Many scenes in “Zombi Child” end without much dramatic fanfare; some scenes end right after some narratively inconsequential detail is used to paint a fuller picture of Fanny and Mélissa’s boarding school-life. The enormity of colonization, the way its … Definitely satisfying and it closes the story very well. “Zombi Child” is obviously not a run-of-the-mill teen drama, but it’s still satisfying for the mix of empathy, fascination, and mild critical distance that Bonello uses to depict Fanny and Mélissa’s otherwise inaccessible world of sisterly bonding and schoolyard daydreaming. Directed by Bertrand Bonello • 2019 • France In Paris, 55 years later, at a prestigious all-girls boarding school, Melissa, a young Haitian teenager, confesses an old family secret to a group of new friends, never imagining that this strange tale will convince a heartbroken classmate to do the unthinkable. Starring Louise Labeque, Wislanda Louimat, Mackenson Bijou. The Daily — May 20, 2019. This interview with director Bertrand Bonello was recorded in 2020. Bertrand Bonello’s. The latest from French master Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, Nocturama), ZOMBI CHILD is an “audacious and cunning” (Little White Lies) new take on classic horror tropes that “poses timely and provocative questions” while “taking us on a journey that’s as intellectually demanding as it is compelling.” (Screen Daily). Zombi Child is not available at this time. “Zombi Child” feels like a pre-fab cult movie, or at least Bonello’s attempt at an eccentric genre twist like Claire Denis’ “Trouble Every Day.” But his … Zombi Child Critics Consensus. I like “Zombi Child” for its frank, seductive depiction of clashing cultures, as well as the care and reverence that Bonello brings to the direction and lighting of his movie’s Haiti-set scenes. svg-skull. By David Hudson. EST. Directed by Bertrand Bonello. In this monologue, we’re told that the concept of history as a progress narrative is suspect given how exclusive that organizing principle is. Then again, Bonello’s general preference for keeping several key plot points ambiguous is ultimately what makes “Zombi Child” a good, but not great story about counter-culture, as it’s experienced by members of a dominant culture. Are stories or events that don’t fit these narratives any less authentic? Plot isn’t really the thing in “Zombi Child,” since the movie is explicitly about a disjointed “subterranean history” of events, as Fanny and Mélissa’s 19th century history teacher (Patrick Boucheron) explains during an introductory lecture. With Zombi Child, Bonello moves beyond his familiar landscapes in France and travels to Haiti where he re-engages the specificity of genre so as to further expand his longstanding interests in the tension between literal and metaphoric space, the unsettled ground on which life and death permeate one another, and the significance of ritual as it is transformed through the new … HBO's Painting with John is a Magnetic Celebration of Arts and Artists, The Nostalgia of Epix's Bridge and Tunnel is Filled with Wrong Turns, The Sister Sacrifices Logic, Tension as Its Twists Unravel, Visions of Friendship: Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin on The Climb. 5150 boul. Haiti, 1962. It’s been less than two years since Zombi Child but, if you’re like us, any wait for new Bertrand Bonello’s always just a bit too long. So while Fanny’s online keyword-searches for information on “voodoo possession” and priestess-like “mambos” may not be typical, but they are presented in a refreshingly matter-of-fact way. Fifty-five years later in Paris, at a prestigious all-girls boarding school, Melissa (Wislanda Louimat), a young Haitian teenager, confesses an old family secret to a group of new friends—never imagining that this strange tale will convince a heartbroken classmate to do the unthinkable. At first, the two plotlines of ZOMBI CHILD resemble different worlds, the first a dramatization of the (allegedly) true story of Clairvius Narcisse, a man who died and rose again without feeling or memory in Haiti in 1962, the second a teen drama set at a girls’ boarding school in today’s Paris, where Fanny is still obsessed by Pablo, her holiday fling. Review: 'Zombi Child' is a zombie movie like no other - … Directed by Bertrand Bonello • 2019 • France. See more in our Cookies Policy. 2020 NR French 103min. He reaches not for scary things in the dark, but bathetic visions of enslavement lit by candles and the rising sun. Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Village Voice, and elsewhere. Bertrand Bonello on Zombi Child first published by VODzilla.co, from an interview conducted while he was at the BFI London Film Festival 2019. We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. svg-play Play svg-play Trailer. Joyous news, thus, to hear he’s at work on a new feature, La Bête (that’s The Beast for those of us who parle Anglais), with Saint Laurent stars Léa Seydoux and Gaspard Ulliel leading, according to Les Inrockuptibles. As Haitian teenager Mélissa (Wislanda Louimat) adjusts to life in a Parisian boarding school, the legacy of her grandfather Clairvus Narcisse’s past haunts her: he was a zombi in Haiti, drugged by slavers and forced to work on a plantation. Bertrand Bonello. His work has also been associated with the New French Extremity. Bonello often resists the temptation to criticize his young protagonists’ too harshly. Fanny wants something from Mélissa given her association with voodoo, like when Mélissa recites René Depestre’s Cap’tain Zombi poem during an initiation ceremony for Fanny’s literary sorority. Writer/director/producer/composer Bertrand Bonello is best known on these shores for The Pornographer (2001), Tiresia (2003), House of Tolerance (2011) and Nocturama (2016) – films which often deploy a certain icy … Bertrand Bonello's Zombi Child is inspired by the Hatian story of a man turned into a zombie by witch doctors and premiered at director's fortnight at … French films at the 2020 Rotterdam International Film Festival. ZOMBI CHILD does get a bit slow in the beginning but it kept me on my toes until the 3rd act where everything went bunkers and I loved it! Classics and discoveries from around the world, thematically programmed with special features, on a streaming service brought to you by the Criterion Collection. Zombi Child (2019), Sarah Winchester, Ghost Opera (2016), Nocturama (2015) News (15) January 29, 2020. svg-skull. Show Map. ‘Zombi Child’, from director Bertrand Bonello (Nocturama, Saint Laurent) injects history and politics into an unconventional cross-genre film. svg-skull. There were zombie movies before George Romero came along and shook the genre up in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead and at first Zombi Child looks like it’s harking back to an older tradition of zombie movie, like 1932’s White Zombie or 1943’s I Walked with a Zombie.Night of the Living Dead and at first Zombi Child looks like it’s harking back Zombi Child: original title: Zombi Child: country: France: sales agent: Playtime: year: 2019: genre: fiction: directed by: Bertrand Bonello: film run: 103' release date: FR 12/06/2019: screenplay: Bertrand Bonello: cast: Iconoclastic auteur Bertrand Bonello blends voodoo, postcolonial tensions, and the spirit of Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton to create a shivery, hypnotic excursion into heady horror. This man’s connection with Mélissa is unclear for a while, but there is obviously something between them, just as there’s an undefined, but powerful kind of attraction between Fanny and Mélissa.