“Misanthrope” by Damian Ciffran: The talented Argentine director of Les Nouveaux Sauvages returns with a thriller… In English, with two great actors, unbearable and extravagant…

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Misanthrope

By Damien Siffron

With Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn, Jovan Adebo, Ralph Ineson…

Our recommendation: Excellent

theme

One New Year’s Eve, as a group of friends celebrate the occasion on one of Baltimore’s “rooftops,” a barrage of highly accurate bullets rain down on several members of the group. 29 people die at the scene… Other mass crimes follow, leading to an unprecedented manhunt, creating a monopoly of the police and the FBI, especially Super Agent Jeffrey Lamarck (Ben Mendelsohn). Eleanor (Shailene Woodley), a young detective with a serious psychiatric past, finds herself increasingly involved in the case. Little by little she realizes that her inner demons may help her identify the ghost of this killer (Ralph Ineson), whose modus operandi is so unpredictable that it’s so hard to catch.

Strong points

Around the world, you can count on the fingers of four hands the directors who inspire instant interest. Veterans (Spielberg, Scorsese, Park Chan-wook, Ridley Scott, Pedro Almodovar, Tarantino…) and others, less known (except to moviegoers), but managed to consolidate it in a couple of films. The filmmakers club should not be closed. Since New Savages (2014), Damián Szifrón is one of them. The mere announcement that his film would be released in France sent the critics’ landers into a frenzy, especially since the director had been (very) away from the screen for so long.

Nice surprise! Argentina returns with a thriller, a new genre of film for him, a shocking thriller, in its form (rare beauty and fluidity), and in its substance, the proliferation of serial killers in the United States is completely loose on arms sales.

Apparently, the acting matches the quality of the film, which is topped by an incredible bill of precision and density: American Shailene Woodley, Australian Ben Mendelsohn and, in the role of the killer, British Ralph Inson.

The haunting soundtrack, signed by Carter Burwell (notably Oscar-nominated this year for his score to Banshees of Inisher), is sensational. Its sound effects on reconstructions of human breathing further deepen the suspense of the scene.

Some reservations

Some may criticize the screenplay and dialogues of this film – the realization and interpretation are however impeccable -, to be a little too clever and admittedly so. Others, on the contrary, will prefer its classics.

Another word…

Majestic! With this misanthrope signed by the talented Damian Cifran, the old-fashioned thriller, authentic, 90s, violent, dispassionate and frozen (with The Silence of the Lambs and Seven at its peak) returns to the screen. Appeared unannounced, meaning without promotional hoopla, and impressed the press. There’s a reason for that: the breathtakingly formal beauty that immerses us from its (visually stunning) opening in America of mass murderers and the free circulation of guns, thanks to a flawless visual worthy of a David Fincher. Great art. Especially in this thriller background, it also offers a fascinating crossover portrait of two contrasting and complementary cops. Classy, ​​smart and elegant.

A sentence

“As for the misanthrope, from the beginning I did everything to gain complete freedom. The finale, the creative control…this film is 100% mine…I love classic cinema. I love classical. It was never my goal to run after modernity” (Damien Siffron, director).

Author of the book

Born on July 9, 1975 in Ramos Mejía, a suburb of Buenos Aires, Damian Cifran studied cinema with Angel Faretta, one of his country’s best critics. He is a filmmaker who goes at his own pace, not obsessing over the idea of ​​”shooting at all costs”.

He started directing in 2003 at the age of 28 with El Fondo del Mar, for which he wrote the screenplay. Two years later, it was Tiempo de Valientes. Nine years would pass before he published The New Savages. Comprised of six satirical and poignant stories, it had a cult and international launch, was selected for the Palme d’Or at the 67th Cannes Film Festival in 2014 and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. .

Since then, we’ve lost this brilliant director who says he can only work if he “loves his subject”. After nine years of silence, the misanthrope makes it back to the front of the stage. And it’s great for auteur film lovers.