Carion’s My Son

When a child is missing and presumed kidnapped, any parent can turn into Liam Neeson in Taken, even a French journalist. Frankly, it is not such a dramatic transformation in the case of Julien Perrin. He has a rather murky backstory and a hair-trigger temper. Perrin will do whatever it takes to find his seven-year-old boy Mathys, regardless of consequences, throughout Christian Carion’s lean French thriller My Son, which opens tomorrow in New York.

As usual, Perrin was on assignment when Mathys disappeared, but he made haste to the mountainous village when his ex-wife Marie Blanchard called. He tries to be supportive, but things are weird between them. Perrin probably still has some residual affection for her, but her new partner, Gregoire Rochas is a different story entirely. The concerned father takes an instant disliking to Rochas and soon starts to suspect he could be complicit in Mathys’ disappearance (based mainly on instinct rather than evidence).

Although everyone wants Perrin to settle down, he continues to pursue his maverick investigation, like a bull in a china shop. There will indeed be some big third act twists and revelation, but My Son is more about the hunt than unmasking the villains. Regardless, Carion and co-screenwriter Laure Irrmann spring a decidedly sinister conclusion to the film.

Guillaume Canet really seethes and fumes as Perrin. It is a viscerally powerful performance that so dominates the film, it feels like a solo show (like Tom Hardy in Locke), even though there are other actors present. Arguably, Canet’s work also vindicates the method school of acting, due to Carion’s unusual strategy. Instead of supply notes and backstory, Carion withheld all information from Canet, including the script, allowing him to experience each twist and turn in real time.

Melanie Laurent does a nice enough job as Blanchard, but she just cannot compare to Canet. On the other hand, Olivier de Benoist is all kinds of creepy and distasteful as the suspicious Rochas. We really cannot blame Perrin if he leaps to conclusions.

This is a wiry, stripped down film that nicely maintains the brooding French thriller tradition. Carion’s unconventional method of directing Canet has been a good publicity hook for the film, but it never comes across as gimmicky to viewers. Highly recommended for fans of French cinema and edgy thrillers, My Son opens tomorrow (5/10) in New York, at the Quad Cinema.

Carion’s Come What May

During the attempted mass migration of 1940 often dubbed “The French Exodus,” it was easy to tell the refugees from the aggressors. Generally, the former spoke French and the latter spoke German. However, that put a dissident German like Hans in a difficult spot. Overshadowed by outrages like the Velodrome Round-up, the ill-fated evacuation gets its dramatic due in Christian Carion’s Come What May (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

As a critic of the National Socialist regime, Max found it advisable to leave Germany with his young son Max in a hurry. To avoid deportation, they try to pass for French Christians of ruddy peasant stock. Frankly, they are not so convincing, but the residents of their Pas-de-Calais hamlet are inclined to simply live and let live, especially Hans’ yeoman farmer boss Paul, who also happens to be the mayor. Unfortunately, this peaceful interlude will not last long, as viewers should expect. Eventually, Hans is arrested and interned for misrepresenting his citizenship, leaving Max in the care of the town’s schoolteacher, Suzanne. Shortly thereafter, the Maginot Line caves, setting off the town’s desperate flight from the invading Germans.

Supposedly, there was a plan in place for the townspeople to be sheltered in Dieppe in the case of such an eventuality, but getting there will be quite the trick. The roads will be clogged with other internal refugees, at least until the Germans start their strafing. Of course, their supplies quickly dwindle and communication is haphazard at best. Nevertheless, when Hans is released on humanitarian grounds, he joins forces with Percy, a stranded junior officer of the Black Watch, and together they manage to follow the notes Max leaves for him on school house black boards.

Carion makes it clear what a sweeping, tragic, and ultimately futile chapter of French history this truly was, but his but his primary focus falls on the intimate survivors’ stories of father, son, and the displaced villagers. August Diehl (from The Counterfeiters) and Joshio Marlon are totally believable and often quite touching as the exiled father and son. Olivier Gourmet also deftly walks the line between rugged salt-of-the-earth-ness and Gallic pigheadedness as the Mayor. However, Matthew Rhys (The Americans, Death Comes to Pemberley) steals the film several times over as the dashing Percy. With his casual panache and pencil moustache, the Welsh Rhys playing the Scotts officer brings to mind the British David Niven, who really executed missions behind enemy lines as a commando with the British Army’s “Phantom” Regiment.

Inspired by Carion’s own family history, CWM helps humanize and contextualize the French wartime experience. It is often grueling, but there are moments that pay-off in spades. The aptly stirring Ennio Morricone score is certainly an additional selling point. Recommended for Francophones and fans of Rhys, Come What May opens this Friday (9/9) in New York, at the Paris Theatre uptown and the Angelika Film Center downtown.