Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Our Day Will Come: Gingers See Red

They are the most unstable redheads since Ginger Baker, but they have no conspicuous talents.  One poorly socialized youth and perhaps the world’s worst psychologist express their anger with the world through an extemporaneous crime spree in Romain Gavras’s Our Day Will Come (trailer here), which releases on VOD today.

Rémy does not have a happy home life.  When not violently arguing with his mother and sister, he fights with the members of his unsportsmanlike football club and unknowingly flirts with his fake catfish girlfriend online. He also sees Patrick in some sort of professional capacity, but that turns out to be rather counter-productive. When a particularly ugly family quarrel ends in a call to the cops, Patrick whisks the boy off a criminal road trip.

There is no plan per se, but the older man is generally inclined to pursue extreme sexual encounters.  Confused about his own orientation, Rémy latches onto the fantasy of seeking red-headed sanctuary in Ireland.  However, as their violent behavior escalates, tragedy becomes inevitable.  The real question is whether we should care.

Viewers will be hard pressed to find two less appealing co-leads than Rémy and his shrink.  Their Ginger victimization grievances in no way justify their crude and thuggish conduct.  Frankly, it is rather unclear whether Gavras (the music video director son of Costa-Gavras) is endorsing or subverting their persecution complex.

As Patrick, Vincent Cassel is a convincingly malevolent brooder.  Even though the film fails to fully click, he is always an interesting looking presence, given that Ian Anderson thing he has going on.  Olivier Barthelemy is also appropriately petulant and erratic.  However, it is hard to buy into any of the situations their characters put themselves in.

Gavras nicely capitalizes on the bleak post-industrial landscape near Calais, but his attempt to blend gritty naturalism with the feverishly surreal never really comes together.  At least it is a distinctive failure.  For red-headed Francophiles, it is now available for home viewing via Oscilloscope Laboratories VOD platforms.