Jacques Audiard is perhaps the only filmmaker in France who makes art-house films that could and should be successful Hollywood blockbusters. In his 2009 movie A Prophet, a green newly convicted felon is forced to commit a murder and from there gradually works his way up the ranks of the prisoners—it would fit perfectly on AMC daytime programming, right between First Blood and The Matrix. Rust and Bone (2012) is one of the most moving love stories of the past decade, and it stars trendy A-listers Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. And his latest work, Dheepan, is about a former soldier for the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (aka the Tamil Tigers) who immigrates to France along with a woman and child, only to end up in a rural housing project that doubles as an open-air drug market—on paper, it’s like a prestige war picture meets an immigration saga crossed with the first season of The Wire.
Audiard secures outstanding performances from his cast, who are at least partially responsible for Dheepan‘s tonal success. In real life, Antonythasan was a Tamil Tiger (before the faction turned violent) who immigrated to France, where he became a successful author—his novels, which are unrelated to the film, mostly address the civil war in Sri Lanka. Though Dheepan is only his second screen role, his performance is exceptionally natural, easy to empathize with despite Dheepan’s conflicted origins. Srinivasan’s portrayal of Yalini is just as formidable and perhaps more complex—the character’s origins are never relayed, yet her impetuousness and confidence make her personality more textured and comprehensible. And Rottiers contributes a strong supporting turn as the drug lord whose charms are always cut with just the right amount of menace.
Directed by Jacques Audiard
