The tribulations of Michel, 53, who must teach his body, which has been stoned for 40 years, to live normally. A daily struggle that will allow him to take better care of his sons and perhaps even make peace with his father.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
What a beautiful character this Michel! Rebellious, quirky and strewn with contradictions, this ex-drug addict who regularly wears a jacket on which the word “Loser” proudly sits is fighting to become someone respectable. His dazzling interpreter Francois Créton drew on his own chaotic journey to make this resilient antihero credible and endearing, who could easily have slipped into farce and caricature by dint of putting his feet in the dishes.
This first feature film by French filmmaker Maxime Roy takes up the essence of his excellent short film Beautiful Loser (some scenes are identical) in order to push his reflection on solidarity and marginality even further. Faced with an oppressive system that makes a good part of the population invisible, salvation comes from the community. A sometimes emphatic statement that easily joins the main ideas at the heart of the works of Ken Loach, Claude Sautet and Robert Guédiguian.
Centered around the figure of paternity, The heroics recalls that children can overcome domestic violence despite the legacy of blood and education. This gives touching moments reuniting the protagonist and his offspring, who is camped by his own son Roméo Créton. Then there are all these moving sequences between François Créton and his patriarch who seem to constantly glare at each other. The latter is interpreted by the old road Richard Bohringer, who finds his best role for several decades.
By embracing the rhythm of life of this soft-hearted punk, the staging does not lack sincerity and lucidity, sometimes wanting to be immature, but also imbued with poetry, especially during superb chiaroscuro tattoo sessions. Particular care has been taken with tight framing to remind us that cinema is a matter of gaze. Where this somewhat conventional story could have been filmed with darkness and despair, it is rather its sweetness that inhabits the viewer until the end.
Drama
The heroics
Max Roy
With François Créton, Roméo Créton, Richard Bohringer
1:39
Indoors