L'Adieu à la nuit

Catherine Deneuve stars as a family patriarch attempting to protect her grandson from a force she can't comprehend, himself. I had the privilege of seeing this film at the Berlin Film Festival on opening night, with the presence of director Andre Techine and Catherine Deneuve. So I am the first to admit that the experience somewhat blinded my judgment of this film. What starts out as a promising character study quickly deflates into a melodramatic family drama. Don't get me wrong, Techine directs the film with competent precision, filling up the screen with excellent cinematography. Many shots are simple but incredibly effective at bringing across their message. Deneuve too delivers an excellent performance, giving audiences a sense of seasoned experience by the start of the film. Towards the end her character falls more into a trap of naivety, where she tries everything to save her grandson. By no means is this particularly original but Deneuve pulls it off extremely well. In fact in my opinion her career of solid performances has really stepped up again ever since Lars von Trier's Dancer In The Dark. However her performance and Techine's direction can't help the cliches and tropes this film falls into. The grandson character is portrayed as this idealistic character, at first he is extremely compelling, I was able to understand where he came from yet opposed the direction he was heading into. He shares great scenes together with Deneuve that are definitely at the heart of this movie. However the film drops in quality towards the end of the second act, relying more on the typical platitudes and cliches of a family drama. The film loses its complexity, some may not see this as a problem but the film attempts to deal with a contemporary political topic (which I won't spoil as I was surprised by it). However this topic can not just serve as background works for a family drama. We live in a world that's plagued by terrorism both on the sides of jihadists and white supremacists. Donald Trump is President of the United States. The main topic of the film is such a complex issue that combines so many other problems within our own society. The film simply can't gloss over these problems and make a melodramatic family movie. However the cinematography and Catherine Deneuve's excellent performance certainly make this a watchable movie. But it could've been so much more than just watchable.

When her grandson suddenly appears on her doorstep Muriel rejoices. She is a successful horse breeder and her life is beautiful in a simple way, her corner of the world as stunning as it is remote. But with the arrival of her grandson a dark suspicion creeps in. Will Muriel be able to take a stand against the imminent danger to her grandson? And what does it mean to truly save someone?

The grim reality of radicalised youngsters in France is showcased in an unlikely surrounding. The French countryside seems to be the furthest place from the raging Syrian war, but the evil spreads its tentacles everywhere. The radicalised Muslims are shown in unflinchingly brutal way although it's never a secret that the kids who found themselves in this situation are out of their depth. Without prejudice the movie delivers both sides of the argument, showcasing how exactly one can become brainwashed in a modern unreliable world with no real values.

Catherine Deneuve is marvellous in the film, looking stunning at the age of 77. She looks naturally beautiful in the French village setting. Deneuve delivers the small but heartbreaking drama of Muriel with the reliable focus of an acting veteran, tinged with love and hope.

FAREWELL TO THE NIGHT may not give full justice to the complex subjects It touches upon, but it is a meaningful look at a family in crisis that mimics the crisis of the modern world.

Catherine Deneuve and director André Téchiné belong to the same generation and have made many films together. If my count is correct, 'L'adieu à la nuit', which hit theaters in 2019, was the 8th film they collaborated on. Many of Téchiné's films are with and about young people, and in a way 'L'adieu à la nuit' also falls into this category. It is about young people, but in a serious context, already addressed by several other films - that of Islamic radicalization. It is a difficult theme and 'L'adieu à la nuit' fails to go deep in its exploration, or perhaps it was not even the authors' intention to do so. The main quality of the film is that it anables the meeting between Deneuve, in extraordinary physical and artistic form, and some of the talented actors of a generation half a century younger in age.

The heroine of the film, Muriel, leads a life that can be considered ordinary and better than that. She owns a horse farm and an orchard in the area where the Pyrenées meet the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the action takes place during the first five days of spring, and the landscape of blossoming trees, animals and the farm are constant reminders of the good life, French style. Alex, Muriel's nephew, returns to say goodbye before going abroad for a while. The boy no longer behaves exactly as she knew him. Muriel learns that he has converted to Islam, perhaps under the influence of Lila, a young Muslim woman who lives nearby, who otherwise appears to be a nice girl and a dedicated nurse in a nursing home. Muriel hardly accepts the situation, but she accepts it. Alex's change, however, turns out to be much more drastic. The young couple is under the influence of a radical Islamic group and had decided to go to Syria together. What can the grandmother do to save the grandson? What does 'save him' actually mean? One way or another, family life is destroyed and reconciliation impossible, at least in the short term.

André Téchiné and his scriptwriters did not know or did not want to explore the reasons for the radicalization of the two young people. The insistence on presenting the idyllic life the young people renounce to proves that the point of view is Muriel's. The heroine decides to fight a force she doesn't understand and knows that the effect of her decisions cannot but have an impact on her grandson's life. Catherine Deneuve is formidable (again) in this role, the only thing we can fault her for is that she looks so good that she looks more like Alex's older sister than his grandmother. Two extremely talented actors play the roles of the two young people who fall under the influence of militant Islam: Kacey Mottet Klein and Oulaya Amamra (who was also formidable in 'Divines'). The decision not to insist on the political aspects in favor of those related to the psychology of the characters and the relationships between them turns what could have been a political film into a family drama. But even that is no small thing, considering the quality of the production and acting performances.

Since 2008, enthusiastic art house cinema audiences have been able to watch the young Swiss actor Kacey Mottet-Klein (* 1998 in Lausanne) grow up. Whether in "Home" (2008) and "Winterdieb" (2012) by Ursula Meier or in "With Seventeen" (2016) and "Farewell to the Night" (2019) by Andre Techine - little by little it became clear to every viewer that With this exceptional actor you are not dealing with a flash in the pan.

Alex (Kacey Mottet-Klein) grew up primarily at his grandma Muriel's (EUROPEAN FILM AWARD winner Catherine Deneuve) horse stud near Perpignan and also has a close bond with her. But since he started dating Lila (Oulaya Amamra), he has changed noticeably. On the outside, he's still wearing his favorite red tracksuit, but what's going on behind his forehead? One day Muriel finds out that Alex doesn't want to go to Canada to study, but instead wants to join the Islamic State in Syria. In his own words, he says "farewell to the night." Muriel is horrified and doesn't know what to do. Then she makes a momentous decision...

Very interesting family drama, which of course thrives on its great actors. La Deneuve is always fantastic! The woman is already a living legend! For me, as a fan of Nobel Prize winner Claude Simon, it is a particular pleasure that the film was shot in Perpignan and the surrounding area (the author's hometown). And Kacey Mottet Klein's red Adidas tracksuit is already iconic. We will definitely see a lot more of this actor.

The film was also shown out of competition at the 2019 Berlinale. Definitely worth seeing!

Muriel is a loving grandmother. She runs an equestrian center and manages a huge orchard of cherry trees. By chance, she discovers the radicalization of Alex, her grandson, a lost young man with a tortured soul: after the sudden death of his mother, he is skinned alive, ungrateful and under the intellectual influence of people organizing one-way trips to Syria. Indeed, in the eyes of God, a honorific death would have a priori more value than a 'classical' life. It is filmed with a coldness that reinforces the feeling of helplessness. Catherine Deneuve plays masterfully. Moreover, I have the impression to discover Kamel Labroudi and Mohamed Djouhri: they are both as sober as subtle.