The Castaways Of The Fol Espoir
Filmfest 2013

A film-crew in the early twentieth century – when cinema is still in its infancy and films are still silent – has broken away from the famous Pathé film studios and is shooting a motion picture in a 'guingette' (a dance-hall and bar-restaurant) on the banks of the river Marne. The cabaret known as 'Le Fol Espoir' has been transformed into an amateur soundstage... There's comedy aplenty – slapstick punches, custard pies and gags reminiscent of Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle; there's adventure and high drama (death and gold-fever), moments of great bravura (a sinking ship filled with dreamers), and passionate love stories (the tragedy is erotic and illusions aphrodisiac). The action goes from sweeping political and moral panoramas – with a fiery priest in the frozen wastes preaching Marx's vision of brotherhood – to the practicalities of zooms, pulley systems, lighting and props...