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Clearing History: On Difficult Life in Digitalistan

They only met two years ago during the yellow vest protests in their traffic circle: Marie (Blanche Gardin), Bertrand (Denis Podalydes) and Christine (Corinne Masiero) from Arras in northern France are three typical representatives of the middle-aged generation, who have spent large parts of their lives in analogies. All three are now having to struggle with the pitfalls of digitalization, so they have already found themselves in difficult life situations. When they realize how much they have already fallen into disastrous dependencies, they take up the fight together against the seemingly overwhelming Internet giants...

Although the story of Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervem is not told rigorously enough, the individual situations are so aptly observed and humorously told that the film is definitely worth seeing. Even friends of film rating sites who call themselves "users" will occasionally feel like they are being caught out all too clearly. A very special treat is the appearance of bestselling author Michel Houellebecq. Rarely has an exhaust hose been routed into the interior of the car with so much self-irony! ;-)

At the BERLINALE 2020 there was a Silver Bear (special prize) for the original film. The film, distributed by WILD BUNCH (formerly: SENATOR Film) (in Germany through X-Distribution), grossed around USD 4.3 million worldwide.

Seen at Berlinale 2020. The film looks from a ironic perspective at the worst social media can deliver: bullying, blackmail and .. well.. bad ratings. The cast does a great job at keeping a smile on your face throughout the film and the stories of the characters intermingle to culimnate in a declaration of war against tech Giants.

Love Blanche Gardin as a standup she has a face that expresses extreme cheekiness. Here too she is excellent

The film mocks our digital lives as they have become more and more Ubuesque and the actors behind the scenes more dodgy manipulating when not downright criminal

It is set in Les Hauts-de-France (59 Nord 62 Pas-de-Calais) just below Belgium the most deprived part of Macronia ; a place which has been blighted with factory closures since Neo-liberalism reared its horrendous head. By 2020 it is a wasteland. If you want a US shortcut think Detroit

It has the feel of an Indie US movie quirky zany etc

So an ace place to set this essay on dysfunctional living in the nascent 21st century. Denis Podalydès is also awesome here. There are vignettes here which will make you chuckle for days on end

PS there is a cameo appearance by writer Michel Houellebecq

Well played by the main actress, reflecting the absurdity of her life and the problems she creates for herself. Set in a tiny, seemingly boring suburb, the life of these digital-problem-struck characters is not so boring after all. Overall, a decent comedy entertainment piece, but not really deserving a Silver Bear.

I rarely review movies mainly because of lack of time. But this time I really feel the urge to do it and encourage this french jam, it will definitely be keeping you entartained and go laughter after laughter. Possibly the best comedy I am seeing this year. The topics are indeed very serious - divorce, solitude, the cyberisation of human contacts, and most of all, loss of data privacy. My favorite film at Berlinale.