Misericordia
Misericordia
Misericordia
Misericordia

Misericordia

Miséricorde

Unclassified 18+
Dir. Alain Guiraudie / 2024 / 103 mins / France / French / Drama, Comedy / Australian Premiere
Program Strand/s: Europe & UK

If you go into the woods today, you’re in for a darkly comedic surprise from French provocateur Alain Guiraudie.

When his friend and former employer Jean-Pierre dies, Jérémie returns to the small town of Saint-Martial to attend the funeral, taking up lodging at the house of Martine, Jean-Pierre’s widow. Martine suggests that he take over Jean-Pierre’s bakery, much to the chagrin of the couple’s son, Vincent. The latter takes aim at the intruder for outstaying his welcome (and apparently trying to woo his mother) as nervy suspicions boil over during a long walk in the forest. Add into the mix a mushroom-foraging priest with his own agenda and a wayward loner who loves pastis, and it’s not long before an intoxicating concoction of guilt, sexuality and comedy brews over.

Teeming with homoerotic desire, the latest film written and directed by Guiraudie (Staying Vertical, MIFF 2016; Stranger by the Lake, MIFF 2013) takes an almost Hitchcockian turn as it progresses from rural melodrama to macabre thriller. It’s his third collaboration with cinematographer Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, MIFF 2019), whose splendid camerawork and ability to utilise natural light captures the autumnal colours of the village’s surrounding woodland – all while this gripping shapeshifter descends into comic pitch-blackness.

“A delectable study of human nature, which falls midway between film noir and comedy … Guiraudie once again demonstrate[es] his delightful singularity.” – Cineuropa

Tickets

20 Aug 9:15pm The Capitol
Access: Assistive listening Wheelchair Accessible 100 percent subtitled
Past Session
Misericordia (103 m)
Past Session
25 Aug 6:15pm Hoyts Melbourne Central Cinema 3
Access: Wheelchair Accessible 100 percent subtitled
Past Session
Misericordia (103 m)
Past Session

For information about the accessible services being offered at MIFF, please visit miff.com.au/access. If you require any access service, such as wheelchair/step-free access, for any MIFF session, please call 03 8660 4888 or email boxoffice@miff.com.au to book your ticket.

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