La vie de Jésus

Freddy (20) is unemployed. He is not very clever, but far from malicious and still lives with his mother. She runs a bar on a road into Bailleul, in French Flanders, and protects and punishes her son as if he were still her baby. Freddy spends most of his time with his friends. They chase around the beautifully photographed and rough country lanes on their mopeds, race against little Peugeot GTIs if they get a chance or go to the beach on a summer day. The rest of the time Freddy spends with Marie, his girlfriend, who does have a job. They usually make love. Sometimes they sit around waiting for something to happen. This life filled with doing nothing in an accomplished way goes off course when Kader, an Arab kid from the town, starts chasing after Marie. At first Marie seems susceptible to his advances, but the frustrated and insecure Freddy is soon jealous. Freddy’s latent racism, his suppressed frustration and inability to talk about things, have fatal consequences. He becomes a fallen angel on the bank of a farm ditch.Dumont’s portrait of the dramatic vicissitudes of a boy in the open and hopeless countryside of Northern France won the Prix Jean Vigo for the most innovative French film.