Après le sud

From previous experience, it seems like all the movies who are written and directed by the same person seem to be a failure. And this movie is no exception.

I couldn't watch it past the minute 23 because there is simply nothing to follow. First it's a scene about an old man polishing a shotgun, then the about an middle aged obese woman waking up and leaving her home to travel in a car. Then, it's a scene about her daughter who works in a supermarket. Barely any script with too many silent scenes.

Avoid and save your time on something more interesting cause I don't get the point of this movie at all. About people who are just bored with their life? I got bored just watching it.

At first sight ,"Apres Le Sud" would display a Robert Guédigian influence: location in the South of France,average persons,whose paths meet ...

But further acquaintance shows it is not so: Guédigian's hope against hope and shades of optimism have disappeared . "Après Le sud" is a somber work Under the bright sun and the blue sky of French South.

The four characters seem to have lost their illusions ;the obese mother stuffs herself with Arab pastries while trying a medical treatment:she will remind you of Ellen Burstyn's desperate struggle with food in "requiem for a dream".Her daughter is a clerk in a supermarket ,a place she finds stifling :she's pregnant by a young Italian,Luigi ,himself a loser , who never succeeds in talking this over with her before the tragedy .The last character is a grumpy lonely old man who seems educated and who appreciates classical music.There's a scene where he is strip-searched in the supermarket by two hateful managers who humiliate him and whose behavior is really beyond the pale:taunting an incontinent old man,who is twice older than them! All this and more leads to an irreparable drama ,with a final scene recalling that of Pasolini's "Mamma Roma" .

Too bad the director succumbed to a contemporary vice: non-linear story,flashbacks,flash forwards,scenes showed twice (the latter would be interesting if we had a different point of view).This might be a little off-putting for the audience .

Nevertheless " Après Le sud" gets off the beaten track and thus can be considered an estimable work.

Dedicated to Cyril Collard ("Les Nuits Fauves ",1992)