No one will accuse Gilles Deroo and Marianne Pistone's Mouton of being a slick studio product: the camerawork vacillates from raggedly jerky to dully static, with images that are often blurry, and many oppressive close-ups. At the same time, however, it is very carefully structured. After a brief prologue showing a scruffy teenager (David Mérabet) nicknamed Mouton (“Sheep”) being legally liberated from his alcoholic mother, the story shifts to a coastal fishing village where the boy has taken a job as a chef's assistant. The narrative follows him as he engages in horseplay with local youth and becomes involved with a new waitress, until he is suddenly assaulted at a celebration in honor of St. Anne—the patroness of Brittany—by a man wielding a chainsaw, who cuts off Mouton's arm. And then suddenly Mouton disappears from the film, which now follows local residents—after the trial in which the perpetrator is sent off to prison—going about their daily routines, although Mouton's fate is ultimately revealed. The film's deliberate pace, gritty visuals, and meandering style require patience, but Mouton gradually builds a powerful sense of place. Recommended. (F. Swietek)
Mouton
IndiePix, 100 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.99 Volume 32, Issue 6
Mouton
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