The Sower
Description
In a rural mountain village in 1851, it is up to the women to bring in the grain harvest after all their men have been arrested for sedition. Under these challenging circumstances, their livelihoods as well as their desire for children become an obsession and when a mysterious man appears, these concerns play out in continually surprising and erotic fashion in this frank, feverish, and ravishingly beautiful film. Winner of the New Directors Prize at San Sebastian.
“Strongly performed by the ensemble cast, with moon-eyed Burlet particularly affecting (as a character some years older than her literary equivalent), The Sower takes its visual cues from paintings of the period, most obviously Realist giant Jean-François Millet, a great favorite of Vincent van Gogh.” – Neil Young, The Hollywood Reporter
After first working in production for Merchant Ivory, Marine Francen became an assistant director on such films as Mesrine Part 1: Killer Instinct (Festival 2009) and Mesrine Part 2: Public Enemy #1 (Festival 2009), and wrote and directed four short films. Of her feature debut, The Sower, she says, “My main goal was to share the intimacy of these women, to sense their fears and desires. I wanted to avoid simply chronicling the events. I strove to convey the story at a sensorial level, to focus on the dreamlike aspects rather than being too realistic.” (Variety)
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/258417034Film Details
LanguageFrench
Year2017
Runtime100
CountryFrance/Belgium
DirectorMarine Francen
ProducerSylvie Pialat, Benoît Quainon
WriterJacques Fieschi, Marine Francen, Jacqueline Surchat
EditorMinori Akimoto
CinematographerAlain Duplantier
MusicFrédéric Vercheval
CastPauline Burlet, Géraldine Pailhas, Alban Lenoir