IFFR Review: France (2021)

The News media is an old target, but one which never seems to lose relevance. France, starring Léa Seydoux and directed by Bruno Dumont takes aim once again, but this time with more of an internal focus.

Quite often it is the broad strokes and most obviously egregious parts of media manipulation that get detailed.  Here though, while those kind of tricks are key factors in the narrative, the real meat is in the tentative grip on psychological health that can easily slip away.

France de Meurs (Léa Seydoux) is a successful journalist that has built a reputation on a show that mixes solid debate with highly emotive news reports.  Part of that success relies on her manipulation of the facts though, and most of her reports are distorted versions of the truth, twisted for maximum effect.  She is a skilled master at creating these and seems at ease in her work, even when her home life isn’t as assured.  When she carelessly drives into the back of a delivery scooter while in traffic, everything begins to unravel.

It’s a trigger that on the face of it shouldn’t be enough to undermine her mental state, but for some reason it starts a spiral she can’t stop.  What it means though is that the film follows her down with unrelenting focus.  At one stage she is even left awkwardly live on screen by her producer, mirroring the tension elsewhere, and you just want someone to step in and help.  She is sadly left isolated by those around her, especially by her assistant Lou (Blanche Gardin), who is probably more career driven and compromised ethically than she is.

Seydoux grounds the film perfectly, handling the examination of celebrity culture, media and spin with ease, while also delivering the emotional tornado of France’s unravelling.  It must be noted that in less capable hands this film could have descended into more generic territory, but she gives it an energy and edge it needs to skewer its targets.

It is a film that is trying to cover two bases though, and you do sometimes get the impression that it might have been better served either going fully into a media satire or focusing on France’s psychological narrative.  While the two are obviously connected, it does feel a little uncertain in tone sometimes.

Beyond that uncertainty though there is much to recommend here, and there are a lot of highlights.  It’s a funny and at times insightful piece that comes alive in the masterful hands of Seydoux, so at the very least it is worth your time just for her performance.

Where to watch France (2021)