Les Enfants du Désastre, Pierre Lemaitre 's literary trilogy initiated by Au Revoir là-haut, was adapted by Albert Dupontel in 2017. In 2022, the second part of the trilogy, Couleurs de l'Incendie, arrived in theaters. This time, Clovis Cornillac directs, with Léa Drucker, Benoît Poelvoorde and Olivier Gourmet, among others, in the cast. The film airs on Canal+ this Friday, August 25, at 10:40 pm.
Rest assured, you don't need to have seen Au Revoir là-haut to understand this new opus. Pierre Lemaitre's trilogy is rather thematic, and even if the film's main character was already present in Albert Dupontel's film, no reference is made to this first installment in the second. The story follows Madelaine Péricourt, a wealthy heiress and owner of a large Parisian house in the inter-war years, who is robbed of all her possessions by the men she is closest to. She then hatches a plan for revenge.
Written and dialogued by Pierre Lemaitre himself, you need have no worries that this is a very good adaptation. Set against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism, Clovis Cornillac 's fourth directorial effort is a well-acted, often breathtaking period film. It's certainly his most ambitious work. However, his ambition sometimes overwhelms him. It's clear that he wants to make a great film, but Albert Dupontel isn't who he wants to be, and the swirling, flamboyant style of Au Revoir là-haut is lost. Here, the staging is more classic, and sometimes flatter too. Some ideas fail, such as the attempt to give the impression that the film is constantly lit by candlelight, by giving the image slight variations in light.
Not everything is convincing, but the whole is very appealing, not least thanks to the formidable cast. Olivier Gourmet is particularly delightful, and even the smaller roles, such as those of Alice Isaaz and Fanny Ardant, are up to the film's high standards.
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Average duration
2 h
15 min
Cinema: which film to see today, this Sunday February 16, 2025?
