Oh Mercy!

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Oh Mercy!
Oh Mercy! poster.jpg
Film poster
French Roubaix, une lumière
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin
Written byArnaud Desplechin
Léa Mysius
Based onRoubaix, commissariat central
by Mosco Boucault
Produced byPascal Caucheteux
Grégoire Sorlat
Starring Roschdy Zem
Léa Seydoux
Sara Forestier
Antoine Reinartz
CinematographyIrina Lubtchansky
Edited byLaurence Briaud
Music byGrégoire Hetzel
Production
companies
Distributed by Le Pacte
Release dates
  • 22 May 2019 (2019-05-22)(Cannes)
  • 21 August 2019 (2019-08-21)(France)
Running time
119 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$2,851,541 [1]

Oh Mercy! (French : Roubaix, une lumière, lit.  'Roubaix, a light') is a 2019 French crime drama film directed by Arnaud Desplechin. The film was inspired by the 2008 TV documentary Roubaix, commissariat central, directed by Mosco Boucault. [2] It stars Roschdy Zem, Léa Seydoux, Sara Forestier, and Antoine Reinartz. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

One Christmas night in Roubaix, the local police chief Daoud, and Louis, a fresh recruit, are confronted with the violent murder of an elderly woman. The victim's two young, female neighbours, Claude and Marie, are arrested. [5]

Cast

Release

The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2019. [6] It was released in France on 21 August 2019. [7]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. [8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [9]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a grade of C−, writing, "Forestier and Seydoux are both fantastically desperate as dead end citizens who met each other at a very dangerous time in their lives, but Desplechin fails to make full use of his actors; instead of allowing them to shade in their characters, he pummels the audience into an ambiguous state of forced sympathy." [10] Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, commenting that "The film's master image is among the greatest images of Desplechin's career: the women, recreating their strangulation of the victim for the police, briefly hold their hands together under the victim's pillow." [11]

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef(s)
Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur 4 October 2019Bayard d'orOh Mercy!Won [12]
Lumières Award 27 January 2020 Best Film Oh Mercy!Nominated [13]
Best Director Arnaud DesplechinNominated
Best Actor Roschdy ZemWon
Best Cinematography Irina LubtchanskyNominated
Jacques Deray Prize 22 February 2020Won [14] [15]
César Award 28 February 2020 Best Film Oh Mercy!Nominated [16]
Best Director Arnaud DesplechinNominated
Best Actor Roschdy ZemWon
Best Supporting Actress Sara ForestierNominated
Best Adaptation Arnaud Desplechin and Léa MysiusNominated
Best Cinematography Irina LubtchanskyNominated
Best Original Music Grégoire HetzelNominated

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References

  1. ↑ "Oh Mercy!". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  2. ↑ Weissberg, Jay (22 May 2019). "Cannes Film Review: 'Oh Mercy'". Variety . Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "Cannes festival 2019: full list of films". The Guardian . 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  4. ↑ "The Screenings Guide 2019". Cannes Film Festival . 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  5. ↑ "Roubaix, une lumière". Le Pacte (in French). Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Roubaix, une lumière". Cannes Film Festival . Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Roubaix, une lumière". AlloCiné . Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "Oh Mercy! (Roubaix, Une Lumière) (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Oh Mercy! Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  10. ↑ Ehrlich, David (22 May 2019). "'Oh Mercy!' Review: Leá Seydoux Is Totally Wasted in Arnaud Desplechin's Flat Procedural". IndieWire . Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  11. ↑ Bowen, Chuck (16 September 2019). "Review: Oh Mercy! Is a Bracing Study of Violence Born of Helplessness". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  12. ↑ Engelen, Aurore (7 October 2019). "Oh Mercy! wins the Bayard d'or at the Namur Film Festival". Cineuropa. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  13. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (27 January 2020). "France's Lumiere Awards: 'Les Misérables' Wins Best Film, Roman Polanski Tapped as Best Director". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  14. ↑ Abouchahla, Pierre (28 January 2020). "Le 16e Prix Jacques-Deray est attribué à Roubaix, une lumière". Écran total. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Arnaud Desplechin a reçu le 16e Prix Jacques-Deray du film policier français à l'Institut Lumière". Le Progrès . 25 February 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  16. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (28 February 2020). "'Les Miserables' Wins Best Film at Cesar Awards, Polanski Takes Best Director". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 29 February 2020.
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