France,
2001, 100 min
Shown in 2002
CREDITS
- dir
-
Marie de Laubier
- prod
-
Christian Tison
- scr
-
Marie de Laubier, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Alexis Galmot
- cam
-
Emmanuelle Collinot
- editor
-
Paul de Laubier
- cast
-
Julie Depardieu, Patrick Pineau, Thibault Patell, Hery Ranaivo Rajanoa, Guy Auguste Boleat
- source
-
Lancelot Films, 12 rue Calmels, 75018 Paris, France. FAX; 33-1-5341-8958. EMAIL: lancelot@free.fr
- premiere
-
North American Premiere
OTHER
Spectacular open-sea locations and a documentarian’s keen eye for realism propel this affecting, complex debut about solitude and the longing to escape. Philippe returns home after a solo around-the-world sailing competition, but somehow cannot readjust to life with his partner Lucie and infant son Vincent. After months of being alone, with only the sea around him, human contact—culture, language, even love—just confuses him. Unable to reenter the controlled flow, Philippe heads to the open water again, and this time disappears completely, leaving his boat adrift in the sea. While the authorities—and friends and family—assume Philippe is dead, Lucie becomes convinced otherwise, and launches an investigation into where her husband went, and why a man with “everything” would leave it for “nothing.” Taking its title from a Madagascar farewell meaning “live,” Veloma navigates the tensions between society and its obligations and the individual’s need for solitude. Director Laubier and cinematographer Emmanuelle Collinot have a strong feel for the ocean scenes, while Laubier displays an especially fine command of her actors, drawing exposed, highly naturalistic performances that capture the spaces between souls where words fail and only a glance, a touch or a silence can convey the emotions of a hundred lines.
FACTOID #304
After its U.S. premiere at the 1969 Festival, the print of Z by Costa-Gavras was stolen from the locked projection room of the Masonic Auditorium.
