In theaters this Wednesday, the family and social drama “Marmaille”. Carried by young actors and a director born on the island, this film follows the adventures of two teenage brothers and sisters abandoned by their mother.
This first feature film by Grégory Lucilly, 42, follows two teenage brothers and sister, Thomas and Audrey, played respectively by Maxime Calicharane and Brillana Domitile Clain. Their world collapses overnight when their mother puts them on the street. They find themselves placed with their father, whom they never knew. The youngest, 15 years old, dreams of winning a breakdance competition which will allow him to reach the metropolis. The eldest tries to raise her daughter Sloane, 4 months old, by managing both her conflictual relationship with the baby's father and watching over her brother, tormented by tantrums.
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©Wael Desbont
The director was marked by a meeting with a social worker telling him that the abandonment of a child by his mother was classified as a “banal situation“in his service in Reunion.”It shocked me enormously“, he explained to the audience during the preview screening of the film at the Cinébanlieue festival in the Paris region at the beginning of November. “I wanted an optimistic film, which talks about family reconciliation, (…) to send a message: remain combative, valiant, united despite the difficulties of life“.
Many of the actors in the film were inexperienced, like Maxime Calicharane, 20, who had been in Paris for two years studying political science. “It's something I've had inside me for a long time.“, he explains. “What's magical about this film is that we were able to combine my two passions: dance (he's been practicing it for six years, Editor's note) and +acting+. (…) It was magnificent“.
““Tienbo larg pa” : this saying in Reunion Creole which means “don't give up“, Grégoire Lucilly made it his leitmotif to give birth to “Marmaille”, “remained on a hard drive for ten years” and bring together a “rather hefty” budget of 3.4 million euros. Volcano, beaches, natural cirques … Reunion is a very popular filming location, renowned for the beauty of its landscapes, but which remains far from the cinema sector, underlines the director, who had to have sets built for his film.
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©Wael Desbont
In Reunion, the industry is “recent” and it is not easy to find producers who “believe in it”, particularly regarding the use of Reunion Creole spoken in the film. “I categorically refused offers from producers who told me: +OK but you are moving the film to mainland France; OK but you make the film in French and not in Creole“, details Grégory Lucilly to AFP, assuming “a little militant side“.
“JHe couldn't film in that territory by creating a false reality. (…) I couldn't afford not to be authentic to the characters and the situation“, he insists.
In addition to the language, “Marmaille” also highlights Reunionese culture, through maloya, traditional music and dance, inherited from the times of slavery and central throughout the film.
