THE LAST HAMMER BLOW
/ Le Dernier coup de marteau

 

North American Premiere • Drama • France, 2015

DCP • 1.85 • Dolby • Color • 83 min

Directed by: Alix Delaporte

Written by: Alix Delaporte, Alain Le Henry

Cinematography: Claire Mathon

Film Editing: Louise Decelle

Original Score: Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine

Produced by: Hélène Cases (Lionceau Films)

Coproduced by: France 2 Cinéma

Cast: Romain Paul (Victor), Clotilde Hesme (Nadia), Grégory Gadebois (Samuel Rovinski) 

International Sales: Pyramide International

 

In this subtle and gratifying coming-of-age drama, newcomer Romain Paul is a revelation as Victor, a high-schooler living in a run-down seaside trailer home. Any young man would have enough on his plate just preparing for a crucial soccer tryout and juggling a stampeding attraction to his teenage neighbor Luna, but Victor also has to cope with the uncertainties of a severely ill mother and a home in bad need of expensive upkeep. When Victor learns that his estranged father, a celebrated orchestra conductor, is staying in a nearby town to conduct Mahler’s 6th symphony, he decides to take a chance and go see him. Expecting nothing, Victor is nonetheless surprised when his father gives him exactly that - nothing. But Victor’s persistence is about to change both of their lives.

 

For her second feature, writer/director Alix Delaporte insisted on working again with Grégory Gadebois and Clotilde Hesme, both recipients of Most Promising Actor César Awards for her first feature Angel and Tony (COLCOA 2011). After studying screenwriting at La Fémis, Delaporte wrote for a number of French television series. Her second short, Comment on freine dans une descente? (2006), won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Her feature work is noted for its introspection and a preference of physical and emotional subtext over straightforward dialogue. The film’s title, The Last Hammer Blow, is a reference to the “three blows of fate” called for in the final movement of Mahler’s 6th symphony, for which Mahler had a special hammer instrument constructed.

Quotes:

“…demonstrates prodigious maturity and tact.”

John Bleasdale CINEVUE

“…intimate but emotionally satisfying.”

– Boyd van Hoeij HOLLYWOOD REPORTER