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Al has everything: he is about to get married and rise from his humble beginnings to become a business owner. But one night, while coming back from a bachelor party with his two best friends, he hits someone with his car and runs.
From her balcony, Juliette witnessed everything. She can't forget what she saw and is deeply affected after her encounter with the victim's wife, Vera. She wants to find the reckless driver, but when she does, she can't report him. She becomes an intermediary between Al and Vera, the undocumented immigrant who wants revenge.
This month the International Film Showcase brings the French movie "Three Worlds" to Orinda. "Three Worlds," which has not yet been released in the United States, competed in last year's Cannes International Film Festival and won the Golden Bayard for the best script at the International Film Festival in Namure (Belgium).
Director Catherine Corsini interlaces the three characters' stories to create a complex tapestry. Corsini paints a realistic picture of three socially-divergent characters that rarely intersect in contemporary France: Al, a young lower-middle-class man from the suburbs on the rise; Juliette, a medical student from a privileged background; and Vera, an illegal immigrant from Eastern Europe.
"Three Worlds" is an ambitious and rigorous piece of work that mixes different genres. The solid script has the modicum of suspense and the fast rhythm of an action movie, the moral quandaries of a psychological thriller, and much like in film noir, no one is innocent. Juliette dithers and is irresponsible. Al is not really bad, he is simply indecisive and weak. Vera, a beautiful character of pain and dignity, becomes consumed by her hatred.
Corsini does not draw a clear line between good and bad, the delineations are blurred, and money seems to be the only value the three can hold on to for a while. The reflection on the role and real value of money is one of its most interesting aspects of the film.
The three main characters are very different from one another, which adds to the plausibility of their interactions. Raphaël Personnaz who plays Al is excellent. Clotilde Hesme as Juliette and young Arta Dobroshi as Vera also set the right tone. Corsini added a flurry of diverse and excellent supporting characters, bringing the three separate worlds to life.
"Three Worlds" is not an easy movie, but its ambiguities as well as its difficulties add to its richness. Corsini tells the story of three worlds but in fact depicts only one: our contemporary world where everyone tries to love, to tell the truth, to get revenge, and to gain redemption.
The movie opens at the Orinda Theatre March 15 for one week. For more information, visit www.internationalshowcase.org.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA