Savage State (Fantasia Fest)
**Seen for the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival.
There’s a story that Layla (Armelle Abibou), the French family’s paid servant, tells Esther (Alice Isaaz), the youngest daughter of the family, throughout their journey. It’s about a brother and sister so connected they could not be apart from one another. When that means going to the same girl’s school, the brother’s added romantic interests cause a rift, and their bond turns poisonous. Esther thinks it might refer to her and Victor, the cowboy helping her family get back to France, but when she meets Bettie, I think it’s easier for the audience to see whom the story is really about.
I do love watching non-American filmmakers approach this most American of genres. Of course there are the iconic Italian westerns, but the Australian-produced “The Proposition” fits into that category, as well, as writer-director David Perrault’s “Savage State” is another one. Set during the Civil War, he follows a French family who has to make the choice to return to France when their home in Louisiana is not safe for them anymore. Part of it is the Union occupation, but it also has to do with a deal the family made in selling French perfume that went badly. Victor (Kevin Janssens) was the middle man aiding the family in the transaction; Bettie (Kate Moran) was on the opposite side, and ended up getting burned in the deal. Now, the family cannot stay, and so the father packs up his wife, his three daughters, and Layla on a long, and dangerous, trip to hopefully make it to where they will be able to a boat for Paris. The land is treacherous, though, and the girls do not seem up for it; they will surprise everyone along the way.
Perrault’s movie is far greater as a piece of visual storytelling than it is as an emotional work. While many of the characters are interesting, there’s an emotional distance we feel to this story as a whole that doesn’t really make it come alive in the way we hope. The key relationships- between Esther and Layla and Victor and Bettie- are compelling, but so many of the other characters in the family do not really hold our attention if they are not interacting with those main four. “Savage State” is a rapturous movie on a technical level, however; Christophe Dunchange’s cinematography is beautiful and engrossing in how it captures the landscapes of the West on this trip, and the final shootout is brilliantly shot and staged, and the music by Sébastien Perrault is evocative and elevates the film emotionally in a way the narrative cannot quite achieve. All that being said, “Savage State” is a movie well worth watching, especially if you’re a fan of the genre it is finding new ideas in.
