'The Villa Caprice case': the empire of vileness in corrupt times

An idyllic mansion bought at a suspiciously low price.

A famous businessman with shady relations with a mayor.

His wife, humiliated by her husband in sentimental matters, who decides to put in the hands of the media certain recordings and evidence that demonstrate these illegal connections.

Elements of the French film

they could be part of any story in the newspapers these days: corruption, power, money, passion, sex.

And yet, that's just the easy part of composing a story and bringing it to the screen: the surface, the facts, what transpires.

What is difficult, and what is meritorious in the present case, since the work of the director and co-writer Bernard Stora is remarkable, is the portrait of the characters, of their interior;

of its power, of course, but also of its weaknesses.

And their interconnections;

not so much the economic, political and jurisdictional ones, but also, but above all the psychological ones, the concessions to trust in a world in which no one can trust anyone.

More information

France uncovers low-intensity corruption embedded in politics

Two very attractive roles. Patrick Bruel plays the great businessman, bravado in his blood, physical height and vision, self-confidence as a way of life, one of those characters who, just by giving work to 85,000 people, believe they have legal regulations to do what they please. without anyone reproaching him. Niels Arestrup, a cloudy look, a voice of pain and resentment, a frightening gesture, a force of nature at 72 years of age, is the lawyer in charge of the case. Both spit at each other with their eyes, but they are condemned to understand each other: the first, because he needs the second to get out of jail, from the humiliation of having your belt removed at the police station in case you feel suicidal; the second, because he needs the first to continue demonstrating that he is above anyone, and because he charges what is not written.

Now, despite his pose and his appearance of unattainable and invincible men, the most interesting thing about Stora's script are the vulnerabilities of both, especially those of the lawyer, who before the judge seems more like a legal engineer than a defender. Both are very tough, even cruel, and class prejudices also ooze out there, but there is a weak flank in their personalities, and that is always the most interesting: in life, and in the movies.

Stora, with a strange career since he has spent half his professional life writing and directing series and television films, and has only approached film directing on three sporadic occasions in four decades, has created a commendable study on power and its façade, on the arrogance and its weaknesses.

As if he had to wait until he was 79 years old to show everything he knows about the human condition.

In

the narration of the legal ins and outs of the case may perhaps be objected to in some detail, but its x-ray of the supremacy of vileness is fascinating.

THE VILLA CAPRICE CASE

Direction:

Bernard Stora.

Cast:

Niels Arestrup, Patrick Bruel, Irène Jacob, Michel Bouquet.

Genre:

drama.

France, 2020.

Duration:

103 minutes.

Premiere:

January 21.

Sign in to continue reading

Just by having an account you can read this article, it's free

RegisterLogin

Thanks for reading THE COUNTRY