Twenty Gods: a first feature as endearing as it is exciting [critique]

An orphaned teenager sets out to create the best County in the region to obtain custody of his sister. An initiatory story in the heart of the Jura filmed in Scope like a western.

It all started in Cannes. Un Certain Regard section, where we were able to discover this first feature film by Louise Courvoisier. Twenty Gods left crowned with the Youth Prize, the first trophy in an almost uninterrupted collection since then between the Angoulême festival (Valois de Diamant and French-speaking students) and the prestigious Jean Vigo Prize. So many recognitions which tell the story of a film which, not belonging to any group, is as such capable of seducing all audiences and all generations. And this first and foremost because Louise Courvoisier masters her subject like the back of her hand.

This Jura in which the action takes place, she grew up there, she knows every corner of it and she succeeds in energizing her fiction with a dose of vibrant documentary, always at a good distance from her characters, far from any picturesque ease. Starting with the one who constitutes the epicenter of the story: Totone, an 18-year-old teenager, party animal, carefree, suddenly overtaken by the most tragic of realities. The death of his father will force him to find money to be able to stay on the farm with his little sister and obtain custody of her. And in order to achieve this, he will set out to win the competition… for the best county in the region!

In this coming of age storyin parallel with learning how to make cheese, Totone discovers desire and especially physical love in the arms of a young farmer. Louise Courvoisier films rurality with rare accuracy. Shot in scope, his film has the appearance of a western, thus embracing its hero's idea of ​​conquest of a territory. It also gives pride of place to strong female figures who do not let themselves be counted on, symbolized by Totone's lover who goes against the grain of the stereotypes of femininity, never in seduction but who her often disarming frankness makes so seductive. .

But the greatest strength of Twenty gods and its irresistible cast of non-professional actors is that despite all the obstacles placed in the way of its young hero, he never loses his luminous, joyful, exalted appearance. A Little farmer with Dumont sauce, faith in humanity and more!

Of Louise Courvoisier. With Clément Faveau, Maïwène Barthelemy, Luna Garret… Duration 1 hour 30 minutes. Released December 11, 2024