Presented for the first time at the Gérardmer festival, Ogre (read our test Blu-ray) is the first feature film by French director Arnaud Malherbe, already noticed by the series Moloch. Ana Girardot plays the role of Chloe, a teacher who starts a new life in Morbihan with her young son Jules. One child has disappeared, cattle are found in the forest. A beast seems to roam around the house. Nightmare or reality, Ogre rehabilitates many tales within the framework of French rurality. We had the pleasure of talking with his director Arnaud Malherbe for a video interview that we offer below in addition to a critical video. Good viewing.
Interview with Arnaud Malherbe at the Gérardmer festival
Ogre He is part of the Morbihan. Barely arrived with her son, this young woman teacher of the village will confront a half-tone reception of the natives. Some round around, carabines on the shoulder around the property that borders the forest. It is understandable that the danger arises, following an exchange marked by the distance that separates two worlds: the city in the face of ruralness. An ambivalence settles down very quickly and in a few words, we understand that something wanders around and puts the calves of the local peasants on the cart. A threat that will weigh throughout the film with the myth of Ogre rehabilitated in our contemporary setting.
«There's a beast. She lives at night. She eats calves, but what she prefers is the kids. »
While the child, with a singular sensitivity, manifest from the gap vis-à-vis his mother's new companion, then emerges two distinct universes: that of the child who is suspected by default of Romancing his nightmares which he would confuse with reality and that of adults who benefit from a presumption of truth about the perception of the world they impose as the only belief. If it doesn't make you happy, it's that you have to drive away this thought as the mother suggests in a discussion with her son who entrusts her night visions. « If we don't leave now, I'm gonna die. » Let the kid go cold. A ditch separates them. How far does a mother's confidence in her child stop, when she tells her about fantastic facts that limit to horror? Who to believe? The young child with the emotionally tormented passive visited at night by an ogre devourer of children or the premises with the same voice seem to be contributing to blind speech?
« If we don't help ourselves as a human being, are we gonna be better than all these cows? »
At the level of the production, Ogre offers tight plans many times, like those that could be seen in the Dexter series, where the improvised killer and vigilante cooked the meat in the generic. His "carne" plans contribute to the construction of the malaise and mystery around this village doctor to the frank talk that we know in the countryside. In the register of the black tale, Ogre convokes as much Peter and Le Loup, the Little Poucet as the figure of the Ogre devoring child. Jules (Giovanni Pucci) who does not hesitate to turn off his sonotone to escape the upsets of the adult world performs a remarkable performance. His game is simple but sensitive. The storytelling and mental construction of the monster has been taking place since its childish prism.
« When you're away from the light and you're forgotten, and there's no public service [...], maybe all this comes back into the ancestral darkness »
Sometimes vampiric in the approach, some male figures impose a form of malaise by the physical place they occupy in space, until imposed by nature in the home. If Ogre leaves room for a slightly more classic and agreed outcome, it remains an effective first feature for Arnaud Malherbe. The folklore that unfolds around the creature is also sadly ironic, while Ogre is finally one of the last visitors to regions silenced by centralization and rural exodus. An effective feature film that may mislead in its hasty conclusion. Ogre We'll be out on April 20th. Until then, do not hesitate to watch our interview with his director with whom we exchanged at the festival.
Arnaud Malherbe - Director and screenwriter
Arnaud Malherbe has an original course. He began his career as a lawyer and then a journalist. He goes to West France before spending seven years at I-Express, where he writes articles on travel and cinema in particular. He then joined the Fémis before writing for television and comics. He directed three multi-primed short films before attacking series for Arte and France 2 including the series Moloch. Ogre is his very first feature film presented to Gérardmer.
Filmography
- 2007 : Good Job
- 2008 : In their skin and Macadam Red skin
- 2009 : Belleville Story
- 2012 : Black Chamber
- 2015 : Heads
- 2020 : Moloch
- 2021 : Ogre
Screenwriter
- 2004 : Black pepines selected at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival
- 2006 : Harkis d-Alain Tasma
- 2015 : Heads (scenario with Marion Festraëts)
- 2020 : Moloch (scenario with Marion Festraëts)
- 2021 : Ogre
Video review - Ogre
Trailer
Mini prequel ofOgre
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