Mercenaire

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Mercenaire
Original title Mercenaire
Country of production France
original language French , Wallisian
Publishing year 2016
length 135 minutes
Rod
Director Sacha Wolff
script Sacha Wolff
production Rachid Bouchareb
music Luc Meilland
camera Samuel Lahu
cut Laurence Manheimer
occupation

Mercenaire (in German: "Söldner") is a French film drama from 2016. Directed by Sacha Wolff .

action

19-year-old Soane lives with his younger brother Tomasi and grandmother Epifania with his bossy father Leone in Nouméa , New Caledonia . The family originally comes from Wallis and Futuna , where they have their cultural roots. The rugby talent Soane is brought to a French rugby team by the criminal, also of Welsh-born player broker Abraham. Soane agrees to travel to France against the wishes of his alcoholic father; he finally breaks up with his son and throws him out of his parents' house.

When he arrived in France, it turns out that a minimum weight was agreed for the new player, which Soane misses by 20 kg - the contract with the rugby club is not concluded. On the phone, Abraham blames Soane, claims financial expenses for the failed transfer and threatens Soane to get him the money. With no money and no way to return home, Soane is on the verge of despair. He confides in his only contact person Sosefo, a relative of a friend from home. He places Soane in a sub-class rugby club in Fumel , where he quickly becomes a top performer, but who is little respected by his fellow men and is only seen as a paid stranger, a “mercenary”. He falls in love with Coralie, who previously had affairs with several other players at the club. When she becomes pregnant, she tells him that the child is probably not his, but he continues to stand by her.

After Abraham learned of Soane's sporting success, he traveled to Fumel to use force to collect the money he believed to be due. Coralie witnesses how Soane is brutally beaten and leaves him for fear for herself and her child. Soane's playing performance suffers from this experience and he has to be replaced at an important game due to a reckless mistake. The game threatens to end in defeat. In the dressing room, Soane reflects on the traditions and values ​​of his ancestors, finds a new will to fight and can also inspire his teammates to turn the game around to a victory. After this awakening experience, Soane begins to take his life into his own hands. He uses blackmail to find the money for Abraham, gives it to him and brutally beats him so that he will not be bothered by him in the future. He tries to win Coralie back for himself, but she doesn't give him a chance.

Soane travels back to Nouméa to take home his brother, who is suffering from his father. The father cannot bear the loss of his second child and commits suicide. The film ends with his funeral, where Soane demonstrates his belonging to the Valais community of New Caledonia.

History of origin

Mercenaire is Wolff's first feature- length film; previously he worked as a director of documentaries. To get a feel for the customs and traditions of the Valais, he traveled through New Caledonia for six months. Mercenaire was shot with amateur actors. Actor Toki Pilioko is actually rugby players, as Laurent Pakihivatau and Mikaele Tuugahala who both play in France.

Wolff and his cameraman Samuel Lahu chose a special perspective for the presentation of the event: for large parts of the film, the camera remains at eye level with its protagonists, thus combining the look of documentaries recorded with a handheld camera and those of classic cinema films to create a unique style.

Premiere had Mercenaire on 18 May 2016 the Film Festival in Cannes . Subsequently it was shown at the Pula Film Festival and the Hamburg Film Festival, among others .

criticism

On Mercenaire Filmstarts.de, Carsten Baumgardt described it as a “densely staged social drama” with “astonishingly sophisticated imagery”, reminiscent of Jacques Audiard's films . He attested the main actor Pilioko a "powerful performance full of blood and tears". The Hollywood Reporter also drew comparisons to Jacques Audiard, in particular to his works The Wild Beat Of My Heart and A Prophet . Editor Jordan Mintzer wrote a conventional story about the rise and fall of a protagonist in an exotic setting and with sporadic outbreaks of violence. He particularly emphasized the performance of leading actor Pilioko, who "says a lot without speaking" and "moves his Moloch through the picture like a steamroller that is afraid of its own shadow". "Peter Debruge analyzed for the industry magazine Variety that the film successfully masters a balancing act between the sensitivity of an ethnographic portrait on the one hand and mainstream accessibility on the other hand and is therefore predestined for film festivals as well as for commercial success. He pointed out that Mercenaire is the western one Spectators would have the rare opportunity to see his country from the perspective of an outsider.

In 2016 Mercenaire won the main prize for “Best European Film” at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NZHerald.co.nz: Mercenary: A tale of two nations. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Variety.com: Cannes Film Review: 'Mercenary'. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b Filmstarts.de: Mercenary. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .
  4. ↑ HollywoodReporter.com: 'Mercenary' ('Mercenaire'): Cannes Review. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .