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Cendres et Sang

Séances spéciales
Cendres et Sang

Film français, roumain, portugais
Genre : Drame
Durée : 1h45
Avec : Ronit Elkabetz, Abraham Belaga, Olga Tudorache
Réalisé par Fanny Ardant

Après des années d’exil, Judith revient au pays avec ses enfants à l’occasion d’un mariage de famille. Les vieilles rivalités de clans ressurgissent et l’engrenage de la violence se met en marche, le sang appelant le sang.


(L'avis exprimé par les rédacteurs de cette rubrique est indépendant du travail et des choix du Jury oecuménique.)

A striking opening in black and white showing a father and three children at the beach. Then a shooting and red blood oozing on the path. Though there is little blood shown in the rest of the film, blood is, indeed, the theme, passionate blood and a drama of blood feuds.
Most of the film is set in Romania, filmed in Transylvania, its old mansions and churches, and the open fields and forests.
The mother of the three children, now grown up, return to Romania for a family wedding. She hopes that not only will it be a happy occasion and an opportunity for the children to discover their roots and their family history, but an occasion for herself to be reconciled with the family.
This seems to be happening. However, there are secrets and lies, old feuds that rankle and burst out destructively so that hate dominates and leads to tragedy. While the audience might not always follow too well who belongs to which family (though the cast in the final credits is presented according to the three family trees), the drama is intriguing and colourfully – and intensely - presented.
The film is the first to be directed by one of the leading actresses of French cinema for many decades, Fanny Ardant.