The_Repentant_(2002_film)

<i>The Repentant</i> (2002 film)

The Repentant (2002 film)

2002 film by Laetitia Masson

The Repentant (French: La Repentie) is a 2002 French romantic thriller film written and directed by Laetitia Masson, and loosely based on the 1999 novella of the same name by Didier Daeninckx.[4] It stars Isabelle Adjani and marked her return to the screen after four years.[2] With supporting roles by Sami Frey and Samy Naceri, Adjani portrays a woman who tries to escape her criminal past.[4] It was released by ARP Sélection on 17 April 2002.[5]

Quick Facts The Repentant, French ...

Plot

A young woman picks up a suitcase from the station depot, enters a bathroom and comes out in an elegant dress with black sunglasses. She buys a ticket for the first train traveling to the sea (Nice). A young man, Karim, follows her and asks the conductor for the direction of the train. Can a woman live a new life with another man, Paul Viard, when a past haunts her?

Cast

Production

Laetitia Masson was approached by producers looking for a vehicle to mark Isabelle Adjani's return to the screen. Adjani had established herself as a leading star of French cinema in the 1980s.[4] However, her last appearance was a minor role in Paparazzi (1998), in which she played herself.[2] Her last leading role was starring opposite Sharon Stone in Diabolique (1996), a remake of Les Diaboliques.[4] In The Repentant, Masson uses Adjani as her femme fatale and incorporates themes of mystery and impulsiveness to illustrate the feeling of starting anew.[7]

Principal photography began on 21 May 2001, with filming taking place in Paris, the Île-de-France region, Nice and Morocco. It lasted 10 weeks.[8]

Reception

Box office

The film was a modest box-office success in France, selling 85,238 admissions from 138 screens in its first week.[7] At the end of its theatrical run, it sold a total of 137,127 admissions.[9]

Critical response

The Repentant received an average rating of 2.7 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 21 reviews.[10]

Olivier De Bruyn, writing for Première, assessed it as a "hybrid film: absolutely fascinating but a bit frustrating".[10] Gérard Lefort of Libération deemed it a film of "imperceptibility" whose best scenes were those of insignificance.[11] Michel Guilloux of L'Humanité wrote that the film accumulated clichés and the plot quickly revealed itself empty, to the point of boring the audience.[10] Les Echos's Annie Coppermann concurred, saying it rendered the audience vaguely bored but admiring the landscapes and faces of Adjani and Frey, and ultimately hoping for a proper return to film for Adjani.[12] François Gorin of Télérama similarly called it a mess filled with emptiness, but also "impossible to hate".[10]

Screen International's Patrick Frater criticized the lack of a deeper examination into the film's themes of "starting over and inventing a past". Frater, however, praised both the "sumptuous" cinematography and Jocelyn Pook's score for lifting the film "above the mean".[7]

References

  1. [1]
    Nesselson, Lisa (17 April 2002). "The Repentant". Variety. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  2. [2]
    "Screen International AFM news round-up". Screen International. 21 February 2002. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  3. [3]
    "The Repentant (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  4. [4]
    Dobson, Julia (2019). Negotiating the auteur: Dominique Cabrera, Noémie Lvovsky, Laetitia Masson and Marion Vernoux. French Film Directors Series. Manchester University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-5261-4170-5. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  5. [5]
    Seguret, Olivier (13 March 2002). "Cassette pour plan de reconquête". Libération (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  6. [6]
    Lefort, Gérard (17 April 2002). "'Moi et pas moi'". Libération (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  7. [7]
    Frater, Patrick (2 May 2002). "The Repentant (La Repentie)". Screen International. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  8. [8]
    "La repentie" (in French). ARP Sélection. Retrieved 3 February 2004.
  9. [9]
    "La Repentie (2002)". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  10. [10]
    "Critiques Presse pour le film La Repentie". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  11. [11]
    Lefort, Gérard (17 April 2002). "Miroirs, brouillard". Libération (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  12. [12]
    Coppermann, Annie (17 April 2002). "Adjani, le retour". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2024.

Further reading

  • Halberstadt, Michèle (2002). Adjani aux pieds nus – Journal de la repentie. Paris: Editions Calmann-Lévy. ISBN 2-7021-3293-6
  • O'Neill, Eithne. Positif. No. 495. May 2002. p. 74
  • Roger, Philippe. Études. June 2002
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