the long walk of Sylvain Tesson with a Jean Dujardin not really in his place

Accustomed to approaching determined characters in his films, Denis Imbert (There is still ham, Vicky, Mystery) tackles a strong personality by adapting On the dark paths by Sylvain Tesson which comes out on Wednesday March 22. Jean Dujardin wanted the role, he got it. But it’s not necessarily for the best, without calling into question his talent. If the film is faithful to Sylvain Tesson, it misses his physical reconstruction after a serious accident, one of the themes at the heart of the text.

Modest Odyssey

In a coma after falling in a state of intoxication, Pierre, writer-traveler (Jean Dujardin), wakes up in the hospital on the eve of beginning a long rehabilitation. To do this, he decides to cross France, from Mercantour to Cotentin, on foot alone.

After being adapted to the theater by the actor and director Laurent Soffiati, On the dark paths sees the light of day in the cinema in a film-odyssey. An odyssey of modesty and endurance, through the choice of walking and the landscapes crossed. This reconquest of the body goes through that of forgotten paths which give their title to the work. A “black work”, to use the alchemical language, which, from darkness, leads to light.

Dry as a cudgel

On these lost paths of rural, rocky France, dotted with plains, hills, and encounters (Anny Duperey, Jonathan Zaccaï), the walker meditates on the state of the world which looks more like a shallot race than to a hike. Pierre denounces a globalization of humanity to the detriment of the individual and of self-responsibility, embodied by walking alone. She is not that lonely in the film, and the encounters contribute to an awareness of the state of the world.

If we find the meaning of Sylvain Tesson’s text, the choice of a well-built Jean Dujardin to embody a writer in convalescence, dry as a cudgel on leaving hospital, is not necessarily the most judicious. . This reconstruction of the body is however at the heart of the company, and if Dujardin interprets this reconquest in his game, his vigorous physique is a bit paradoxical. Denis Imbert therefore arrives halfway through his film journey, favoring the beautiful image and a talented actor as much as “bankable”, to the detriment of the harsh story of a challenge.

The sheet

Gender : Drama
Director: Denis Imbert
Actors: Jean Dujardin, Izia Higelin, Anny Duperey, Jonathan Zaccaï, Josephine Japy, Dylan Robert
Country : France
Duration : 1h03
Exit : March 22 2023
Distributer : Apollo Films / TF1 Studios