L’Enfant d’en haut
Director: Ursula Meier
Cast: Léa Seydoux, Kacey Mottet Klein, Gillian Anderson, Martin Compston
Duration: 97 mins
Country of Origin: France, Switzerland
Mature themes and coarse language
“Exhilarating – a knockout! Skilfully crafted and moving.”
Sophia Simon, INDIEWIRE
“A stunning meditation on secrets, lies and moral obligation. A movie for the ages.”
David Ansen, NEWSWEEK
“A penetrating study of familial bonds, quietly devastating in parts, beautiful on whole and destined to make you fall in love with it. Shun anyone who spoils this movie for you.”
Mary Pols, TIME
“A warm, dramatic and poetic study of a moving, beautifully observed relationship set unusually and with great imagination in a sky resort. An intelligent study of wealth and poverty, brilliantly written and directed.”
Mike Leigh, JURY PRESIDENT, BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL
WINNER – BEST FILM, ACTOR & SCREENPLAY – 2013 SWISS FILM AWARDS
Léa Seydoux (Midnight In Paris) delivers on her promise as France’s next breakthrough star with her astonishing performance in SISTER, Ursula Meier’s internationally-heralded and extraordinarily moving new drama about two siblings searching for a place in the world.
12-year-old Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) lives with his restless older sister Louise (Seydoux) at the base of the Swiss Alps. Every day he takes the cable car to the ski resorts above to pilfer from rich tourists, while Louise drifts through a series of part-time jobs and promiscuity, sometimes disappearing for days on end. In her absence, Simon forges a strong bond with a wealthy tourist (Gillian Anderson), and his fragile relationship with his sister fractures into dangerous new territory…
Against the striking canvas of the Alps, Meier’s deeply humanist drama is in the grand tradition of the Dardenne brothers; an adroit and compassionate exploration of the intimacy of two souls struggling with an unquenchable thirst for love. Enthusiastically embraced at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival where the Mike Leigh led-jury awarded it the Silver Bear, SISTER went on to be a sleeper hit in France last spring, achieving nearly half a million admissions.
MORE…
Ursula Meier and her cinematographer Agnes Godard discuss filming SISTER with Filmmaker Magazine.
Alliance Française French Film Festival (5 Mar – 7 Apr)
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