Humanité

In a small town in northern France an eleven-year-old girl is found murdered and the case falls to Pharaon, a deputy superintendent. Pharaon does not talk, does not interrogate, and mostly just looks at people; he lives inside his own loss and perceives the world through pain. Bruno Dumont builds it in the shape of a crime film but the investigation does not advance, and the actual subject is not who committed the crime but what people do to each other. None of the cast were professionals, and at Cannes both the best actress and best actor prizes went to this ensemble while the film took the Grand Prix, a set of choices that caused a large argument that year. Long takes, empty fields and silence make up its language. Who it is for: viewers who like slow French cinema and formal severity. Who it is not for: anyone who must avoid explicit sex and images of a child's murder.