It’s an impossible, far-fetched scenario. And yet. The sixth child, the first feature film by Léopold Legrand (remember his name), is well and truly inspired by a real event. A news item, in fact, at the origin of a novel (crying riversby Alain Jaspard), himself behind this poignant film.
The director, intimately challenged by questions of filiation (he lost his mother very young, and was adopted by his stepmother), explores here a disturbing subject: the almost visceral desire for a child. And all the moral, legal, human questions, finally, which are attached to it.
Basically: is it immoral to be ready to do anything to have a child? And if the main stakeholders agree? If it suits them, is it less amoral? And what about the law ?
The film therefore tells the story of these two couples from the antipodes: Frank and Meriem, two penniless bohemians who live in a caravan with their tribe, and Julien and Anna, two lawyers with a lifestyle that we guess is easy, but in need of family. A preamble and parallels (the poor on one side, the rich on the other) which are somewhat reminiscent of those of Life is a long calm river. But if Étienne Chatiliez’s comedy verged on social caricature, Léopold Legrand succeeds here in keeping a distance and above all a sobriety, without ever falling into judgment. Neither on one side nor the other, for that matter.
Here, it is sensitivity that prevails. And all the complexity of emotions. God knows there are.
Note the impeccable distribution (brilliant Sara Giraudeau, winner at Angoulême, alongside the always very fair Benjamin Lavernhe, from the Comédie-Française), which evolves in a kind of camera, slightly anxiety-provoking. And yes, it is heartbreaking.
It is that on the one hand, we understand very well the wish of Frank (touching Damien Bonnard) and Meriem (Judith Chemla metamorphosed) to get out of it, despite a hint of ambivalence, just enough suggested. On the other hand, Anna’s (Sara Giraudeau) borderline irrational desire rings so true that you can’t help believing it. Even if it goes off the rails. And arrives at this impossible arrangement.
Special mention to the soundtrack, so well felt, of a film that keeps us spellbound throughout, despite the only downside, a finale that is a little too cozy for our taste.
Drama
The sixth child
Leopold Legrand
With Sara Giraudeau, Benjamin Lavernhe, Judith Chemla and Damien Bonnard
1:32