At first sight ,"Apres Le Sud" would display a Robert Guédigian influence: location in the South of France,average persons,whose paths meet ...
But further acquaintance shows it is not so: Guédigian's hope against hope and shades of optimism have disappeared . "Après Le sud" is a somber work Under the bright sun and the blue sky of French South.
The four characters seem to have lost their illusions ;the obese mother stuffs herself with Arab pastries while trying a medical treatment:she will remind you of Ellen Burstyn's desperate struggle with food in "requiem for a dream".Her daughter is a clerk in a supermarket ,a place she finds stifling :she's pregnant by a young Italian,Luigi ,himself a loser , who never succeeds in talking this over with her before the tragedy .The last character is a grumpy lonely old man who seems educated and who appreciates classical music.There's a scene where he is strip-searched in the supermarket by two hateful managers who humiliate him and whose behavior is really beyond the pale:taunting an incontinent old man,who is twice older than them! All this and more leads to an irreparable drama ,with a final scene recalling that of Pasolini's "Mamma Roma" .
Too bad the director succumbed to a contemporary vice: non-linear story,flashbacks,flash forwards,scenes showed twice (the latter would be interesting if we had a different point of view).This might be a little off-putting for the audience .
Nevertheless " Après Le sud" gets off the beaten track and thus can be considered an estimable work.
Dedicated to Cyril Collard ("Les Nuits Fauves ",1992)
