Lucas Belvaux's THIS IS OUR LAND: the frightening growth of the French far right

A uniquely disturbing (because it is so plausible) movie, THIS IS OUR LAND (originally titled as the better, simpler and more ironic Chez Nous) shows us, bit by bit, how a smart, caring, well-liked nurse in a typical provincial French town is slowly and cleverly conned into running for mayor under the banner of the "new" far-right party and its leader (think Marine Le Pen).

Though the far right, along with its neo-Nazis cohorts, has yet to win the major election in France, as Donald Trump and the Republican Party have done here in the USA, their strength in France -- as well as all across the European community -- continues to grow.

Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux (of 38 Witnesses and Rapt) who co-wrote (with Jérôme Leroy, from his novel) and directed the movie has given it a remarkably true-to-life, near-documentary-like approach filled with so many on-the-nose details of small town life -- at work, at home, in relationships with friends and lovers -- that reality is captured almost at once and remains grounded throughout, despite some melodramatic turns and a finale that seems too sudden, coincidental and easy. The movie's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, however, and what is likely to remain with you is a cautionary tale par excellence.

In the leading role is that fine Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne (above and on poster, top), who began her career in the Dardennes' Rosetta and has been giving crackerjack performances during the near 20 years since. This is another of her best, and it is hard to think of an actress (maybe Adèle Haenel in a few years) who could be any better in this role.

What the movie is particularly good at is showing us the route, led by a very successful right-wing doctor, played with his usual savoir faire by André Dussollier (above), via which the national front party seduces our heroine, along with so much of the populace, many of which are interested in populist ideals but unable (maybe unwilling) to differentiate between those and the racist, xenophobic underlay that accompanies them.

Catherine Jacob's performance -- the actress is shown above and below, center -- as the Le Pen stand-in is impressive in both its subtle conniving and its power to rouse the masses. This Is Our Land is also quite adept at demonstrating how a smart and caring woman could be seduced by this combination of praise, attention, and the support of friends already in the hands of the far right. In fact, what makes the film so particularly disquieting is how heavily we identify with our nurse/heroine and then must watch as she (and, yes, maybe we would, too) begins compromising the very bedrock principles upon which she has lived so far.

Now, all political parties do this same thing (god knows, America's Democratic Party compromised what few principles it had left by forcing Hillary Clinton upon us rather than going with the more progressive candidate whose appeal, according to all the early polls, trumped even that of Trump. But there are bad political parties and worse ones. And the French right-wing, along with America's Republicans, are clearly the worse.

The film's wild card is the character of the Dequenne character's old boyfriend (Guillaume Gouix, above and below) who suddenly appears back in her life as a possible mate.  Alternately violent and kindly, the latter especially to her children, he quickly becomes as much of a problem for the party and their candidate, as he may be for our heroine, too.

In the supporting cast, Patrick Descamps (above, left) is particularly notable as Dequenne's layabout Communist-Party father, whose reaction to her new political affiliation will not surprise you. A movie that is, as they used to say, ripped from today's headlines, This Is Our Land seems not to be asking could-it-happen-here? (it already has) than simply to be questioning how, in this "modern" age, we might hang on to whatever is left of our minuscule democracy.

From Distrib Films US, in French with English subtitles and running 117 minutes, the movies gets its U.S. theatrical premiere this Wednesday, April 18, in New York City at Film Forum. On April 27 it opens in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Monica Film Center. Click here, and then scroll down and click on Watch Now to view all upcoming playdates, cities and theaters.

RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA '12: Lucas Belvaux's 38 WITNESSES takes Kitty Genovese from Queens to France

Rendez-vous is huge this year, the largest array of films ever in the series 17 year history. Unless I miscounted, there are 42 films scheduled for Rendez-vous 2012 -- including, in a new sidebar called Rendez-vous +, recent documentaries and rarely screened "classics" (including a 1970s vampire movie by the recently-re-discoverd -- on these shores, at least -- Jean Rollin). Consequently, for the first time in at least a decade, yours truly will not have seen every film in the series. Sorry. Can't manage it. And I'd have to be in two placed at once to catch the "+" sidebar. But I have seen 17 of the films, which I'll report on now and in a post or two to come. Collectively, those 17 movies add up to one of, maybe the best Rendez-vous in my memory, regarding the high level and art and entertainment on view. Given what past years have brought us, this is saying something.

For TrustMovies' money, the film that cuts the deepest this year is Lucas Belvaux's 38 WITNESSES (38 Témoins), providing the height of art and entertainment via a surprising subject: the 1960s murder, here in Queens, New York, of Kitty Genovese, during which none of her neighbors, despite her screams, called the police or tried to help. Belvaux has updated his version to modern-day France and an upscale apartment building in a port city. Initially, the filmmaker's images of the sea and the port are stately and beautiful (the fine cinematography is by Pierric Gantelmi D'Ille).

We never see the actual murder; once past the sea and shore shots, the film begins with a young woman's body on the floor of the lobby of the apartment building and simply moves on from there,sparing us the actual in-the-moment killing. Instead, it's all about investigation -- by the police and by a smart, if cynical, journalist (Nicole Garcia, above, left) -- of why no one saw or heard anything. The film's focus is on the character played by that increasingly compelling actor Yvan Attal (above right, and below). At first it seems as if Attal, who seems distracted and very ill at ease, may have had something to do with the murder. As Belvaux's version proceeds, things proves nothing so simple or obvious.

The movie deals with guilt, shame and responsibility in ways that I have not heretofore seen handled this well. Belvaux and his cast, particularly Attal, make you experience the pain and shame like nothing else. The audience's keyhole and identification is provided via Sophie Quinton (remember Who Killed Bambi?), who plays Attal's wife and she is wonderful, too. The finale, which takes the shape of a reenactment of the crime, is one of the most riveting and profound pieces of cinema I've seen. It gives you exactly what you need to experience -- what the filmmaker wants you to feel and understand -- and it's harrowing, yet without a shred of exploitation or self-serving hypocrisy. This is an amazing movie, but so far as I know, it does not yet have U.S. distribution. Will someone step up to the plate, please?

38 Witnesses screens tonight, March 2, at 7pm at the IFC Center; Saturday, March 10 at 6:15 at the Walter Reade Theater and Sunday, March 11, at :1:30, again at the Walter Reade.