Film still of Un 32 août sur Terre ( August 32nd on Earth) © RR
Un 32 août sur Terre (August 32nd on Earth), Denis Villeneuve’s debut
In 1998, the Canadian director Denis Villeneuve was invited to Cannes to present his first film, Un 32 août sur Terre (August 32nd on Earth), in Un Certain Regard. Nearly twenty years later, the film will be screened again, at the Cinéma de la Plage this time. Three good reasons not to miss it.
For its director
Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival… Denis Villeneuve has one success after another, even at the Oscars. In 2011, Incendies was nominated in the category of Best Foreign Film and in 2016, Arrival was nominated 8 times. The filmmaker has been making one film per year on average since 2012, and will be back next autumn with Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to the first film directed by Ridley Scott.
For its sensitive, original story line
After a brush with death in a car crash, Simone, 26 years old, gives up her career as a model and questions everything in her life. She wants a baby and asks Philippe, her best friend, to be the father. Despite being in love with her, Philippe imposes one condition on her: the child must be conceived in the desert. Besides the fact that this is an atypical film, it raises questions about the meaning of life and reveals a reality that anyone could be faced with.
For the mix of genres
The film is seen as being a comedy at first sight but turns out to be more of a drama during the journey that the characters undertake. Their journey takes them from Montreal to the desert of Salt Lake City. Denis Villeneuve interweaves a romantic and dramatic comedy set against the backdrop of a road trip, for his first tender and melancholic film.
