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Albatros

Drift Away
Competition 2021
© Guy Ferrandis
After ten years together, Laurent proposes to his girlfriend Marie. It’s even going to be a white wedding. Little Poulette is all for her parents tying the knot. Group hug. While it’s all plain sailing on the family front, Laurent’s job, which he loves, is noticeably taking its toll. As chief of the local police force in the picturesque community of Étretat in Normandy, he not only has to drive inebriated troublemakers out of the bar (Xavier Beauvois in a brilliant cameo), he also has to deal with more serious crimes – from insurance fraud to child abuse to a suicidal Parisian who throws himself off the steep cliffs (ruining a romantic wedding photo shoot for the tourists who had come here from afar). When farmer Julien repeatedly defies EU regulations, Laurent finally blows a fuse. What follows is pure existentialism and the archetypal myth of a man in crisis.
With Albatros, Beauvois consolidates his position as a masterful observer of the emotions (depending on social strata), notions of responsibility (and loss of control) as well as the deep-down existence of the death wish, all done with an assured sense of style and thanks to a fabulous lead in Jérémie Renier.
by Xavier Beauvois
with Jérémie Renier, Marie-Julie Maille, Victor Belmondo, Iris Bry, Geoffrey Sery, Olivier Pequery, Madeleine Beauvois France 2020 French 115’ Colour

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

With

  • Jérémie Renier (Laurent)
  • Marie-Julie Maille (Marie)
  • Victor Belmondo (Quentin)
  • Iris Bry (Carole)
  • Geoffrey Sery (Julien)
  • Olivier Pequery (Pierre)
  • Madeleine Beauvois (Poulette)

Crew

Director Xavier Beauvois
Screenplay Xavier Beauvois, Frédérique Moreau, Marie-Julie Maille
Cinematography Julien Hirsch
Editing Marie-Julie Maille, Julie Duclaux
Sound Jean-Pierre Duret, Loïc Prian, Eric Bonnard
Production Design Yann Mégard
Costumes Bethsabée Dreyfus
Assistant Director Alexandra Denni
Casting Karen Hottois
Producers Sylvie Pialat, Benoit Quainon, Ardavan Safaee
Co-Production Les Films du Worso Paris
Pathé Paris
Orange Studio Paris
France 3 Cinéma Paris
Scope Pictures Paris

World sales

Pathé

http://www.patheinternational.com http://www.patheinternational.com

Produced by

Les Films du Worso

Photos

Xavier Beauvois

The filmmaker, actor and screenwriter was born in Auchel, France in 1967. After working as an assistant director for André Téchiné and Manoel de Oliveira, he began making his own feature films. These have been nominated for and won numerous awards and include North, Don’t Forget You’re Going to Die and the crime drama The Young Lieutenant starring Nathalie Baye. His film Of Gods and Men with Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale was equally successful with critics and audiences and won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes and the César Award for Best Film.

Filmography

1986 Le matou; short film 1991 Nord (North) 1995 N’oublie pas que tu vas mourir (Vergiß nicht, daß du sterben mußt / Don’t Forget You’re Going to Die) 2000 Selon Matthieu (Die Frau des Chefs / To Matthieu) · João Mata Sete 2005 Le petit lieutenant (Eine fatale Entscheidung / The Young Lieutenant) 2009 Notre ami Chopin 2010 Des hommes et des dieux (Von Menschen und Göttern / Of Gods and Men) 2014 La rançon de la gloire (The Price of Fame) 2017 Les gardiennes (The Guardians) 2020 Albatros

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021