Le dernier jour

  • 110'
  • France
  • 2004
In this fatalistic portrait of a dysfunctional family, everyone is weighed down by a great secret. Protagonist Gaspard Ulliel is fascinating as the vulnerable and yet stubborn 19-year-old student Simon, who returns for the Christmas holidays to his childhood home on the coast of Brittany. Apart from his suitcases, he has also brought along a girl he has just met in the night train: Louise. The relationship between Simon and Louise is unclear; they sleep together, talk and quarrel, but they are not lovers. Gradually, Louise spends more and more time with a childhood friend of Simon, who is now a lighthouse keeper on the island. The tension in the household rises. Simon and his mother - beautifully played by Nicole Garcia - get on well together, but his father is a stranger to him. Father and mother share long silences, as often happens when people have been married for a long time, but when they talk, it's more a question of screaming. And then there is the alcoholic writer who stays in a local hotel and adds his own contribution to the suspense. The continuous threat of inevitable conflict is tangible - already a trademark of Marconi as a director, in this case accentuated in a virtuoso way in the art direction, the music and the acting. (SdH)
  • 110'
  • France
  • 2004
Director
Rodolphe Marconi
Premiere
International premiere
Country of production
France
Year
2004
Festival Edition
IFFR 2005
Length
110'
Medium
35mm
International title
The Last Day
Language
French
Producers
Gemini Films, Paulo Branco
Sales
Gemini Films
Screenplay
Rodolphe Marconi
Cast
Mélanie Laurent, Nicole Garcia
Website
http://www.gemini-films.com
Director
Rodolphe Marconi
Premiere
International premiere
Country of production
France
Year
2004
Festival Edition
IFFR 2005
Length
110'
Medium
35mm
International title
The Last Day
Language
French
Producers
Gemini Films, Paulo Branco
Sales
Gemini Films
Screenplay
Rodolphe Marconi
Cast
Mélanie Laurent, Nicole Garcia
Website
http://www.gemini-films.com