Résumé : August 92. A lost valley in the East, blast furnaces that no longer burn. Anthonyfourteen years old, is bored. One heatwave afternoon at the lake, he meets Stephanie. The love at first sight is such that that same evening, he secretly borrows his father’s motorbike to go to a party where he hopes to find her. When the next morning he realizes that the motorcycle has disappeared, his life is turned upside down.
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THE Bukherma brothers transpose into cinematic language the novelistic force of the book by Nicolas Mathieu, Their children after themPrix Goncourt 2018, in a social fresco spread over four summers (1992, 1994, 1996, 1998).
“Some events in the book happen several times, but it seemed to us that in cinema we had to avoid this to reinforce the impact of the events. For example, in the book, Anthony et Steph become closer near the lake before once again cementing their relationship in 1996 in a car. In our film, we chose that they only concretize their relationship once, in order to reinforce this moment. » Zoran Boukherma
Headlining, Paul Kircher (The Animal Kingdom) in a charismatic interpretation of his character Anthonyreceived the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Emerging Performer at the 2024 Venice Film Festival for his role in the film Their children after them.
He plays a teenager from a working class background, in love with an inaccessible girl, because she comes from a bourgeois family:
« Anthony is a boy who has very, very strong determination. He’s a dreamer, but he never gives up despite the walls he gets up against. He learns to never give up. He is in love with Stephanie who cares little about him. But he never blames her. Because he is a boy who has very powerful dreams. We see it at the beginning of the film, during this first summer. This is an important chapter because Anthony still has the body of a child but with a head full of idols. »
The cast also consists of Ludivine Sagnier et Gilles Lellouche as well asAngelina Woreth (Stephanie) et Sayyid El Alami (Hacine).
Paul Kircher evokes the figure of the father played by Gilles Lelouche :
“It’s a father and son who are very distant but who miss each other. A relationship that speaks for itself. They never talk together or it’s the father who speaks and Anthony doesn’t answer him, because they really aren’t on the same wavelength. Even the times when they are together, in fact they are not really together. It’s a succession of missed appointments. They can’t talk to each other, they don’t have a relationship and yet, they are a father and a son. It’s blatant. And that’s what’s heartbreaking. »
As for Ludivine Sagnier who plays the very beautiful character of his mother, Paul Kircher tell :
“Already, on the set we had a special relationship with Ludivine Sagnier. I really felt like I had a mother on set. And this relationship is also a bit like that of the film. Almost like a relationship. Except it’s a mother and her son. At the beginning of the film, we feel that they are, in quotation marks, a “team” facing the father. A team that functions like a couple where each needs the other. They grow up together. »
Ludivine Sagnier describes it like this:
“She tries to save what’s left of her home, but when she feels that it’s not possible, she saves her skin, she saves her kid. There is something heroic about her, something of a survivor. »
Angelina Woreth gives his vision of Stephanie which she interprets:
“She is a young woman with dreams in her head, in search of identity. With its complexes and everything that can go through the heads of young girls of that age. She is at the crossroads between her dreams of escape and a fear: that of being overtaken by her destiny. »
Sayyid El Alami thus formulates his approach to his role :
“To play a character like Hacineit is important to know how to have a certain form of empathy. If only to show all sides of this boy. Remember, for example, that he no longer has his mother. Which, in terms of sensitivity, is already very violent for a child… He has no brothers and sisters either. Which is very rare for an immigrant child. I wanted to understand where he came from. And look for the beauty in it all. He’s a human being like any other. He can marvel at many things. Like for example during the World Cup. Even if the story of motorcycling takes place against a backdrop of violence, it is a passion that he has. This is where he feels happy. So, in fact, when he understands that he is not allowed to do anything, he tells himself that he is going to steal the motorcycle because it is his only moment of freedom. »
With Their children after them, Ludovic et Zoran Boukherma paint a portrait of a France, where the divide between workers and bourgeois is significant:
“This story deals with social determinism and confinement in a city. If the characters often evoke elsewhere, we decided to never show them to reinforce the idea that for our characters – in particular for Anthony – these elsewhere are impossible. » Ludovic Boukherma
“The novel addresses the question of social determinism in a very realistic way. On the contrary, we wanted to infuse this story with a true fictional universe. We wanted the direction and direction to evoke American cinema more than French naturalist cinema. » Zoran Boukherma
The directors, Zoran et Ludovic Boukhermatwin brothers, stood out with a horror comedy: Teddya French werewolf film.
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A film by: Ludovic et Zoran Boukherma
Scenario of: Ludovic et Zoran Boukherma
Based on the novel of the same name by Nicolas Mathieupublished by Editions Actes Sud, Goncourt Prize 2018.
Casting : Paul Kircher, Angelina Woreth, Sayyid El Alami, Gilles Lellouche, Ludivine Sagnier
