Quand tu descendras du ciel (2003)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Eric Guirado

Writers:

Michel Fessler (writer)
Eric Guirado (writer)

Release Date:

19 March 2003 (Belgium)

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Benoît Giros	...	Jérôme
Serge Riaboukine	...	La Chignole
Jean-François Gallotte	...	Lucien
Ludmila Ruoso	...	Marthe
Arthur Semay	...	Dallas
Anne Coesens	...	Catherine
Valérie Moreau	...	Corinne
Colette Emmanuelle	...	La mère
Bernard Cupillard	...	Le rédacteur en chef
Yves Pignot	...	Le maire
Roland Menou	...	Seb
Lucien Jean-Baptiste	...	Emile
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Antonella Amirante
Benjamin Lemaire

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

BFC Productions

Homeless brothers.

That's Eric Guirado's first effort and it's really worthwhile.Probably inspired by what happened in some cities in the south of France with far right mayors whose names (both the towns and the people)I will pass over in silence of course.

The title (=When you come down from Heaven) is borrowed from a Xmas song by Tino Rossi -which can be heard in Richard Pottier's "destins" (1948)- The action takes place some time before Christmas.As Mary Chapin Carpenter sings in "Stones in the road" "(They) have been replaced by souls out on the street /We give a dollar when we pass /And hope our eyes don't meet" In this nice town,the town council wishes a merry Christmas to all the tramps out on the street.Some "security" men round up some of them whom they force to get into their van.Do not panic ,it looks like Nazi methods,but no "special" showers are waiting for them.The mayor just wants to get rid of them because "for Christmas,there are too many people on the sidewalks and those people would spoil prettily decorated shops!So they leave them in the cold country ,with a crate full of oranges .

Jerome has just arrived from his farm where there was not enough work.He's hired by the town hall and they give him the dirty job to do.Whereas most of his "colleagues" accept this disgusting work,it is not long before he takes a rebel stand,abetted by a young female journalist.

"Quand tu Descendras du ciel" is a strong movie,which does not lack focus and intensity and there's even a sensational nightmare scene where Jerome lives in a carton with hundreds of his fellow men on a big field.

One can wonder what the last picture means.Perhaps to stick together,cause tomorrow's homeless brothers will perhaps be you or me.

I hope M.Guirado will have the opportunity to make more movies!