Pierre Jolivet tripped over “Green Algae”, a scourge that strikes Brittany’s beaches

Ever since he was on the music hall scene, then he became a director, Pierre Jolivet has been sending messages in his shows and films. His ecological convictions are expressed in Green Algae, on screens Wednesday, July 12. Here he adapts the graphic novel by Inès Léraud and Pierre Van Howe, Green algae, the forbidden story (Delcourt) on the deadly hydrogen sulphide (H2S) pollution emitted by decomposing marine plants in Brittany. If the subject is promising, the film lacks breath.

Young journalist, Inès Léraud (Céline Sallette) settles in Brittany to investigate several recent deaths that have mourned the beaches of the region. They would be due to the fumes of decomposing green algae that proliferate on the coast. For her investigation, the reporter goes to the agricultural world that sustains the country. She questions the locals but comes up against an absolute silence that blocks access to all truth.

Proliferating since 1971 and in the news since 2009, green algae remain a scourge that is hardly talked about anymore. Pierre Jolivet refreshes our memory, with a “stolen images” side which is undoubtedly where he succeeds best. Without being a docufiction, while willingly borrowing from the genre, it is in this waltz-hesitation that Green Algae loses its juice.

Repeated denial

Written by Pierre Jolivet and Inès Léraud, the adaptation lacks perspective. In wanting to put everything, the film repeats itself and loses in dramaturgy. The journalist observes the state of the beaches, questions residents and locals, knocks on the doors of factory farms, attracts the animosity of operators… She comes up against repeated negation and denial, which, at the final, restricts the thickness of the characters, the story and the narration. Produced with a limited budget, the film does not focus on the image, but its reportage side plays in its favour. In this regard, is the choice of the “scope” format (widescreen) justified?

In the footsteps of one Erin Brockovich, alone against all (Steven Soderbergh, 2000) – about an American woman’s fight against a drinking water scandal – Pierre Jolivet sins in the writing and the rhythm. However, the subject lent itself to the story, in the choices faced by the protagonists (to speak or not) and the politicians. But the script runs in circles, like the investigation into the scourge.

The sheet

Gender : Drama / Politics
Director: Pierre Jolivet
Actors: Céline Sallette, Nina Meurisse, Julie Ferrier, Pasquale D’Inca, Clémentine Poidatz, Jonathan Lambert, Adrien Jolivet
Country : France
Duration : 1h47
Exit : July 12, 2023
Distributer : High and Short