Albert Serra casts his eye on the tropics with this beguiling, satirical film. Benoît Magimel plays De Roller, the High Commissioner of French Polynesia, who has a problem on his hands: the French Marines have arrived on the islands, and their presence coincides with rumours that nuclear testing is soon to commence. De Roller sets out to investigate, but he’s repeatedly stalled and stymied. As the threats to his power grow, so does his pique, and soon he’s lost in a miasma of suspicion and resentment.
Shooting in widescreen, VIFF alumnus Serra conveys the lushness and languor of the tropics. From the menace of a darkened nightclub to the of the vastness of the Pacific waters, he conjures a milieu that is equally intoxicating and mysterious. An added delight is the colourful cast of characters: the beautiful, demure Shannah (Pahoa Mahagafanau); the drug-addled Admiral (Marc Susini); and the menacing Portuguese (Alexandre Melo). Pacifiction is moody, mellow, and (as storytelling) very murky, but it casts a haunting spell.
Supported by
Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Marc Susini, Matahi Pambrun, Alexandre Melo, Sergi López
France/Spain/Germany/Portugal
2022
In French and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Namesake
Powell River... named for Israel Wood Powell, a 19th century politician and a man of his time, an advocate for residential schools and the Indian Act. The Tla'amin Nation asks the city to consider changing its name, a request which sparks intense debate.
Delicatessen
Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet collaborated with Marc Caro on their first film, a breathlessly inventive and unexpectedly charming comedy about two young lovers evading a cannibal butcher in a post-apocalyptic France.
Mistura
This foodie film from Peru tells the story of a newly single socialite reinventing herself — and the local cuisine — after her husband has left her for a younger woman. Along the way, she finds support from unexpected places...
Everybody to Kenmure Street
This rousing documentary (100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) never puts a foot wrong as it recreates a tense, prolonged stand-off between the police and the citizens of Glasgow when an Immigration Enforcement squad attempt to arrest two men from their homes.
Coastal Jazz & VIFF Present: Lina Nyberg Live Score: The Norrtull Gang
This collaboration with Coastal Jazz brings together a proto-feminist silent film from the early 1920s with a new live score written and performed by Swedish singer-composer Lina Nyberg with stellar local a string quartet.
Credits
Producer
Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Albert Serra, Montse Triola, Dirk Decker, Andrea Schutte, Joaquim Sapinho, Marta Alves, Laurent Jacquemin
Screenwriter
Albert Serra
Cinematography
Artur Tort
Editor
Albert Serra, Artur Tort, Ariadna Ribas
Original Music
Marc Verdaguer, Joe Robinson
Director
Albert Serra
Born in Banyoles, Spain in 1975, Albert Serra is a Catalan artist and director. His first feature, Honor of the Knights, was presented at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2006. In 2013, he received the Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival for Story of My Death, a film inspired by Casanova’s memoirs. The Death of Louis XIV, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud as the Sun King, was an official selection for Cannes in 2016. Liberté won the Special Jury Prize at the 2019 Un Certain Regard section in Cannes.
Filmography: Honor of the Knights (2006); Story of My Death (2013); The Death of Louis XIV (2016); Liberté (2019)