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There is like a renewal within the small world of French cinema. Started with Mustang, there is a real wave of first French films, especially inspired by genre cinema and American cinema. New chapter in this chronicle of young French cinema with Mobile Homes by young filmmaker Vladimir De Fontenay (28), a moving road-movie about the escape of a mother and her 8-year-old son.
Two criminal lovers. A child (Bone) at the heart of the thefts of the two lovers (Ali and Evan). A fairly simple plot and already seen (how innocence mixes with the world of crime) but which is treated with a deep sensitivity. In a rather brutal universe, De Fontenay chose to put himself at the height of a child and his ability to marvel in this universe. The filmmaker avoids any miserabilist judgment on these poor but resourceful characters, using the D system and helping each other. A child's gaze but mixed with adult questions. How to choose between love passion and parental responsibility? What sacrifices must one be willing to make in order to be able to assume one's child? How to assume to become an adult when one is not yet ready to give up his childhood? De Fontenay tries to give the answer to these questions by mixing two initiatory stories: that of the child who discovers the world and that of the mother finally realizing her status as a parent who must protect her child.
By questioning his character, Vladimir De Fontenay, despite his French nationality, makes a typically American film, which puts the questioning of the American dream at the heart of his work. The two lovers are looking for personal and material success that corresponds to that of the American dream: to have his own house, his own bed, his own car, to allow his child to have a better life … The characters are marginal figures, not hesitating to steal or to use a child to enrich themselves. As Eva eventually disappears, Ali will be given another chance. By dint of effort, she ended up integrating into a small company composed of mobile home owners (hence the plural of the title) under the aegis of Robert, a true guardian angel.
On the staging side, De Fontenay does not look at his characters and their worlds with a compassionate eye. He will rather try to give a magical appearance by using images corresponding to the one that hits the retina of a child. Animals (the production was accused of having mistreated roosters used during a cockfighting scene, which Vladimir De Fontenay denies in the press kit), shadows, snow, games… The film is full of strong images, accompanied by an excellent soundtrack that leaves you dreaming. The American-Canadian landscape is magnified here and this in particular by a very successful colorimetry. The filmmaker, despite a naturalistic research giving his film a documentary aspect, managed to make a strong and remarkable aesthetic proposal for a low-budget film.
Regarding the interpretation, we must praise the performance of the three main actors, Imogen Poots (Ali), Calum Turner (Evan) and Frank Oulton (Bone). Imogen Poots, already noticed in Terrence Malick and Peter Bobganovic, plays a mother who has to deal with her own lack of maturity but has no choice but to grow up as quickly as possible. The British actress delivers here a moving performance in this role of mother ready to do anything for her child. Calum Turner (already seen in Green Room with… Imogen Poots) is very touching as a poor young man, unable to accept the reality of the situation in which he finds himself. An antagonist who remains human, despite his wrongdoing. Finally, Frank Oulton in the role of Bone, 8 years old, delivers here his first role in the cinema, hoping that it is not the last so much the boy is staggering natural.
Moving, poetic, powerful… Many words can be used to describe Mobile Homes. More moving than American Honey and The Florida Project, two (great) films about white-trash America, Mobile Homes is an excellent film, an emotional bomb to which it is impossible to do justice with words. Only the experience of watching this film can do that. A magnificent film, which reveals a filmmaker: Vladimir de Fontenay, who proves that he is one of the most brilliant talents of French cinema. To say that we can't wait to see his next films is an understatement. A film to see right away!
