Du goudron et des plumes

With its unusual title in the original French ("Tar and Feathers"), this story of atonement refers to a public punishment condoned in the Middle Ages and beyond: the perpetrator was doused in tar and rolled in feathers. In the present case, the figurative culprit is Christian, a divorced man who until now has blundered between his real life as an inconsiderate loser and his desire to be an example to his adolescent daughter, and perhaps even to find a new relationship. Set in a small country town where boredom and middle-class rituals hold sway, Pascal Rabaté's ironic morality tale inventively handles the individual scenes from a perspective reminiscent of his previous Holidays by the Sea, for which he won Best Director at Karlovy Vary in 2011. Even the players' performances are subordinated to a certain theatrical stylization: Christian is played by Sami Bouajila, an actor of Tunisian origin and a favorite in France, with the similarly well-known Isabelle Carré taking the role of Christine. She becomes a bright spot in the sullen hero's life, and the director was able to take advantage of the actress's actual pregnancy during the shoot. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)