The Iranian-Swedish director Milad Halimi offers with The Charmer a slice of life of a man trying to integrate into a country that is not his own. Screened in French premiere as part of the Les Arcs European Film Festival, the feature film, in official competition, is strong, commendable and original.
The Charmer : the story of a torn life
Esmail, a young thirty-year-old Iranian who arrived in Denmark two years earlier and was denied his application for a residence permit, is working to find a woman who would allow him to stay in the country. Falling in love with one of them, he will nevertheless be confronted with his past.
In the cast, the main character is played by Ardalan Esmaili. Lars Brygman, Stine Fisher Christensen or Jesper Loham give him the answer.
In his fragilities, his weaknesses but also his strengths, Esmael touches the heart. Tout in rough edges, he honestly embodies the human in his contradictions and magnificences. Without giving in to the sirens of miserabilism or despair, the feature film portrays this exile aspiring to a better life. But the film, without bias or willingness to engage, is not meant to be political. Nevertheless, in the description of the struggle of the protagonist necessarily resonates that of thousands of people in the same situation.
Despite the inherent gravity, real moments of light grace dot The Charmer, counteracting the physical or social violence inherent in the protagonist's choices. The film – long – is not off-putting. On the other hand, history has only more time to unfold. The work will reveal its cards very gradually until it offers an enlightening and brilliant finale.
A film with multiple atmospheres
The filmmaker Milad Halimi , who has previously signed several shorts, as well as Void, his first feature film (released in 2014 in France), chooses for this new film to meticulously take care of the photography and the shots. Thanks to the light, extremely changing and evolving, the film constantly oscillates between different genres and atmospheres (dark, scary, romantic or poignant). By giving the film this universality, the director brilliantly approaches his work to the complexity of life.
The camera, alternately moving and fixed, offers the shots a rich and quality diversity. As for the frequent use of reflections (windows, mirrors …) As well as vagueness, they give the work a feeling of unreality and an impression of dreaminess, which reinforce the virtual absence of elements on his Iranian life. Of his relatives who remained in Iran, we will see very few in the film for a long time: a few scattered telephone conversations…
The Charmer, by offering a fresco of life variable in its tones, offers a fine example of audacious and demanding auteur cinema. With distance and neutrality, but a lot of power, the film proves effective in the themes it addresses: life away from one's culture, adaptation to a new country, practical difficulties to stay there, love and its impediments… En competing for the Crystal Arrow, see you on Friday, December 22 to find out if this feature film has marked the 2017 jury. And for movie lovers eager to discover it, the film will be released in theaters in June 2018!
The trailer of The Charmer :
