The Kingdom: a major success [critique]

Discovered at Un Certain Regard in Cannes, this remarkable first feature plunges into the Corsica of the big bandits, but from a teenage perspective…

The Kingdom is nothing like a fairy tale. Its plot may take place in an idyllic setting (Corsica), open with an encounter that flirts with the mystical (the reunion between a teenager, Lesia and her father Pierre-Paul, clan leader), and follow the rules. of tragedy (the fate of a bandit from which no bandit escapes), it is striking first and foremost by its realism.

By adopting the point of view of the adolescent, witness to a story that constantly escapes her (why is her father being hunted? who is he really and what is he thinking?), The Kingdom stands out from the traditional gangster film. The maquis becomes the backdrop for a father-daughter relationship, and the violence of these lives finds itself deframed, as if put to the side to leave more room for the intimate family film. A summer to build a relationship, memories that we know are unique at the moment we create them.

On the run, Pierre-Paul teaches Lesia how to hunt or dress up to spend a night at the campsite; he is not a father like the others but tries to act as if. In the end, the film sculpts the portrait of this inscrutable and charismatic bandit, whose aura is reinforced by the way his daughter looks at him. From a fishing scene in the river to a monologue in a car, his various actions show concretely the lives of these men who have embraced the criminal path, with all the collateral damage that implies: death lurking, a girl that we will not see grow. Co-written by Jeanne Herry, The Kingdom is a major success.

Nicolas Moreno

By Julien Colonna. With Ghjuanna Benedetti, Saveriu Santucci, Anthony Morganti… Duration 1h51. Released on November 13, 2024