42/34
Tale
A small village in northern France is the battleground for disguised alien knights
Adèle Haenel was originally set to star, but dropped out after disagreements with Bruno Dumont over the script. “At first, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun: a sort of Luke Skywalker in space. The problem is that behind this funny facade, a dark, sexist and racist world was being defended.
But it is intentional
The script was full of jokes about cancel culture and sexual violence. I tried to discuss this with Dumont, because I thought a dialogue was possible. I wanted to believe for the umpteenth time that it was not intentional.
This disrespect is deliberate
Just like they mock victims, people in vulnerable situations. The intention was to make a science fiction film with an all-white cast – and therefore a racist narrative. I didn’t want to support that.” She later retired from the French film industry in 2023.
The film kept me entertained throughout
I was worried that I wouldn’t like L’Empire – I tried to avoid the trailers and reviews, but finally gave up after reading that at one screening many people had walked out halfway through the film. The imagery looked grotesque, but I still wanted to give it a try, as I greatly admire Dumont’s film L’Humanité and found its mix of professional and non-professional actors to be sensitive and intelligent, never demeaning. Dumont’s moving look at small French coastal towns is drawn from her own personal experience and story, which makes it all the more authentic.
In addition to great graphics and effects, and hilarious UFOs, it created an entertaining, unusual and moving film
You could say the film is a pastiche of various sci-fi blockbusters (though I’d say it’s more like Star Wars than Dune), but it actually felt like it must have been inspired by a children’s game in a largely poor and neglected area of rural northern France that features the entire village as enthusiastic players. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to see it at the Berlinale – and in my opinion it is a well-deserved winner of a Silver Bear!