Alain Guiraudie, transgressive filmmaker often praised at Cannes, receives the Louis-Delluc prize for Mercy. This rural thriller, which explores sex, death and male desire, confirms the director’s unique talent for transforming the world while captivating a wide audience.
Director Alain Guiraudie, a transgressive filmmaker and several times selected at the Cannes Film Festival, was awarded the Louis Delluc Prize on Wednesday, nicknamed the Goncourt of cinema, for his latest film. Mercy.
This rural thriller, mixing sex, death and male desire, constitutes Guiraudie’s seventh feature film. Presented in preview in the Cannes premiere section, during the last festival, the film tells the story of a young man returning to his native village to attend the funeral of his former boss. His stay is disrupted by a mysterious disappearance, a worrying neighbor and a priest with ambiguous intentions.
“For me, mercy, more than a reflection on forgiveness, embodies the idea of empathy and understanding of the other, beyond all morality. It is an impulse towards the other. This word , now obsolete, fits perfectly with the film and one of its central characters, the priest,” explains the director in the production notes.
Sophie Avon, vice-president of the Louis-Delluc prize, highlights the originality of Alain Guiraudie: “He transforms the world with a rich and accessible approach. Mercy is an intense, comical and deeply narrative work, imbued with serenity.”
In 2013, the director had already left his mark on cinema with The Stranger of the Lake. This film was awarded at Cannes for the direction in the Un certain regard section and distinguished by the Queer Palm, which celebrates works addressing sexual and gender diversity.
The 2024 Louis-Delluc Prize for the first film was awarded to The Ghosts by Jonathan Millet, exploring the hunt for Syrian war criminals hidden in Europe.
In the feature film category, the Larrieu brothers (Jim’s Novel), Patricia Mazuy (The Prisoner of Bordeaux), Thierry de Peretti (In his image), Mati Diop (Dahomey), Sophie Fillières (My life, my face), Gaël Morel (Live, die, be reborn), Boris Lojkine (The Story of Souleymane) and Virgil Vernier (One hundred thousand billion) were among the finalists.
Last year, Thomas Cailley won this prize with The Animal Kingdom. Founded in 1937 in homage to Louis Delluc, the first French film critic, this prize celebrates each year the most significant works of the 7e art.
With AFP
