A stunning comedy
Presented last May at Un Certain Regard in Cannes (where it won the Youth Prize), Twenty gods is an astonishing first film, which escapes Parisianism to immerse us in the French countryside. Originally from the Jura, Louise Courvoisier knows intimately the reality she describes. The ball scenes, for example, are screamingly true. Above all, the director never looks down on her characters. No class contempt here, just the sincere desire to film a peasant reality so rare in French cinema.
“In the Name of the Earth”, a peasant drama inspired by the director’s life
Having unearthed fantastic young local non-professional actors, with a Jura accent (including the amazing Clément Faveau in the lead role), Courvoisier addresses the difficulty of being a farmer today. But she doesn’t do it in a tearjerker-style movie. In the name of the Earth by Édouard Bergon in 2019, nor in a drama on the edge of a thriller like Little farmer by Hubert Charuel in 2017.
Hubert Charuel: “By making this film, I got rid of the guilt of not having taken over the family farm and of having condemned the cows”
Despite the seriousness of the themes addressed, the young filmmaker opts on the contrary for a cheerful comedy. There’s something of Ken Loach in this way of watching a bunch of kids trying to make Comté in a cauldron over a wood fire. To see these young people of today reconnecting with the tradition of the elders…
Great accuracy
Addressing the theme of the transition to adulthood, precipitated by the loss of the father, but also the discovery of love or the need for transmission, Twenty gods is a film that stands out and does good in French production. Funny, moving, fair, this first feature exudes the truth of a land and a rurality often forgotten. Popular balls, cheese making, stock car races… Louise Courvoisier plunges our boots into the straw and into the manure. It feels good!
Twenty gods Peasant comedy Realization Louise Courvoisier Scenario Louise Courvoisier and Théo Abadie Photography Elio Balezeaux Musique Linda and Charlie Courvoisier Montage Sarah Grosset With Clément Faveau, Luna Garret, Dimitry Baudry… Duration 1h30
