Directed by sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, “Playing with Fire” is released this Wednesday in cinemas. Here are 3 reasons to go see this social drama which talks about radicalization, love and transmission.
The poignant interpretation of Vincent Lindon
As usual, Vincent Lindon is, in this feature film by Delphine and Muriel Coulin and at the cinema this Wednesday, incredibly accurate and totally credible. He plays a railway worker, widower and father who witnesses, helplessly, the descent into hell of one of his sons. The latter is getting dangerously close to a small group of the extreme right. For his performance, the actor received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival last September.
The charisma of Stefan Crépon and Benjamin Voisin
Faced with this father figure, Stefan Crépon and Benjamin Voisin, César for best male hopeful for “Lost Illusions”, have nothing to be ashamed of as their performance is so convincing. The first plays Louis, the brilliant younger son who doesn’t make waves and is preparing to study at the Sorbonne. The second lends his features to Félix, known as Fus, the family rebel who becomes radicalized to the great displeasure of his father. The two actors, who were roommates in the past, work wonders and “know how to mix who they are with the characters, to achieve this mixture of documentary and fiction that we are always looking for,” specify the directors in the production notes.
Adapting a hot topic to the screen
This feature film is loosely inspired by the novel “Ce qu’il peut de nuit” by Laurent Petitmangin, published in 2022. “The novel asks a question that we wanted to work on: is love necessarily unconditional? If you did the worst, could I continue to love you?” explains Delphine Coulin. Beyond these questions, the film wonders about this youth who is increasingly interested in the speeches of the extreme right, and this uninhibited racist speech which is often invited during football matches.
