Misericordia

Miséricorde

TIFF65: Greek Premiere
Jérémie’s return to his hometown for the funeral of his former boss gradually morphs into a paradoxical spiral of contradictions, gory mysteries, and unforeseen sexual prospects. As the young man’s temporary stay at the home of the deceased man’s widow extends, it gets increasingly overshadowed by a disappearance, a neighbor with a threatening disposition, and a priest with easily misunderstood (at a minimum) intensions. Similarly to his hero here, the unpredictable French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie also attempts his own atypical homecoming to the magnetic narrative codes that determined it is Stranger by the Lake he deserves to be commemorated evermore for. Only, Misericordia shows no inclination of adhering to the exemplary coordinates of an erotic thriller in all its minutiae. On the contrary, it eludes classification, sets itself apart as an offbeat and uncompromisingly hybrid film, promising nothing but the fact that up to the last frame it will continue to enrich the slow-burning amalgamation of slithering eroticism and death by adding surreal notes of comic absurdity.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Alain Guiraudie
Script: Alain Guiraudie
Cinematography: Claire Mathon
Editing: Jean-Christophe Hym
Sound: Vasco Pedroso, Jeanne Delplancq, Jordi Ribas Suris, Branco Neskov
Music: Marc Verdaguer
Actors: Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot, Jacques Develay, Jean-Baptiste Durand, David Ayala
Production: CG Cinéma
Producers: Charles Gillibert
Co-production: Scala Films, Andergraun Films, Rosa Films, ARTE France Cinéma
Costumes: Khadija Zeggai
Production Design: Laurent Lunetta, Emmanuelle Duplay
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: France, Spain, Portugal
Production Year: 2024
Duration: 104'
Contact: Les Films Du Losange

Alain Guiraudie

Alain Guiraudie is one of the most prominent and innovative figures in French cinema. He directed his first short film in 1990, Heroes Never Die, and went on to make a medium-length film, That Old Dream That Moves, which won the Jean Vigo Prize and was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in 2001. Jean-Luc Godard referred to it as the best film of the Festival. Regularly filming in the Southwest of France, Alain Guiraudie transitioned to feature films with No Rest for the Brave, Time Has Come, The King of Escape (presented at the 41st Directors’ Fortnight at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival), and Stranger by the Lake, selected in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. This last film broadened his audience and earned him significant recognition abroad, particularly in the United States and Asia. In 2016, Staying Vertical was part of the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2022, his film Nobody’s Hero, a comedy featuring Noémie Lvovsky and Jean-Charles Clichet set against the backdrop of terrorist attacks, opened the Panorama section at the Berlinale.

Filmography

1990 Heroes Never Die (short)
1994 Straight Ahead Until Morning (short)
1997 La Force des choses (short)
2000 Sunshine for the Scoundrels (mid-length)
2001 That Old Dream that Moves (mid-length)
2003 No Rest for the Brave
2005 Time Has Come
2009 The King of Escape
2013 Stranger by The Lake
2016 Staying Vertical
2021 Nobody's Hero
2024 Misericordia