Film Review
In his first full-length film (inspired by a true story), director Stéphane Demoustier paints
a depressingly familiar picture of an overly competitive society in which
individuals are too easily led into cheating the system for their own advantage.
Terre battue (which translates as 'hard ground') is aptly titled for
a film in which a middle-aged father and his pre-teen son are driven to extreme
measures in order to fulfil their dreams in a brutal world where it is unacceptable
to be second best. It's a grim subject that Demoustier handles with
surprising delicacy and feeling, and far from alienating us from his flawed
protagonists, he compels us to identify with them and recognise them as the
victims of a desperately failing society.
In this first feature offering, the brother of Anaïs Demoustier (an
actress of considerable talent and renown) shows great promise and achieves
a harmonious balance between social realism and melodrama, avoiding the laboured
miserabilism of the former and the bogus sentiment of the latter. The
work of the Dardenne brothers appears to have been a major influence on Demoustier,
judging by the theme and tone of his film. Not only did the famous
Belgian brothers co-produce the film, their favourite actor Olivier Gourmet
also plays the lead role. The Dardennes'
La Promesse (1996) and
Le Fils (2002) are both strongly
echoed in the subject matter of
Terre battue, which centres on the
problematic relationship of a father and son who closely resemble one another
but struggle to form a close and meaningful bond.
As the semi-estranged father and son, Olivier Gourmet and Charles Mérienne
are incredibly convincing - Gourmet lives up his usual impeccably high standard;
Mérienne is a charismatic newcomer who leaves a lasting impression
as a troubled Antoine Doinel of our times. If the film had focused
exclusively on the relationship between Jérôme and his son Ugo,
it would most likely have been a remarkable piece. Unfortunately, Demoustier
makes the classic error of throwing in too many extra ingredients, and the
most redundant and irritating of these is Jérôme's constantly
weepy wife Laura, played by - who else? - Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi.
The casting of Gourmet and Bruni-Tedeschi are both equally suspect but whereas
the former manages to add depth to his character and make it a nuanced variation
on similar earlier portrayals, the latter merely replays the same performance
she has given at least a dozen times before in similar films. Thankfully,
Bruni-Tedeschi's self-pitying depressive walks out of the picture halfway
through, and isn't missed for a moment afterwards, but by this stage the
damage has already been done, the focus has been lost. Like many a
first time writer-director before him, Demoustier tries to juggle too many
balls, and it's not surprising that so many of these land up on the floor,
futile distractions. It's too easy to see how much better
Terre
battue would have been if its director had adopted the principle of Occam's
razor and dispensed with such superfluity as a completely redundant wife
and mother who has nothing better to do than sob into her handkerchief.
Ultimately, it is the film's good points that win out over its many shortcomings.
The writing and direction show a discernible dearth of freshness but
this is made up for by the sincerity that Demoustier and his lead actors
invest in the film. Although somewhat overburdened with its unnecessary
accessories,
Terre battue is a thoughtfully crafted modern fable that
has an immediate resonance - its final scenes (presented in a chillingly
matter-of-fact way) drive home the film's central message with precision
and poignancy. What kind of society are we becoming when we feel that
we
have to cheat in order to get one over on the other guy?
Just
where is this crass dog-eat-dog mentality leading us?
Terre
battue gives us the answer: to a hard and cruel place.
© James Travers 2016
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Jérôme Sauvage has spent over twenty years in the mass retail
business, and he has no intention of turning his hand to something different
when his employers decide to dispense with his services after a downturn
in their profits. His dream is to manage his own business, and this
he believes he can achieve with persistence and hard work. His son
Ugo is equally passionate about tennis, and seeing that the 11-year-old shows
a prodigious aptitude for the sport, Jérôme is delighted when
he is accepted by France's national training centre at Roland Garros, to
train to become a future champion. Just as Ugo's dreams begin to look
as if they might come true, his father's start to fall apart. His wife
Laura decides she no longer understands him and promptly insists on a separation.
Then Jérôme fails to obtain backing for his grand project.
Fear of failure leads Ugo to spike his competitor's
drink with sleeping tablets during a match. When the unwitting competitor
ends up in hospital in a coma, Jérôme cannot bear that his son
should suffer the consequences of his actions and so admits to the police
that he was the culprit. Guilt compels Ugo to make the confession that
will end his dreams of sporting glory...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.