Three convicts on leave for the first time since their incarceration. Three brief returns to 'normal' life, the life of others, of those who are not confined behind prison bars. Three uneasy, tense, bumpy returns to their loved ones: fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends. Three obstacle courses at the end of which, despite major obstacles, a semblance of hope seems to be emerging.
Three characters (Colin, a young one, Bonnard, a middle-aged guy, and Harmousin, an ageing man) who, for all their madness, are fighting their demons.
And a director, Eve Duchemin, whose main quality is to be well-informed on her subject (isn't she the author of a previously made documentary, « En bataille » about a woman prison warden?). And that's not all: with this film, she proves that besides her documentary maker qualities she has a real talent for fiction. She has the ability to create characters with flesh and soul, the best evidence being that we relate to them however different from us they are. What is particularly striking is that she achieves this feat without overlooking their unpleasant sides. Which is epitomized by what Colin says: « yes, I'm guilty, yes, I'm a convict, but that's not all I am! »
To get the job done, Eve Duchemin had no other choice but to find three outstanding performers, which, viewing the film, you will realize she did. Under her inspired direction, the sober Issaka Sawadogo, the restless Karim Leclou and the tortured Jarod Cousyns defend their respective characters tooth and nail and get to the heart of the matter, including the last-named, whose very first film this is.
A director who knows what she is talking about, a handful of brilliant actors (add to the trio the late Johan Leysen and Blanka Ryslinskova as Bonnard's parents) are the guarantee of an intensely emotional experience, not to be missed.
Three characters (Colin, a young one, Bonnard, a middle-aged guy, and Harmousin, an ageing man) who, for all their madness, are fighting their demons.
And a director, Eve Duchemin, whose main quality is to be well-informed on her subject (isn't she the author of a previously made documentary, « En bataille » about a woman prison warden?). And that's not all: with this film, she proves that besides her documentary maker qualities she has a real talent for fiction. She has the ability to create characters with flesh and soul, the best evidence being that we relate to them however different from us they are. What is particularly striking is that she achieves this feat without overlooking their unpleasant sides. Which is epitomized by what Colin says: « yes, I'm guilty, yes, I'm a convict, but that's not all I am! »
To get the job done, Eve Duchemin had no other choice but to find three outstanding performers, which, viewing the film, you will realize she did. Under her inspired direction, the sober Issaka Sawadogo, the restless Karim Leclou and the tortured Jarod Cousyns defend their respective characters tooth and nail and get to the heart of the matter, including the last-named, whose very first film this is.
A director who knows what she is talking about, a handful of brilliant actors (add to the trio the late Johan Leysen and Blanka Ryslinskova as Bonnard's parents) are the guarantee of an intensely emotional experience, not to be missed.
