MEMOIR OF WAR / La Douleur

Tuesday, April 24 – 5:40 pm – Renoir Theatre

Directed by: Emmanuel Finkiel
Written by: Emmanuel Finkiel

Based on a Novel by: Marguerite Duras
Cinematography: Alexis Kavyrchine
Film Editing: Sylvie Lager, David Vranken
Produced by: Laetitia Gonzalez, Yaël Fogiel (Les Films du Poisson), Cinéfrance, France 3 Cinéma
Cast: Mélanie Thierry (Marguerite Duras), Benoît Magimel (Pierre Rabier), Benjamin Biolay (Dionys), Shulamit Adar (Madame Katz), Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet (Morland), Emmanuel Bourdieu (Robert)
International Sales: TF1 Studio
U.S. Distributor: Music Box Films

U.S. Release Date: August 2018

Mélanie Thierry is riveting as a distraught Marguerite Duras in Emmanuel Finkiel’s ambitious adaptation of the legendary writer’s semi-autobiographical collection of writings, The War: A Memoir. The setting is 1944 Nazi-occupied France. Duras and her husband, Robert Antelme, are working for the Resistance. When he’s taken prisoner by the Gestapo and deported, she agonizes over his fate and does everything in her power to hasten his release. Enter Vichy collaborator Rabier (a chilling Benoît Magimel) who plays a sinister, flirtatious game with Duras, setting up a series of clandestine meetings and promising information on Robert’s whereabouts. But is he sincere or just trying to dig up dirt on the Resistance underground. The film’s evocative French title, La Douleur — literally translated as “the pain” — perhaps best captures the film’s theme and harrowing depiction of waiting, grief and inner torment in wartime.

Emmanuel Finkiel | Emmanuel Finkiel began his career as an assistant director, a profession he honed for 16 years, working with such directors as Jean-Luc Godard on Nouvelle Vague (1990) and Krzysztof Kieslowski on his Three Colors trilogy: Blue, White and Red (1993-94). Finkiel’s first short film, Madame Jacques sur la Croisette, was honored with the César Award for Best Short Film and his feature directorial debut, Voyages (1999), won the Prix de Jeunesse in Cannes and César Awards for Best First Film and Best Editing. Finkiel has continued to direct shorts and documentaries for the past twenty years. His other features include Nulle Part Terre Promise (2008) and Je Ne Suis Pas un Salaud (2015).

Women Make History
In Association with: Music Box Films, TF1 Studio