Almayer's Folly (film)

Almayer's Folly (French: La Folie Almayer) is a 2011 drama film directed by Chantal Akerman and starring Stanislas Merhar, Aurora Marion and Marc Barbé. It is an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1895 debut novel Almayer's Folly, and tells the story of a Dutchman searching for pirate treasure in Malaysia.[1] The setting has been relocated to 1950s.[2] The film was a coproduction between companies in France and Belgium. It received four Magritte Award nominations.[3]

Almayer's Folly
French poster
Directed byChantal Akerman
Produced byPatrick Quinet
Screenplay byChantal Akerman
Based onAlmayer's Folly
by Joseph Conrad
StarringStanislas Merhar
Aurora Marion
Marc Barbé
Music bySteve Dzialowski
Edited byClaire Atherton
Production
company
Liaison Cinématographique
Paradise Films
Distributed byShellac
Release date
  • 28 September 2011 (2011-09-28)
CountryFrance
Belgium
LanguageFrench
English

Cast
  • Stanislas Merhar as Almayer
  • Marc Barbé as Captain Lingard
  • Aurora Marion as Nina
  • Zac Andrianasolo as Daïn
  • Sakhna Oum as Zahira
  • Solida Chan as Chen
  • Yucheng Sun as Captain Tom Li
  • Bunthang Khim as Ali

Production

The film was initially under development for Akerman's Belgian company Paradise Films together with Paulo Branco's Alfama Films for a budget of 3,475,000 euro, with a filming start date set to March 2011.[2] Production was eventually led by Patrick Quinet of France's Liaison Cinématographique together with Paradise Films and Artémis Productions. The project received 350,000 euro in advance from the French National Center of Cinematography and 465,000 euro from the Belgian French Community Film and Audiovisual Centre. In addition it was supported through pre-sales investment by Canal+ and CinéCinéma.[1]

Principal photography took place in Cambodia. Filming started 10 November and ended 24 December 2010.[1]

Reception

The film received critical acclaim from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% out of 8 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 9.3/10.[4]

Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York named Almayer's Folly the best film of 2012, calling it "a mesmerizing parable about the ravages of colonialism" and claiming that it was "directed like an opium-enhanced head trip."[5]

References
  1. Lemercier, Fabien (14 December 2010). "Akerman shoots Almayer's Folly". Cineuropa. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  2. Lemercier, Fabien (14 June 2010). "CCA Film Selection Committee backs Lanners and Akerman". Cineuropa. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  3. Leurquin, Anne-Sophie (2 February 2013). "Quatre Magritte pour " A perdre la raison "". Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  4. Almayer's Folly. Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  5. Uhlich, Keith (13 December 2012). "Keith Uhlich's Ten Best Movies of 2012". Time Out New York. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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