Li'l Quinquin

[wilder]

Follows a police investigation into a series of bizarre murders in the town of Boulogne, and chronicles the lives of a group of young kids who watch it all unfold.

Directed by Bruno Dumont
Release Date - TBD, premiering at Cannes

[wilder]

Cannes: Bruno Dumont Fascinates With Ambitious 3 ½-Hour Comedy Series 'P'Tit Quinquin'
via The Playlist



(review omitted)

After the screening, Dumont stuck around for a fascinating Q&A and, thanks to an English translator, we were able to record it and have transcribed it for you here.

...on the subject of painting and the references to it in the film with Rubens, and the detective's name.
"Whenever I make a film I have to go back to what nurtures me, what inspires me, and painting is part of this food that I get and this inspiration that I have, and it's also in this relation between art and religion in painting. Also, when everything is out of size—this disproportion—is something I need in my art [to which] I can refer to in painting. It's always pushing me further, and pushing over the limits, [so I can] finally get to the inner aspect of people and things."

...on the choice of that particular location in the north of France for the film.
"In order to sound right, you must know the place. These are the landscapes that I know, the locations that I know, the people that I know. I know their accent. This is the way I know how to tell their stories. It's not even a conscious choice, it's my home, my land where I'm from."

...on why he keeps coming back to the same region even though his education has taken him away from this land.
"I may have been away from it because of my education, but this hasn't made me feel far from it, on the contrary I still need to go past by the same path. The only thing that has changed by studying philosophy or mystics is that my perception is sharper, but having this higher perception just makes me feel like even more going back to the same path and to the same people. I love these people, and I think there is a very simple manner to look at them. So I cover the different spectrum, but I go on looking at them and filming them and I think there's nothing intellectual in it, it's just a matter of sensitivity so I'm just more sensitive but I don't have to nag anyone about it, its all about filming them in a simple way. That's what cinema is about."

"All these people belong to the very specific place in which I filmed. I choose a location, and there is a 20-km perimeter not any wider. I won't go to a different town to seek these people, they all belong to this specific location. They are mainly gardeners. I was lucky enough to find plenty of gardeners who were seeking a seasonal job; so they were free for me during this period. It's really very important to have people belonging to the right place, it's when you want to film flowers, you cannot get them from elsewhere so they have to belong to the place to sound right. It's all a matter of resonance and I'm very sensitive to the harmony of this resonance. People can only sound right if the landscape sounds the same as they do."

...on laughter and the message of the film.
"There is no message, except that when we laugh; we laugh out ourselves, and I'm sure you didn't laugh all the time. Just sometimes."

...on why he chose to shoot in scope.
"I chose scope because I like the fact that it brings some balance between the character and the speech of the lines, and the landscape. I found it important to let the landscape speak too and not just to focus on [...] the characters. It makes the framing difficult, but I do like difficulty. I just found that it made the image more balanced. There are two versions; there is version two for TV so the frame is tighter which is fine for the format of television, but on a large screen like this I think it's worth to have a 2:39 format and be able to enjoy the landscape too."

[at this point, a woman who was standing next to Dumont but never got introduced, interjects with the following;]
"Just about seeing it as a 'cinema' film, we are really happy that you enjoyed the film but we wish to remind you that this is a series. It was meant, written, and directed as a series. I think it's part of the body of work of Bruno Dumont to be able to express himself and his worlds through different formats, different media, and different narrative forms. So it's part of the very substance of this one to be a TV series, and there are actually two versions; one for television and one for cinema screens. It will appear in several international festivals in [the cinema] format."

...his reaction to someone who "felt the same admiration for the direction, the landscapes, the animals, but [who] didn't [...] laugh because like all the others it gave [her] a profound feeling of despair."
"I'm sorry if it didn't make you laugh; it did make other people laugh. Your relationship to a film, and to cinema, is very much determined by yourself, so what is relevant is you."

[wilder]

US premiere coming to Film Society Lincoln Center, dates to follow

[wilder]

Playing October 2, 2014 @ 3pm

[wilder]

Kino Lorber Acquires New Bruno Dumont Film
via blu-ray.com

Independent U.S. distributors Kino Lorber have acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Bruno Dumont's latest film, Li'l Quinquin (2014), which will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. The film will open in select theaters across the United States in early 2015.

[jenkins]

first episode is on fandor. what is fandor? idk. it has a trial period
https://www.fandor.com/films/lil_quinquin

[wilder]

Blu-ray from Kino on June 2, 2015

[Just Withnail]

I caught this back in January but haven't taken time to really formulate my thoughts about this. That time will not be now.

I will just say that it is incredible. It is funny as all hell and has some of the most intriguing casting choices I've ever seen. Ideas about how these casting choices tie in to the overall concerns of the film are floating around in my head without ever really coalescing into something coherent. SO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD see this film and come here and talk about it.

I saw it screened as one big film, on the big screen, which was an overwhelming experience, but next time I think I'll do it as a series. I have a need to watch it again very soon.

[wilder]

Now on Netflix