A bigger world
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A bigger world |
| Original title | Un monde plus grand |
| Country of production | France , Belgium |
| original language | French , Mongolian |
| Publishing year | 2019 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Fabienne Berthaud |
| script | Fabienne Berthaud, Claire Barré |
| production |
Simon Arnal , Barbara Letellier , Carole Scotta |
| music | Valentin Hadjadj |
| camera | Nathalie Durand |
| cut | Simon Jacquet |
| occupation | |
| |
A larger world (Original title: Un monde plus grand ) is a French - Belgian film drama directed by Fabienne Berthaud from 2019 with Cécile de France in the leading role. The film, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival , is based on the autobiographical book My Life with the Shamans ( Mon initiation chez les chamanes , 2004) by Corine Sombrun .
action
The French sound engineer Corine cannot get over the death of her beloved husband Paul. Because she is so sad that she can no longer concentrate on her work in the recording studio, her friend and colleague Marc suggests that she travel to Africa , Mongolia or Tibet for a new documentary series on spirituality in order to record the sound of to make traditional music and religious ceremonies. Corine, who wants to get as far away from home as possible, opts for Mongolia, where she and the interpreter Naraa travel first by bus and later on horseback to a remote area in the north of the country. The ethnic group of the Tsaatan , who live there in Spitz yurts and from reindeer herding, welcomes them to their homes . Naraa, who translates from Mongolian for Corine, explains the customs and traditions of her hosts.
When Corine takes pictures of a ceremony for the shaman Oyun, the constant beating of the shaman's drum causes her to shake uncontrollably and to shake more and more violently. She goes into a trance state and starts howling like a wolf and attacking Oyun. The next day, Oyun explains to her that the spirit of the wolf has come over her and that she has the shamanic gift that needs to be trained. Corine, who doesn't want to know anything about it - she is only here to do her job and has just lost her husband, which is hard enough - runs aimlessly into a forest, where in a sacred place she hears voices and they Meets spirits of the dead who, as you later tell Oyun, can only see shamans. Corine also had a good spirit - possibly her husband Paul - assisted Corine during the trance, which was very dangerous without proper training, and helped her to return from the world of spirits.
Back in France, Corine can't let go of the experiences in Mongolia. Every time she listens to the sound of the shaman's drum, she begins to tremble. Her sister Louise, to whom she played the recordings of her wolf howling, reacts strange and recommends her to see a doctor. When Corine wakes up one night and hears her deceased husband's cello being played, although no one is present except for her, she decides to see a neurologist. Corine is then subjected to several tests. However, the evaluations of the computed tomography and electroencephalography show that everything is normal with her. In the presence of Louise and her mutual friend Sam, Corine tries in her living room to contact her husband Paul through a ritual. She puts herself into a trance through the recordings of the drumbeats. When she comes to, she is in a hospital, where Louise had her taken, who was panicking about her sister's condition. A psychiatrist says Corine has psychosis and prescribes medication, which she throws away shortly afterwards. To get in touch with Paul, Corine decides to return to Mongolia. At a joint dinner with Sam, Marc and Louise, who is pregnant by Marc, her sister is hostile to her plan. Corine, who is studying Mongolian diligently and is enthusiastic about the change in perception during the trance - the world is getting bigger with it - reacts hurt when Louise says angrily that she is going crazy without even realizing it. Corine believes that something is just as wrong with the others, which is why she recommends Marc see a doctor instead. In fact, shortly afterwards, Marc found a stain on his lungs.
Determined to be trained as a shaman, Corine finally returns to Mongolia, where she is warmly received by the Tsaatan. She is given a traditional robe and takes on everyday tasks such as chopping wood, milking reindeer and fetching water. As she washes herself by a stream, her clothes and a small bag with the ashes of her husband Paul get caught on the antlers of a reindeer , which then disappears. She runs after the animal, but only gets her clothes back from a man riding past. Oyun assures the deeply sad Corine that she can contact him without Paul's ashes as soon as she is ready. Corine then dives further into the world and rites of the nomad people. While playing the jew's harp in a meadow, you meet a wolf. Shortly afterwards, a shaman's drum specially made for them is brought over. Opposite Naraa, who continues to translate for her, Corine tells about Paul. He was a pianist and cellist. They would have spent ten happy years together. When they were ready to start a family, Paul became seriously ill. Before he died, they had sworn to see each other again.
With her shaman's drum and a shaman's costume sewn for her, Corine finally performs a ceremony herself one evening. By beating the drums, she puts herself into a trance. In her mind she walks through a door that she has already perceived in her previous trance states and behind which she suspects Paul. When she comes to, she is deeply disappointed because she has not found Paul. At a stream, the weeping Corine suddenly feels drawn to the water and lets herself fall into it. She meets Paul underwater. They kiss and hug each other deeply. As Paul swims away, Corine is pulled out of the water. The next day Corine goes into the forest and lights a row of matches under a tree that Oyun has given her, and makes her peace with herself and the world. Before returning to France, she celebrates with her Mongolian friends. Louise has since given birth to a daughter named Violette and Marc's cancer was treated in time. Corine, who gives her sister a wolf carved from reindeer antlers, then works with researchers and neurologists to scientifically develop the shamanistic trance.
background
The film tells the true story of Corine Sombrun (* 1961), who at the end of the film can also be seen in photos from her stay in Mongolia and who has been helping neurologists and brain researchers to understand the neurological processes in the brain since her training as a shaman to explore a trance state and use the knowledge gained for therapeutic treatments. According to the director and screenwriter Fabienne Berthaud, who, as in previous projects, relied on a mixture of fiction and documentary realism, the film is about questioning fears and juxtaposing rationality and irrationality, science and shamanism all about a great love story.
The shooting took place in Belgium, including at Liège Airport , and in Mongolia, where the shooting team was housed in yurt camps in the province of Chöwsgöl-Aimag and in the Chorgo Terchiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park . Sombrun, who was also involved in writing the script, was on site as the technical advisor for the trance scenes. In the film she can also be seen as a ghost in the forest and during a ceremony as the shaman Oyun, actually embodied by the Mongolian actress Tserendarizav Dashnyam. The interpreter Narantsetseg Dash, in turn, played herself in the film. Eve Martin was responsible for the production design. Mimi Lempicka designed the costumes .
A Bigger World premiered on August 30, 2019 as part of the film series "Giornate degli Autori - Venice Days" at the 76th Venice International Film Festival . The film opened in France on October 30, 2019, where it had around 298,000 admissions. In Germany, it was originally scheduled to hit cinemas on April 16, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the cinema release was postponed to July 9, 2020. In Austria, it should be shown in theaters from August 7, 2020.
Reviews
According to Le Parisien , the film is carried by the “presence and empathy” that a Cécile de France “sensitive to the subject” brings towards it. In addition to her, nature plays another "essential role of film", which also tells a "wonderful love story" and can show "excellent camera work". Le Figaro found de France "believable" in her role, but the end of the film was "predictable". Le Monde said that only "the physical effort of Cécile de France and the beauty of the landscapes" could convince the skeptics.
With her two films Barefoot on Nudibranchs and Sky - The Heaven in Me , the director Fabienne Berthaud has already shown "a special feeling for topics such as the search for meaning and spirituality", stated Cinema . A bigger world is therefore more recommended to viewers who would not simply dismiss shamanism as a “naive belief in miracles”. Berthaud does not please the viewer with her film. She renounced "the soulful moments of American revival films" and instead "trusted the authenticity of an astonishingly brittle main character". The result was "[e] in a magical film about the healing powers of man".
The film service attested Berthaud's drama a “fine balance between trauma and the description of a spiritual life”, which “lives mainly from two nuanced actresses and an impressive camera”. Also epd film praised the "appealing photographed" landscapes. The fact that the director, apparently for lack of alternatives, had put Corine's love for her deceased husband in the foreground "gives the story a romantic Orpheus atmosphere", but at the same time puts on it "a corset of content". In the end, Corine Sombrun's research on trance is "reduced to a dutiful footnote by the overpowering love drama". One would like to watch "the wonderful Cécile de France even clumsily milking the goat", but one can guess that "Sombrun's true story is more exciting".
The Berliner Morgenpost saw “a very feminine topic” in the subject of the film. Self-discovery in remote places such as Out of Africa , Rangoon - In the Heart of the Storm and The White Maasai is always popular with women, especially in the cinema. In A Larger World , shamanism is also treated as "a decidedly fashionable topic" that tends to scare off men because, according to the skeptics, alcohol and drugs also come into play in the ritual ceremonies. The film takes up with a wink that tourists are pulled out of their pockets with staged rituals. Because of the skepticism towards shamanism shown by several characters in the film, "[n] a teaching [...] is forced upon someone". Rather, the film succeeds in arousing “interest in the topic in the best sense of the word”. Cécile de France also managed to “make her figure interesting, even if you always keep a little distance from her”. In addition to “the delicately withdrawn game” by de France, A Bigger World also wins through the “beguiling landscapes of Mongolia that you absolutely have to see on the big screen”.
Jordan Mintzer from the Hollywood Reporter found the story, which is certainly not to everyone's taste, "difficult to believe", especially since you only find out at the end that the film is based on true events and that Corine's training as a shaman also has a scientific benefit. Leading actress Cécile de France, however, "gives everything in a role in which she literally drags herself through the dirt and howls like a wolf".
Awards
For her performance in A Bigger World , Cécile de France was nominated for the Belgian Magritte Film Prize in 2020 in the Best Leading Actress category.
Web links
- A larger world in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A bigger world on allocine.fr (French)
- Official website of the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for a bigger world . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 196672 / K).
- ↑ a b cf. allocine.fr
- ↑ cf. jpbox-office.com
- ↑ cf. kino.de
- ↑ cf. polyfilm.at
- ↑ “ Un Monde plus grand est happé par la présence et l'empathie que lui imprime Cécile de France, clairement sensible au sujet. La nature est l'autre personnage essentiel de ce film, belle histoire d'amour, servi par une superb photographie. ” See Sorties cinéma du 30 octobre: “Doctor Sleep”, “Mon Chien Stupide”… nos coups de coeur . In: Le Parisien , October 29, 2019.
- ↑ “Si la comédienne inspirée est crédible, elle évolue dans une histoire dont le denouement est connu d'avance.” See Mon chien stupide, Le Traître, Debout sur la montagne… Les films à voir ou à éviter cette semaine . In: Le Figaro , October 30, 2019.
- ↑ “Ce qui reste la meilleure manière de laisser les skeptiques sur le bord du chemin, quels que soient l'engagement physique de Cécile de France et la beauté des paysages.” Thomas Sotinel: Dans “Un monde plus grand”, la cinéaste Fabienne Berthaud fait l'éloge de la transe chamanique ( Memento of October 23, 2019 in the Internet Archive ). In: Le Monde , October 23, 2019.
- ↑ cf. cinema.de
- ↑ A bigger world. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 27, 2020 .
- ↑ Birgit Roschy: Critique of Eine larger Welt . In: epd Film , March 27, 2020.
- ↑ Peter Zander: "A larger world": Dances with wolves . In: Berliner Morgenpost , July 9, 2020.
- ↑ "It's hard to believe at times [...], but de France gives it all in a role that has her literally dragging herself through the mud and howling like a wolf." Jordan Mintzer: 'A Bigger World' ('Un monde plus grand'): Film Review | Venice 2019 . In: The Hollywood Reporter , August 30, 2019.