35/47
Story
A small village in northern France is the battlefield of infiltrated alien knights
Adèle Haenel was originally supposed to play the lead role, but dropped out following disagreements with Bruno Dumont over the script. “At first, I thought it looked like a lot of fun: a kind of Luke Skywalker in space. The problem was that behind this funny facade, it was a dark, sexist and racist world that was being defended.
But it is intentional
The script was full of jokes about cancel culture and sexual violence. I tried to discuss it with Dumont, because I thought a dialogue was possible. I wanted to believe for the umpteenth time that it was not intentional.
This contempt is deliberate
Just like they make fun of victims, of people in a weak position. The intention was to make a science fiction film with an all-white cast – and therefore a racist story. I didn’t want to support that.
She then retired from French cinema in 2023
Arbsurd comedy that is not funny, but a fine example of grating films. We could compare it to Monty Python, but not funny, to the surrealism of Jodorowsky, but to much worse psychodelics. The banal dichotomy of good and evil, 0 and 1, classical and jazz, black and white, men versus women is deconstructed into a long and boring parody of a cosmic lightsaber opera set in a rural setting.
It lacks character development, story progression, and accessible humor
Any potential message is obscured by its almost incomprehensible cinematic language and weak satire. This philosophical battle between good and evil within human nature, which is more important today than ever, could be imagined by viewers with the screen off, without any loss of emotion and meaning.
