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A young man named Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) visits a sleepy French village to attend his former employer’s funeral in Alain Guiraudie’s unexpected little charmer Misericordia. One thing leads to another, the widow Martine (Catherine Frot) requests Jérémie to stay back for a while. After all, he spent his teenage days in the company of the dead man’s family. The only person who isn’t happy with this development is Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), Jean-Pierre’s son. In a bunch of homoerotic duels, the young man tries to outweigh the more petite Jérémie. However, destiny has other plans and Vincent disappears into thin air one day and the family is worried sick.
Given the description above, would you expect Misericordia to be a film about desire? To break it to you, Guiraudie’s film is an unexpected exploration of sex and sexuality. We sense it when Jérémie’s presence in the house somehow turns on as well as angers Vincent. “You will sleep with my mother,” alleges Vincent with full confidence on what is to come. The lonely mother is happy to host the unemployed youth in the room that once belonged to her now-married son.
Enter Father Philippe (Jacques Develay) – the local priest whose activities will send any devout Christian into a coma. The man is the moral anchor of the sparsely populated village and is a regular visitor at Martine’s house. The dead man’s best friend Walter (a superb David Ayala) is also a key element in the story. Stout and lazy to work, the man spends his day sipping Pastis. Walter becomes an unexpected recipient of Jérémie’s advances. Finally, we are getting somewhere with the film’s sexual energy.
The bond between Jérémie and Martine blooms as one between a nephew and his concerned aunt. Before we suspect any authenticity in Vincent’s claim, the new lad in the village flips through the old albums to make Martine a peculiar request – he would like a copy of her deceased husband’s beach-bound photograph, dressed in a tiny pair of trunks. Further complicating things are the sexually charged physical fights between the now-married Vincent and Jérémie. Misericordia wouldn’t tell us about their past. One thing is certain: Vincent does not want the guy in his vicinity. Everything seems alright with Jérémie and going by the reactions, something is wrong with him.
So, how sexed up is the guy? Guiraudie borrows ideas from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s classic The Victim although it never gets consumed by its degree of bizarreness. Instead, Misericordia is a visual and sensory triumph with splendid colors and sound design. Set in Autumn, the fallen leaves and yellow foliage give the film a natural tinge of gloom (DOP: Claire Mathon) in a story that develops between two deaths. Guiraudie’s film also bears a Hitchcock-like malevolence at many junctures. The absurdist nature of its characters might as well be a hat tip to Buñuel. Although shot in color, the quiet setting and the dig at religion instantly made me recall the latter’s Viridiana.
Misericordia believes in delivering quiet shocks. It is not a film with a loud score or too many characters. The village is too empty and organized for the number of people it inhabits. Every character displays their share of eccentricities, including the cops that barge into houses past midnight. Guiraudie skilfully packs the film with one revelation after the other – lending suspicious shades to every character.
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As Jérémie, Félix Kysyl complements the film’s innate bizarreness. He is ruthless, cunning, and ambiguous. The sexual tension he creates with all key characters is marvelously in sync with Guiraudie’s ambitions. Jacques Develay is a hoot-and-a-half as the wicked priest who is the film’s crowd-pleaser. Catherine Frot’s quiet and observant turns oodles of mystery into the plot. Observe her in the scene where she barges into the bathroom as Jérémie bathes and you would know what I mean. Jean-Baptiste Durand’s aggression haunts long after he disappears from the scene.
A delectable film with clever dark humor, Misericordia may not emerge as a festival favorite due to its late showcasing. That said, Alain Guiraudie’s mastery in keeping his narrative suspenseful and filled with a host of amusing characters is among the best experiences I have had at the film festival, this year.
Rating: ★★★★
Misericordia was screened at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 which kicked off on October 18, 2024.
