This Monday, November 25, France 3 is broadcasting the film on this International Day to Combat Violence Against Women To the hilt by Xavier Legrand. A feature film inspired by a true story?
A subject “delicate” which requires being “as close as possible to reality”. In 2018, To the hilt by Xavier Legrand was released in cinemas. For his first feature film, the director tackled the subject of domestic violence by recounting the divorce of the Besson couple. But while the mother, Miriam, requests sole custody of their son, accusing her future ex-husband of domestic violence, the judge grants shared custody to the father whom she considers violated. Taken hostage between his parents, Julien will do everything to prevent the worst from happening…
This film, broadcast on France 3 this Monday, November 25, perfectly depicts the escalation of violence and manipulation, which are characteristics in cases of domestic violence. And for this, Xavier Legrand was not inspired by one true story, but by several. “I made inquiries with a family court judge, interviewed lawyers, police officers, social workers. And even support groups for violent men. Such a delicate subject requires being as close as possible to reality”had confided the director.
Two actors not chosen by chance
A scenario pushed to extreme reality and embodied by two actors who transcend the screen: Léa Drucker and Denis Ménochet in the roles of Miriam and Antoine Besson. While the first plays a female victim who wants to preserve her son, the other embodies the executioner, the one who manipulates and hurts. A choice far from trivial for Xavier Legrand, who wrote the role of Miriam with “Léa Drucker in the lead”. “For me she merges with the character of Miriam through her mixture of strength and fragility”he explained. As for Denis Ménochet, the director remembered that he had trained “a very loving couple” with the actress in her short film Before you lose everythinga sort of preamble to the film. “As I find him an excellent actor, I wanted to find him with her in another situation, another time of love”. The film won no less than five Césars in 2019, including best film and best actress for Léa Drucker.
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