a radical critique of consumerism (which consumes us and not the reverse) and « suffered » by an Eva Green whose game evokes that of Isabel Adjani in Possession, this manipulation of the body and mind (which will give rise to a burning revelation) is dotted with memorable nightmare visions down to a cruelly distressing end. 🔪🔪🔪
Irati
(2022 / Spain / 111 min) by Paul Urkijo Alijo
Viewed on Saturday 28 January at 11:00 a.m. at the MCL. Non-competition
8th century. The army of Charlemagne is setting the Pyrenees on fire and blood. In order to stop this massacre, the mountain leader of the valley asks for help from the ancestral gods of his land, whose disappearance is imminent with the arrival of Christendom. After taking the oath, he managed to defeat the enemy in exchange for his life. But before he died, he made his son Eneko promise to protect the valley. Years pass and Eneko, becoming a man of the Christian faith, prepares to honour his promise...
If the detonated casting with nature, this fantastic tale where the land and the magic (superbly illustrated) coexist pours a beautiful Basque hero fantasy making live legends that die. For through the prism of the fantastic, there is a question of beliefs that struggle for their survival in a world where they are no longer welcome. This idea is also reported to CGI, whose image-by-image animation remembers the great Ray Harryhausen. 🔪🔪🔪
The Pietà
(2022 / Spain & Argentina / 84 min) by Eduardo Casanova
Viewed on Saturday 28 January at 2.30 p.m. at the MCL. Competition
Lili and her son Mateo have a fusional relationship that makes them dependent on each other. They are complacent in a suffocating reality until one of them has a serious illness. The simple idea of being separated leads them to develop the darkest and most toxic version of themselves.
Telenovela acidic on toxic motherhood, this colorful black comedy (bonbon pink) where freedom does not exist denounces dictatorial control with as much humor as provocation (the parallels with the political regime of North Korea are hilarious). Up to the Buttist and enamelled with great-guignolesque situations to better massacre the Oedipus that inhabits the places (asepticized), this theatrical work in its excesses (always controlled) that expose indelible images (cf. the counter-dive under a woman who urinates or even the birth nightmare of a woman who « baby » It's like this. 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
The Elderly
(2022 / Spain / 96 min) by Raul Cerezo & Fernando Gonzalez Gomez
Viewed on Saturday 28 January at 7:30 p.m. at the MCL. Non-competition
Manuel's world collapses on the day his wife commits suicide. The shock is so great that it causes dementia in the old man. Unable to send his father to live in a specialized residence, his son Mario decides to welcome him home with his family despite the strong opposition of his wife who awaits a child and Manuel's increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior...
While the reflection on ordinary violence against the elderly is relevant, this worrying horrific drama that uses worn-out jump scares is lost on the way. For to arrive at its frightening last straight line where the old ones are finally seen by all (but not long for us spectators), this Spanish horror that slows down in these heatwave times leaves in too many directions before yielding to the ease (the pacemaker of the rebellion). And that's too bad since the photograph (to shades of brown and yellow) and the building (to revive [REC]) give the feeling of being in a dry world where death is watching (is it not?). 🔪🔪
Zeria
(2021 / Belgium / 61 min) by Harry Cleven
Viewed on Saturday 28 January at 9:30 pm at the MCL. Competition
Gaspard is the last man on Earth. Zeria, her grandson, is the first human being born on Mars. Gaspard tells him about his life, his fears, his loves... in the hope that Zeria will come to him before she dies. Zeria would be the first human being to return to Earth without ever knowing...
A melancholy and visually hybrid life course (of puppets, urban dioramas and masks worn by real humans) where humanity at the end of the race serves a destabilizing psychoanalytic experience. Aesthetically ugly (even if it is necessary to salute the initiative) and depressing as possible, this therapy guided by a leading voice-off risks leaving its visitors marble. 🔪
Venus (2022)
(2022 / Spain / 100 min) de Jaume Balagueró
Viewed on Saturday 28 January at 11pm at the MCL. Non-competition
Lucía works as a dance gogo in a nightclub. One night, she steals a bag of synthetic drugs from her employers. Followed by a band of big arms, she finds refuge in the apartment where her sister Rocío resides. But this place seems to hide a much more terrible threat than the men who are looking for it.
Between polar (with gangsters escaped from a EuropaCorp production) and Lovecraftian horror (where the trilogy of Dario Argento's three mothers stays on the top floor), this unpredictable genre film that handles the art of the unwarranted turn (coucoucou) Malignant !) shakes an unforgettable screen queen (sexy in devil and bastard as possible) until its final crowning. As he sheds litres of blood, this fantasy of fantasy is simply fun. 🔪🔪🔪
Tropical
(2022 / France / 110 min) by Edouard Salier
Viewed on Sunday 29 January at 11:00 a.m. at the MCL. Non-competition
The twin brothers Lázaro and Tristán are part of a military program that aims to train the best astronauts of tomorrow. Their mother sacrificed everything to bring them to this goal. But their dream breaks and the family cell explodes when Tristán is contaminated with a toxic residue that physically and mentally transforms him...
Overwhelming humanity and visually grandiose (a 16 mm camera capture at the shoulder when the teen fire burns that evolves towards digital 4K stabilized at the hour of responsibility), this family drama on disability (where the body horror at the Cronenberg comes out) imposes itself as a sincere work and of rare accuracy with two actors in the firmament. In five chapters mixing rivalry, denial, rejection, hatred and love, it is a magnificent and upsetting story about fraternal ties that is told to us. 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
The Mountain (2022)
(2022 / France / 112 min) by Thomas Salvador
Viewed on Sunday 29 January at 4pm at PARADISO. Competition
Pierre, a Parisian engineer, went to the Alps for his work. Irresistibly attracted to the mountains, he settled a bivouac at altitude and decided not to go down again. Up there, he met Lea and discovered mysterious glare.
In this introspective journey in which the fantastic is very poorly incorporated into the narrative (for a metaphor that lacks terribly subtlety), the drunkenness of the peaks and the majesty of the images (the Mont Blanc massif) are not enough to reach the peaks. And while the snows are as eternal as boredom, following such a silent character in his retreat at altitude does not give any pure sensations. To recall what is essential here below, a narrowed narrative (30 minutes less) amputated gender elements (totally useless) would otherwise have been more conclusive. I could have said: « The MountainIt wins you! ». 🔪🔪
Our ceremonies
(2022 / France / 104 min) by Simon Rieth
Viewed on Sunday 29 January at 7.30 pm at CASINO. Non-competition
Royan, 2011. As summer stretches its burning days, two young brothers, Tony and Noah, play the game of death and chance... Until the accident that will change their lives forever. Ten years later and now young adults, they returned to Royan and crossed the road to Cassandre, their childhood love. But the brothers have been hiding a secret all this time...
Embraced by a deep affect for his two characters, this fraternal drama on emancipation (which the unique and magical interdependence prevents) is an out-of-the-clock work where the evanescence penetrates the pores of the skin (the photograph is really beautiful) and death is a source of life. Authentic and bold in his proposal, this first singular work has a heavy heart filled with love! 🔪🔪🔪🔪
Knock at the Cabin
(2023 / United States / 105 min) by Mr Night Shyamalan
Viewed on Sunday 29 January at 10pm at CASINO. Non-competition
As they spend their holidays in an isolated chalet in the middle of nature, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed foreigners who require them an impossible choice in order to avoid the imminence of the apocalypse. While they have virtually no means of communication with the rest of the world, they will have to take their decision alone.
In this oppressive huis-closing where faith and family (the fetish themes of the director) found « refuge », the tic-tac of Apocalypse requires humanity to make the right choice (an internal war that will unfortunately be too simplified at the end). Packed with real know-how, governed by emotion and inhabited by a cast of great accuracy (Dave Bautista in the lead), this Signs In a mirror that knows how to play with the nerves of the public is the new will of Shyamalan! 🔪🔪🔪
The Jury of the 30th edition of Gérardmer's International Fantastic Film Festival, co-chaired by Bérénice Bejo and Michel Hazanavicius, surrounded by Pierre Deladonchamps, Gringe, Anne Le Ny, Alex Lutz, Sébastien Marnier, Finnegan Oldfield, Catherine Ringer and Pierre Rochefort awarded the following prizes:
Grand Prix : The Pietà
Jury Prize : The Mountain & Piaffe
30th Anniversary Award : The Watcher
Critic price : The Mountain
Public Prize : The Pietà
Jury Youth Award : The Pietà
The Jury Short Films of the 30th edition of Gérardmer's International Fantastic Film Festival, chaired by David Jarre, composed of Ophélie Bau, Jules Benchetrit, François Descraques, Lou Lampros and Frédérique Moreau, awarded the following prize:
Grand Prix du court film : There's a lot of light here.
A treat this Vosges session. The selection was particularly rich in terms of diversity, very "authorizing" indeed. It is true that most of the films were less fantastic than Ego or The Innocents last year as we often heard in queues. However, overall quality was on the rendezvous with some slams like La Pieta or Tropic and excellent radical proposals like La Tour or Watcher crazy elegance.
Really next year! 🙂
[...] varied programming marked by the women's revenge otherwise more fantastic than last year, recording five casual interviews on a sofa (Romain de Saint-Blanquat, [...]