Do you remember what you learned in school about humans moving from a hunter-gatherer society to agriculture? Well, it’s farmers versus hunters in a dark comedy-drama Lots of monsters (Explosive Lesspace), the directorial debut of Sarah Arnold, which she wrote with Jérémie Dubois, Olivier Seror, Roman Winkler, and Mehdi Benatia.
Premiering in the Directors’ Fortnight line-up (Quinzaine des Cinéastes), Cannes Film Festival sidebar, the film stars Alexis Manenti (Wretched, Unwanted things(Like the sharp but heartbroken Fulda, Ella Rumpf)Fashion design, dangerous, Freud, succession) as Stephane, a psychologist with her own problems, and Vincent Didian (A good man).
What is the nature of this monster, you ask? “In the French countryside, wild boars destroying crops ignite open warfare between farmers and gentlemen hunting club members, who feed the game between hunts,” reads the film’s synopsis. “Bron, a penniless farmer, struggles to keep his farm afloat. When the club president pushes him to his limits, Bron shoots him and disappears.”
But this place is more like a zoo, so the drama doesn’t stop there. “A year later, Fulda, a volatile policeman, and Stefan, a psychiatrist who barely has it together, start digging,” the plot summary continues. “What they discover is greater than anything they could have imagined. And so is what appears among them.”
Arnold has had great success with her short films, including… Lesson of vocabularyWhich won the Jury Prize at the Turin Film Festival. TotemsWhich won the Bardino d’Oro Award at the Locarno Film Festival Store policy. Noe Bach is the cinematographer Lots of monstersWhile Isabelle Manquilt is the editor. Playtime is dealing with sales.
Of her rebellious personalities, Arnold says in her director’s note that they come from her parents. “My mother moved in political circles around Toni Negri in Italy in the 1970s, my father was a Swiss sailor who dreamed of sailing around the world, and my stepfather was a teacher who played rock music. They all fought back in their own way,” she explains. “I have always found it difficult to separate cinema from politics, and the question that drives me is: How do you obey when you are asked to accept injustice? The characters in my short films and in my first feature film resist, and if I feel sympathy for them, it is because they all believe that even when the odds are against you, the fight is worth fighting.”
THR Now he can unleash the beast… well, sort of. THR An exclusive clip can be premiered from Lots of monsters Ahead of the film’s world premiere on May 17. We won’t spoil too much, but you can expect to meet Fulda and his fellow cop, with Fulda – no, not exactly romantic talk. Well, you’ll have to see for yourself! Enjoy the exclusive clip from Too Many monsters!
