MISERICORDIA
Misericordia: Silence and Desire by Alain Guiraudie
French director, screenwriter and writer Alain Guiraudie returns to Cannes with a tale of desires and unspoken truths set in the heart of an Ardèche village. Misericordia joins the filmography of the author of Staying Vertical (Competition, 2016) and Stranger by the Lake, a gripping thriller that won the Best Director Prize in the Un Certain Regard section in 2013. Misericordia is presented in the Cannes Premiere selection.
Jérémie returns to Saint-Martial for the funeral of his former boss, the village baker. He stays for a few days with Martine, the man’s widow, but with a mysterious disappearance, a threatening neighbour and a priest with strange intentions, his short stay in the village takes an unexpected turn…
“For me, Misericordia goes beyond the question of forgiveness, it embodies the idea of empathy and understanding others, transcending all moral boundaries.
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– Alain Guiraudie
Alain Guiraudie’s filmmaking is distinguished by its rural and popular settings, which allow him to take us on a highly sensory journey to meet characters and places, addressing themes such as homosexual desire or the representation of the working class. Misericordia continues in this tradition, incorporating the double weight of silence and desire into its detective story.
Catherine Frot makes her first appearance in one of the director’s films, known for his inclination to cast lesser-known actors, occasionally alongside more established figures, as seen with Pierre Deladonchamps in Stranger by the Lake or Hafsia Herzi in The King of Escape. In the cast of this latest film, we also find Félix Kysyl and Jean-Baptiste Durand, director of Junkyard Dog, making his first on-screen appearance
