By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Robin Campillo
Starring: Catherine Samie | Djemel Barek | Frédéric Pierrot | Géraldine Pailhas | Jonathan Zaccaï | Marie Matheron
Original language title: Les Revenants
Country: france
Year: 2006
Running time: 102
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378661/
Michael says: “French cinema has been delving into such societal issues as traditional home and work life in recent years in such films as Laurent Cantet’s L’EMPLOI DU TEMPS and HUMAN RESOURCES. Now, in his bold directorial debut, Robin Campillo, Cantet’s screenwriting partner in the aforementioned films, tackles death and how society deals with their lost loved ones. It happens one bright sunny day when all the town’s dead (the phenomena seems worldwide) from the past 10 years or so, come marching out of the graveyards, healthy and whole, if a slightly dazed, and with no memory of the intervening years. The film focuses on one young woman who has difficulty accepting the fact that her husband has returned from the fatal car accident that took him; a couple whose 6-year-old son returns with all his warmth and energy, but little else, and the mayor, whose elderly, deceased wife returns with renewed vigor and a tendency to trying to wander off in the night. As the town struggles to deal with the sudden influx of the dead, from providing shelter and jobs, to ultimately keeping the recently-dead contained, we see a chilling tale of societies’ class divisions coming into play. LES REVENANTS swings emotionally from the sudden joy at a loved one’s return to the renewed grief and horror that accompanies tragic loss, all with a strong undercurrent of dread as the film progresses to its startling conclusion. There is one thread to this film that falls flat, but all-in-all a solid debut. 3 ½ cats”